LDS AND UTAH RECORDS ONLINE
©2017 by Donald R. Snow
This page was last updated 2017-08-16. Return to the Utah Valley Technology and
Genealogy Group Home Page or Don's
Class Listings Page .
ABSTRACT: The LDS Church has been a record keeping
Church since its beginning and a wealth of records are now
available online for anyone searching for LDS and/or Utah
ancestry. These include early membership information, vital
records from various Mormon locations, emigration records,
newspapers, county and state records, journals and diaries,
and the WPA (Works Project Administration) interviews of
Utahns during the Great Depression in the 1930s. This
presentation will show how to find and use some of these
records. The notes for this class and related articles,
all with active Internet links, are on Don's website http://uvtagg.org/classes/dons/dons-classes.html
.
INTRODUCTION
- Instructor is Donald R. Snow (snowd@math.byu.edu)
of Provo and St. George, Utah.
- These notes and other related notes and articles,
including Don's LDS
AND UTAH RECORDS: SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES are
posted on http://uvtagg.org/classes/dons/dons-classes.html
, all with active Internet links.
- Tips: (1) To put an icon on your desktop for
the URL for these notes, or any webpage, just drag the
icon in front of the address in your browser to your
desktop. (2) To open a link while keeping your
place in the original page, hold down the Control key
while clicking the link so it opens in a new tab.
- Problem for today: How to find LDS and Utah
records and sources online to document and find your relatives.
LDS RECORDS ONLINE
- Susan Easton-Black's "Membership of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints 1830-1848"-- 50 vols of LDS
and 6 vols of RLDS (now Community of Christ)
- Early
Church Membership by Susan Easton-Black --
Includes information later than 1848
- Very helpful, with much information and many sources,
but is not complete and has errors
- Searchable and downloadable as pdf's on https://books.familysearch.org
-- her Annotated
Baptisms for the Dead in Nauvoo 1840-1845 (7 vols)
and Property
Transactions Nauvoo 1839-1859 (7 vols) are also available to download on FamilySearch Books
- Available as a earchable TEXT file in the Nauvoo
Databank in selected FHCs, on FH Suite CDs, LDS
Historical Library CDs, and elsewhere -- See below
- Available as a non-searchable IMAGE file at http://www.worldvitalrecords.com/indexinfo.aspx?ix=usa_il_nauvoo_early_lds_members
at FHCs and to LDS
- Early LDS Members database from 1830 to Utah period -- http://earlylds.com
- 57,000 people, many sources and much information --
very helpful, but is not complete and has errors
- Don and Diane Snow helped produce this database
while serving in the Illinois Nauvoo Mission and have
updated it several times since
- Description of what it contains and how it was
compiled is in the database itself in Notes for Person
#1 -- search for "Intro" as Given Name
- LDS Church Historical Department -- https://history.lds.org/?lang=eng
-- many databases
- Joseph Smith Papers project -- http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/home/
-- many volumes in print and online, searchable by name
for your ancestors
- Early Mormon Missionaries 1830-1930 database -- https://history.lds.org/missionary/
-- searchable in various ways; gives ages of birth,
death, mission dates and places; constantly being
updated
- Pioneer Overland Travels -- http://history.lds.org/overlandtravels/
- See FamilySearch Wiki at
https://familysearch.org/en/Mormon_Pioneer_Overland_Travel_from_1847_to_1868
- Includes names, companies, quotes from many
documents and journals; constantly being updated --
Parentheses after names are ages at that time
- Melvin L. Bashore's "Crossing the Plains Index
Database" -- info at http://www.xmission.com/~nelsonb/resources.htm
- Selected Collections of the Church Historian's Office
- 74 DVDs produced in 2002 with 400,000 images (so
not text searchable) of personal journals,
documents, and histories from Church Historian's
Office
- Most is online now at http://churchhistorycatalog.lds.org/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do
-- see additional information at http://mormon-chronicles.blogspot.com/2012/06/church-history-library-catalog.html
- Contains the "Journal History of the Church", a
day-to-day scrapbook of information about the Church
and members -- Index
for 1830-1972 was
done on Index Cards and filmed, is
now online and images can be downloaded as pdf's,
then OCR'd to be searchable (click on View Digital
> Download as PDF) -- information about Index is
in FamilySearch Catalog at https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/52638?availability=Family%20History%20Library
-- can be linked as sources on FamilySearch Family
Tree
- Early Church Information File (ECIF) -- Wiki
article
- Card file of 1.5 million references (not the articles) to early Church
members from histories, journals, etc.; filmed on 75
rolls of microfilm in 1991; additions since are only
available in the FHL
- Filmed cards through about 1900 are now online -- https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2078505
-- can be linked as sources on FamilySearch Family
Tree
- LDS Member Autobiographies and Ancestors (1924-1929) --
FamilySearch
Catalog entry
- 4-page form that all Church members were asked to complete
in 1924-1929
- Indexed in Early Church Information File (ECIF) -- see
above
- Completed forms are on 10 microfilms (FHL
#1059454-1059463)-- not online, but available in some FHCs
- FamilySearch -- https://familysearch.org/
- FamilySearch
Catalog -- many helpful entries, search for things
like "lds california"
- FamilySearch
Books -- more than 325,000 digitized books, every-word searchable -- see also Dallan Quass's GenGophers
website for searching FamilySearch Books
- FamilySearch
Wiki -- see Tracing
LDS Ancestors , International
Genealogical Index , and LDS
Biography .
