Salt Lake County, Utah Genealogy

United States Utah  Salt Lake County

Record Loss
Marriage registers from 1887 through 1950's microfilmed and then destroyed. Microfilm copy available at the Family History Library and centers.

History Timeline

 * 1825 - The first US explorer in the Salt Lake area is believed to be Jim Bridger.
 * 1843 - U.S. Army officer John C. Frémontsurveyed the Great Salt Lake and the Salt Lake Valley.
 * 1846 - The Donner party, a group of ill-fated pioneers, traveled through the Great Salt Lake Valley in August.
 * 1847 - Salt Lake County was settled when Mormon pioneersof The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, arrived in the Salt Lake Valley.
 * 1847 - On July 29, 1847 a group of Mormon pioneers, known as the Mississippi Company, among them John Holladayof Alabama, entered the Salt Lake Valley. Within weeks, they discovered a free-flowing, spring-fed stream, which they called Spring Creek, now known as Holladay.
 * 1849 - Herriman was established by Robert Dansie, Henry Harriman, and Thomas Jefferson Butterfield. A monument in the Herriman City Cemetery lists the original four families of Herriman as the Thomas Jefferson Butterfield, John Jay Stocking, Robert Cowan Petty, and Henry Harriman families.
 * 1849 - The Mormon pioneers organized a new state called Deseret and petitioned for its recognition.
 * 1850 - The U.S. Congress rebuffed the settlers petition and established the Utah Territory, and designated Fillmore as its capital city.
 * 1853 - Construction started on The Salt Lake Temple.
 * 1857 - The territorial capital was moved to Great Salt Lake City, when the name was shortened to Salt Lake City.
 * 1862 - Fort Douglaswas established on the east bench, near the University of Utah, to make sure that the territory maintained its allegiance during the American Civil War.
 * 1865 - Alta was founded.
 * 1878 - An 1878 fire and an 1885 avalanche destroyed most of the original mining town of Alta.
 * 1885 - The army established Camp Murray to house several companies of the Ninth Infantry Regiment.
 * 1935 - In 1935, Norwegian skiing legend Alf Engen was hired to help develop the area, and Alta opened its first ski lift in 1938.
 * 1942 - Camp Kearns, a massive military installation created for World War II, was created in what is now Kearns and Taylorsville on the western side of the valley.

Historical Facts
The area that was to become Salt Lake County was settled in 1847 when Mormon Pioneers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, fleeing persecution in the East, arrived in the Salt Lake Valley after traveling through Emigration Canyon. Brigham Young, their leader, declared "This is the right place" after seeing the valley, which was at the time arid, dry, and unpromising. However, they soon developed a flourishing, self-sufficient city, Great Salt Lake City, through extensive irrigation techniques. Thousands of Mormons from around the world followed in the next several decades. The county was officially formed on January 31, 1850, with just over 11,000 residents recorded.

Resources
1849: Salt Lake County was created as an original county.

NOTE: Unless otherwise mentioned, the below events were gleaned from Wikipedia for Salt Lake county.

Cemeteries

 * Salt Lake County, Utah Cemeteries
 * Burials - Salt Lake City, Utah Cemetery contains over 100 names recorded in Salt Lake City, Utah Cemetery: Includes where and when born; death dates and places; from the middle 1800's to the 1998's.
 * Records are available to view for the following four cemeteries: WOODMEN OF THE WORLD BURIALS, CRESCENT CEMETERY, GRANITE CEMETERY, and REDWOOD MEMORIAL ESTATES CEMETERY. Click on USGenWeb Archives Salt Lake County, Utah.

Census

 * 1850 Census and Index has transcribed pages found at the county GenWeb site. The index identifies which file you will click to see names and information.

The 1850 [1851], 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 U.S. federal population schedules of Salt Lake County are available online. For tips on accessing census records online, see Utah Census. If you're having trouble finding your ancestors in national indexes, try checking local indexes. Created by experts familiar with the area's families, these indexes are often transcribed more accurately than nationwide indexes.

See Utah Population Schedule Indexes: Fiche, Film, or Book for more information about statewide printed indexes.


 * 1850 (1851)
 * 1856
 * 1860
 * 1870
 * 1880
 * 1890
 * 1900
 * 1910
 * 1920
 * 1930

Court Records

 * On this link you will find three different pages: Index of /ut/saltlake/court/nats/1906 Index of Intention Index Vol. 2 (1907-1908); Salt Lake County, Utah. You will find applicant name, place of birth, location of court, and volume and page numbers. Index Volume 2; Index Volume 3; Index Volume 4.

