Digging into Dixie? Alas, some old times there are forgotten—records have been lost or destroyed over the years. Because of the Civil War and the South's fondness for wooden courthouses, you'll find many "burned counties" where records have gone up in smoke. (Record keeping itself also suffered during the Civil War, with manpower in short supply and much of the actual fighting taking place in the South.)

Federal census records also have gaps. Among the missing and destroyed census records are: most of 1820 Alabama; 1790, 1800, 1810 and parts of 1820 Georgia; 1790 and 1800 Kentucky; some counties in 1790, 1810 and 1820 North Carolina; 1790,1800 and parts of 1810 and 1820 Tennessee; 1790, 1800 and parts of 1810 Virginia. The good news is that you can find state, county and even colonial censuses, as well as tax lists and other substitutes. See the state-by-state resource guides to get started with these. Also keep in mind that the bulk of the entire national 1890 census was lost to fire.

Southern states were also generally slower than the rest of the country in beginning statewide registration of births, deaths and marriages. Even then, statewide compliance sometimes took decades. Below you'll see when these records officially began and where to write for information (generally states limit access to recent vital records to family members); many other, earlier records are available at the county level. You can find more state-by-state vital records information at www.vitalrec.com. For county information, see each state's page on the USGenWeb site www.usgenweb.org/thestates.html or consult a reference such as The Handybook for Genealogists (Everton Publishers, $34.99).

State archives may house county-created vital records dating even from before the beginning of statewide registrations. The Virginia state archives, for example, has copies of all surviving birth and death records prior to 1896 plus 1853 to 1935 marriage records.

Here are the basics you'll need to know for the 11 states of the former Confederacy plus Kentucky:

State	Statehood	First mostly extant federal census	Statewide birth and death records begin	Statewide marriage records begin	Address for state vital statistics	Web site for state vital statistics information; Web site for state archives
Alabama	1819	1830	1908	1936	Alabama Vital Records, Box 5625, Montgomery, AL 36103, (334) 206-5418	www.alapubhealth. org/vital/ vitalrcd.htm; www.archives. state.al.us
Arkansas	1836	1830	1914	1917	Division of Vital Records, Arkansas Department of Health, 4815 W. Markham St., Slot 44 Little Rock, AR 72205, (501) 661-2336	www.healthy arkansas.com/ certificates/ certificates.html; www.state.ar. us/ahc/
Florida	1845	1830	1899	1927	Office of Vital Statistics, Box 210, Jacksonville, FL 32231, (904) 359-6900	www.doh.state.fl. us/planning_eval/ vital_statistics/; dlis.dos.state.fl.us/ barm/fsa.html
Georgia	1788	1820	1919	1952	Vital Records, 2600 Skyland Dr. NE, Atlanta, GA 30319 (404) 679-4701	www.ph.dhr.state. ga.us/programs/ vitalrecords/; www.sos.state. ga.us/archives
Kentucky	1792	1810	1911	1958	Office of Vital Statistics, 275 E. Main St., Frankfort, KY 40621, (502) 564-4212	publichealth.state. ky.us/vital.htm; www.kdla.state. ky.us/arch/arch.htm
Louisiana	1812	1810	1914	parish only	Vital Records Registry, Box 60630, New Orleans, LA 70160, (504) 568-5152	www.dhh.state.la. us/oph/vital/; www.sec.state.la. us/archives/ archives/archives- index.htm
Mississippi	1817	1820	1912	1926	Mississippi Vital Records, Box 1700, Jackson, MS 39215, (601) 576-7981	www.msdh.state. ms.us/phs/; www.mdah.state. ms.us
North Carolina	1789	1790	1913	1962	Vital Records Branch, 1903 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699, Raleigh, NC 27626, (919) 733-3526	www.schs.state. nc.us/SCHS/ certificates/; www.ah.dcr.state. nc.us/sections/ archives/ arch/default.htm
South Carolina	1788	1790	1915	1950	Office of Vital Records and Public Health Statistics, 2600 Bull St., Columbia, SC 29201, (803) 898-3630	none; www.state.sc. us/scdah/ homepage.htm
Tennessee	1796	1820	1914	1945	Central Services Building, First Floor, 421 Fifth Ave. N., Nashville, TN 37247, (615) 741-1763	www.state.tn.us/ health/vr/; www.state.tn.us/ sos/statelib/ tslahome.htm
Texas	1845	1850	1903	1966	Bureau of Vital Statistics, Box 12040, Austin, TX 78711, (512) 458-7111	www.tdh.state. tx.us/bvs/; www.tsl.state. tx.us
Virginia	1788	1820	1912	1853	Office of Vital Records, Box 1000, Richmond, VA 23218, (804) 662-6200	www.vdh.state.va. us/vitalrec/ F_08.htm; www.lva.lib. va.us