Oregon genealogy records

Births and deaths

The Center for Health Statistics has kept permanent records of major life events, such as births and deaths, since 1903. The State Archives holds statewide birth certificates from 1903 to 1919, death certificates from 1903 to 1969, a microfilm death index for 1903 to 2008, and delayed birth certificates from 1842 to 1918. At the beginning of 2026, the State Archives opened birth certificates for 1925 and death certificates for 1975.

For earlier years, start with the City of Portland records: a birth register from 1864 to 1900, death records from 1862 to 1902 on microfilm, and a death register from 1881 to 1917. Portland births from 1881 to 1902 and deaths from 1881 to 1917 can be searched in the Oregon Historical Records Index. Some counties also have birth and death registers at the State Archives, for example Yamhill births from 1871 to 1915 and Umatilla deaths from 1907 to 1929, while other counties have none.

Access rules, as of 2026: birth records, including indexes, are restricted for 100 years, and death certificates for 50 years. The State Archives will not release restricted information without written authorization from the State Registrar, and records with that restriction are marked with an asterisk in its listings. You can view the open records free at the State Archives, or send the name, the date of the event, and the city and county, and staff will search and send copies for a fee.

Ordering from Oregon Vital Records

Birth certificates less than 100 years old, and death, marriage, and divorce records less than 50 years old, come from the Oregon Health Authority. For these restricted records you must prove you are legally eligible, show identification, and be at least 18 (15 for your own birth certificate). As of 2026, a mail order costs $25 for the search and first certificate and $25 for each additional copy; online and phone orders through VitalChek add vendor and expedite fees. If you do not know the date of a death, marriage, or divorce, the $25 covers a five-year search.

Marriages and divorces

Marriages were recorded by the counties first. The State Archives holds county marriage records for many counties, such as Linn County marriage certificates from 1850 to 1873 and a Multnomah County marriage license index and record from 1855 to 1947, plus published transcriptions for others. Benton, Clackamas, Clatsop, Linn, Yamhill, and other counties can be searched in part in the Oregon Historical Records Index.

Statewide, the State Archives holds marriage returns from 1906 to 1969, a marriage index for 1906 to 1924 and 1946 to 2008, and divorce returns from 1925 to 1969. Marriage returns are worth ordering: they include details such as the number of times married, place of birth, and occupation that the marriage certificates do not. The State Archives also holds circuit court divorce case files or indexes for many counties, some starting in the 1850s.

Census records

Oregon has censuses older than the state. Elijah White, Oregon's Superintendent of Indian Affairs, took the first census in the Oregon Country in 1842, the Provisional Government ordered another in 1845, and territorial and state censuses followed for many counties into the 1850s and later, the last on the State Archives list in 1905. Some are listed as abstracts rather than full rolls, so check the listing before you search. Some 1905 county censuses also include military enrollment.

Federal census data for Oregon begin in 1850. The State Archives has the federal population schedules for 1850 to 1930 on microfilm, the mortality schedules for 1850 to 1880, which list people who died in the 12 months before the census and sometimes the cause, and the 1890 schedules of Union veterans and widows. Oregon Territory was organized on August 14, 1848, and Oregon became a state on February 14, 1859.

Donation land claims and homesteads

Under an 1850 act, certain settlers in Oregon Territory, which then included Washington, could claim 160 to 640 acres, depending on marital status and date of settlement, if they lived on the land and cultivated it for 4 years. The notification of settlement describes the land by township and range or by natural features (metes and bounds). The files are kept by land office (Oregon City, Roseburg, and The Dalles) in two series, one for completed and one for incomplete or cancelled claims. A completed file can include an affidavit of settlement with the date and place of birth and, if married, the marriage, plus proof of citizenship for naturalized settlers and the donation certificate.

Homestead entry papers run from 1863 to June 30, 1908. Under the Homestead Act of 1862, a claimant generally had to build a home, live on the land for 5 years, and cultivate it. A completed file includes the application, the homestead proof with testimony from two witnesses, the final certificate, and sometimes a copy of naturalization papers or a Union veteran's discharge. Search patents on the Bureau of Land Management's General Land Office website, and ask the National Archives for case files. The State Archives also holds provisional government land claim records from 1845 and county deeds and tax rolls.

Naturalization and court records

In the 1800s and much of the 1900s, county courts and circuit courts heard naturalization cases, so records are at the State Archives or with the county clerk or trial court administrator. Naturalization papers can be scattered through county court journals, circuit court case files, probate records, and clerk's miscellaneous records, so use indexes where they exist.