The Mormon Church, which is also known as The Church of Latter-Day Saints, and also as simply LDS, has been collecting information about people from government and historical records for a long time. They do this on a world-wide basis, which means that they have very likely collected more information than the US government.
Every experienced family genealogist knows that there is a wealth of information to be found in LDS Family History Center Libraries. People who are just starting their research may not be aware of this. The Mormon Church operates a huge library in Salt Lake City, Utah, but they also have more than 4500 branch libraries scattered around the planet. These are called Family History Centers. If you live anywhere near a metropolitan area that has at least one Mormon congregation, you will probably find a library associated with their church or meeting place.
Family History Centers are open to the public and are free to use. They typically have quite a bit of information available on site, but much of that may be indexes used to locate copies of documents found on microfilm or microfiche archives. If a resource is available through the main library, you can order it and have it sent to you local Family History Center for a small fee, usually $3 or $4. You cannot remove the resource materials from the libraries, but they so have copy machines and printers so that you can reproduce a copy of the information that you need for your research.
Do not be concerned that the church members will try to convert you to the Mormon faith. They will not, and most will gladly help you with your research. They will not ask for money for their assistance, but you will find a donation jar at the main desk. My rule has always been that when I find something of importance through an LDS library, I donate $5 as I’m leaving. Be sure to thank anyone who helped you with your research. Get to know the volunteers. They are good at what they do and they can help accelerate your research.
Locating a Local Family History Center Library
The Mormon Church operates a web site where you can search through indexes to see what information might be available about your ancestors. The web site is FamilySearch.org. You can also look up Family History Center libraries in your area.
Preparing for Your First Visit
Most libraries will have volunteers to assist you with your research and to show you how to find information. However, do not waste their time by visiting a library completely unprepared. Have a goal for the information you want to find. If you are new to genealogical research, prepare a basic family tree with the names of your parents, grand-parents and great-grandparents. Include womens’ maiden names, birth dates, dates of death, all known street addresses and any other basic information that might help to identify the correct person in research records.
What Might You Find?
You will be amazed at the amount of information that you can find. Everyone leaves a paper trail throughout their lives. Some people leave more than others. You will find US and local Census information, voter registrations, birth and death indexes and a wide range of public documents. You can even get copies of the original documents, such as birth certificates, death certificates, immigration papers and ships manifests with passenger information.
Each document that you find adds another piece to the overall family research puzzle. Birth and death certificates are particularly important because the information contained in these documents identifies the previous generation. The best way to perform your research is to pick a generation, such as your grandparents, and discover everything you can about their lives. Then start with the previous generation, and so on.
You will be amazed at what you can find. One time I was doing research in a Family History Center in Crystal, Minnesota. The gal next to me, who was a member of the Mormon Church, was researching her family history. She was viewing a German land ownership record from the 12th century. I could not read the cryptic ancient German writing, but she was doing a pretty good job of translating it and was fairly confident that she had found another of her ancestors.
Why Do the Mormons Collect Family History Information?
During one of my early visits to an LDS Family History Center I asked a volunteer, “Why does the LDS Church collect this information and why do Mormons do family history research?” The answer was interesting.
It appears that the Mormon faith is not limited to living Mormons. At some point during their lifetime, each Mormon is required to continue with the research started by other family members. If a member identifies a person from another generation who is likely an ancestor, the member presents this information to a review board. if the review board agrees that the person identified is an ancestor, that ancestor is baptized by proxy into the Mormon church. If that soul in heaven agreed to the baptism, they become part of the family unit and when you pass on, you will get the opportunity to meet all of your ancestors in heaven who have accepted the Mormon faith.
This explanation may be a bit simplistic, but is nonetheless interesting. Be sure to add your local Family History Center to your list of information resouorces.