- LDS Membership Records -- click
here for Wiki article -- see more information
below
- International
Genealogical Index (IGI) has many Deceased
LDS Membership Records -- online on FamilySearch >
Search > Genealogies > IGI -- has two parts,
Community Contributed and Community Indexed -- see Wiki
articles on IGI Batch Numbers -- here
and here
.
- Ancestral
File and Pedigree
Resource Files -- online at FamilySearch >
Search > Genealogies -- may give starting points for
research
- Marvin Wiggins' "Mormons and Their Neighbors" -- https://lib.byu.edu/collections/mormons-and-their-neighbors/
-- references to more than 100,000 individuals
- Mountain West Digital Library -- http://mwdl.org/
-- portal to collections at many libraries with online
Mormon info -- Searches: "Mormon" gives more than 13,000
hits, "lds" gives more than 10,000 hits; each has many
specialized collections listed at left side of page
- Cyndi's List -- http://www.cyndislist.com/
-- Search syntax requires caps where needed, so search for
"LDS", not "lds"
- LDS-Hist: Historical Resources on the Internet - old
website now available on the Internet Archive Wayback
Machine -- LDS-Hist
- LDS Immigration
- Mormon Migration project at BYU Center For Family
History and Genealogy -- http://mormonmigration.lib.byu.edu/ --
LDS companies of converts immigrating to America --
includes names, companies, ships, dates of immigration,
and quotes from documents and journals of fellow
passengers; constantly being updated -- search brings up
passenger name, as well as quotations from documents and
journals mentioning him or her; earlier version was
produced on CD and sold at LDS Church Distribution
Centers
- FamilySearch Wiki article on LDS immigration -- http://familysearch.org/wiki/en/LDS_Emigration_and_Immigration
- Trails of Hope: Overland Diaries and Letters, 1846-1869
-- journals and letters in BYU Library -- http://overlandtrails.lib.byu.edu/
-- completely searchable for any names
- Early LDS periodicals online -- see Don's "LDS and Utah
Supplementary Notes" on http://uvtagg.org/classes/dons/dons-classes.html
- Bill Smith's collection of journals, diaries, and early
writings -- http://www.boap.org/LDS/Early-Saints/
-- completely searchable
- BYU Digital Collections -- books, newspapers,
photographs, and much more -- http://lib.byu.edu/collections/?q=tag:digital
- BYU Idaho Family History Center -- http://abish.byui.edu/specialCollections/
-- personal histories, photographs, vital records indices,
Idaho history, and Western States Marriage Index (see
below)
- Utah State University Collection -- Mormon Diaries,
1820-1936 -- http://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv27203
-- WPA (Works Project Administration of U.S. Government
during the Depression) collection of diaries, journals,
and interviews of early Mormons
- Two electronic LDS digital items of interest not
online
- Nauvoo Databank -- in a few FHCs; parts are online;
see Don's Class Notes about Nauvoo Databank at http://uvtagg.org/classes/dons/dons-classes.html
- LDS FH Suite CDs -- https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/LDS_Family_History_Suite
-- old CDs, but with much data; details on Don's
Supplementary Notes
UTAH RECORDS ONLINE
- Mountain West Digital Library (mentioned above) -- http://mwdl.org/ -- portal
to collections at many libraries with Mormon
information online -- search for
"utah" gives more than 305,000 hits with specialized
collections listed at left side of page
- Utah Digital Newspaper collection 1850s-1950s -- http://digitalnewspapers.org
-- goal is to post all Utah newspapers online in pdf
searchable format; already has hundreds of pages
- FamilySearch Wiki articles on Utah -- https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Utah
and https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Utah_Vital_Records
-- Helpful info about online databases
- Linkpendium for Utah -- http://www.linkpendium.com/genealogy/USA/UT/
-- 6,300 links
- USGenWeb project - Utah -- http://www.rootsweb.com/~utgenweb/
- Genealogylinks.net -- http://www.kindredtrails.com/utah.html
- FamilyHistory.com (Ancestry.com) -- http://www.familyhistory.com/state.asp?state=UT
- Ancestry.com -- http://www.ancestry.com/search/locality/dbpage.aspx?i=d&tp=2&p=47
