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United States   Indiana    Vital Records

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 Indiana Vital Records State Department of Health or the County Clerk's office of the county where the event occurred. See also Indiana Statewide Indexes and Collections at the Family History Library.

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Vital Records Reference Dates
Indiana's vital records start the following years:

* A few Indiana cities kept birth and death records before this date.


 * }

Birth and Death Records
Indiana law required the recording of births and deaths beginning in 1882. Few civil birth and death records predate this time period. In fact, early compliance with the law varied and many births and deaths that occured in Indiana between 1882 and 1900 were not recorded. Most birth and death record ledgers are in the courthouse or another government facility in the county in which the event took place.

The Family History Library has microfilms of some Indiana county birth and death records, as does the Indiana State Library. The Allen County Public Library also has some original Indiana vital records on microfilm.

A second copy of birth and death records was filed with the Indiana State Department of Health in Indianapolis beginning in 1900 for deaths and October 1907 for births.


 * Vital Records Department
 * Indiana State Department of Health
 * 2 North Meridian Street, Indianapolis, IN 46204
 * 317-233-1325
 * Hours: Monday-Friday, 8:15 a.m.-4:45 p.m. EDST

Application for Search &amp; Certified Copy of Birth Record (State Level)

Application for Search &amp; Certified Copy of Death Record (State Level)

You may order records by telephone if you have a major credit card.

Fees for obtaining copies of the state’s records are listed on several Internet genealogical web sites and in:


 * Where to Write for Vital Records: Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Divorces. Copies of this booklet are available at the Family History Library and at Family History Centers. The booklet can also be ordered from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402-9328. The booklet is also included on the Family History Library’s SourceGuide compact disc, and on the FamilySearch™ Internet Genealogy Service at www.familysearch.org. You can also write to the Indiana Vital Records Office (address above) for current information.

Birth and death records are public records in Indiana, but the interpretation of the term "public records" varies greatly among government officials at the county level, so public access is inconsistent.

Delayed Birth Records

Delayed registrations of births are found in the Clerk of the Circuit Court’s office. Registrations began in July 1941, and although the law is still in effect, most registrations occurred in the 1940s. They may contain information on births that occurred as early as the 1870s. Certificates for births that were originally not recorded were granted after a petition was filed with the court. These registrations may also contain births of people born outside of the county and even those outside of the U.S. Contact the clerk for copies. The Family History Library has microfilms of delayed birth registrations for more then 60 counties. For example:


 * Indiana. Circuit Court (Marshall County). Delayed Birth Records, 1941–1971.

Marriage Records
Marriage records usually date from the formation of each county and are found in the County Clerk's Office in each county. Marriage records prior to the late 1800s usually include only the names of the couple, the date of the marriage and sometimes the date of the license, the officiant's name, the county of marriage, and occasionally the names of witnesses. Late in the 19th century, more detailed marriage application forms began to be used. Depending on the time period, they may include the names of the parents of the bride and groom, including their mothers' maiden names, occupations and residences for the bridal couple and their parents, whether the bride and/or groom had been married previously and how the previous marriage(s) ended (death or divorce). Often the marriage application also had a section where the parties were asked to attest that they were of legal age, were not insane, whether the groom could support a family, and similar questions.

Since 1958, marriages also have been registered both at the county level, and at the state level at the Indiana State Department of Health in Indianapolis.

The Family History Library and the Indiana State Library Genealogy Collection have microfilm copies of many Indiana marriage records. The Genealogy Collection of the Allen County Public Library has microfim copies of marriage records for 31 of the state's 92 counties. Check the ACPL Microfilm Catalog under "States" to determine the collection's holdings for specific counties and years.

Vital Record Indexes
Birth &amp; Death Indexes

During the late 1930s and early 1940s, the Indiana Works Progress Administration indexed many counties' birth and death records for the period of 1882 to 1920. These index volumes often are available at public libraries in the counties they cover, as well as at the Indiana State Library in Indianapolis and the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne. The original typescripts of the WPA indexes are at the Indiana State Library. The birth index provides the name of the child, its father’s name, mother’s maiden name, gender, color, date of birth, and the book and page number of the courthouse ledger where the original may be found. The death index gives the name of the deceased, gender, color, age at death, date of death, place of death, and book and page number of the courthouse ledger.

