Rootsweb.com had the Births, deaths, marriages, and divorce vital records indexes of both Texas and California on line for several months and then took them off. I believe that Ancestry.com may have had something to do with this. Data Bases on Rootsweb have traditionally been free on the internet. Ancestry on the other hand requires you to join them and pay for what they have on line. Ancestry.com apparently became the owners of Rootsweb.com shortly before the vital indexes were removed and I have heard that Ancestry will sell CD of the vitals. For years the Texas State Archives and Library have had the birth and death records on mico-film which are available to the public at all major Libraries throught Texas. The Thexas State Archives has these indexes in hard back volume opened to researched at the Archives. The Clayton Library in Houston also has these same books. Marriage records have always been opened to the public at the county courthouses where the marriage licenses were issued. Some county clerks also will allow researched at the courthouses to look through the birth and death indexes as well as the actual certificates. The divorce records were something new as far as I know and I believe if anything other then Ancestry greed had any thing to do with rootsweb removal of the vitals was complaint about the divorce records from indiviuals not wanting this information to be so readily available. Yes every genealogist and family researcher should hound Rootsweb and Ancestry to open these vital data bases back up. Apparently the State of Texas sold them the originals so it must be Rootsweb and Ancestry and not the States of Texas and California that has removed them. It roots web and Ancestry will not put these data bases back on line, everyone who believes they should should cancell their membership with Ancestry and/or Rootsweb, boycot there products, and all aspects of their sites including their message boards and mailing list and let them know why you are doing this. Money speaks. James R. Rasco