Vital Records

To request a copy of birth, death, marriage or divorce records, please go to the Texas Dept. of Vital Statistics by clicking on their name (will open in a new window).

You can request a copy via the link above or you can go to the local registrar's office. You will find the addresses below:

City of Carthage
Local Registrar
P O Box 400
Carthage TX 75633
Phone 903-693-3868 Ext 21
Fax     903-693-3882
Precinct 2, 3
Justice of the Peace Pct 2
County Courthouse Rm 103
Carthage TX 75633
Phone 903-693-0378
Fax     903-693-0368
Precinct 1, 4
Justice of the Peace
Panola County Courthouse
Carthage TX 75633
Phone 903-693-0375

** Note about Birth Records Prior to 1930:

Birth records are very fragmentary in Panola Co until the 1930's.  Even then, a lot of births went unreported as the babies were born at home without the assistance of a doctor.

Searching for a delayed birth certificate is a labor intensive project. Since you have no way of knowing what year they would have applied for a delayed certificate, you have to go through the big, heavy ledgers one by one, searching each index for the name.  If you are lucky enough to find one, they contain a lot of information, such as the address of the applicant at the time of application plus the names, addresses and relationship of two witnesses who swear that the birth information is correct.

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