Archive

Posts Tagged ‘State Repository’

Florida Marriage Records Direct Access

March 14th, 2011 No comments

As with other states, marriage records in Florida are considered as public records. Along with birth, death, and divorce, they form the vital records under the Department of Health of Florida. Being public records, Florida marriage records are accessible by anyone as long as procedures are followed. From checking out a prospective spouse or partner to family tree and genealogy studies, they are one of the most widely searched public records not only in Florida but also nationwide.

In line with the standard structure across the country, Florida marriage records come under the jurisdiction of the state of Florida. Those dated June 6, 1927 and after are uploaded and maintained at the state repository in the Office of Vital Statistics located at Jacksonville which reports into the Florida Department of Health. Florida marriage records prior to that date are only obtainable from the Clerk of Court of that particular county where the marriage license was issued, with some known to be from as early as 1822.

There are an estimated 5 million marriage records on file at the Office of Vital Statistics of Florida. They can be requested through phone, fax, by mail or in person. Fees are required and they can be enquired at the respective agencies or viewed at their websites online. Every search is charged even if the requested record is not found in which case an official ‘not found’ statement will be provided. It must be noted that it does not strictly mean that no such marriage records exist when that happens. They may possibly be present but are classified as confidential marriage records or other categories that render them non-public. However, this is more of an exception rather than the rule.

Individual state records are not linked and that applies to Florida marriage records. Florida marriage records of former Florida residents will not show up in a marriage record search in another state and vice-versa. For people who have resided in multiple states, marriage record searches would have to be conducted for each of those states in order to cover their marital history fully but breezing through it online is a far, far cry from what people used to have to go through during the pre-internet era.

With the advent of the internet, online search has by far become the predominant mode of researching marriage records over the traditional on-site option. The foremost reasons for its popularity are:
1.    Privacy and discretion – you can research people in secret.
2.    Convenience – it can be conducted anywhere since only a PC with internet access is required.
3.    Vast options – wide range of information sources readily found online.
4.    Immediacy – instant and 24/7.

There are basically two versions of online marriage record searches: free-of-charge and fee-based. The former is usually offered in the form of teaser information or as enticement toward an underlying patronage or subscription. Their overall standards will fulfill nothing more than broad research. The latter is the one that’s necessary for official and other serious purposes and even so, finding the right commercial record provider can be tricky. Fortunately, online shopping is no-sweat so source around a little before signing up.

sahara-jones

GENDIS~ Michigan Genealogical Death Indexing System?

December 11th, 2009 2 comments

Does anyone know where the records are kept that the GENDIS database is transcribed from? Are they with the individual counties or is there a state repository that has these records?

My great great grandmother, Anje Ruiter Jansen was born on April 20, 1834 in Spijk, Groningen, Netherlands, the daughter of Tonnis Bartelds Ruiter and Imke Jans Lanting. She immigrated to America in 1883 and according to a printed genealogy, she died in Feb 1885. I’ve been unable to locate a record to verify this, but found a record in GENDIS that is close. Here is the link:

http://www.mdch.state.mi.us/gendisx/scripts/individual.asp?UniqueID=504803

As you can see, this death record is one year off from the printed genealogy I have, but it is the right month. The only thing that bothers me is that her age at time of death says 30 according to GENDIS; however, I believe that the original record may have been handwritten and her age of 50, may have been mistranscribed as 30. Any ideas?

They come from the records that were sent to the State Archives back in the 40s. Most are copies from the Secretary of State holdings and are copies of records from individual counties. Most counties weren’t keeping consistent death records in 1885.

Assuming she was either Dutch Reformed or Catholic, she either lived on the east side of the state in the Bay City/Thumb area or on the west side in the Grand Rapids/Holland/Muskegon area. Most recent immigrants stuck together for the first generation. It wouldn’t be hard to find the death records if you know the community where she died. Both the RCC and the DRC were wonderful record keepers.

Marriage Records Texas Online

December 11th, 2009 3 comments

Texas was one of the first states to classify marriage records as public information. With 20-plus million residents, marriage records in Texas have built up over the years. Government agencies provide public databases of Texas Marriage Records as a public service and private ones also exist on a commercial basis. The largest databank is at the Texas Vital Statistics Office. It is the state repository of public records and all state marriage records are routinely uploaded to it from respective counties and districts. The office reports into the Department of State Health Services of Texas.

