Elizabeth is correct.  I think if one peruses the index cards to death certificates at http://mdvitalrec.net/cfm/dsp_seriesunit.cfm?qu=SE&sr=7&tp=d&src=co&it=cards, one can see that compliance for Worcester, Wicomico and Somerset doesn't begin meeting reasonable expectations until about 1912.  Folks on the lower Shore have always been resistant to change, particularly "guvmint" imposed, as edicts such as this usually have an associated fee (read: tax), currently $25 for each official copy.  One of my greatgrandfathers died in Somerset County in 1913 and does not have a death certificate.  His obit reported he had a lingering illness and I've always wondered what that was as by the time I found the obit anyone who may have known about the nature of the illness was long deceased.  Another greatgrandfather died in 1918 and has no death certificate but his wife, who died in 1909, does. My father was born in 1903 and did not have a birth certificate.  By the time he needed one, I recall he said he was enlisting in the Navy for WWII; fortunately the midwife who assisted the doctor was still alive and provided an affidavit as to his year of birth. Becky M ________________________________ From: "EMSCRS@aol.com" <EMSCRS@aol.com> To: lower-delmarva-roots@rootsweb.com Sent: Friday, January 16, 2009 2:32:43 PM Subject: Re: [LDR] Worcester Co., MD death certificates Theoretically, the state of Maryland began recording vital statistics in 1898.  I cannot speak to the level of compliance. Elizabeth