A genealogical tree becomes a family tree when descendants know the stories of the people in the tree. Knowing that an ancestor, as a widow, walked with her young child over 1,200 miles to get to the Salt Lake Valley or knowing details about the ship a great-grandfather boarded to sail across the ocean adds a personal dimension to a family tree that goes beyond simple dates and places. Extra details from our ancestors' lives provide a sense of connection that makes a family tree truly one’s own.
The Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints cares for many historical record sets containing rich information about early members and leaders of the Church. The department's expanded Church History Biographical Database gathers information from these records and helps you see the lives and stories of many early Church members through time lines, images, stories, and more.
Using a new Show My Ancestors feature created through a partnership between FamilySearch and the Church History Department, you can now see which of these early Saints are your ancestors, based on connections in the FamilySearch Family Tree. This view allows you to see—all in one place—much of what can be found in Church History sources for your ancestors. In the biographical database, you can explore profiles with the extra historical context the Church History Department offers. You might even find a few new sources to add to your tree!
Visit the Church History Biographical Database by clicking here, or learn more about these features below.
What All Is Included in the Database?
The biographical database is a combination of the Missionary, Pioneer, and Mormon Battalion databases of the Church History Department. In it, you may find:
- Vital information (birth and death dates)
- A photograph of an individual
- Parents' names (These will be hyperlinked if the parents have profiles in the database.)
- A baptismal date (for a live baptism as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
- Pioneer company and traveling companions or group
- Mission location and dates of missionary service
- Battalion company and rank
- Historical information about specific missions and pioneer companies
- A list of historical sources from Church history databases
- A link to a FamilySearch profile if one can be found
The information for each biography includes many hyperlinks to explore and a time line that is easy to follow. The links can give more context for historical events and, in the case of links to sources, can lead to a relevant historical record, eliminating the need to search through a book or collection. The sources section at the bottom of each profile is valuable to look at, as the sources can help verify family stories you might have heard or may include other details or stories about your ancestor you didn't previously know.
Finding Ancestors in the Database—or Another Early Saint
Accessing the biographical database is simple. Hosted on the Church History Library website, it can be found on the Discover Ancestors in Church History page, which has many resources for learning about and doing genealogy for early Saints. On that page, find the card that says Church History Biographical Database, and click it. You can also go straight to the database and bookmark the link for later use:
To get a listing of your direct ancestors in the database, locate the search bar, and click the Show My Ancestors button link that is just to the right of it.
You will receive a prompt to sign in to your FamilySearch account and then a prompt to give permission for the connection.
The database will list all the ancestors who are also in the biographical database who you are connected to in the FamilySearch Family Tree.
Note: You can also search the biographical database by name, using the name of an ancestor or anyone in Church history. When you are signed in, a checkbox appears to the left that will allow you to filter results to show just your ancestors or to show all individuals.
The categories at the top of your search results can also be useful if you want to show just pioneers, missionaries, or members of the Mormon Battalion.
Exploring a Biography Page
Pick someone you'd like to learn about from your search results. When you click the person's name, a biography page will open, showing birth and death dates and possibly a picture, if one is available.
Scroll down the page to see what else the database has available about that early Saint. The time line includes events from Church History that your ancestor was known to have been involved in. Click the links in the time line to learn more details about the associated events.
Viewing Sources and Attaching Them to the Family Tree
Not all sources in the biographical database have been added to the FamilySearch Family Tree. Each biography page that is linked to a FamilySearch profile will have two handy links at the top.
Click View in FamilySearch to see the person's profile page in the FamilySearch Family Tree. On this page, you can see information about the ancestor that has been added in Family Tree and what information might be missing.
The Attach Source to Family Tree link gives you an easy way to add the biography page as a source on FamilySearch.org. Attaching the source is a great idea, as it might allow someone else to discover the Church history biography page among your ancestor's other sources in Family Tree.
Beneath the time line on the biography page is a section for the various sources the database can detect for the person.
Click the source links to view each record's indexed details and an image of the record, if one is available.
In the sources, you can find such things as obituaries of your ancestors, their travel by sea to come to the United States, their name on pay records of the Mormon Battalion, or similar life details. Seeing original documents about these people’s lives can be inspiring. The added information rounds out and clarifies their stories—and helps descendants feel a connection with them.
If you would like to add any of these supporting sources to your ancestor's FamilySearch page, you can do so by following the instructions in this help article.
The Church History Biographical Database is an excellent new tool to round out the stories of your ancestors. It can provide insights you may not have known. Definitely give it a try!
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.
