Accessing Tazewell County Vital Records
Vital records are the legal documents that certify the major events of a person's life: birth, marriage, and death. Vital records usually contain the full name of the involved individual(s), the date of the event, and the county, state, or town where the event took place.
Many vital records contain much more information. For example, death certificates often include where the person was buried, cause of death, occupation, and the name of the individual who reported the death.
Vital records are considered primary sources because they were recorded at the time of the event they document. They also serve as a good secondary source of other information. For instance, a death certificate is the primary source for the date and location of death but a secondary source for the date and location of birth.
As with most genealogical research, you should start with the earliest event and work back - so, in general, you would want to obtain an individual's death record, then his marriage record, and finally his birth record.
For Tazewell County, whether the vital records are stored at the state, regional, or county level (or more than one place) depends on the type and date of the desired record. The cost of obtaining the vital record can vary widely depending on the repository.
