The cdcs national center for health statistics web site tells how to obtain birth death marriage and divorce records from state and territorial agencies nara related resources information collected in census records may help you to find which jurisdiction you will want to look for vital records in for instance if you find your ancestors state of birth and approximate year of birth are reported in the census you can then contact that local jurisdiction regarding their . To use this valuable tool you must first determine the state or area where the birth death marriage or divorce occurred then click on that state or area please follow the provided application guidelines to ensure an accurate response to your request the federal government does not distribute certificates files or indexes with identifying information for vital records applications for . The website for each states vital records office has mail in application forms some allow in person phone or fax requests with online requests through vitalchek requests for divorce record copies must be made to the clerk of the specific courthouse where the divorce was granted usually a civil or district courthouse many marriage and divorce records are available online as are indexes of these records. In general vital records werent kept in the united states until the early 1900s vital records usually contain the full name of the individual involved in the event the date of the event and the county state or town where the event took place many vital records contain much more information for example birth records usually have the parents full names the name of the baby the date of the birth and county where the birth took place marriage records often record the names and