Oklahoma Vital Records

From Rootsweb
Jump to: navigation, search

This entry was originally written by Wendy Bebout Elliott Ph.D., FUGA for Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources.

This article is part of
Oklahoma sil.png
the Oklahoma Family History Research series.
History of Oklahoma
Oklahoma Vital Records
Census Records for Oklahoma
Background Sources for Oklahoma
Oklahoma Maps
Oklahoma Land Records
Oklahoma Probate Records
Oklahoma Court Records
Oklahoma Tax Records
Oklahoma Cemetery Records
Oklahoma Church Records
Oklahoma Military Records
Oklahoma Periodicals, Newspapers, and Manuscript Collections
Oklahoma Archives, Libraries, and Societies
Ethnic Groups of Oklahoma
Oklahoma County Resources
Map of Oklahoma


Statewide recording of births and deaths began in October 1908, although compliance was incomplete for several years in most counties and for as much as two decades or longer in others. Registration was mandated in 1917, but it was another decade before 90 percent compliance was attained. Although county clerks record births and deaths and provide information on request, certificates are available only from the Vital Records Section, State Department of Health, 1000 N.E. Tenth St., P.O. Box 53551, Oklahoma City, OK 73152 www.health.state.ok.us/program/vital/brec.html. Purpose and relationship statements are required. Early birth certificates contain much less information than those recorded currently.

Since statehood, marriage and divorce records are maintained by the clerk of the court in the county in which the license was issued or divorce granted. Some marriage records are also available at the county level for Oklahoma Territory before statehood. Some of these have been published, such as Frances Murphy Bode, Oklahoma Territory Weddings (Geary, Okla.: Blaine County People and Places, Pioneer Book Committee, 1983), based on newspaper notices and county records for Blaine, Caddo, and Kingfisher counties. Numerous publications for marriage records are included in Laura Martin, Oklahoma Marriages: A Bibliography (Oklahoma City: Library Resources Division, 1996).

Tribal records at the Oklahoma Historical Society (see Oklahoma Archives, Libraries, and Societies) contain some earlier birth records in relationship to land allotments (see Oklahoma Land Records) as well as death records. Children of mixed marriages may be included in the births.

Some Native American and county vital records have been published by individuals and organizations. Several examples follow:

Ashton, Sharron Standifer. Indians and Intruders. 5 vols. Norman, Okla.: Ashton Books, 1996'2002. These publications include birth, marriage, and death records as well as numerous other abstracted records.

Bogle, Dixie. Cherokee Nation Births and Deaths, 1884'1901. Utica, Ky.: Cook and McDowell Publishers, 1980. Available at the Family History Library (FHL) in Salt Lake City as well as numerous other libraries.

Oklahoma Genealogical Society. Index to Marriage Records, Oklahoma County, O. T., 1889 to 1907. Oklahoma City: Oklahoma Genealogical Society, 1993.

Talkington, N. Dale. Birth and Death Notices in Oklahoma and Indian Territories from 1871. Houston, Tex.: the author, 1999. Abstracts of nearly 2000 records.

Tiffee, Ellen, and Gloryann Hankins Young. Oklahoma Marriage Records, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory. 10 vols. Norman, Okla.: University of Oklahoma Press, 1969'78. Individually indexed, the data was abstracted from U.S. court records, second division for the period 1890 to 1907. Area covered includes today's counties of McCurtain, Latimer, Hughes (part), LeFlore, Bryan (part), Pittsburg, Choctaw, Atoka, Haskell, Pushmataha, and Coal (part). This set is available at the FHL as well as numerous other libraries.

Some marriage records for the Five Civilized Tribes and some other tribes are also at the Oklahoma Historical Society. Others are at the National Archives-Southwest Region (see page 12). Nonnative settlers whose marriages were recorded in U.S. Federal District Court records for Indian Territory are included. Marriage records (June 1890'1907) in Indian Territory may be located in the office of the court clerk in either Muskogee or Pittsburg counties. After 1895, marriage records may be found in county court clerk offices in Carter or Craig. Still others may be found in Atoka, Bryan, Latimore, and LeFlore counties. Creek County marriages may have been recorded in the cities of Bristow, Drumright, Sapulpa, or Muskogee, the latter now in Muskogee County. There is no centralized index for these marriages.

