Emery County, Utah Genealogy

United States    Utah  Emery County 

Quick Facts
"Emery County was established in 1880 and named in honor of George W. Emery, territorial governor of Utah, 1875-1880. Originally, the proposed name was Castle County, but it was decided that honoring the governor was more important. Emery County is the only county in Utah named in honor of a Utah state governor."

Parent Counties

 * 1880--Emery County was created 12 February 1880 from parts of Sanpete and Sevier Counties.


 * County seat: Castle Dale

Boundary Changes

 * 1890--Grand County was created 13 March 1890 from parts of Emery and Uintah Counties.
 * 1894--Carbon County was created 8 March 1894 from parts of Emery and Uintah Counties.

History Timeline
NOTE: Unless otherwise mentioned, the events below were gleaned fromWikipedia for Emery County.


 * 1776  Silvestre Velez de Escalante crossed northern Utah through the Uintah Basin
 * 1809  First Americans to come to Castle Valley were the “Lost Trappers”, James Workman and William Spencer.
 * 1830  William Wilfskill came to the Castle Valley along the Spanish Trail
 * 1840’s-1850’s  Government explorers sent to the Castle Valley area. Kit Carson was on of those sent.


 * 1853 John W. Gunnison, an Army Topographical Engineer, commissioned by Sec. of War Jefferson

Davis, came through Castle Valley looking for route for Pacific Railroad.


 * 1853-1854 John C Fremont, another government explorer came to the Castle Valley area.
 * 1875  Livestock growers from Sanpete County brought cattle and sheep into Castle Valley to graze
 * 1877  Young Mormon families began moving to settle the Castle Valley area.
 * 1880  Emery County was created by Utah Territorial Legislature
 * 1880’s  Early in the decade, the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, using the alternative route,came through the eastern edge of Emery County and was of great benefit to the town of Green River.
 * 1900  Population of Emery County had reached 4,600 people, with over 450 farms in operation.

Cemeteries

 * The Emery County Cemetery Information page on the Emery County Website contains links to burial information and maps for the following cemeteries: Castle Dale, Clawson, Cleveland, Desert Lake, Elgin, Elmo, Emery, Ferron, Green River Pioneer, Huntington, Lawrence, