Oklahoma Genealogy Records

Many people today are interested in learning more about their past and their ancestors. As a result Genealogy is one of the most common terms in search engines on the World Wide Web. For those who are new to the world of Genealogy, there are many ways one can find information regarding their ancestors. Some of the most common forms of public records used for genealogy are: For Birth Records In Oklahoma, birth records are under the jurisdiction of the Vital Records Service and possess birth records that date back to 1908. However, many of the records from before 1940 are not as complete as they could be. For Death Records The state of Oklahoma began collecting death records in 1908, but these records weren't mandatory until 1917. Furthermore, because death records weren't required for as many legal functions in the past, much of the records from before 1940 are somewhat sketchy. For Obituaries Locating Oklahoma obituaries online is easy. There are several major websites currently online that have catalogued old listings for you to browse, and many of these sites are updated weekly and contain listings that go right up to present day. You can begin your Oklahoma obituary records search with the Pushmataha County USGenWeb site. This site features listings from 1940 all the way up to today and is made up mostly of listings from the Antlers American newspaper. The Enid Public Library also has a sizeable number of listings online that anyone can view. These obits are dated from the last few decades and have been cobbled together from newspapers in the area. The Latimer County Historical and Genealogical Society has put together quite a collection of old obits, too. Their collection starts in 1904 and goes until 1980, with an incomplete listing from 1981 to 2003. Check back often as this site is constantly being updated. One final place you can look is the website for the Muskogee County Genealogical Society. They have listings from 1918 all the way up to today, and according to those folks who run the site, it is complete for the whole area. For Marriages Oklahoma marriage records are only stored on the county level and there are no standard age at which Oklahoma marriage records begin and no general procedure that applies everywhere. Most Oklahoma marriage records can be retrieved by sending requests to the Clerk of Court in the county where the marriage occurred.