Utah, Veterans with Federal Service Buried in Utah - FamilySearch Historical Records

Record Description
This Collection includes records from 1847 to 1966.

Card file consisting of thousands of cards arranged by county, then by city, and then by the veteran’s name. Only in Salt Lake City were the records filed by cemetery and then by veteran’s name.

These records cover the time period from the earliest territorial time to 1966.

These records were compiled by the Military Records Section of the Utah State Historical Society. Form letters were sent to the next of kin of deceased veterans and the information returned was transcribed onto printed cards. This process began about 1957 and continued until 1970. Beginning in 1969 the information returned was entered directly into a database and the transcribing of information onto cards was abandoned the following year. The database continued to grow and information formerly on cards was entered into the database until 1986. In 1990 the existing cards (and some form letters) were microfilmed and subsequently destroyed. The collection published here is derived from microfilming completed in 1966 and therefore excludes any of the subsequent additions to the collection. The records identify thousands of men buried in Utah who had served in the United States military.

These records were compiled to track veteran burial locations to assist veterans’ families in obtaining grave markers and help veterans’ organizations to place flags on graves on Decoration Day (later designated Memorial Day).

The records are fairly reliable considering that they were compiled from responses to a form letter.

For a list of records by surnames currently published in this collection, select the Browse.

Record Content
Information found in this collection may include:


 * Name of veteran
 * Rank and Serial number
 * Military unit in which served
 * Branch
 * Date and place of enlistment
 * Date and place of discharge
 * Date and place of birth
 * Date and place of death
 * City and county of burial
 * Cemetery and plot location
 * Next of kin including name, address, and relationship (often blank)

How to Use the Record
Use date and place of birth to pursue birth records to ascertain parent’s names. Date and place of death may be used to locate death records which may also provide parent’s names.

Search the Collection
To search the collection by name fill in your ancestor’s name in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about those in the list to what you already know about your own ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person.

To search the collection image by image ⇒Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page ⇒Select "First Letter of Surname ( Decedent )" ⇒Select "Surname, Given Name(s) w/Death Year" which takes you to the images.

Again you will need to compare the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine which one is your ancestor.

Be aware that with either search you may need to compare the information about more than one person to make this determination.

As you are searching it is helpful to know such information as your ancestor’s given name and surname, some identifying information such as residence and age, and family relationships. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name as your ancestor and that your ancestor may have used nicknames or different names at different times.

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line video at FamilySearch Search Tips.

Related Websites

 * Online Utah Death and Burial Records
 * Utah State Historical Society Burials Search
 * Veteran's Burial Locations Available Online
 * US Department of Veteran's Affairs National Gravesite Locator

Related Wiki Articles

 * Utah
 * Utah Military Records

Citation for This Collection
The following citation refers to the original source of the information published in FamilySearch.org Historical Record collections. Sources include the author, custodian, publisher and archive for the original records.