Some indexes to marriage records are available online, such as those in the Chickasaw Nation at www.chickasawhistory.com/m_index.htm; and more than 2000 marriage notices taken from newspapers (1898'1906) for Old Greer County, Oklahoma Territory (today's Greer, Harmon, and Jackson counties) at okgenweb.org/~okgreer/olgrmarr.html.

Map County County Address Date Formed Parent County(ies) Recording District Birth Marriage Death Land Probate Court
K3 Adair P.O. Box 169 Stilwell 74960-0169 1907 Cherokee Nation Recording Dist. #6 1908 1907 1908 1907 1907 1907
F2 Alfalfa 300 S. Grand Cherokee 73728 1907 Woods 1908 1894 1908 1895 1892 1982
J5 Atoka 201 E. Court Atoka 74525 1907 Choctaw Nation 1908 1892 1908 1907 1897 1913
C1 Beaver P.O. Box 237 Beaver 73932-0237 1890 original 1908 1890 1908 1891 1890 1880
D4 Beckham P.O. Box 67 Sayre 73662-0067 1907 Roger Mills/Greer 1908 1907 1908 1900 1907 1895
F3 Blaine P.O. Box 138 Watonga 73772-0138 1892 original 1908 1892 1908 1893 1892 1887
H6 Bryan 402 W. Evergreen Durant 74701 1907 Choctaw Nation Recording Dist. # 25 1908 1902 1908 1903 1902 1902
F4 Caddo P.O. Box 68 Anadarko 73005-0068 1901 original 1908 1901 1908 1902 1891 1901
F3 Canadian P.O. Box 458 El Reno 73036-0458 1889 original 1908 1890 1908 1890 1890 1890
G5 Carter 1st and B St. SW/P.O. Box 1236 Ardmore 73402-1236 1907 Chickasaw Nation 1930 1895 1930 1907 1908 1895
K3 Cherokee 213 W. Delaware Tahlequah 74464 1907 Cherokee Nation Recording Dist. #6 1908 1907 1908 1906 1907 1907
J6 Choctaw 300 E. Duke Hugo 74743 1907 Choctaw Nation 1908 1907 1908 1907 1907 1907
A1 Cimarron P.O. Box 145 Boise City 73933-0145 1907 Beaver 1908 1908 1908 1904 1908 1908
G4 Cleveland 201 S. Jones Norman 73069 1889 unassigned lands 1908 1867 1893 1890 1889 1891
H5 Coal 4 N. Main St. Coalgate 74538 1907 Tobucksy County of Cherokee Nation 1908 1907 1908 1904 1907 1907
F5 Comanche 315 SW 5th St. Lawton 73501 1901 Kiowa/Comanche/Apache lands Witcha-Caddo lands 1906 1901 1906 1893 1901 1901
F5 Cotton 201 N. Broadway St. Walters 73572 1912 Comanche 1917 1912 1918 1912 1912 1912
K1 Craig 301 W. Canadian Vinita 74301 1907 Cherokee Nation Recording Dist. #3 1908 1902 1908 1907 1895 1907
H3 Creek 371 E. Lee Sapulpa 74067 1907 Creek Nation Recording Dists. #8 and #9 1908 1907 1908 1898 1907 1917
E3 Custer P.O. Box 300 Arapaho 73620-0300 1892 Cheyenne/Arapaho lands 1908 1894 1908 1899 1895 1896
Day 1892 (abolished 1907; now Ellis County area) Cheyenne/Arapaho lands
K2 Delaware P.O. Box 309 Jay 74346-0309 1907 Cherokee Nation 1908 1911 1908 1905 1867 1868
E3 Dewey P.O. Box 268 Taloga 73667-0268 1892 Cheyenne/Arapaho 1908 1893 1908 1892 1894 1894
D3 Ellis 100 S. Washington/P.O. Box 197 Arnett 73832-0197 1907 Day/Woodward 1908 1892 1908 1889 1893 1900
F2 Garfield 114 W. Broadway Enid 73701 1893 Cherokee Outlet 1908 1893 1908 1893 1894 1907
