Sources for NC Vital Records |  Ancestry Databases | Other Sources | Finding Newspapers

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Sources for NC Vital Records

 

North Carolina State Archives

Detailed information about holdings may be found in the Guide to Research Materials in the North Carolina State Archives: County Records.

Holdings include:

• Death Certificates, 1913-1975 [Statewide Index: 1913-1979]
• microfilmed Indexes to Births and Deaths [except Wake, Durham]
• Marriage Bonds, 1741-1868 [not required by law]
• Cohabitation Records, 1866-1867
• microfilmed Marriage Registers and Indexes • microfilmed Marriage Licenses for many of the counties
  

County Register of Deeds Offices - Most house birth and death records and marriage licenses for their counties. For contact information for Register of Deeds for specific counties, see the
North Carolina Directory of State and County Officials (from the NC Secretary of State's website). Some North Carolina county Registers of Deeds are making their birth/death/marriage records available online. NC MOSAIC provides a portal to NC Register of Deeds and other sites of interest in genealogy researchers.

Select County Register of Deeds:

• Wake County. Birth and Death records in Register of Deeds.
• Durham County. Birth and Death records relocated July 2007 to Register of Deeds.
• Mecklenburg County. Register of Deeds provides certified copies of recorded birth and death records. Mecklenburg Vital Statistics Office records all birth and death documents and also issues certified copies.
  Search online: http://meckrod.manatron.com Deaths 1991 to present; Births 1913 to present.

North Carolina Vital Records (NC Department of Health and Human Services)

• Should NOT be the first choice source for genealogical information. Try the aforementioned places first, if possible.
• $24.00 for 5-year search (whether or not a certificate is located) and one certificate copy; $15.00 for each additional copy
• Expedited service available for an additional fee.

Ancestry Databases

North Carolina Birth, Marriage & Death Databases are available through Ancestry.com subscribers or free at libraries that provide access to Ancestry Library Edition. Included are:

• North Carolina Birth Index, 1800-2000 – Includes Delayed Birth registrations extending back into 18th century; these require documentary proof of birthdate or age, birthplace, and parentage from other records and must identify contemporary owner of family Bible if presented for proof. Durham, Wake, Forsyth, and Dare counties are not covered.
• North Carolina Death Collection, 1908-2004 – Index; some entries include Index Images from microfilm copies of county death indexes.
• North Carolina Death Certificates, 1909-1975 – Images of certificates, including stillborn and fetal deaths.
• North Carolina Marriage Bonds, 1741-1868 – Index; bonds were not required by law.
  
• North Carolina Marriage Collection, 1741-2004 – Index, some images. Not all counties are yet included.
  
• North Carolina Divorce Index, 1958-2004

Other Sources (All States)

• Kemp, Thomas Jay. International Vital Records Handbook. 5th ed. (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2009).
• Social Security Death Index via Family Search (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints)
• Vitalrec.com: U.S. birth certificates, death records, and marriage licenses
• Online Searchable Death Indexes & Records
• VitalChek– order official vital records through the Internet.

Finding Newspapers

Below are a few resources that may be helpful to determine what newspapers were published in specific counties during specific years. They may also help determine what may have survived and is available to researchers today.

• Guide to Newspapers on Microfilm in the North Carolina State Archives
• Online catalog for the Government & Heritage Library at the State Library of North Carolina.
  Search the Catalog by "Title" if the newspaper title is known, or by "Newspapers by County" or "Newspapers by City" in the Advanced Search if only the location and time period is known.

For information about microfilm of newspapers held by other institutions:

• U. S. Library of Congress. Newspapers in Microform: United States, 1948-1983. 2 vols. (Washington: The Library, 1984).
• U.S. Library of Congress. Newspaper Directory.

Helpful Websites for the Genealogist:

• “Skillbuilding: Using Newspapers Effectively” - Board for Certification of Genealogists
• “Using Newspapers for Genealogical Research” - State Historical Society of Missouri