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| West Virginia Vital Records |
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Vital Registration, Division of Health,
350 Capitol St, Rm 165,
Charleston, WV 25301-3701;
(304) 558-2931
Info: (304) 558-2931,
Fax: (304) 558-1051. Make check or money order payable to Vital Registration. Delivery Time is 4-6 weeks by mail or you can reciebve the certificates in as little as 2-5 days by ordering on line through Vital Chek Services
- Birth and Death Records are availible since January 1917, Cost are $10.
For earlier records, write to Clerk of County Court in county where
event occurred.
- Marriage Records are availible since 1921, Cost are $10.
Since all but five of West Virginia's counties were formed before 20 June 1863 when Congress officially admitted it as a sovereign state, counties in existence prior to statehood were governed by the same laws as other Virginia counties, including the requirement to register births and marriages in 1853. While Virginia counties stopped recording births and deaths in 1896, West Virginia continued to do so until about 1900. Some county records extend beyond 1900. Statewide registration began 1 January 1917, although fire destroyed many 1917–21 records.
Early records, 1853 to 1900, have been microfilmed and are available at the Archives and History Library in Charleston (see Archives, Libraries, and Societies), the Virginia State Library (see Virginia), and the FHL. Certified copies of records from 1 January 1917 are available for a fee from West Virginia State Health Department, Division of Vital Statistics, Charleston, West Virginia 25305. The office accepts Visa or MasterCard charges as payment for requests made by phone. There is an additional fee including postal costs for this service. The Archives and History Library in Charleston has death certificates for 1917 to 1951 and delayed birth records from the 1880s to 1916.
Early Virginia law required church officials to record all marriages in registers. Most of the registers compiled in response to that law have not survived. Ministers were not required to forward a copy of the marriage entry to civil authorities until 1780. That requirement ended in 1853 when state law required county clerks to issue marriage licenses and keep marriage registers. Before a license was issued, the parties to be married had to fill out a form with the following information: full names, ages, places of birth and residence, proposed marriage date and place, marital status (widowed or single), parents' names, groom's occupation, and minister's name. After the marriage was performed, the minister returned the information to the clerk who recorded it in a marriage register with the date of the ceremony.
The FHL has filmed all early West Virginia county marriage records. Some early marriage records have been published and may be found in genealogical and local libraries with substantial genealogy collections. The West Virginia Division of Vital Statistics has marriage records from 1 January 1964, but a centralized index dates back to 1921. Send requests and fees to the address listed above.
County circuit court divorce records can be obtained from the clerk of the court at the county seat.
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Most early birth records contain very little biographical information. Typical early New England town and church records, for example, give little information beyond the name of the child, date and place of birth, and parents’ names. Some localities listed only the name of the father.
While early birth records can be discouragingly lacking in information, by the mid-nineteenth century birth records in the United States began to include more information. Even though births were not widely recorded during the early years of America’s existence, the records that do exist may be the only source of a birth date for an individual and should always be consulted.
Delayed births are also important vital registrations that you should consider for obtaining biographical information. When Social Security benefits were instituted in 1937, individuals claiming benefits had to document their birth even if the state of their birth did not require registration when they were born. Individuals who were not registered with state or county agencies at the time of their birth often applied for a delayed birth registration. Obtaining passports, insurance, and other benefits also required proof of age.
Applications were accompanied with full name, address, and date and place of birth; father’s name, race, and place of birth; and evidence to support the facts presented. The evidence could be in the form of a baptismal certificate, Bible record, school record, affidavit from the attending physician or midwife, application for an insurance policy, birth certificate of a child, or an affidavit from a person having definite knowledge of the facts. Delayed birth records are usually filed and indexed separately from regular birth registrations, and it may be necessary to request a separate search for them.
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Because of the importance of the legal distribution and control of property, most states and counties began to record marriages before births and deaths. The recording of a marriage is a two-step process. Traditionally, couples apply for a license to marry, and the applications are usually filed loose among other applications or in bound volumes. Marriage returns are filed once the marriage has taken place. The latter document is the proof of a marriage (not the license application).
Marriage applications are often filled out by both the bride and groom and typically contain a significant amount of genealogical information. They may list full names of the bride and groom, their residences, races, ages, dates and places of birth, previous marriages, occupations, and their parents’ names, places of birth, and occupations.
Marriage certificates are issued by counties after the marriage ceremony is completed, and these are usually found among family items. While the certificates tend to have less biographical data than the application, the name of the individual officiating at the wedding may lead you to religious records by revealing the denomination. The religious records, in turn, may reveal the names of witnesses and other useful information.
Early American records sometimes include marriage bonds, which served as a protection for the future children of the marriage. A bond obligated a prospective groom to pay the bond if he were discovered to be a bigamist or imposter or otherwise ineligible to contract a valid marriage. As long as the marriage was legal, the bond was void. Bonds generally include the groom’s name, name of the surety, the sum, and the date of the agreement.
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Early death records in the United States provide little more than the name of the deceased, the date of death, and the place of death. Obituaries and cemetery, court, and other records often provide more information about the deceased than do most official death records created before the last quarter of the 1800s.
By 1900 death records included more details. They often include the name of the deceased; date, place, and cause of death; age at the time of death; place of birth; parents’ names; occupation; name of spouse; name of the person giving the information; the informant’s relationship to the deceased; the name and address of the funeral director; and the place of burial. Race is listed in some records, and modern death certificates generally include a Social Security number.
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