For 130 years, people have been making discoveries about their family and family history using the resources provided by FamilySearch and its predecessor—the Genealogical Society of Utah.
The Genealogical Society of Utah was founded on November 13, 1894 (even before Utah was admitted as a state in The United States!). This society now goes by a more familiar name: FamilySearch International, a nonprofit organization that offers free genealogy tools and services in more than 40 languages, to all people around the world. Its mission is to empower people everywhere to discover and connect with their roots.
To celebrate this 130th anniversary of FamilySearch, we’ve collected stories from our patrons about discoveries they’ve made over the years—as well as some ideas of how you can make similar discoveries too.
I Found It on FamilySearch
Hear from a few FamilySearch users who have used FamilySearch over the past 130 years, and see what they've been able to discover:
I met a cousin who also loves family history.
"Using the Relatives Around Me app on FamilySearch.org, I have had the opportunity to find extended family that I didn't know about. At a genealogy event in Mexico City, I met cousins, and a big surprise for me was that my newly met cousin...is also a family history consultant. Together we have had the opportunity to extend our ancestral lines and help others."
I didn't know much about my dad's relatives—but now I've found where they are buried.
"Thank you for this service. I'm learning a lot. I didn't know anything much from my dad's ancestry. I found out I live about 10 miles from where a lot of my dad's relatives are buried in a church cemetery—so close."
I found a pioneer ancestor.
"I was sent a hint about a pioneer ancestor by the FamilySearch app. I researched it to see what it was because I did not know of any pioneer ancestors in the family....Because of the hint, I was able to find a story in Memories about my 3rd great-grandmother and her journey, which I shared with my mother. That experience brought my mother to tears."
My son found a love of his ancestors.
"I introduced my 6 year old to some of the Discovery activities because he asked what I was doing on FamilySearch one day. He learned he looks most like his grandmother, who died just a couple years ago. He loves looking at pictures of her and him, which I stored as private memories. He also likes exploring the maps and learning which ancestors served in different wars. Some days now he asks me if he can do family history for his learning for the day!"
I found my grandfather in a military record.
"My mother never knew her father. She only had a picture and a name. I went to the Family History Library for help, and they helped me. There was a draft card that had my grandfather’s name on it.... But the handwriting was so bad that I couldn’t read the place’s name. The Family History Librarian helped me figure it out. With that location, I was able to find out more about my grandfather. The location opened the door, so to speak, to finding many other relatives!"
I found my Italian ancestors.
"I felt inspired this last month to set up an online consultation to get help with my Italian side. I was trying to find the marriage certificate or birth records of my great-great-grandparents. We’d had a block for decades. The consultation helped open my world up. We found them and both their parents. They even helped me read the Italian records."
I found my grandparent's names.
"I love the fact that I’m finding out about my family. I never even knew my grandfather‘s name nor my grandmother‘s name…and now I know them because you show them here. Thank you for that."
I found a record for a man who was adopted.
"I located the record for a man who had no idea who his relatives were, since he was adopted. And now he owns a section of his ancestors’ home place. He was so thrilled to learn about all of this, as I certainly would have been."
I found lost information.
"I have found information about the surviving children from my great grandfather's first marriage: A daughter and a son who both immigrated to the USA in 1884 when the boy was just 16 and the girl was 20 years old.... I had never heard of them from my father. Perhaps he didn't know about them."
I found my family's history.
"Wow! It is amazing to see my family history grow. I only knew my direct family and a little of my father's family, but now I recognize names that I heard about while growing up. I am amazed that they have been entered all correctly with documents and proof of the connections. I have tears in my eyes as I write this due to being so happy that I have a history, and my family's history is now known."
I just found 3 more ancestors today.
"I had given up years ago on ancestors named Johnson or Johnston in Johnston County, North Carolina. Just too many had that common name, and I could never find my great-great-great-grandmother’s name in any document. Without this program, I would have never found her. Yesterday, I found a document where she and her husband...and her siblings were selling her father’s land. I shouted with joy. Thank you so very much for…making it much easier to find names in documents! I am so very grateful."
I found a record after the trail went cold.
"I looked on a couple of websites and could not find a specific person. Looked through a lot of information and the trail went cold. I came to FamilySearch.org and found who I was looking for listed as a contact person for someone who filled out a draft registration card so long ago. Amazing. This information connected me to verifiable information to the specific person I initially was in search for. I found her!"
We found someone we've been trying to find for a long time.
"My wife found an ancestor she's been seeking for over 45 years by using the Full Text search feature. It gave us just the right document that wouldn't have been found otherwise, unless we had waded through every deed in the county books for a period of about 40 years."
We confirmed an ancestor's marriage.
"We were able to confirm the marriage of my wife's great-great-great-great-grandparents by reviewing deed information. I'm confident more family information will be found."
The Stories Don't End Here
You can make your own family discoveries too! Whether you’re new to FamilySearch.org or it’s been a while since you've visited, there are plenty of resources and tools that offer guidance and creative ideas to help you with your family history. As we mentioned before, it's also free.
Returning to FamilySearch? Try This:
New to FamilySearch? Try This:
Your discoveries are waiting! There is so much for you to learn about and explore. When you make a discovery, feel free to share what you find about your family on social media using the hashtag #FoundatFamilySearch or leave a comment on this blog post below. We'd love to hear from you.
At FamilySearch, we care about connecting you with your family, and we provide fun discovery experiences and family history services for free. Why? Because we cherish families and believe that connecting generations can improve our lives now and forever. We are a nonprofit organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. To learn more about our beliefs, click here.
