Vital Records on Footnote (now Fold3)

Hi there,

Footnote has started adding vital records to the database holdings. These databases have the actual certificate image. Right now there are only three vital records databases:

Cuyahoga County Birth Returns (OH) 1871-1908 - mostly for the City of Cleveland. 100% complete.

Texas Births, 1903-1910; 1926-1929. 51% complete.

Texas Deaths 1890-1976. 64% complete.

So while the Texas databases are only about half completed right now, in the future they will be fully available. This means that there is an alternative for those of you that do not like logging into a FamilySearch account.

To access the vital records, go to the Footnote mainpage available through the HPL website. Click on BROWSE, which is right next to the main search box. Then scroll to VITAL RECORDS and click on it. All three databases will then appear. Select either TEXAS BIRTHS or TEXAS DEATHS. All the counties then show up alphabetically to choose from. However, in the top right corner there is an option to SEARCH WITHIN. Upon selecting this, a search box will appear for you to type in the name that you are searching.

Just a word of caution, the search feature in Footnote is not as precise as that in FamilySearch. Sometimes you will not retreive the certificate if the name is not spelled correctly or if it includes the middle name. When this happens, try searching by last name only or go the Texas Deaths Index in ancestry. The search feature in FamilySearch is still better at finding round about spellings, middle names, and parents.