what are some good websites to find birth, marriage, divorce, criminal court records? (search, database)
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Primarily my searching is in MI since that's where my family is from. I'm looking for marriagw & divorce records, birth & death, newspaper articles, criminal court records nd documents
Court records will likely be found at the county courthouse, unless they're too old and you might find them at an archive. Vital records are normally found at the state department of health, or from the county clerk. Newspapers you might find at the library, or an online source but it depends on the specific paper.
I use familysearch.org for an online source. I've found a lot there! You can gain access to many census records but not all there. I have a link to the original census and with a little time I can find anything I need and its all free.
WV (where most of my relatives lived) has historical vital records online. This has been a big help! Other states have started to post these records as well.
Michigan has a lot of records of familysearch.org.
I am not sure if their vital statistics has a state database/website like WV does but I agree above that WV provides great resources to genealogical researchers. Ohio also has a lot of info online. They used to maintain marriage, death, and birth websites but now it is just transferred over it seems to familysearch.org.
I bounce between ancestry and familysearch. Although there are a number of other websites that can lead a researcher to records, most times all I find there are indexes - that's all well and good sometimes, but doesn't always help me prove data or confirm that I'm looking at the right person.
I've also found newspapers.com to be helpful to point me in a direction. The one issue I have with that site is that it takes a bit more time and work to sift through hits. But I did a search for a relative and found his divorce published in a court proceeding (back in the day when those kinds of things were published in the paper). Unfortunately the website is not free - one must be a member, but there is a 7-day free trial.
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