7.4 Beginning to Find Vital Records
As previously stated, a good strategy for identifying vital and civil records is to start with the FamilySearch Wiki for the place the event should have taken place. Be open to the event happening somewhere unexpected but start with the best guess. If there isn’t a blue button on the wiki page, go up one jurisdiction and continue going up until there is an “Online Genealogy Records” button. Click it and search the BMD records. If the search does not yield results, go to the right-side menu and click “vital records,” “civil registration,” or “civic records” (the name of the page will vary with the place) and work through the collections and information listed there. Be sure to log each record search.
If no record is found, go to the FamilySearch “Search” menu, and click “Records,” and scroll down to “Search by Place.” Then enter the place and select the genealogy page associated with the place.
The “Search Historical Records” search box should be ignored until near the end of term when it is time to write the report. FamilySearch is so vast that results of a simple search can produce tens of thousands of records, most of which will not apply to the research at hand. This can be frustrating and overwhelming when little is known about the research family. Near the end of the project, with the knowledge gained from finding many records, it will be easier to look at those results and quickly determine which apply to the research family. It may also be a good way to check for elusive records a researcher would not have recognized before learning more about the research family.
When the search page for that place opens, there should be a list of “Indexed Historical Records” collections. The genealogist can identify which of these collections includes BMD and search those for documents about the research family. Farther down the page, researchers find the “Image Only Historical Records,” which can be used to identify ancestors. These records have not been indexed and are not easily searchable. Instead, a genealogist looks at images of documents, searching for the family. This can be very time-consuming but is often effective when done properly. Wait to look at image-only records until after searching the catalog. Image-only techniques will be taught in Chapter 8. It is good, however, to look at the list of collections and note in the research log a possibility for future research in the image-only documents if indexed records prove elusive.
The next step is to check the Catalog. Click on the FamilySearch “Search” menu and choose “Catalog.” Type the name of the search location in the place search bar and click “Search.” This will produce a list of record types that are available in the area of research. Scroll down to identify “Civil Registration,” “Civic Records,” or “Vital Records” files. Open the files to reveal the collections, determine if any might apply to the project, and search them. Remember to log all searches in the research log.
By the end of a research project, a historian should have worked through all the record types listed in the catalog for the place of interest. Having a solid, working knowledge of what records are available for the area is a valuable resource that can be called on in later projects connected to that area.
If the desired record has not been identified on FamilySearch, it is time to look at another website. Each of the “big four” websites will have similar features to the FamilySearch sections outlined in this chapter. The following chart will help with navigating them.
CHICAGO STYLE:
In quotes include the title of the document/webpage, end quotations then name of person with death date and place of census, italicized title of the website, author or sponsor of the website if known, accessed date with month spelled out followed by numerical day, year, url.1
“India, Births and Baptisms, 1786-1947,” Francis Morris Baigh born 30 October 1885 in Ranikhet, Bengal, India, FamilySearch, accessed February 2, 2025, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FG8P-VYN.
EVIDENCE EXPLAINED:
Name of church, place in parenthesis, name of collection in quotation marks, identifying information like year, volume, and page number, name of the research subject, description of event, date of event, description of database, name of the sponsor or website is next and is italicized, (url : access date); other descriptive information such as microfilm details.2
The Archdeaconry of Calcutta (Ranikhet, Bengal, India), “Ecclesiastical Returns Baptisms Marriages Burials,” 1885, volume 194, Francis Morris Baigh baptism, 10 November 1885; “India, Births and Baptisms, 1786-1947,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FG8P-VYN?lang=en : accessed 2 February 2025); FamilySearch Library Microfilm 005137415.
SENSIBLE CITATION:
In quotations state the name of the collection, end quotations then represent the name of the individual, event and date, followed by standardized date with numerical day followed by full month and year in standardized place, describe the database, identifying information that will help a researcher find that particular record, repository in italics, access date typed with the numerical date followed by the full month and the year. After completing the citation embed a link to the webpage in the section with the household name, date, and place. (Skip any information that is not found on the record)
“India, Births and Baptisms, 1786-1947,” Francis Morris Baigh born 30 October 1885 in Ranikhet, Bengal, India, online database with images, DFN 005137415, film 510877, indexing batch C75029-8, FamilySearch, accessed 2 February 2025.
CHICAGO STYLE:
In quotes include the title of the document/webpage, end quotations then name of person or people with the event and date followed by the place, italicized title of the website, author or sponsor of the website if known, accessed date with month spelled out followed by numerical day, year, url.3
“Kiribati, Vital Records, 1890-1991,” Kaititi Iotia marries Nei Tim Kantabu 4 August 1948 in Kuma, Butaritari, Kiribati, FamilySearch, accessed February 2, 2025, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSVN-Y98Q-X?view=index&action=view&cc=3756784.
EVIDENCE EXPLAINED:
In quotation marks list the name of the collection, end quotations then add a descriptor of the database (database, image-only database, database with images), name of the sponsor or website is next and is italicized, the url is then presented in parentheses, followed by “entry for” and then the name and place of census in standardized format.4
“Kiribati, Vital Records, 1890-1991,” database with images, FamilySearch, (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSVN-Y98Q-X?view=index&action=view&cc=3756784), entry for Kaititi Iotia marries Nei Tim Kantabu Kuma, Butaritari, Kiribati.
SENSIBLE CITATION:
In quotations state the name of the collection, end quotations then represent the name of the individual, event and date, followed by standardized date with numerical day followed by full month and year in standardized place, describe the database, identifying information that will help a researcher find that particular record, repository in italics, access date typed with the numerical date followed by the full month and the year. After completing the citation embed a link to the webpage in the section with the household name, date, and place. (Skip any information that is not found on the record).
“Kiribati, Vital Records, 1890-1991,” Kaititi Iotia marries Nei Tim Kantabu 4 August 1948 in Kuma, Butaritari, Kiribati, online database with images, IGN 008125494, page 1, line 14188, image 31 of 55, FamilySearch, accessed 2 February 2025.
CHICAGO STYLE:
In quotes include the title of the document/webpage, end quotations then name of person or people with the event and date followed by the place, italicized title of the website, author or sponsor of the website if known, accessed date with month spelled out followed by numerical day, year, url.5
“Belize, Civil Registration, 1881-1951,” Carlota Santi died 12 October 1925 in Cayo Belize, FamilySearch, accessed February 2, 2025, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:DLP6-ZZPZ.
EVIDENCE EXPLAINED:
In quotation marks list the name of the collection, end quotations then add a descriptor of the database (database, image-only database, database with images), name of the sponsor or website is next and is italicized, the url is then presented in parentheses, followed by “entry for” and then the name and place of census in standardized format.6
“Belize, Civil Registration, 1881-1951,” database with images, FamilySearch, (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:DLP6-ZZPZ), entry for Carlota Santi died in Cayo, Belize.
SENSIBLE CITATION:
In quotations state the name of the collection, end quotations then represent the name of the individual, event and date, followed by standardized date with numerical day followed by full month and year in standardized place, describe the database, identifying information that will help a researcher find that particular record, repository in italics, access date typed with the numerical date followed by the full month and the year. After completing the citation embed a link to the webpage in the section with the household name, date, and place. (Skip any information that is not found on the record).
“Belize, Civil Registration, 1881-195,” Carlota Santi died 12 October 1925 in Cayo, Belize, online database with images, DFN 007784547, line 76, image 202 of 421, FamilySearch, accessed 2 February 2025.