The Texas Vital Statistics Office began officially filing Marriage Records in Texas in 1966 simultaneously with Texas Divorce, Birth and Death Records. There were variations over the various counties and districts especially during the early years but all marriages within the state would ultimately be posted at this office. Erstwhile marriage records in Texas as with other states during that era were administered by the county or district offices where the marriages took place.

Actually, Texas County Marriage Records were already in existence as early as 1837 in some areas of the state. Much of them were lost through accidents and other mishandling over the ages but for those which are still intact, they have been filmed, restored and properly archived. Having that said, the majority of historical database remain pretty much inactive. Predominant public interest mainly centers on the current generations. With advancement in modern data-filing, their records are in far better order.

By token of Texan laws, a great deal of information can be derived from such database. They are public records and everyone has the right to them. People can literally access and assess anyone’s entire marital past and present on demand. Documents such as Marriage License, Certificate and Verification Letter are typical and so are related divorce matters. Particulars of involved parties like parents, witnesses and conducting officers or ministers are also standard information. Marriage records are however not linked between states. As a result, marriages in other states will not show up in a Texas public marriage record search and vice-versa.

Different people will have their own preferred way of conducting marriage record search but the clear-cut favorite is the online method. This is quite expected as it’s convenient, immediate and private. Depending on the needs of the situation, it can even be accomplished free of charge. However, it’s recommended that professional record providers be engaged as their fees are typically very reasonable anyway and the bona-fide ones offer excellent value for money.

Texas Marriage Records are the top public records in the state when it comes to search activity. From background-checking a boyfriend or girlfriend to legal investigation, people are constantly checking out each other and the best thing is it’s done in secrecy. But why not, it’s easy and it’s over in a jiffy for that peace of mind sought ever so often. So it might be a good idea to self-check your marriage records regularly just to be sure that the record is straight, so to speak.

Ben Dave
http://www.articlesbase.com/marriage-articles/marriage-records-texas-online-700216.html

Search Online Public Death Records

December 11th, 2009 7 comments

Dead men tell no tales, but Death Records can sure say a lot. They have come a long way since their humble beginning back at the turn of the 20th century. Today, Public Death Records form the set of Vital Public Records jointly with Birth, Divorce and Marriage Records. Public Records are much like reputation, you own it but you don’t really have a say in it.

The details surrounding the death such as time and place of death, burial and funeral information, personal particulars of the deceased and some degree of his spouse’s, children’s and parents’ are found in people’s Public Death Records. It’s also customary to put up an obituary alongside the death notices especially if the deceased was a distinguished figure in his lifetime and obituaries often show up as part of death records.

Although some of the information contained in Free Government Death Records may be private and confidential to some degree, Death Records are Public Records nevertheless. This means that generally anybody’s death records can be retrieved by any member of the public as long as the required procedures are followed.

Public Death Records are useful in locating out-of-touch friends or relatives, criminal investigation, researching a late person by the attached obituary and tracing family trees. Death Certificates are required for some official and legal undertakings and a good place to look is the deceased’s death records. Public Death Notices are also an invaluable resource for Genealogy and other historical studies.

Different states have different laws governing the access and use of Public Death Records. Furthermore, the death record databases of the various states are not linked. That means if it is not known which state precisely is the subject’s state of residence, a state by state search would have to be conducted in order for the search to be exhaustive. Having that said, records within each state however are uploaded onto a central state repository.

Besides the state office, Public Death Records can also be requested from other local government agencies tasked with the function. Death Records Search can be done through the mail, telephone, fax, in person or online over the internet. As with other public services, Online Death Records is the most popular mode of retrieval and has thus become increasingly available.

Although we can Find Death Records essentially free of charge from public offices, the setback is it usually requires queue and waiting period. The format of records among different agencies is also not standardized so they can be potluck in that sense. For more purposeful searches, people would be better-served with fee-based professional information providers which are abundantly found on all major search engines.

Ben Dave
http://www.articlesbase.com/genealogy-articles/search-online-public-death-records-726729.html

Marriage Records Texas Online

December 8th, 2009 3 comments

Texas was one of the first states to classify marriage records as public information. With 20-plus million residents, marriage records in Texas have built up over the years. Government agencies provide public databases of Texas Marriage Records as a public service and private ones also exist on a commercial basis. The largest databank is at the Texas Vital Statistics Office. It is the state repository of public records and all state marriage records are routinely uploaded to it from respective counties and districts. The office reports into the Department of State Health Services of Texas.

