Family Group Records Collection

The Family Group Records Collection provides microfilmed copies of about 8 million family group records created by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The collection can help you survey research done previously by others, saving you time and giving you valuable information. While you should not assume the information to be completely accurate, you can use the information and sources provided on the family group records to guide you to original records. The collection is divided into two sections, the Archive Section and the Patrons Section.

Archive Section

This section of the Family Group Records Collection contains five million family group records submitted by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints between 1942 and 1969. The Archive Section of the Family Group Records Collection was previously available to the public in binders marked with pink labels on the spines. Unfortunately, patrons removed some of the records before microfilming could be completed. The records are now available to the public only on microfilm.

Collection/ Submission Years	Notes	Films
Main Collection 1942-1969	The family group records are arranged alphabetically by the husband's surname, then given name, and then by the date of birth/christening. In 1993 the microfilms in the Archive Section were checked against the original family group records and it was found that 18,000 sheets were not microfilmed. The missing sheets were photocopied and then microfilmed as an addendum to the collection.	1,998 microfilm reels, beginning with 1273501 and the addendum starts on film 1750758.
Oriental Collection 1930-1979	Family group records for some countries or non-Roman languages were either not included in the Main Collection, or were updated after the main collection was filmed. These additional collections were later filmed separately. This collection is arranged alphabetically by husband's romanized name, then by birth date. Most records are for persons living from ca. 1100-1979 A.D.	33 microfilm reels, beginning with Japanese on 795724, Chinese on 795844, Korean on 795847.
Greece and miscellaneous countries 1942-1982	Family group records for some countries or non-Roman languages were either not included in the Main Collection, or were updated after the main collection was filmed. These additional collections were later filmed separately. This collection is arranged alphabetically, by husband's name when known, and by wife's name when name of husband is unknown. Within this arrangement, records of different people with the same name are arranged by birthdate.	3 microfilm reels, with miscellaneous countries beginning on 1281096 and Greece on 1281098.

In the Archive Section, an asterisk (*) next to the name of the husband, wife, their parents, or their children indicates that this individual appears on another Archive Section family group record. An asterisk next to the name of a child's spouse indicates another spouse is specified on the back of the record.

Patrons Section

Three million family group records were submitted to the Patrons Section between 1926-1979. The purpose was to share genealogical information and identify others working on the same lines. Each collection has some names that cannot be found in other filmings. The family group records often included a brief list of the sources used to compile the record. Sometimes the sources specify old film numbers or book numbers used by the Family History Library. Some records also included biographical histories for the family members listed on the form. In many instances several records have been submitted for the same family unit. Comparison of these records will sometimes reveal discrepancies. The collection binders have been removed from circulation so these records are available only on microfilm.

The 1924 Collection

The 1924- collection has been filmed twice, once after 1950 and again after 1962. This collection should not be confused with the "1924-1942 : unalphabetized" collection.

Submission Years	Notes	Films
1924-1950	Records pertain primarily to persons living from ca. 1700-1962. Contains some records for persons living as far back as 600 A.D. Records arranged in approximate alphabetical order. Surnames spelled differently but pronounced the same are often interfiled; some records filed out of alphabetical order. Records for some surnames are incomplete or missing. This filming is difficult to read. The 1924-1962 filming includes most of these records and is more legible.	824 microfilm reels, beginning with 260872
1924-1962	Records are arranged alphabetically by husband's name when known, and by wife's name when name of husband is unknown. If there is more than one record with the same filing name then they are arranged by birth/christening date. Some records were filmed slightly out of order. This filming includes most of the records from the 1924-1950 filming and is more legible.	614 microfilm reels, beginning with 412088

The 1962 Collection

The 1962- collection resulted from the Three- and Four-Generation Programs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In 1965 the Church asked members to submit family group records for three generations of their family. By the end of 1966, about 20% of members had participated. In 1966 the Church extended the request to four generations plus a pedigree chart. Submissions made after 1 July 1979 were added to Ancestral File rather than the Family Group Records Collection.

The 1962- collection has also been filmed twice. The 1962-1977 filming is arranged alphabetically and the 1962-1979 filming is arranged by submission year. The collection was previously available to the public in binders marked with yellow labels on the spines.

