Utah, United States Genealogy

United States &gt; Utah

Utah is a western state of the United States. It was the 45th state admitted to the Union, on January 4, 1896.

Approximately eighty percent of Utah's population live along the Wasatch Front, centering around Salt Lake City. In contrast, vast expanses of the state are nearly uninhabited, making the population the sixth most urbanized in the U.S.

The name "Utah" is derived from the Ute Indian language, meaning "people of the mountains."

News and Events

 * The new RootsTech genealogy and technology conference is coming to Salt Lake City, Utah February 10-12, 2011.

Counties of Utah
Utah county creation dates and parent county details will assist you in determining which county would have the records you are seeking. Utah currently has 29 counties:

Featured Content

 * Learn how to find and use Utah Territorial Records from 1850-1896.
 * Newspapers report family information in notices of births, marriages, obituaries, and local news. Two major Utah newspapers are the Deseret News and the Salt Lake Tribune. One major resource for newspapers throughout Utah is the University of Utah's Utah Digital Newspapers project "with more than 600,000 pages of digitized Utah historical newspapers." Newspapers began early in Salt Lake City, Utah. Read more... about using newspapers for your family history research.

Did You Know?
The members of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers (DUP) have prepared and collected thousands of biographies of early pioneers (1847-1869). A pioneer is an ancestor who came to the Utah Territory/State of Deseret; died crossing the plains; or was born in the Utah Territory/State of Deseret before May 10, 1869, the coming of the railroad. If your ancestor does not fit into this criteria, they will not have a history. Also available are photographs of many of the early LDS church members. You can search for a pioneer on their website and then request a copy of their biography. Read more...

Research Tools

 * Ask a question about how to find your Utah ancestors at the Western States Research forum.
 * View historic Utah maps in the David Rumsey Map Collection.
 * Find other Utah genealogy websites at Cyndi's List - Utah.
 * View images related to the state of Utah at the Wikimedia Commons page for Utah
 * Websites for Utah Research
 * Western States Marriage Index
 * Tracing LDS Ancestors
 * Utah Linkpendium Page
 * Utah Digital Newspapers

Websites for death records in the state of Utah:


 * Utah Death Certificates 1904-1956
 * Utah, Salt Lake County Death Records, 1908-1949
 * State of Utah Research Center for Utah State Archives and Utah State History, up to and including 1956.

Things you can do
Some fun things to do in Utah that would also be related to understanding the locality where your ancestors lived include:


 * Visit the Family History Library in Salt Lake City
 * Visit the Church History Library
 * Top 10 things to do in Utah
 * Visit the Salt Lake City Cemetery
 * Search for your pioneer ancestors at the Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum
 * Visit the Research Center of the Utah State Archives and Utah State History
 * Know of any others? Feel free to add to this list.

Contributors

 * Fran is the moderator for the Utah content. Assistant moderators are needed. Submit your request to be the assistant by adding a comment on the Discussion page. Contributors for the Utah content during the past three months include: (stay tuned, the list is coming soon!)