The Texas Vital Statistics Office began officially filing Marriage Records in Texas in 1966 simultaneously with Texas Divorce, Birth and Death Records. There were variations over the various counties and districts especially during the early years but all marriages within the state would ultimately be posted at this office. Erstwhile marriage records in Texas as with other states during that era were administered by the county or district offices where the marriages took place.

Actually, Texas County Marriage Records were already in existence as early as 1837 in some areas of the state. Much of them were lost through accidents and other mishandling over the ages but for those which are still intact, they have been filmed, restored and properly archived. Having that said, the majority of historical database remain pretty much inactive. Predominant public interest mainly centers on the current generations. With advancement in modern data-filing, their records are in far better order.

By token of Texan laws, a great deal of information can be derived from such database. They are public records and everyone has the right to them. People can literally access and assess anyone’s entire marital past and present on demand. Documents such as Marriage License, Certificate and Verification Letter are typical and so are related divorce matters. Particulars of involved parties like parents, witnesses and conducting officers or ministers are also standard information. Marriage records are however not linked between states. As a result, marriages in other states will not show up in a Texas public marriage record search and vice-versa.

Different people will have their own preferred way of conducting marriage record search but the clear-cut favorite is the online method. This is quite expected as it’s convenient, immediate and private. Depending on the needs of the situation, it can even be accomplished free of charge. However, it’s recommended that professional record providers be engaged as their fees are typically very reasonable anyway and the bona-fide ones offer excellent value for money.

Texas Marriage Records are the top public records in the state when it comes to search activity. From background-checking a boyfriend or girlfriend to legal investigation, people are constantly checking out each other and the best thing is it’s done in secrecy. But why not, it’s easy and it’s over in a jiffy for that peace of mind sought ever so often. So it might be a good idea to self-check your marriage records regularly just to be sure that the record is straight, so to speak.

Ben Dave
http://www.articlesbase.com/marriage-articles/marriage-records-texas-online-700216.html

Retrieving Public Death Records Online

December 8th, 2009 No comments

One of the first public records is Public Death Records. They started in the early 1900’s and form today’s Vital Public Records in conjunction with Birth, Divorce and Marriage Records. As with other public records, Public Death Records is not a voluntary or optional procedure. It is determined and mandated by the discretion of the authorities.

The information that can be derived from Public Death Records includes the personal particulars of the deceased, spouse, children and parents, time and place of death, death certificate, burial and funeral matters. It is also customary to insert an obituary into death records, especially when the deceased had been a distinguished or accomplished figure.

Some of the information contained in Death Records Search is actually quite private and people are known to be sensitive about it. That’s why there can be restrictions on their accessibility and use, death records being public records notwithstanding. Other than that, Public Death Records are by and large freely available from government agencies and private sources alike.

People Find Death Records for a multitude of reasons and purposes most predominant of which are catching up on long lost friends, tracing family trees and researching specific individuals. They are also widely used in Genealogy and other historical studies and are a primary resource for the Police and other enforcement bodies in their criminal investigation work.

Different states have different laws governing the access and use of Public Death Records. Furthermore, the death record databases of the various states are not linked. That means if it is not known which state precisely is the subject’s state of residence, a state by state search would have to be conducted in order for the search to be exhaustive. Having that said, records within each state however are uploaded onto a central state repository.

Death Records Search are very popular. They can be requested at any delegated government agency by mail, telephone, fax or walk-in. These days, the online option over the internet is also offered by the majority of public offices. Not surprisingly, Death Records Online has become the most popular way of retrieving Public Death Records.

Although we can Find Death Records essentially free of charge from public offices, the setback is it usually requires queue and waiting period. The format of records among different agencies is also not standardized so they can be potluck in that sense. For more purposeful searches, people would be better-served with fee-based professional information providers which are abundantly found on all major search engines.