Submission Years	Notes	Films
1962-1977	Arranged alphabetically by husband's name when known, and by wife's name when name of husband is unknown. If there is more than one record with the same filing name then they are arranged by birth/christening date. Filming was done in two groups. Surnames "A" to "Kelsey" were filmed first and occupy rolls 1558711 through 1558961. The filming was stopped when it was discovered that Ancestral File contained information for 80 percent of the sheets. Surnames "Kelsey" to "Z" were filmed in 2003-2004 on rolls 2368889, 2369005.	596 microfilm reels, beginning with 1558711
1962-1979	Arranged by submission year, then by husband's name (or wife's name if husband is unknown), and then by birth date (or christening date if birth is unknown). Years 1962-1965 were interfiled. Subsequent years are grouped by individual year. Records that were submitted during 1978 and 1979 are included in this filming, but not the 1962-1977 filming.	1165 microfilm reels, beginning with 428056

Miscellaneous Collections

The patrons section also contains a number of small, miscellaneous collections.

Name	Notes	Films
Miscellaneous Collection	These family group records are sometimes referred to as supplementary family group records. They were submitted to the Genealogical Society for filing only.	41 microfilm reels, beginning with 284729
Amor and related families	Miscellaneous family group records of the Amor, Wall (Whale) and related families of Wiltshire and elsewhere in England.	1 microfilm reel, FHL film 284734
Central States Mission temple record book	Records pertain to people living from ca. 1770 onward, primarily in the southern and midwestern United States.	1 microfilm reel, FHL film 284747
Doty, Doten and related families	Three surname groupings, Doty, Doten, and allied families (including Pack); then arranged alphabetically. Most individuals lived from about 1700-1930 and resided in New England or the midwest. Allied families are incomplete starting with S.	8 microfilm reels, beginning with FHL film 284776
Greene and related families	Submitted by the Pack family. Arranged by record number,regardless of surname. Most individuals lived from about 1700-1930 and resided in New England or the midwest.	8 microfilm reels, starting with FHL film 284784
Hayes and related families	Information in these records was taken from volume 2 of John Hayes, A Book of His Family by Katharine F. Richmond (1866-). Prepared by Don Reay, Fillmore, Utah.	1 microfilm reel, FHL film 284798
Hull and related families	Thomas Hull was born in County Antrim, Ireland in 1805, and moved to Scotland where the family became Mormons. They emigrated to the United States in 1854 and to Utah in 1859. Includes biographies of Hull family members compiled by Margretta Hull Rallison. submitted by Wealthy Hull, Salt Lake City, Utah.	1 microfilm reel, FHL film 284757
Isaksen and related families of Royken, Buskerud, Norway	Includes records for persons living from about 1670 onward. Submitted by Annetta Isaksen.	1 microfilm reel, FHL film 284760
Ives and related families	Arranged by record number, regardless of surname. Most individuals lived from about 1700-1930 and resided in New England or the midwest. Submitted by the Pack family.	3 microfilm reels, beginning with FHL film 284792
Morgan and related families	The Morgan family of Gloucestershire, England, primarily in the 1700's. Submitted by R. W. Morgan, Lawndale, California.	1 microfilm reel, FHL film 284769
Niederer and related families	Niederer family group records of Lutzenberg, St. Gallen, Switzerland, copied from Julius Billeter's records by Elizabeth F. Peterson, Manti, Utah.--1950, surnames Furguson-Fyt (partial duplicate copy of film 261135).	1 microfilm reel, FHL film 284775
Parker and related families	Includes family group records, biographical sketches, etc. for the Parker, Agee, Ross, Daniel and related families of Sevier County, Utah and elsewhere, gathered by Ella Parker Ogden, Salt Lake City, Utah.	2 microfilm reels, FHL films 284795-6
Reynolds and related families of Roanoke Co., Virginia	Submitted by Ethel Marr Adair, Sparks, Nevada.	1 microfilm reel, FHL film 284730
Schweizer and related families	Includes Boosinger, Schweizer and related families of Switzerland and elsewhere. Submitted by John M. Bossinger, Albion, Idaho.	1 microfilm reel, FHL film 284743
Smith, Denney, Berrett and related families of Utah and Idaho	Submitted by Mrs. Ruth Berrett, Murray, Utah.	1 microfilm reel, FHL film 284742
Taylor and related families	The Taylor, Ostler and related families of Salt Lake City, Utah and elsewhere. Indexed in the [Early Church Information file]. Submitted by Anne T. Irving, West Jordan, Utah.	1 microfilm reel, FHL film 284759
Tongan Mission and Groveland, Idaho Ward	Persons in records lived primarily from ca. 1800 onward.	1 microfilm reel, FHL film 284768

One final collection in the patrons section is the "1924-1942 : unalphabetized" collection. It is cataloged under "patron section" instead of "patrons section." This collection should not be confused with the alphabetized, 1924- collection.

