Researching  LDS Ancestry of those
who arrived in Utah after 1868



Step-by-step

1. Identify the names of those involved.
Keep in mind of name variants e.g. Nelson, Nilson, Nielsen, Neilson, Neilson, etc. can all refer to the same surname.

2. When possible find out the year they came to the United States or a year range
is also useful e.g. if you know they came between say 1870 and 1880 because they
are not on the 1870 census but are found in 1880 then you have a ten year period
there that limits your search.


3. If the ancestor came from Scandinavia during 1852-1880 go to the Tracing Scandinavian
Latter-day Saints web page for details on how to track these folks down.

4. If the ancestor was not Scandinavian or the ancestor was Scandinavian and came after 1880 then
your first place to search is the Mormon Immigration Index.  This is available at the LDS Family History
Library on their network or at one of the LDS Family History centers throughout the world.  You can also order it
online for home use for a mere $6.

   a. This resource contains known LDS voyages from 1840 through 1890 and contains about
      93,000 names. 

   b. Search by name and/or year if you know it to locate the ancestor.  If a name match
      is not found try name variations or you can try a different family member.  Some
      families were split up during the migration and so you may not find everyone together
      all the time.

   c. Once a name is found on a ship roster then look up the name on the original roster  to ensure
      that the transciption was correct and you can then cite the original as an original is always a
      better source than a copy or transcription.  You can do this in one of two ways.  The easiest
      way is to search on Ancestry.com, which has most of the New York ship arrivals 
      transcribed and the ship roster microfilm images online.   Once an entry is found on Ancestry.com
      you can then click on a link to see the original  record and then print that out for your records. 
      For citation purposes the description of  the source is on the Ancestry.com page  You can 
      access Ancestry.com for no fee at the LDS Family History Libary or Centers.

      Another way to search for the original is to use the microfilm number cited within the Mormon
      Immigration Index and look for the roster.  The  rosters on film are typically arranged chronologically and
      know that on a given day there could be several  ships and so you can fairly quickly skip past
      rosters not the one you are trying to find very quickly.

 
     d. You can also document the voyage over the ocean and perhaps the subsequent train trip to Utah with
     the Mormon Immigration Index.  When the particular  ship is found just click on the Personal Accounts tab across the
     top and some information printed in newspaper, journals or other references are displayed.  Not
     all voyages have this type of material.


5.  If your ancestry arrived in America from 1892 to about 1924 chances are that there will be a record  of them at Ellis Island. 
    Some time ago these immigration records were transcribed and digitized into a  searchable database that is free to the public.
    Keep in mind name variants when searching and if you do not find one ancestor e.g. the father of a family search for the
    mother and/or children.


6.  There are other resources that are specific to LDS research.  There is a guide to LDS Research that details these in some detail.  Also I would suggest looking at the Early LDS Church Records page for microfilm numbers and IGI batch numbers that can be searched for LDS folks.  LDS Records got better over time with some standardized forms showing up in the 1870s.  You can also search an area in the LDS Family History Catalog and find LDS records for
a specific area by searching place, Church Records e.g. Norway, Church Records and then search for LDS records within this category.  See also the LDS LDS Euro Project.


7. Another great source to use is the United States Census.  Ancestry.com has transcibed them all and those are available at the LDS Family History Library or one of the LDS Family History Centers for no charge.  There are several web sites that have US Census indexes and transcriptions.  One online resource is the Utah Census Search page, which has searchable census indexes 1850-1880.  Refer to the original census records to obtain additional information not found in indexes.


8. Not all people traveled on LDS sponsored trips and went it alone and made all their own arragements.  For these people you would need to look outside of those LDS voyages.  Resources for searching these folks include searching Ancestry.com for a ship roster entry or  the Castle Garden web page.  The Castle Garden web page is still a work in progress, but has many ship rosters transcribed that
arrived to New York during the 1830-1892 time frame.




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