WVC Library Home Page > Research by Subject Menu > Genealogy

BIRTHS
Birth Certificates
Baptismal Records
Bible Records
Church Records [depending on denomination and if they still survive]
Newspaper Birth Announcements (usually not found till 20th century)
Town Records (New England only)

MARRIAGE
Bible Records
Church Records
Marriage Books
Marriage Returns
Marriage Bonds
Marriage Banns (usually found in New England – few survive)
Newspaper Marriage Announcements (usually not found till late 19th century)
Town Records (New England only)

DEATH
Bible Records
Cemetery Records
Death Certificates (usually not found till late 19th century but there are exceptions based on locality)
Obituaries (depend greatly on the newspaper in the town where the person died)
Town Records (New England only)
[Will & Estate Records are not considered vital records but they will at least help with a ballpark date of death]

General Vital Records Resources

• History of Funerals
  
  
• Parish & Vital Records List filmed by LDS
  
  
• Vital Records Information for the U.S. This is the information about who to write to for vital record documents like death certificates, birth certificates etc.  It includes the years that are available and the cost for a copy of the document.
  
  
  

Social Security Records

• Answers to Social Security Questions
  
  
• Obtaining a Copy of a Social Security Number Application
  
  
• Social Security Death Index Rootsweb
  
  
• Tips to Searching Ancestry's Social Security Death Index
  
  
  

Birth Records

• Calculating Birth Years From Census Information
  
  
• Date of Birth Calculator (for records that are in the format  "67 years, 6 months 12 days"
  
  

Marriage Records

 

• Ancestry (requires membership or a trip to the family history library)  Ancestry has a number of marriage databases - the easiest way to see what they have is to go to the map on the main search page and choose your state or country and follow through to where they show you what kinds of births, marriage and death records they have for the area.  Remember databases are often incomplete and also remember that the original record may have much more data.
  
  
• Finding a Marriage Date
  
  HELP WITH ONLINE MARRIAGE RECORDS [new]
   
  

Death Records

• Do a Google type search with terms like "Polk Oregon Deaths" to see if a database exists somewhere on the web
  
  
• ONLINE SEARCHABLE DEATH INDEXES
  
  
  Also check Ancestry which has the California Death Index, Oregon & Washington death indexes and others online.
  
• Vital Records Online now also has a directory to death records online
  
  

Cemetery Records

• Cemetery Iconography
  
  
• Links to Resources on Cemetery History and Preservation
  
  
• Olive Tree's Dictionary of Grave Symbols
  
• Saving Graves - Web site dedicated to "the protection, restoration and preservation of endangered cemeteries worldwide"
  
  
• Symbology Commonly Found on Tombstones
  
  
  CEMETERY RECORDS ONLINE:
  
  
• Cemetery Junction
  
  
• Cemetery Records Online
  
  
• Find a Grave
  
  
• Genealogy Register: Cemetery Records Search
  
  
• Rootsweb Cemetery Transcription Project
  
  
• Virtual Cemetery
  
  
• Washington State Cemeteries
   

Funeral Records

• Canadian Funeral Home Directory
  
  
• FuneralNet  (Funeral Directory in the U.S.)
  
  

Obituary Resources

• Newslink: Newspaper Resources of the World
  
  
• Obituary Central
  
  
• Obituary Daily Times
  
  
• Obituary Lookups (Rootsweb)
  
  Can't find it online? Some options:
  
  Write the local library in the town where your ancestor died - most libraries have archives of the local newspaper and if you ask have the exact date of death they will often make you a copy for a very small fee.
  
  Write the cemetery where your ancestor is buried - many cemetery offices keep a copy of the obit in their files
  
  Go to the public library and talk to a reference librarian. Ask if it is possible to order microfilm on interlibrary loan of the newpaper printed in the town where your ancestor died for the year of their death.
  
  Check the state archive in the state your ancestory lived. Some of them loan microfilm to individuals OR some of them have obit look-up services for a fee. Simply go to Google and search something like Illinois State Archives
  
  Search Google using terms like
  Illinois Newspapers Microfilm
  Colorado Newspapers Microfilm
  or
  Indiana Historical Newspapers
  most state libraries will have listings (and sometimes digitalized images) online. By choosing the newspaper and knowing the time period it existed in you may be able to get the film through interlibrary loan at your public library