- Utah Vital Records information, application forms,
costs, addresses, etc. -- https://secure.utah.gov/vitalrecords/
- Older vital records at Utah History Research Center, Rio
Grande Building, SLC -- Utah State Archives and Utah State
Historical Society -- http://historyresearch.utah.gov
- County clerks and record offices for Utah counties -- http://www.vitalrec.com/utcounties.html
- Utah births
- Mostly recorded by counties; many available at FHL
and in the State Bureau of Vital Records
- Search Utah
Births and Christenings, 1892-1941 on
FamilySearch Historical Records and Learn
More
- Utah
Birth Certificates (FamilySearch Historical Records)
1903-1910
- Utah marriages
- Search Utah
Marriages 1887-1966 on FamilySearch Historical
Records and Learn
More
- Most Utah marriage records are recorded by counties,
so check counties, State Bureau of Vital Records, and
Utah State Archives
- Index of newspaper references for marriages and
deaths from the Deseret News Weekly from 1852-1888 on
Utah GenWeb -- http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~utsaltla/archive/obit_DeseretNews_1850s.html
and the Deseret News Semi-Weekly from 1865-1900 -- http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~utsaltla/archive/obit_DeseretNewsSW.html
- BYU-I Western States Marriage Record Index -- http://abish.byui.edu/specialCollections/westernStates/search.cfm
-- Project to index all western states marriages
- Early
Washington County Marriage Index 1862-1919 by
Wesley W. Craig
- Utah deaths and burials
- Search Utah
Death Certificates, 1904-1956 on FamilySearch
Historical Records -- slider changes size of image of
certificate -- Learn
More
- Additional info and also searchable at http://historyresearch.utah.gov/inventories/81448.html
-- type in name at http://historyresearch.utah.gov/indexes/index.html
and see if name is in the Death Certifcate database
- Search Utah
Deaths and Burials, 1888-1946 on FamilySearch
Historical Records and Learn
More
- Utah Burials Index from Utah State Historical
Society -- http://heritage.utah.gov/history/cemeteries
- Index of newspaper references for marriages and
deaths from the Deseret News Weekly from 1852-1888 --
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~utsaltla/archive/obit_DeseretNews_1850s.html
and the Deseret News Semi-Weekly from 1865-1900 -- http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~utsaltla/archive/obit_DeseretNewsSW.html
- Online Utah Death Records and Indexes -- http://deathindexes.com/utah/index.html
- Washington County cemeteries -- http://www.utahcemeteries.org
- For Idaho deaths the BYU-I FHC will find and copy
death certificates for free -- http://abish.byui.edu/specialCollections/index.cfm
- Utah State Archives and Utah State History Research
Center, Rio Grande Building, SLC -- http://historyresearch.utah.gov
-- Utah State Historical Society -- http://history.utah.gov/
-- and Utah State Archives -- http://archives.utah.gov/index.html
-- has many records of courts, civil, naturalization, land
- Deseret News Archive -- http://www.deseretnews.com/daily-index/
and http://onlinelibrary.utah.gov/news/deseret.html
- Washington County Utah WPA Manuscripts -- http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~utwashin/wpa/index.html
-- many interesting interviews -- Also see collection and
history of Mormon Diaries in Utah State University Special
Collections (link above in Mormon section)
- Utah Photo Collections
- Utah State Historical Society Photo Collection -- http://mwdl.org/collections/1038.php
- BYU Harold B. Lee Library Photo Collection -- http://www.lib.byu.edu/dlib/historic_photos/
- Google Images -- http://www.google.com/imghp?hl=en&tab=wi
-- search by name, e.g. Erastus Snow, or St. George
Utah; or search Google for utah+photos+people
CONCLUSIONS
- Many more LDS and Utah resources and links are on Don's
FH Class notes page under Supplementary Notes -- http://uvtagg.org/classes/dons/dons-classes.html
.
- Search Google and other search engines for LDS, Utah,
LDS indexes, Utah indexes, etc., to find more.
- These resources "turn your heart to your fathers" as you
check, verify, and find new information about your LDS and
Utah ancestors.
Return to the Utah
Valley Technology and Genealogy Group (UVTAGG) Home Page
or Don
Snow's FH Class Notes Page .