Vital records are powerful tools to use in your ancestry research. Check with family members to see if they are in possession of any of these free ancestry records before trying to look them up in the record archives.

Here are a few of the easiest ways to find ancestors for free.

Family Bible
An old tradition that many families kept in the past was to record any family events in the big Bible that was passed down from generation to generation. Here, accounts of births, deaths, and marriages were recorded. For people who weren’t included in other recordkeeping activities, like slaves and some immigrants, it was a way to trace the history of their families.

Birth Certificates
Usually parents keep these in their possession until their children grow up. Then they pass them on to their children in the event of death. Someone in your family could have a treasure trove of records just waiting for your eyes. All births are submitted for public recording. You can always contact the local hall of records in your city or the state’s records to find a birth certificate and purchase a copy. Birth records before 1910 didn’t always contain the child’s name but only the name of the parent’s. You can use them to trace the family surname if not a specific individual.

Death certificates
When a person dies, a death certificate is kept on file. A death certificate can be used as proof to stop certain payments and services once the person is deceased. Death records after 1910 contain a lot of pertinent information not the least of which is the deceased person’s name. You can find out their family’s name, where they died, the cause of death, the deceased person’s occupation, and much more. Before 1910 the records weren’t as thorough and usually contained merely the name of the deceased and their cause of death.

Marriage certificates
Everyone who gets married files for a marriage license with their local court system. There is a lot of important information that is noted on these marriage certificates. You can find out the maiden name of the bride, the name of both the groom and bride’s parents, the wedding witnesses, and of course the date of the ceremony. Just like other vital records, before 1910 there was no mandatory recording of certain information, so a lot of what you might be looking for may be missing.