Ancestry.com Adds More Than 50 Million New Birth, Marriage and Death Records Expanding the Largest Searchable U.S. Vital Reco...
October 27 2011 - 7:00AM
Marketwired
Ancestry.com (NASDAQ: ACOM), the world's
largest online family history resource, today announced it has
added 53 new historical vital record collections to its nearly half
billion U.S. vital records, the largest searchable online
collection of its kind. The foundation of family history research,
civil vital records -- recordings of births, marriages and deaths
-- were typically created at or near the time of the event and
serve as an essential resource for the millions of Americans who
are beginning or continuing their family history research. The new
additions encompass 23 states, include more than 50 million
historical records dating from the 1600s (some of the oldest U.S.
records available) through to 2010 and have been made available
through partnerships with state and local archives, county offices
and newspapers. Many notable Americans can be found in the
collections, including John Wayne, Ernest Hemingway, Clark Gable,
Spencer Tracy, Judy Garland and many more.
Interesting facts presented by these records include John
Wayne's birth name as Marion Robert Morrison, changed to the
legendary stage name when he began working in Hollywood. "Gone with
the Wind" star Clark Gable hailed from the small village of Cadiz,
Ohio according to the Ohio Births and Christening Index
(1800-1962). The Minnesota Birth and Christening Records
(1840-1980) show that "The Wizard of Oz" star Judy Garland's given
birth name was Frances Gumm.
These new vital record collections are available to all current
Ancestry.com subscribers and can be found at
www.ancestry.com/vitals. As always, Ancestry.com is free of charge
for 14 days to all new users.
Vital records contain a wide variety of valuable information.
Birth records can include information about baptisms and
christenings, as well as birth certificates and registers. Marriage
records tend to be the oldest vital records and can include consent
affidavits - typically for individuals under legal age,
declarations of intent, banns, bonds, contracts, licenses,
certificates, registers and returns. Death records may include
death certificates, burial records, cemetery records, and other
documents such as probate records, court minutes, and coroner's
records.
Traditionally, vital records in the U.S. have been created and
maintained locally by multiple entities -- churches, town clerks,
justices of the peace and others. With no single source for
information, research has previously been time intensive, requiring
countless hours and travel to make and confirm discoveries.
With the digitization of millions of these valuable records,
Ancestry.com has simplified the process to a click of a mouse and
keyboard. Interest and curiosity in family history research is
growing rapidly, evidenced by a recent Harris Interactive survey
that revealed four in five Americans are interested in learning
about their family history and three out of four claiming that
knowing their family history is important to them.(1)
"Vital records are among the most valuable genealogical
resources for proving or disproving other sources, giving a more
complete picture of ancestors, helping distinguish between
different people with the same names and finding clues about
earlier life events," said Tennessee Secretary of State Tre
Hargett, whose office oversees the Tennessee State Library and
Archives. "By compiling such a massive collection, spanning not
only different locales, but centuries of essential information,
Ancestry.com is making it possible for anyone to learn more about
family history."
Some of the new vital record collections now available on
Ancestry.com date well back into the 17th Century including:
- Connecticut, Deaths and Burials,
1650-1934: Town clerks began recording births, marriages and
deaths by 1650. These records are derived from microfilmed records
of deaths and burials. This collection includes legendary names
such as P.T. Barnum of circus fame and dictionary pioneer Noah
Webster.
- Maryland, Births and Christenings,
1662-1911: This collection is extracted from more than 200,000
Maryland birth, baptism, and christening records sourced from
church, civil and family records. This collection includes the
birth of John Hanson, President of early America's Continental
Congress.
- New Hampshire, Death and Burial Records,
1654-1949: New Hampshire's earliest records were in the
mid-1600s, though laws requiring a statewide compilation of records
were not passed until 1866.
- New Hampshire, Marriage Records,
1637-1947: Records in this collection are derived from
certificates of intention of marriage and certificates of marriage
for more recent years.
- New Jersey, Births and Christenings,
1660-1931: This collection is comprised of more than 2.3
million birth, baptism, and christening records. Information found
here may include name, gender, race and birthplace.
"The United States possesses a unique history and vital records
offer an accurate, in-depth look into the lives of individuals,
families and the nation as a whole," said Josh Hanna, Executive
Vice President, Ancestry.com. "Ancestry.com
is committed to the continued expansion of our vital record
collections and increasing the breadth of information for all
Americans looking to learn more about their past."
About Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com)
Ancestry.com Inc. (NASDAQ: ACOM) is the world's largest online
family history resource, with more than 1.7 million paying
subscribers. More than 7 billion records have been added to the
site in the past 15 years. Ancestry users have created more than 28
million family trees containing over 2.8 billion profiles.
Ancestry.com has local Web sites directed at nine countries that
help people discover, preserve and share their family history,
including its flagship Web site at www.ancestry.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that
involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those anticipated by these forward-looking
statements. Such risks and uncertainties include our continuing
ability to acquire, digitize and make desired content conveniently
available to our subscribers as well as our ability to keep
licensed content available after any finite license for that
content expires. Information concerning additional factors that
could cause events or results to differ materially from those
projected in the forward-looking statements is contained under the
caption "Risk Factors" in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the
period ended June 30, 2011, and in discussions in other of our SEC
filings. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon
as representing our views as of any subsequent date and we assume
no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking
statements.
(1) This survey was conducted online within the United States by
Harris Interactive via its QuickQuery omnibus product on behalf of
Ancestry.com from August 5-9, 2011 among 2,950 adults ages 18 and
older. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and
therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be
calculated.
Add to Digg Bookmark with del.icio.us Add to Newsvine
Media Contact: John Paolo Canton Ancestry.com 415-744-1795
jpcanton@ancestry.com
Ancestry.Com Inc. (MM) (NASDAQ:ACOM)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2024 to Jun 2024
Ancestry.Com Inc. (MM) (NASDAQ:ACOM)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2023 to Jun 2024