Name	Notes	Films
1924-1942 : unalphabetized	Family group records filmed in the order received; no alphabetical or geographical arrangement. "Probably the very first collection of family group records. These forms had spaces to record families on the frot and back of the sheet — therefore they are called the Form 2 collection. Because of this condition, it was not possible to alphabetize the sheets."	1030 microfilm reels, beginning with 685000

Converting Old Microfilm Numbers to New Numbers

The data sources listed on some of these family group records often include old book and film numbers. There have been a number of old book and film numbers used by the Family History Library over the years to identify and label its book and microfilm collections. When microfilming began, a combination of letters and numbers was used to number the films. Later, a system of serial numbers with part numbers was used. Finally, a straight numbering system was used beginning with film number 000001. Each time, the existing films were renumbered. Today there are more than 2,400,000 microfilms in the library's collection.

In order to find a source on film, you may need to convert an old film number to a new film number. For instructions, see "Old film numbers."

Other family group record collections

Other notable collections of family group records or family group sheets held by the Family History Library, but not included in the "Family Group Records Collection," include

• Ancestral File.
• Ancestral file submission sheets. Salt Lake City: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Genealogical Society of Utah, 1983-1994,1996. (On 606 FHL films, beginning with 1,394,001.) Consult these films to see the source citations that were not keyed into Ancestral File.
  
• Everton publishers computerized family file, vols. 1 & 2. Logan, Utah: Everton Publishers, 198-. (On 251 microfiches, FHL 6334056. No circulation to family history centers.) Also known as the Computerized Family File.
  
• Family Group Records: Collected and Compiled by the Former Spanish-American Mission. Salt Lake City: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1973, 1980. (On 8 FHL films, beginning with film 940001.) Most of these records were submitted by members of the Spanish-Mexican Mission, which included Mexico and the Spanish-speaking Saints in Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas.
  
• Family Group Records Sent to Mesa Family History Center. Salt Lake City: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1992. (On 74 FHL films, beginning with film 1,832,019.) Family group sheets at Mesa Family History Center, Mesa, Arizona. Records were submitted by Arizona researchers, but families may be located in other states and countries.
  
• Four-Generation Pedigrees and Family Group Sheets, 1700–1983. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The. Genealogical Department. Branch Library (Johannesburg, Transvaal). (FHL film 1367174.) These are arranged alphabetically by the surname of the Church member descendant in South Africa. This set is incomplete.
  
• Pedigree Resource File.
• Piedmont Project Family Group Sheets. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The. Genealogical Department. Salt Lake City: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1968. (FHL films 472230–81.) To assist members with Italian ancestry, the Genealogical Department filled out family group sheets from sources found in 16 Protestant parishes in the Province of Torino, Italy.
  
• Polynesian Family Group Records Collection, 1924–1969. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Genealogical Society. Salt Lake City: Genealogical Society of Utah, (197–?) (FHL films 1901843–69.) This is a film copy of the Polynesian collection at the Laie Family History Center in Hawaii. Most of these sheets are also found in the Archives Section, discussed above.
  

Further Reading

For further details about these family group records see:

• Family History Library (Salt Lake City, Utah). United States and Canada Reference Unit. Tracing LDS Families. Research Outline (34080). Second edition. Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2000. Information about availability of the original collection binders is outdated.
  
• "Family History Library Catalog." Online database. FamilySearch.org. http://www.familysearch.org/eng/Library/FHLC/frameset_fhlc.asp : copyright 2008.
  
• Meyerink, Kory L. "General References and Guides." In The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy. Loretto Dennis Szucs and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking, editors. Third edition. Provo, Utah: Ancestry, 2006. Page 81.
• Nichols, Elizabeth. "Family Group Collections of the Family History Library." Genealogical Journal 24 (Winter 1996): 11-27. Family History Library book 973 D5gi; not available on microfilm. This article also describes the relationship of the Temple Records Index Bureau Endowment Index (TIB), the Ordinance Index, and "Ancestral File" to the family group records. Information about availability of the original collection binders is outdated.
  

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