A few weeks ago I made the following post:
Some of our all time most popular articles are the five U.S. and Canadian vital records database lists for FamilySearch.org. We try and keep these lists updated, and we normally post those updates in a separate article. For various reasons, we have not posted updates for some months. In reviewing the existing lists, we noticed the majority of the links we had to the existing databases have been changed as FamilySearch.org has grown and updated their site. It was time for a complete overhaul and renewal of our database lists.
We have put these lists together to make it easy for you to quickly find individual databases relevant to specific searches in specific geographical locations. For example, all the databases for birth records in the U.S. will be found listed in alphabetical order by state on our lists United States Birth & Christening Records Found at FamilySearch.org.
So far, we have been able to update the Birth & Christening Records, Marriage Documents, and Death & Probate Records lists. By following these three links, you will find a complete and fresh list of all relevant databases from FamilySearch.org:
- United States Birth & Christening Records Found at FamilySearch.org
- United States Marriage Documents & Divorce Records Found at FamilySearch.org
- United States Death & Probate Records Found at FamilySearch.org
There are two more lists we are working on. As soon as these are ready, we will post those updates as well.
One important note, there are a increasing number of divorce records databases available at FamilySearch.org. These have now been added with the Marriage Documents lists. There are some lists which can be found on all three lists. These are usually county records databases, and make up only a small portion of each list.
In addition, as part of the update, we have standardized all entries to make them easier to read. Each entry lists the name of the database with link to the actual database at FamilySearch.org; whether the database holds indexed/searchable records or browable images, in some cases both; a summary of the database; how many records or images as of the last know update date. Here is an example:
Maine, Vital Records, 1670-1907 — Searchable Index and Browsable Images — Name index and images of birth, marriage and death returns acquired from the State Board of Health, Division of Vital Statistics and the state archives. Records are organized alphabetically, then chronologically within a name. The collection is divided into three parts, Vital Records Prior to 1892, 80 towns, Vital Records, 1892-1907, and Delayed returns for births, deaths, and marriages, 1670-1891.– There are 1,362,179 Records and 1,831,788 Images as of 15 November 2013.
We sincerely hope these lists help you with your research and that you continue to use them. Happy searching…
Now, we are a step closer to having up to date all five of the FamilySearch database lists that we maintain. This week we completed the following list:
Enjoy the many databases listed. The Canadian Vital Records list is nearly complete. Look for it soon.