Hostories

 * Early Utah Families
 * http://histfam.familysearch.org/search.php?%20nr=50&amp;tree=Greeks Greeks in the West]


 * The History of Salt Lake City and its Founders, By Edward William Tullidge 1886

Migration
Early migration routes to and from for emigrant settlers included:


 * California Trail 1846 to 1869 from western Missouri to northern California
 * Mormon Trail 1846 to 1869 from Nauvoo, Illinois to Salt Lake City, Utah
 * Mormon Trail to Southern California 1847 from Salt Lake City, Utah to Los Angeles, California
 * Central Overland Trail 1859-1869 from Salt Lake City, Utah to Carson City, Nevada (and usually on to northern California)
 * Union Pacific Railroad 1869 Ogden, Utah to Omaha, Nebraska
 * Central Pacific Railroad 1869 Ogden, Utah to Sacramento, California
 * Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad 1883 Salt Lake City, Utah to Grand Junction, Colorado (and Denver)

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * On the following link you will find the summary of the Court Petitions Index, volumes 1 - 9. In each index volume you will find the name of the petitioner, place of birth, location of court, volume and page number. As an example click on volume 1.  Click on volumes  2 - 8  on the Court Petition Index.
 * Information taken from GenWeb.

Newspapers

 * One major resouce 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." Ten newspapers from Salt Lake County are included in this digital project, the Valley Tan, Union Vedette, Salt Lake Tribune, Deseret News (Weekly Edition), Deseret Evening News (Daily Edition), Salt Lake Herald, American Eagle, Salt Lake Mining Review, Murray Eagle, and the Broad Ax. Read more... about using Utah newspapers for your family history research.

Obituaries
Websites for death records in the state of Utah and specifically for Salt Lake County include:


 * From the GenWeb site (scroll down from the top of the page) you will find individual obituaries, obituaries from the Desert News (2004 - 2005 selected months), and from the Salt Lake Tribune (2004 - 2005 selected months).


 * Utah, Salt Lake County Death Records, 1908-1949. This title is misleading, because all the deaths were recorded in the City of Salt Lake City. There are no deaths recorded in any other places within the county in this County Death Records group.


 * Utah Death Certificates 1904 - 1956 -A free internet access to the 1904-1956 death certificates can be viewed at https://www.familysearch.org/ . Utah requires a death certificate before a burial is completed. A death certificate may contain information as to the name of the deceased, date of death, and place of death, as well as the age, birthdate, parents, gender, marital status, spouse and place of residence.


 * 'Utah State Burial Index for death before 1904 http://history.utah.gov/burials/execute/searchburials


 * 'In this link Salt Lake City Deaths Jan 1 to Nov 1, 1892: you will find: 

List of deaths in Salt Lake of person eighteen years of age

Upward from Jan 1 - Nov 1, 1892

Births

 * Salt Lake County Birth Registers 1898-1905. Database at Utah State Div. of Archives and Records Services.4

Marriages
Original marriage registers microfilmed by the Family History Library in the 1950's. Originals were then destroyed. Microfilm copy is not available at the county clerk's office.

58,919 marriages from 1847 to 18 September 1929 are listed on the Western States Marriage Index. Index is incomplete as there are few civil government recorded marriages in Salt Lake County prior to 1887. Some early divorce records were also indexed and included. This is not a complete database.

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
 * FamilySearch Center - JSMB
 * Kearns Utah Hispanic Family History Center
 * Midvale Utah Union Fort Family History Center
 * Murray Utah Little Cottonwood Family History Center
 * Murray Utah South Family History Center
 * Murray Utah West Family History Center
 * Riverton FamilySearch Library
 * Salt Lake Big Cottonwood Family History Center
 * Salt Lake Canyon Rim Family History Center
 * Salt Lake Hillside Family History Center
 * Salt Lake Holladay South Family History Center
 * Salt Lake Millcreek Family History Center
 * Salt Lake Monument Park Family History Center
 * Salt Lake Mt Olympus Family History Center
 * Salt Lake Park Family History Center
 * Salt Lake Rose Park Family History Center
 * Salt Lake Utah South (Tongan) Family History Center
 * Salt Lake Wasatch Family History Center
 * Salt Lake Winder Family History Center
 * Sandy Utah Cottonwood Creek Family History Center
 * Sandy Utah Crescent Family History Center
 * Sandy Utah Crescent Ridge Family History Center
 * Sandy Utah East Family History Center
 * Sandy Utah Granite South Family History Center
 * South Jordan Utah Parkway Family History Center
 * Utah Correctional Facility - Oquirrh Family History Center
 * Utah Correctional Facility - Timpanogos Family History Center (Draper)

The Family History Library is located in Salt Lake County and is the largest repository of family history records in the world.

The Salt Lake County Library system offers free access to Ancestry.com and Heritage Quest.