Marriage Indexes

Published marriage record indexes are available for most Indiana counties from the earliest marriages to the early or mid-1900s and sometimes beyond. Many of these were compiled by the Works Progress Administration and cover marriages from county formation to 1920. They are arranged alphabetically by the name of the bride or groom and include name of spouse, color, date of marriage and for marriages after 1905, sometimes date of birth. These indexes reference the book and page number of the marriage ledger in the county courthouse where the original record may be found. For some counties, there is an additional supplemental marriage index that includes information from the longer marriage application form that began to be used toward the end of the 19th century. Besides the indiviidual's name, Information in the supplemental index may include father’s given name, mother’s maiden name, gender, color, age at next birthday, date of marriage, and courthouse book and page number. The spouse's name is not listed in these supplemental indexes.

Additional published marriage index collections include:


 * Indiana Marriages, Early to 1825: A Research Tool. This index includes the name of the groom, the bride, marriage date and county and includes more than 26,000 names.


 * Indiana Source Book: Genealogical Material from the Hoosier Genealogist, This source encompasses more than just marriage records. It includes more than 175,000 indexed names.

The Genealogy Division of the Indiana State Library has microfilm indexes of Indiana marriage records from 1958 to the present. The Allen County Public Library has these microfilm indexes for 1962 to 1992.

Marriage Indexes Online

Marriages through 1850 is a statewide searchable database on the Indiana State Library's website. The database was compiled from many sources, including original records and published marriage record indexes, among them, Willard Heiss's Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy: Abstracts of the Records of the Society of Friends in Indiana (see Indiana Church Records). The inclusion of Heiss's work in this database is significant since some early Quaker marriages may not appear in civil records. The Indiana State Library's pre-1850 marriage index database includes 330,000 entries, but may not be inclusive.

FamilySearch has an ongoing project to index Indiana marriage records in partnership with the Indiana Genealogical Society. This searchable database, available at Record Search currently is 44 percent complete. The index portion covers 18 of Indiana's 92 Indiana counties (Adams, Allen, Benton, Blackford, Boone, Brown, Carroll, Decatur, Dubois, Franklin, Harrison, Henry, Huntington, Marshall, Ohio, Owen, Rush, and Sullivan). The descriptive material for the collection indicates that it also includes searchable images of records for the counties of Adams, Allen, Benton, Blackford, Boone, Brown, Carroll, Clark, Clay, Daviess, Decatur, DeKalb, Dearborn, Delaware, Dubois, Harrison, Huntington, Marshall, Ohio, Owen and Rush. The database's title is "Indiana Marriages, 1811 to 1959," however a few entries date as early as 1790.

The Indiana State Library has a searchable index for Indiana Marriages, 1993-2002.

Ancestry.com's Indiana offerings include searchable databases titled Indiana Marriage Collection, 1800-1941, Indiana Deaths, 1882-1920 and Indiana Births, 1880-1920. These databases were compiled primarily from the published WPA indexes. Ancestry.com is a subscription database, but many public libraries maintain subscriptions that their patrons may use onsite.

Vital Record Abstracts &amp; Transcripts
The Indiana State Board of Health published abstracts of post-1958 marriage records annually from 1958 to 1965. These published volumes are available at the Indiana State Library and the Allen County Public Library. The Family History Library has them for 1960 and 1964.

Transcripts of many Indiana vital records, including more than 175,000 indexed names, are published in Indiana Source Book: Genealogical Material from the Hoosier Genealogist, cited in the “For Further Reading” at the bottom of this article.

Marriage Records
Many eloping couples went to Crown Point, Lake County Indiana to be married as there was no waiting period between the time of issuing a license and the performance of the marriage. Eloping couples form Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois and Ohio were married in Crown Point, Indiana.

Marriage Indexes on Compact Disc


 * Marriage Records. [Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee]. This is not circulated to Family History Centers It was formerly called Hunting for Bears The Indiana marriage records range from 1800 to 1901 however there are not many after 1860 This record includes marriages from 51 counties and is arranged by county and Soundex code It shows names county and marriage dates


 * Marriage Records, Early–1850. (Illinois, Indiana) This is not circulated to Family History Centers It was compiled by Liahona Research The records are from about 1800 to 1850 This record includes marriages from 83 counties and is arranged by county and Soundex code It shows names county and marriage dates This disc may include records with different time periods than the disc above.

Divorces
See Indiana Divorce Records.

Substitute Records
Birth Record Substitutes

Pre-1882 Indiana Births from Secondary Sources Vols. I and II (Fort Wayne, Ind.: Heritage Pathways, Inc. 1999). Each volume includes approximately 10,0000 entries for births that took place in Indiana prior to the advent of civil birth records. This data was taken from a variety of sources, including family Bible records, Civil War pension files, private family files and genealogical periodicals.