G5 Garvin P.O. Box 926 Pauls Valley 73075-0926 1907 Chickasaw Nation Recording Dist. #17 1908 1907 1908 1906 1907 1893
F4 Grady 4th and Choctaw Ave. P.O. Box 1009 Chickasha 73018-1009 1907 Caddo/Comanche/Chickasaw Nation 1908 1907 1908 1903 1907 1907
F2 Grant P.O. Box 167 Medford 73759-0167 1893 Cherokee Outlet 1908 1893 1908 1893 1893 1893
D4 Greer P.O. Box 2077 Mangum 73554-2077 (organized by Texas, 1886;became part of Oklahoma,1896) 1912 1901 1912 1886 1901 1886
D5 Harmon 114 W. Hollis Hollis 73550 1909 Greer 1909 1909 1909 1909 1909 1909
D1 Harper P.O. Box 369 Buffalo 73834-0369 1907 Woodward 1908 1907 1908 1900 1907 1903
K4 Haskell 202 E. Main St. Stigler 74462 1907 Choctaw Nation Recording Dists. #12 and #14 1908 1907 1908 1905 1907 1909
H4 Hughes 200 N. Broadway Holdenville 74848 1907 Creek Nation 1908 1907 1908 1907 1907 1907
D5 Jackson P.O. Box 515 Altus 73521-0515 1907 Greer 1908 1907 1908 1898 1907 1907
F6 Jefferson 220 N. Main St. Waurika 73573 1907 Comanche County/Chickasaw Nation 1908 1907 1908 1907 1907 1907
H5 Johnston 403 W. Main Tishomingo 73460 1907 Chickasaw Nation Recording Dist. #22 1908 1907 1908 1907 1907 1907
G1 Kay P.O. Box 450 Newkirk 74647-0450 1895 Cherokee Outlet 1908 1893 1908 1893 1893 1893
F3 Kingfisher 100 S. Main/P.O. Box 118 Kingfisher 73750 1890 original 1908 1900 1908 1890 1900 1896
E4 Kiowa P.O. Box 73 Hobart 73651-0073 1901 Kiowa/Comanche/Apache/Caddo/Wichita 1908 1901 1908 1901 1901 1901
K4 Latimer 109 N. Central St. Wilburton 74578 1902 Choctaw Nation 1908 1907 1908 1890 1906 1923
K4 Le Flore P.O. Box 218 Poteau 74953-0218 1907 Choctaw Nation Recording Dist. #14 1908 1897 1908 1908 1908 1908
H3 Lincoln P.O. Box 126 Chandler 74834-0126 1891 Iowa/PottawatomieShawnee/Sac-Fox lands 1908 1891 1900 1891 1893 1891
G3 Logan 301 E. Harrison Guthrie 73044 1889 original 1908 1890 1908 1894 1890 1890
G6 Love 405 W. Main St. Marietta 73448 1907 Chickasaw Nation 1908 1907 1908 1903 1907 1907
Lovely 1827
By Arkansas Legislature. Abolished 1828.
F2 Major E. Broadway/P.O. Box 379 Fairview 73737-0379 1907 Woods 1908 1907 1908 1894 1894 1894
H6 Marshall Rm. 101 Madill 73446 1907 Chickasaw Nation Recording Dist. #22 1908 1907 1908 1907 1905 1907
K2 Mayes P.O. Box 97 Pryor 74361-0097 1907 Cherokee Nation 1908 1902 1908 1903 1907 1907
G4 McClain P.O. Box 629 Purcell 73080-0629 1907 Chickasaw Nation Recording Dist. #18 1908 1895 1883 1903 1895 1895
K6 McCurtain P.O. Box 1078 Idabel 74745-1078 1907 Choctaw Nation Recording Dist. #24 1908 1907 1908 1907 1917 1907
J4 McIntosh P.O. Box 110 Eufaula 74432-110 1907 Creek Nation 1905 1907 1905 1907 1907 1907
G5 Murray P.O. Box 442 Sulphur 73086-0442 1907 Chickasaw Nation 1908 1907 1908 1906 1907 1907
K3 Muskogee P.O. Box 1008 Muskogee 74401-1008 1907 Creek Nation 1908 1907 1908 1913 1907 1907
G2 Noble 300 Courthouse Dr./P.O. Box 409 Perry 73077-0409 1893 Cherokee Outlet 1908 1893 1908 1893 1893 1893
