Vermont genealogy records

From town books to the state registry

Since 1779 Vermont town clerks have been required to record all births, marriages, and deaths in their towns, but the state did not record vital events until 1857. Act No. 63 of 1856 created the Vermont Registry of Births, Marriages and Deaths, and from 1857 town clerks sent the Secretary of State yearly lists of the events in their towns, which were bound by year and town. Divorce returns were added to the state registry by an act of 1898.

Reporting tightened over time. From 1902 returns went to the State Board of Health twice a year, and an act of 1908 required town clerks to send certified copies of all births, marriages, and deaths every month. In 1908 the Secretary of State was also authorized to create a card index, but not every town complied with the laws, and the state registry was considered incomplete.

To fill the gaps, Act No. 92 of 1919 required town clerks to transcribe in full the birth, marriage, and death records held by the town and by churches, along with gravestone inscriptions for people who died before 1870, and to send the cards to the Secretary of State. The requirement was repeated in 1921.

Where the records are now

In 2008 the volumes of vital events reported to the Secretary of State from 1857 to 1968 were accessioned into the Vermont State Archives, while records from 1909 and later came back under the legal control of the Department of Health.

Since July 1, 2019, under Act 46 of 2017, all birth and death records from January 1, 1909 on are available only through the Department of Health's Statewide Registry System, which is the official record. The original source records in town clerk offices and the state registry can still be used for informational research. The Department of Health, town clerks, and VSARA can all issue certified and noncertified copies from that system.

Free copies and how to order

Copies of some Vermont birth, marriage, and death records from 1760 to 2008 are online through FamilySearch, free with an account, and Ancestry, which Vermont residents can use for free after a zip code and location check. These online copies cannot be used for legal purposes and do not show corrections or amendments made after 2008. The Department of Health also offers a searchable index to birth and death records from 1909 on.

From the Department of Health, noncertified copies are free and certified copies cost 10 dollars each, plus a 2 dollar fee if ordered online (as of 2026). Only family members, legal guardians, certain court-appointed parties, or their legal representatives can apply for a certified copy of a birth or death certificate. Town clerks can issue copies of any birth or death certificate from January 1, 1909 on, and earlier ones filed in their office.

VSARA itself issues certified copies of Vermont marriage, civil union, and divorce records from 2013 and earlier, at 10 dollars per certification as of 2026.

Census records

Vermont became a state on March 4, 1791, so the first federal census there was taken in 1791 instead of 1790. Its 1791 schedules survive and were published in 1907 in the Heads of Families series.

Most of the 1890 federal census was destroyed after a fire in January 1921, but the special 1890 schedules of Union Civil War veterans and their widows survive for Vermont.

Land and other town records

All Vermont land records are recorded and kept at the local level, mainly by the clerk of the town where the property is. For land records and early vital records, contact the town clerk directly.

In the VSARA reference room, researchers can use self-service microfilm of some original town clerk volumes. Depending on the town, these may include land, vital, proprietors', town meeting, cemetery, and church records, with a card index to what is on film. Some town records are also digitized on FamilySearch. VSARA cannot answer requests for town records, even those it holds on microfilm.

Courts and probate

The State Archives holds civil, criminal, chancery, and probate court records from many Vermont courts, mostly from before 1945. Many more court records are still in courthouses around the state, and different courts heard different kinds of cases over time, so VSARA encourages researchers to contact the Archives to find where a record is most likely to be.