Death Record Substitutes

Pre-1882 Indiana Deaths is a searchable database on the website of the Genealogy Center of the Allen County Public Library. This database includes nearly 5,000 death entries culled from a variety of sources, including family Bible records, Civil War pension files, private family files and genealogical periodicals.

Mortality schedules taken in conjunction with the federal census in 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880 reported deaths that occurred within the twelve months prior to the recording of the census. These mortality schedules are a substitute for death records for those individuals whose deaths occurred in the narrow time frame of the one-year period before these four census years. A free online source for some of this mortality schedule information is The Indiana Federal and State Census Record Mortality Schedules website hosted by New Horizons Genealogical Services.

As an alternative source of death information before the advent of civil death records, or as a supplement to death records, coroner's records may be useful. The Coroner’s Office was established in 1788 during the Northwest Territory period and continued under Indiana’s 1816 and 1851 Constitutions. The coroner investigated deaths whose causes were unknown or resulted from violence, and determined the cause of death. Coroner inquests were published in the local newspaper. Before 1879, few coroner’s records survived. Beginning in 1879, the coroner was required to file a report with the Clerk of the Circuit Court. Many of these records survive.

These links will take you to wiki pages describing alternate sources for birth, marriage and death records.


 * Church Records: Depending on the denomination, church records may contain information about birth, marriage and death.


 * Cemetery Records: Cemetery records are a rich source of birth and death information. These records may also reveal family relationships.


 * Census Records: Census records are a valuable source for birth and marriage information. You may also determine approximate time of death when the individual disappear from the census. This is a good place to begin a search.


 * Newspapers: Besides obituaries, local newspapers may contain birth and marriage announcements and death notices. Also check newspaper social columns for additional information.


 * Periodicals: Local genealogical and historical societies often publish periodicals which may contain abstracted early birth, marriage and death information.


 * Military Records: Military pension records can give birth, marriage and death information,  In addtion, soldiers' homes records can included this same information.


 * Probate Records: If no death record exists, probate records may be helpful in estimating when an individual has died. Probate records in the 20th Century often contain the exact death date.


 * History: Local histories, family histories and biographies can all be sources of birth, marriage and death information. Often this information is found in county-level records or in surname searches of the Family History Library catalog.

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 subject(s) and whether or not the informant was present at the time of the event can help 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 Record in the Family History Caralog by using a Place Search and then choosing Vital Records. Search for Indiana to locate records filed  by the State and then search the name of the county to locate records kept by the county.

Guide to Vital Records
You can learn more about the history, contents, and availability of Indiana state and county birth, marriage, and death records in:


 * Guide to Public Vital Statistics Records in Indiana. Indianapolis - Historical Records Survey, 1941.

This is designed to direct vital records searchers to the correct record series. It is divided into sections for births, marriages, deaths, and divorces and it is subdivided into state, county, and municipal sections. Counties are listed alphabetically, municipalities alphabetically thereunder. It describes the dates covered, number of volumes, arrangement, and fees for copies of each record.

Indiana Birth, Marriage and Death Records Online
The following is a list of online resources useful for locating Indiana Vital Records which consist of births, adoptions, marriages, divorces, and deaths. Check Indiana Vital Records Online for more information about the resources listed below. Most online resources for Indiana Vital Records are indexes. After locating a person in an index always consult the original record to confirm the information in the index.  


 * Marriages 1925 - present
 * Indiana Links from fhlfavorites.info - Free
 * Indiana State Library Family History Resources - Free
 * Indiana Databases listed on Rootsweb.com - Free
 * USGenWeb.org Indiana Site - Free
 * Search for Indiana Collections on FamilySearch Record Search under Canada, USA, and Mexico - Free
 * The Vital Records Search and Information Directory for Indiana - Free/$
 * Wee Monster Links for Indiana Birth &amp; Marriage and Death Records - Free/$
 * Linkpendium Links for Indiana Genealogy and History, including individual Counties - Free/$
 * Progenealogists Links for the United States. Press Ctrl + F on the keyboard to search for Indiana or IN - Free/$
 * Search the Indiana Birth, Marriage &amp; Death Records at Ancestry.com - $
 * Order Indiana Certificates online - $

" The first law regulating marriages in Indiana was made in 1788, and marriage licenses became mandiatory in 1800. The statutes of the Northwest Territory (time period - states included) required that (1) banns be read fifteen days before the marriage, (2) the male be seventeen years of age and (3) the female be fourteen years of age." Red Book page 200-Indiana