Sources checked October 24, 2026. Additional collection descriptions and dates checked November 4, 2026. Earlier valid guide content retained; date spans do not guarantee complete holdings.
Start with one connection.
Bring a person, a place, approximate years, and one question. A township, congregation, school, or employer may reveal records a surname search misses. The custodian can be outside the county.
STOP 01 / Terre HauteVigo County Public Library: marriage and obituary databases
Download the available marriage document, then read every field.
The marriage database covers 1818–1958 and provides PDF links for displayed records. The obituary index identifies newspaper, date and page for notices held on microfilm.
Research details & a question to ask
How to begin
Search bride and groom separately if needed. For obituaries, use the library’s linked copy-request form; contact Special Collections for unresolved references.
A question you can ask
Can I obtain the complete marriage document or full obituary cited by this result?
Keep in mind
The obituary index is not the obituary text. A database hit or date field needs checking against the record image or newspaper notice.
STOP 02 / Terre Haute / Wabash ValleyIndiana State University: Shadows of the Wabash
A commercial photograph may document the workplace or street.
Digital collections include the Martin Photo Shop Collection, university yearbooks, Debs and folklore material, and selected Wabash Valley Visions and Voices projects.
Research details & a question to ask
How to begin
Search the digital repository by place, business and subject. For reuse or reproduction, contact ISU Special Collections using the repository’s contact details.
A question you can ask
Does the item record identify a date, location, photographer, and original collection?
Keep in mind
This repository does not contain every former Visions and Voices collection; its introduction directs researchers to Indiana Memory for others. Photograph descriptions may not name every person.
STOP 03 / Indianapolis / county-specific holdingsIndiana State Library: Vigo County research guide
Build a record checklist before ordering copies.
Selected holdings include marriage licenses, 1818–1850; estate records from probate court boxes; will abstracts, 1818–1860; and birth/death indexes, 1882–1920.
Research details & a question to ask
How to begin
Use the county guide to identify titles and call numbers, then ask the State Library about consultation or a targeted lookup. Its linked catalog and microfilm lists are separate from the printed abstracts.
A question you can ask
Can the estate-box reference identify a complete probate packet rather than only a will?
Keep in mind
These are selected holdings and published indexes, not a promise of complete surviving records. Follow references back to the underlying record.
STOP 04 / Vigo County History CenterLocal school yearbooks, scrapbooks and ledgers beyond the library indexes
The third-floor Education and Research Center lists high-school yearbooks, city directories, scrapbooks, ledgers, photographs and maps.
Research details & a question to ask
How to begin
Contact the center with the school, town and approximate year before visiting. Request an inventory or retrieval guidance for the specific material.
A question you can ask
Which item or series covers my person, community and year, and how can I consult it?
Keep in mind
The public description gives no collection-wide dates. Do not imply all schools, years or student records survive. Museum admission and research arrangements should be confirmed.
STOP 05 / Vigo County Public Library collections via Hoosier State ChroniclesEarly Terre Haute newspapers: browse surviving issues, not only OCR
The Wabash Courier has online issues dated June 21, 1832–December 27, 1856; Terre-Haute Journal has December 6, 1850–September 22, 1854.
Research details & a question to ask
How to begin
Open the title calendar and select an issue. Search names, then browse local notices near an event date when OCR misses a surname.
A question you can ask
Which item or series covers my person, community and year, and how can I consult it?
Keep in mind
These are available-issue spans, not complete daily or weekly runs. An unsuccessful OCR search is not proof a notice was never printed.
STOP 06 / Indiana Archives and Records AdministrationVigo County African American registration book, 1853–1854
IARA describes a surviving county registration book with 32 people, registration dates, ages, birthplaces, residences and witnesses.
Research details & a question to ask
How to begin
Use IARA’s From the Vault discussion to reach the digitized registry; compare the entry with other residence evidence.
A question you can ask
Which item or series covers my person, community and year, and how can I consult it?
Keep in mind
Created under discriminatory law. Many residents did not register, so absence cannot establish that a person was not living in Vigo County. Historical racial terminology appears in the original.
STOP 07 / Indiana Archives and Records AdministrationVigo County coroner inquests: index first, original case next
IARA identifies paper inquest records dated 1879–1990 for Vigo County.
Research details & a question to ask
How to begin
Search the IARA holdings index and retain the case reference; ask Archives staff about access and copying of the underlying file.
A question you can ask
Which item or series covers my person, community and year, and how can I consult it?
Keep in mind
The paper-record span is not proof of continuous coverage or unrestricted online access. An index entry is not the full inquest.
Leave a trail another researcher can follow.
Save the repository, collection title, dates, volume, page or item identifier, link, and the date you consulted it. Follow an index to the original record when possible. Keep uncertain names and inferred relationships visibly separate from what the source states.
Return to the Indiana county map · Explore Ohio collections