Ben Dave
http://www.articlesbase.com/genealogy-articles/retrieving-public-death-records-online-718859.html

Marriage Records Texas Online

December 6th, 2009 3 comments

Texas was one of the first states to classify marriage records as public information. With 20-plus million residents, marriage records in Texas have built up over the years. Government agencies provide public databases of Texas Marriage Records as a public service and private ones also exist on a commercial basis. The largest databank is at the Texas Vital Statistics Office. It is the state repository of public records and all state marriage records are routinely uploaded to it from respective counties and districts. The office reports into the Department of State Health Services of Texas.

The Texas Vital Statistics Office began officially filing Marriage Records in Texas in 1966 simultaneously with Texas Divorce, Birth and Death Records. There were variations over the various counties and districts especially during the early years but all marriages within the state would ultimately be posted at this office. Erstwhile marriage records in Texas as with other states during that era were administered by the county or district offices where the marriages took place.

Actually, Texas County Marriage Records were already in existence as early as 1837 in some areas of the state. Much of them were lost through accidents and other mishandling over the ages but for those which are still intact, they have been filmed, restored and properly archived. Having that said, the majority of historical database remain pretty much inactive. Predominant public interest mainly centers on the current generations. With advancement in modern data-filing, their records are in far better order.

By token of Texan laws, a great deal of information can be derived from such database. They are public records and everyone has the right to them. People can literally access and assess anyone’s entire marital past and present on demand. Documents such as Marriage License, Certificate and Verification Letter are typical and so are related divorce matters. Particulars of involved parties like parents, witnesses and conducting officers or ministers are also standard information. Marriage records are however not linked between states. As a result, marriages in other states will not show up in a Texas public marriage record search and vice-versa.

Different people will have their own preferred way of conducting marriage record search but the clear-cut favorite is the online method. This is quite expected as it’s convenient, immediate and private. Depending on the needs of the situation, it can even be accomplished free of charge. However, it’s recommended that professional record providers be engaged as their fees are typically very reasonable anyway and the bona-fide ones offer excellent value for money.

Texas Marriage Records are the top public records in the state when it comes to search activity. From background-checking a boyfriend or girlfriend to legal investigation, people are constantly checking out each other and the best thing is it’s done in secrecy. But why not, it’s easy and it’s over in a jiffy for that peace of mind sought ever so often. So it might be a good idea to self-check your marriage records regularly just to be sure that the record is straight, so to speak.

Ben Dave
http://www.articlesbase.com/marriage-articles/marriage-records-texas-online-700216.html

Search Online Public Death Records

December 6th, 2009 7 comments

Dead men tell no tales, but Death Records can sure say a lot. They have come a long way since their humble beginning back at the turn of the 20th century. Today, Public Death Records form the set of Vital Public Records jointly with Birth, Divorce and Marriage Records. Public Records are much like reputation, you own it but you don’t really have a say in it.

The details surrounding the death such as time and place of death, burial and funeral information, personal particulars of the deceased and some degree of his spouse’s, children’s and parents’ are found in people’s Public Death Records. It’s also customary to put up an obituary alongside the death notices especially if the deceased was a distinguished figure in his lifetime and obituaries often show up as part of death records.

Although some of the information contained in Free Government Death Records may be private and confidential to some degree, Death Records are Public Records nevertheless. This means that generally anybody’s death records can be retrieved by any member of the public as long as the required procedures are followed.

Public Death Records are useful in locating out-of-touch friends or relatives, criminal investigation, researching a late person by the attached obituary and tracing family trees. Death Certificates are required for some official and legal undertakings and a good place to look is the deceased’s death records. Public Death Notices are also an invaluable resource for Genealogy and other historical studies.

Different states have different laws governing the access and use of Public Death Records. Furthermore, the death record databases of the various states are not linked. That means if it is not known which state precisely is the subject’s state of residence, a state by state search would have to be conducted in order for the search to be exhaustive. Having that said, records within each state however are uploaded onto a central state repository.

Besides the state office, Public Death Records can also be requested from other local government agencies tasked with the function. Death Records Search can be done through the mail, telephone, fax, in person or online over the internet. As with other public services, Online Death Records is the most popular mode of retrieval and has thus become increasingly available.

Although we can Find Death Records essentially free of charge from public offices, the setback is it usually requires queue and waiting period. The format of records among different agencies is also not standardized so they can be potluck in that sense. For more purposeful searches, people would be better-served with fee-based professional information providers which are abundantly found on all major search engines.

Ben Dave
http://www.articlesbase.com/genealogy-articles/search-online-public-death-records-726729.html