J1 Nowata 229 N. Maple St. Nowata 74048 1907 Cherokee Nation Recording Dist. #3 1908 1907 1908 1909 1908 1907
H3 Okfuskee P.O. Box 108 Okemah 74859-0108 1907 Creek Nation 1909 1907 1909 1907 1907 1907
G3 Oklahoma 320 N.W. Robert S. Kerr Oklahoma City 73102 1890 original 1908 1889 1908 1889 1890 1890
J3 Okmulgee P.O. Box 904 Okmulgee 74447-0904 1907 Creek Nation 1908 1907 1908 1907 1907 1907
H2 Osage P.O. Box 87 Pawhuska 74056-0087 1907 Osage Nation 1908 1907 1908 1906 1907 1897
K1 Ottawa 102 E. Central Miami 74354 1907 Cherokee Nation Recording Dists. #1 and #2 1908 1907 1908 1895 1907 1907
H2 Pawnee 500 Harrison Pawnee 74058 1892 Cherokee Outlet/Pawnee Nation 1908 1897 1908 1894 1897 1897
G3 Payne 6th and Husband St./P.O. Box 7 Stillwater 74074-007 1890 Cherokee Outlet/unassigned lands 1876 1894 1876 1884 1889 1895
J4 Pittsburg 115 E. Carl Albert Pkwy. McAlester 74501 1907 Choctaw Nation 1908 1890 1908 1907 1893 1901
H5 Pontotoc 13th and Broadway P.O. Box 1425 Ada 74820-1425 1907 Chickasaw Nation 1908 1907 1908 1906 1906 1907
H4 Pottawatomie 325 N. Broadway Shawnee 74801 1891 Pottawatomie-Shawnee Nations 1908 1892 1908 1895 1892 1892
K5 Pushmataha 302 SW B St. Antlers 74523 1907 Choctaw Nation Recording Dist. #24 1917 1907 1917 1907 1904 1905
D3 Roger Mills P.O. Box 708 Cheyenne 73628-0708 1892 Cheyenne-Arapaho Nations 1908 1893 1908 1892 1907 1894
J2 Rogers 219 S. Missouri/P.O. Box 1210 Claremore 74018-1210 1907 Cherokee Nation 1915 1907 1915 1907 1909 1907
H4 Seminole P.O. Box 1180 Wewoka 74884-1180 1907 Seminole Nation Recording Dist. #13 1908 1907 1908 pre-1907 1909 1915
K3 Sequoyah 120 E. Chickasaw St. Sallisaw 74955 1907 Cherokee Nation Recording Dist. #11 1908 1907 1908 1907 1907 1907
F5 Stephens 101 S. 11th St. Duncan 73533 1907 Comanche County/Chickasaw Nation 1908 1907 1908 1907 1917 1907
B1 Texas P.O. Box 197 Guymon 73942-0197 1907 Beaver 1908 1907 1908 1882 1907 1907
E5 Tillman P.O. Box 992 Frederick 73542-0992 1907 Kiowa Terr./Comanche counties 1917 1907 1917 1902 1907 1908
J3 Tulsa 500 S. Denver Ave. Tulsa 74103 1907 Creek/Cherokee Nations 1908 1907 1908 1907 1907 1907
J3 Wagoner 307 E. Cherokee/P.O. Box 156 Wagoner 74467-0156 1908 Cherokee Nation 1908 1907 1908 1906 1907 1907
J1 Washington 420 S. Johnstone Ave. Bartlesville 74003 1907 Cherokee Nation 1908 1907 1908 1900 1907 1907
E4 Washita P.O. Box 380 Cordell 73632-0380 1892 Cheyenne-Arapaho Nations 1908 1892 1908 1907 1903 1892
E2 Woods P.O. Box 386 Alva 73717-0386 1893 Cherokee Outlet 1908 1893 1908 1893 1893 1893
E2 Woodward 1600 Main St. Woodward 73801 1893 Cherokee Outlet 1908 1893 1908 1893 1894 1893

FamilySearch.org has a variety of collections available for free online:

External Links


Retrieved from "http://mw-1085123956.us-east-1.elb.amazonaws.com/wiki/index.php?title=Oklahoma_Vital_Records&oldid=49255"