Vital Records

Since 1779, town clerks in Vermont have been mandated to record all births, deaths and marriages that occurred in their towns. Vital events were not recorded at the state level until 1857. Act No. 63 of 1856 created the Vermont Vital Registry System, which required town clerks to compile lists of the vital events that occurred in their respective towns during the course of a year starting in 1857.

Vital records (2008 and earlier) in the state registry, which is maintained by the Vermont Department of Health, are available online. These records are also available on microfilm, which can be inspected and copied by those doing on-site research in the Reference Room at the Vermont State Archives and Records Administration. There are no restrictions on public access to these Vermont vital records.

A Searchable Birth/Death Index in the state registry is provided by the Department of Health.

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Both certified copies and informational copies of vital records can be obtained by visiting the Vermont State Archives and Records Administration building in Middlesex. Microfilmed copies of vital records are available for researchers to use through our Reference Room.

Certified copies of vital records may be requested online or by mail; the online request form is for certified copies only. All requests, whether received by the online form or by mail, are processed within five (5) to 10 business days.

Family Search Vital Records

Vermont birth, marriage, and death records in the Vermont Vital Registry System from 1760 to 2003 are available through FamilySearch.org. Any individual can research and print records at no cost from this site and FamilySearch accounts are free. 

• Vermont, Births and Christenings, 1765-1908 - Name index to birth, baptism and christening records from the state of Vermont. Microfilm copies of these records are available at the Family History Library and FamilySearch Centers. Due to privacy laws, recent records may not be displayed. The year range represents most of the records. A few records may be earlier or later.
• Vermont, Deaths and Burials, 1871-1965 - Name index to death and burial records from the state of Vermont. Microfilm copies of these records are available at the Family History Library and Family History Centers. Due to privacy laws, recent records may not be displayed. The year range represents most of the records. A few records may be earlier or later.
• Vermont, Marriages, 1791-1974 - Name index to marriage records from the state of Vermont. Microfilm copies of these records are available at the Family History Library and Family History Centers. Due to privacy laws, recent records may not be displayed. The year range represents most of the records. A few records may be earlier or later.
• Vermont, Vital Records, 1760-1954  - Name index and images (index cards) of town clerk transcriptions of births, marriages and deaths, 1760-1954. This collection is complete for years 1871-1908. Indexing continues on records outside this year range and will be added to the collection as they are completed.
• Vermont, Vital Records, 1760-2008 Name index and images from microfilm of births, marriages and deaths. This collection includes images for the years 1955-2003. The records for 1955-1979 are arranged alphabetically. Index and images courtesy of Ancestry.com and the Vermont State Archives.
• Vermont, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1732-2005  Vital and town records acquired from local town clerk offices.
• Vermont, Town Records, 1850-2005  Images of Vermont vital records from various counties and towns. Currently includes only records from the following counties: Bennington, Caledonia, Chittenden, Essex, Franklin, Grand Isle, Lamoille, Orange, Orleans, and Washington. NOTE: Addison County is not currently available (2020)

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Ancestry.com Vital Records

Vermont birth, marriage, and death records from 1760-2008 are available through Ancestry.com. Vermont vital records are available online for free to Vermont residents through the MyVermont.gov state portal. MyVermont.gov accounts are free and can be created by visiting https://secure.vermont.gov/myvermont. Once logged in, the link to Ancestry.com will appear to Vermont residents. Ancestry does require all users to create a free, no-cost Ancestry.com account to access Vermont vital records. We recommend creating your free account and logging into Ancestry.com before logging into MyVermont.gov. Issues with MyVermont.gov accounts should be reported to the Vermont Information Consortium, which manages the state portal.

• Vermont Marriage Records, 1909-2008
• Vermont Birth Records, 1909-2008
• Vermont Death Records, 1909-2008
• Vermont Marriage Index, 1981-1984 and 1989-2001 

Vermont Town Clerks

The recording by town clerks of all marriages, births, and deaths was enacted into Vermont law in 1779. In 1857, the Vermont Legislature enacted legislation requiring town clerks to file lists, and later copies, of vital events recorded in their respective offices with the State; however, the state registry is not complete, particularly for pre-1909 records. Those conducting research for a family that resided in one particular town, or requesting earlier Vermont vital records, are encouraged to also contact the town clerk of the town where the vital event took place.

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Things to Remember

IMPORTANT: The Index to Vermont Vital Records, 1760-1954 (familysearch.org or microfilmed index cards) should NOT be thought of as complete – there are towns with records which may not be included and records within towns which did not apparently make it to the index.

For example, if you are searching for the birth records of 6 children, you may only find one of them in the Vermont Vital Records, 1760-1954, but the town record books may contain all 6. Ditto for marriage and death records. It is helpful to be aware of this, because it means that just because a name/record does not appear in the index, this does not mean that the record is not in the town book. It may still be helpful to request a possible vital record from the appropriate town clerk. (It is recommended to contact the individual clerks for current fees and instructions.)

Contact the town clerk’s office of the town where the vital event took place. The recording of all marriages, births and deaths by town clerks was enacted into Vermont law in 1799. Duplication at the state level was not required until 1857.

• Vital Records Request Service
• State of Vermont Department of Buildings & General Services  
  Middlesex Complex  Reference & Research  
  Location:  1078 US Route 2, Middlesex, VT  
  Mailing Address:  US Route 2, Middlesex, Drawer 33, Montpelier, VT 05633-7601  
  Phone: (802) 828-3286
• Vermont State Archives  located at the Redstone building in Montpelier, Vermont. State Archivist, Greg Sanford, may be contacted at E-mail: gsanford@sec.state.vt.us for details.   
  Office of the Secretary of State
  Street address: 26 Terrace Street -  Montpelier, VT,  
  Phone: (802) 828-2397     
  Mailing address: 109 State Street - Montpelier, VT 05609-1103

Probate Records

Addison Probate Court: Information   
7 Mahady Court - Middlebury, VT 05753; 
Phone: 802-388-7741

Note:  Previously, there was a New Haven District which was set off from the Addison District in 1824.  It was recombined with the Addison District in 1962.  A courthouse fire, on February 25, 1852, burned probate records leaving only fragments of those in the Addison District.  The New Haven District probate records were not among the damaged records.