How Can Federal Census Records Help Supply Missing Vital Information?

Federal census records contain various bits of vital information depending on the questions the census takers asked in a particular year. For example, the 1900 census not only tells how many years a couple was married, but also if this was the first or second marriage for the couple. It also gives the month and year of birth of everyone in the census, the state or country where each was born, and the state or country where their parents were born.

As you can see, a census record can be quite helpful and can point to a marriage year and locality for those missing vital records. A subsequent lesson in this series will cover more fully federal census records and their use.