Step-by-Step Utah Research, 1900-Present
Utah 
Step-by-step research 1900--present
- A suggested approach to genealogy research in Utah family history records.
Research 1900--to the present Table of Contents |
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Some online records have restrictions, due to contractual agreements, allowing them to be used only at FamilySearch Centers or FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries. This pop-up warning has links to lists of addresses of the many affiliate libraries that are available throughout the world. Subscription websites such as Ancestry.com, FindMyPast, and MyHeritage and many others offer complimentary service at these affiliate libraries and at most local libraries. |
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Step 1. Find out everything possible from living relatives and their family records.
Every good genealogy project starts with finding all the clues that can be gathered from living relatives — both from their memories and from documents or memorabilia in their homes.
What are the best questions to ask?
In order to extend research, ask for names, dates, and places. Everything about who a relative was and when and where they lived is a clue to a new record search. For ideas, see :
What documents should be collected or copied?
Because these records cover names, dates, places, and relationships, they are a valuable source of clues. Look for them in your home, your parents' home, and ask living grandparents to check for them.
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Using clues to lead to census record searches.
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In this obituary are clues to when and where to search in census records for Laura Swallow.
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Look for ancestors in as many censuses as possible. Use the clues from each census for hints where to find families in both earlier and later census records.
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For more information, see Utah Census and United States Census.
Step 3: Find birth, marriage, and death certificates for ancestors and their children.
Using census clues to lead to a birth certificate.
Using census clues to lead to a marriage certificate.
Using census clues to lead to a death certificate.
Online databases, usually indexes, with some images
Step 4: Try to find additional details about ancestors in obituaries, cemetery records, and Social Security records online.
Obituaries
- Try these Utah links:
- Utah, Obituaries from Utah Newspapers, 1850-2005 — index
- Online Utah Death Records & Indexes
- ObitsUtah Obituary Index
- Daughters of Utah Pioneers Obituary Scrapbook ($)
- Native American Obituaries index.
- Utah, Obituaries from Utah Newspapers, 1850-2005
- Utah Obituaries, Utah Genealogy
- ObitsArchive.com - Utah ($)
- ObituariesHelp.org - Utah Newspaper Obituaries Listings
- The Obituary Link Page - Utah Obituary Links
- The Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News - Obituaries
- Utah Newspapers, 1850-2003 at MyHeritage - index & images ($)
Cemeteries
- FindAGrave
- Online Utah Death Records & Indexes
- Utah Cemeteries and Burials Database
- Utah Burials Search
- Utah Gravestones
- Veterans with Federal Service Buried in Utah, Territorial to 1966 . Also at Findmypast, ($), index, and at MyHeritage, ($), index, and at Ancestry.com, ($), index
- Utah Cemetery Records at Findagrave.com
- Utah Cemetery Records at Interment.net
- BillionGraves Utah Cemeteries
- Names in Stone Cemetery Maps
- USGenWeb Tombstone Transcription Project
- Utah Cemetery Inventory ($)
- Utah and Idaho cemetery records ($)
- Utah Cemeteries ($)
- Utah, State Archives Records, 1848-2001, images and index
- Linkpendium
- I Dream of Genealogy Utah Cemeteries
- Utah Cemetery Records, Utah Genealogy
Step 5: Search military records: World War I and World War II draft cards.
- There are many different types of military records, some covered in online collections, some microfilmed, and some requiring you to order them from government repositories with a fee. For more information, read the U.S. Military Records Class Handout. Information in military records can vary from a simple lists of name, age, and residence, to more detailed records including name, residence, age, occupation, marital status, birthplace, physical description, number of dependents, pensions received, disabled veterans, needy veterans, widows or orphans of veterans, and other information.
World War I Draft Registration
- One of the most helpful military records is the draft registration of 1917-1918. During three separate registrations, men born between 1873-1897 were required to register in the draft for World War I. Cards may give birth date, birth place, residence, occupation, employer, physical description, next of kin (usually the wife or mother), and number of dependents. Search for your male relatives born in this time period at U.S. WW I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918.
World War II Draft Registration
Likewise, the World War II draft in 1942 may give birth date, birth place, residence, occupation, employer, and other family members as contacts. Search for your male relatives born in this time period at
- Historical Record Collections, index and images.
- U.S. WW II Draft Registration Cards, 1942, index and images.
Step 6: If any ancestor was an immigrant, search immigration and naturalization records online.
The census records may show that your ancestor was born in another country. It will be necessary to try to find the town or city they were born in to continue research in the country of origin. Searches of immigration records (usually passenger lists) and naturalization (citizenship) records are the next goal. Immigration refers to people coming into a country, such as the United States, and emigration refers to people leaving a country to go to another. Usually these records are passenger lists of the ships they sailed on. A typical record will show name, age, and country of origin, but in ship lists after 1906 you can find the actual town of birth, the next of kin still living in the old country and their residence, and the names of relatives in the place they are traveling to.
Immigration records
Passenger lists and border crossing lists are the most common immigration records. There are many immigration records available. However, in Utah there are records generated by the Latter-day Saint migration crossing the plains. Click here to see a complete list of available immigration records online. Notice that they are listed by state, but under the letter "U" there is a long list of records that cover all of the United States. Unless family information tells you the port where family arrived, you will need to search all of the United States Immigration Online Genealogy Records for the time period when your ancestors arrived.
There are also many immigration records unique to Utah:
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- Mormon Migration Website, BYU
- Mormon Migration Database, 1840-1932
- Sons of the Utah Pioneers-Utah, Pioneer Companies ($)
- Mormon Migration Database, 1840-1932 Index.
- Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel, 1847-1868
- Utah Pioneers, 1847-50 Index ($)
- Pioneer Immigrants to Utah Territory ($)
- Utah, Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah, 1847-1868
- Utah Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel Database, 1847-1868
- Sons of Utah Pioneers - Card Index, 1847-1850 ($)
- Sons of Utah Pioneers Membership Applications ($)
Naturalization (Citizenship) Records
Naturalization is the process of becoming a citizen. Records can include the immigrant's declaration of intent to become a citizen, petitions for citizenship, and final certificate of naturalization. Naturalization records after 1906 can show birth date and place, spouse's name, marriage date and place, and lists of children with their birth dates.
Utah naturalization records could be recorded at the county court or the Federal District or Circuit Court. You must look for them in both locations. Try searching first in any county where the person lived, unless the census tells you the year they were naturalized, and you have evidence of where they lived that year. If you cannot locate them in the county records, try searching for them in the Federal courts.
Utah Naturalization and Citizenship Online Records
- NATURALIZATION AND CITIZENSHIP RECORDS, Utah State Archives
- UTAH DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES DIVISION OF ARCHIVES & RECORDS SERVICE Name Indexes
- Utah, Naturalization and Citizenship Records, 1858-1959 ($)
- Box Elder County, Utah Certificates of Citizenship Record Books, 1868-1869 ($)
- Utah Naturalization Declarations of Intention, 1878-1895 ($)
- Utah, Declarations of Intent for Naturalization, 1878-1895 ($)
- Utah Naturalization Records, 1906-1930 Browse only.
Step 7: Study each record for other possible searches.
You can now go through a process of working back and forth between all the different record types. Most researchers find clues in the census records that alert them to new certificates to obtain. The certificates then give them ideas of new facts to look for in the census. For example, when a marriage certificate gives you a wife's maiden name, you will then want to look for her in earlier censuses listed with her family as a child. When the census shows you her parents' names, you may then search for their death records. The death records might show their patents' names and take you back to the census to search for them. A naturalization record listing children's names might lead you back to birth certificate searches, and so on.