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The Development of Vital Records
The concept of
keeping vital records date back to the earliest human communities. Privileged
members of illiterate societies in the past were known to practice a memorized
recital of their family genealogy.
In
the U.S. though, keeping vital records was not taken seriously until the 20th
century.
Vital
records comprise mainly of documents that legally establish the identity and
status of an individual. A person’s vital records can be his key to several
legal rights such as voting, inheritance, getting a passport, getting married,
going to school, and entering military service.
Vital
records mainly keep track of birth, marriage, and death events as these are
considered the most critical milestones in a person’s life. Birth certificates,
marriage records, divorce records, and death certificates are just some of the
most common forms of vital records. These documents establish an individual’s
ancestry and genealogy and are commonly used to trace family roots in history.
It took two
decades however before these laws were literally implemented to have the initial
vital records (or civil registration records for countries outside U.S.
territories) compiled properly and accordingly.
Marriage
records were the first vital records to become available. And even then, the
first vitals records contained meagre information and included only the names,
birth dates, and the event that took place.
Fortunately
for us, the modern vital records today are filled with extensive information
including all the details about one’s parents, siblings, and even grandparents.
Vital records go so far as to include a person’s divorce records and
remarriages.
The
responsibility of keeping vital records is often delegated to an elected county
clerk or the state registrar. For many open-record states, getting a copy of a
person’s vital records is a breeze. There are places however that impose time
restriction periods for certain types of vital records particularly birth and
death certificates.
Time
restrictions often take several decades before letting the record out to the
public, and the quickest way to go around them is to have a valid reason for
obtaining a copy of a person’s vital records. Genealogy is a valid reason for
getting a copy of an ancestor’s vital records.
Benefits of Vital
Records
Like vital statistics
data, vital records are essential to almost all sectors of our society and can
play a major role in our life without us realizing it.
- Vital
records affect the administrative and legislative decisions of the government
which can translate to implemented laws and regulations.
- Vital
records are used for population and health-related programs of the government.
- Many
commercial and industrial companies use vital records as a basis for some of
their business decisions especially with their marketing and feasibility
studies.
- Vital
records provide useful information for demographic analyses of the population.
- Census
data utilize vital records for verification and substantiation.
- On a
personal level, vital records are necessary when claiming your right to child
support and/or inheritance.
- Vital
records are considered primary sources in the field of genealogy and can be
used to verify the data collected from secondary sources.
You can read more articles about vital
records at
RecordsSiteReviews’
Birth Records section.
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