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Colorado Rocky Mountains

Introduction to Vital Records

Vital Records consist of births, adoptions, marriages, divorces, and deaths recorded on registers, certificates, and documents. United States Vital Records has additional research guidance on researching and using vital records. A copy or an extract of most original records can be purchased from the Colorado Vital Records State Department of Health or the County Clerk's office of the county where the event occurred. See also Colorado Statewide Indexes and Collections at the Family History Library.

Contents 1 Colorado Birth, Marriage and Death Records Online 2 Births and Deaths 2.1 Adoption 3 Marriages Records 3.1 Divorces 4 Death Records 5 Substitute Records 6 Tips 7 Archives, Libraries and Societies 8 References

Great Colorado Records Index Index

Colorado Birth, Marriage and Death Records Online

The following is a list of online resources useful for locating Colorado Vital Records which consist of births, adoptions, marriages, divorces, and deaths.  Most online resources for Colorado Vital Records are indexes. After locating a person in an index always consult the original record to confirm the information in the index.

• Colorado Obituary Collection Free from GenealogyBuff.com. From Various Funeral Homes in the State of Colorado.
• Colorado Links from fhlfavorites.info - Free
• Colorado Databases listed on Rootsweb.com- Free
• USGenWeb.org Colorado Site - Free
• The Vital Records Search and Information Directory for Colorado - Free/$
• Wee Monster Links for Colorado Birth & Marriage and Death Records - Free/$
• Linkpendium Links for Colorado Genealogy and History, including individual Counties - Free/$ 
• Progenealogists Links for the United States. Press Ctrl + F on the keyboard to search for Colorado or CO - Free/$
• Search the Colorado Historical Records Records at Ancestry.com - $ 
• Order Colorado Certificates online - $ 
• Colorado Vital Records Search
• Death indexes
• Birth and Death Certificates
• Arapahoe County Marriages 1861-1868
• Boulder County Marriages 1860-1900
• Western History and Genealogy
• Gilpin County Brides' And Groom's Marriage Index
• Marriages of Grand County, Colorado The First Hundred Years
• La Plata County marriages records from 6/19/1877 through 7/2/1959

Births and Deaths

Early - 1907

A law was passed in 1876 requiring counties and towns in Colorado to record births and deaths. In those counties where the clerks complied, the records are available at the local courthouse. Most early files are incomplete.

1907 - Present

Statewide registration began in 1907 and was generally complied with by 1920. Some of the earlier county records and delayed registrations of births since 1941 are at the Colorado Department of Health. To obtain copies of these records, write to:

Vital Records Section
Colorado Department of Health
4300 Cherry Creek Drive South
HSVRD-VR-A1
Denver, CO 80246-1530
Telephone: 303.692.2200
Fax: USA 1.800.423.1108;outside continental U.S. 303.691.9307
E-mail vital.records@state.co.us
Internet: Colorado Official Birth, Death, Marriage, and Divorce Records

The current fees for records are at the above website and at VitalRecords.com.  State your relationship to the individual you want information about and your reason. Certificates are released only to members of the immediate family.

Colorado Vital Records Search

Adoption

Adoptions after Sept. 1, 1999 are available to the adoptee if over 18, the adoptive parents and the birth parents among others. Records for births prior to Sept. 1, 1999 are harder to obtain. These records are available through a confidential intermediary who must obtain consent from the parties before release of information.^[1]

Marriages Records

Each county has kept marriage records since the date it was organized. A few records date from 1860. You can write to the appropriate county clerk for information.

The Colorado Department of Health has a statewide index to marriages from 1900 to 1939 and from 1975 to the present. ^[2]They will check the index and then forward the inquiry to the correct county office.

The Colorado Division of State Archives and Public Records also has copies of marriage records for 20 counties, including Denver from 1861 to 1952.

Some county marriage records have been extracted and published. For example, many early marriage records have been published in The Colorado Genealogist see the Periodicals page. The earliest Denver and Arapahoe County marriage records have recently been published in Marriages of Arapahoe County, Colorado, 1859-1901: Including "Territory That Became Adams, Denver, and Other Counties" ^[3]

Many of the early marriages for the western part of the state are searchable online at no cost in the Western States Marriage Index.

A wiki article describing an online collection is found at:

Colorado Statewide Marriage Index (FamilySearch Historical Records)

• Colorado Statewide Marriage Index, 1900-1939 Browse images at FamilySearch Historical Records. Learn more.
  

Colorado Vital Records Search

Divorces

Divorce records are available from the clerk of the district court in the county where the decree was granted. The Colorado Department of Health has a statewide index of divorce records for the years 1900 to 1939 and 1968 to the present. The index identifies the county that granted the divorce. The department of health does not provide certified copies. You can write to the county clerk for copies of the records.

Colorado Vital Records Search

Death Records

Early to 1900

1900 - Present

Colorado Vital Records Search

Substitute Records

• Colorado-Church Records
• Colorado-Census Records
• Colorado Cemetery Records
• Colorado-History
• Colorado-Newspapers
• Colorado-Military Records
• Colorado Periodicals
• Colorado Vital Records Search

Learn more about the history and availability of vital records in Guide to Vital Statistics Records in Colorado, Volume 1 ^[4] Click on the Guide to Vital Statisticcs records in Colorado.

Tips

• Information listed on vital records is given by an informant.  Learn the relationship of the informant to the subject(s) of the record.  The closer the relationship of the informant to the subjects(s) and whether or not the informant was present at the time of the event can hep determine the accuracy of the information found on the record. 
• If you are unable to locate vital records recorded by governments, search for church records of christening, marriage, death or burial.  A family Bible may have been used to record births, marriages and deaths.
• Privacy laws may restrict your access to some vital records.  Copies of some vital records recorded in the last 100 years may be unavailable to anyone except a direct relative.
• Search for Vital Records in the Family History Library Catalog by using a Place Search and then choosing Vital Records.  Search for Colorado to locate records filed by the State and then search the name of the county to locate records kept by that county.

Archives, Libraries and Societies

• Colorado Archives and libraries
• Colorado Societies
• Colorado Vital Records Search

References

1. ↑ Adoption.com Colorado Laws
2. ↑ Family History Library FHL CD-ROM no.2425 years 1900-1939, 1975-1992.
3. ↑ Denver, Colorado Genealogical Society, 1986: Family History Library FHL 978.882 V2m.
4. ↑ Denver: Historical Records Survey, 1942; Family History Library FHL 897482