Vermont, Vital Records, 1760-1954

What is in This Collection?

This article describes multiple collections.

• "Vermont Vital Records, 1760-2008" consists of an index & images from microfilm of births, marriages and deaths. This collection includes images for the years 1955-2003, but roughly 20% of marriages missing are from 2001-2003, being all the civil unions legally performed in Vermont. These missing records are available in the Ancestry.com database.
• "Vermont Vital Records, 1760-1954" consists of an index & images (index cards) of town clerk transcriptions of births, marriages and deaths, 1760-1954. This collection is complete for years 1871-1908.

The records are handwritten on preprinted pages which have been bound into volumes. The collection consists of vital records (births, marriages, and deaths), cemetery records, and burial and removal permits. They are arranged by town, record type, then date. The content and completeness of the records varies by town.

Vital record keeping began with the earliest permanent settlement, about 1760. All original records are maintained by the town or city. The present vital registration law was enacted in 1857. This statute required all vital events be recorded in the town where they occurred. A centralized registration system was established in 1919 and copies of the town vital records was sent to the state.

This collection contains records compiled and submitted to the state by town clerks in response to the 1919 law. For events prior to that time, the information submitted was complied from a variety of sources, including original town vital records where they existed, but also church records, tombstones, and other sources. Therefore for records prior to 1919 it should not be assumed that the source is original town vital records. There is generally no indication of the source used for these records.

Additional records and/or images may be added to this collection in the future.

To Browse This Collection

What Can These Records Tell Me?

These records usually contain the following:

Collection Content

Sample Images

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  1887, 1894 Birth Records

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  1891, 1903 Marriage Records

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  1903, 1888 Death Records

Digital Folder Number List

This collection was published as a DGS browse collection. A table listing each DGS number and its contents can be found at Vermont Vital Records, 1760-1954 Digital Folder Number List.