Death Records Now

So I located the marriage record on-line for my great grandparents,born in the mid 1800s.The information about their parents names and where they came from,wasn`t there.So, I need to either travel to the town where the record is,or send them $15.00 by mail.Will I get a copy of the actual record?I need brakes on my car and with gas prices so high,I thought I would write for it,but then I worry,I will get the wrong record,or the information I need won`t be there.Mich has not released all the death records and a person has to be dead for 150 years before you can obtain a birth certificate.Anyone that has been dead that long,likely was not even born here.The reason I couldn`t find it before,my great grandmother`s last name was misspelled on-line,but not on the actual record.I have gotten more information from family search,than my worthless ancestry.com subscription.
You were all very helpfull.Hard to pick a best answer.

Having read your other question, I’m going to answer parts of both in one place.

I have pretty good experience with Michigan marriage records. First, you need to know that there are different types of "marriage records". This is a generic term for anything that documents a marriage, whether it be a marriage license or certificate issued to the couple, a return book, record book, marriage bond, or register book. Each of these will have different information about the couple. In Michigan each county determines what records they keep and what information will be on them. Some counties have made frequent changes. If you get information from the record about the parents is hit and miss. In Michigan they often have place of residence, but usually do not have place of birth or places associated with the parents.

Since you are looking for a copy, I suspect you have not located the record online, but rather an index or transcription of the record. This source should give you the precise information you need to find the copy they indexed or transcribed from. If it was from Family Search you might be able to take the source code information to a Family History Center and request the microfilm. If it’s from a published genealogy book you can sometimes request an inter-library loan from your local branch library, request a photocopy of the page of interest, or check Google Books.

A few tips about ordering records from public agencies: they will not do research and they will not guess, no matter how logical or obvious. They will look for exactly what you ask them to look for. If the date range you ask for is 1 day off, if a name is spelled 1 letter off, or if your information gives them more than 1 possible record you may get a note back saying the record could not be found. This is why the indexes online are helpful. They *should* be exactly as they appear in the record. In both cases this requires that someone is able to read the handwritten record (i.e. Elmira and Elvira can get confused). When you send away to the agency they will either photocopy the information from their books, or they will transfer the information to a form and this form is considered a copy (although not always certified).

GenWebs do not provide records, they provide a place where people can post information and links to helpful resources. What the GenWeb itself provides is free, but not all of the resources they list will be.

It’s not hard to begin your search for the roots of your family tree. Here is some useful information.

The first step toward building your tree is to start with yourself and move backwards. You can use a regular notebook to document your information or use a software program that will help you keep everything sorted out.

Next, you will want to find as much information as possible about each of the members of your family. The basic pieces of information you need are the date and place of birth, wedding date, spouse name and date and place of death. These bits of information will allow you to work further towards getting the information you need. If you don’t have all the information, you will be able to do research to find it later.

Begin to write down your family tree. Start with who you know and work backwards in time. Don’t worry if you have blank spaces – that’s what researching your family tree is all about. Later you can conduct research for your family tree to fill in the missing information.

There are many places to research your family tree. Start with your current family members. Interview your family members to gather as much information as possible. Sometimes family stores that have been passed down may hold clues to important information about your family tree. Document the information so that you can go back to it later. Another family resource is the family bible. The bible is the place where past generations recorded life events such as births, deaths and marriages. Someone in your family may also have records like birth or death certificates and marriage certificates.

Besides the family there are other places you can go to research your family tree. With access to the Internet, you won’t even need to leave home. Some resources on the Internet have free access. Other websites that specialize in genealogy require a subscription. You can access many public records for free. However, the further you go back, the fewer records you are likely to find. You can use birth records, death records, marriage records and even the census records to find information that is useful.

sunshine03
http://www.articlesbase.com/diy-articles/family-tree-674881.html

I’m doing genealogy and I’m looking for information on my grandfather. He immigrated from Mexico and I can’t find him. I know when he passed away and where but am running into a road block. Can anyone help?
I’m not looking for the certificate itself. I’m more or less looking for the information that is found on it like the SSDI database. I was just wondering if there is any sites that would tell me information like that but involving birth instead of death. For instance, place of birth and mother and father.
Particularly, I’m looking for anything on my grandpa’s birthplace and parents. His name was Frank Hernandez. Born in 1897 and died in December 1978 in South Dakota.

http://vitals.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ca/death/search.cgi
has "9,366,786 records from 1940 thru 1997". It is for California. There are other sites like that; certain states, certain time periods. There isn’t a nation-wide data base of all deaths.

http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi
is nation-wide but not everyone is on it.

www.findagrave.com has 22 million entries.

Hunt around. Google "Death index Utah" or "Death Index Idaho".

Note that almost no site has the certificate; you have to write away (and pay for) that

I want to order the death ceriticates of 7 of my 8 great-grandparents. I already know where one was born, so I don’t need that one. I pretty much know where all of them died. That’s not what I’m looking for. What I’m looking for is if that record says where they were born too, and if possible, who there parents were. It costs $15. I’ll probably order one and see what it says, and than do the rest, but it takes like 6-8 weeks in between. Based on personal experience though, has it said place of birth on it?

I agree with Wendy.
Order the death certificates.

Knowing whether or not your ancestors died from a disease/health condition that may affect your health is worth the price of the certificate.

I have the death certificates of my paternal grandparents, maternal grandmother, my dad, 2 older brothers and a sister, as well as my 2nd step-mother-from Hell, all from Florida.
All show their birth dates and places, dates, times and places of death, their occupation, place of residence, the name and address of the funeral home, date of burial, names and places of the cemetery(s) and parents names.

If a death certificate gives you just one new piece of information, it’s worth more than $15.00.

Even the smallest clue can become the biggest clue.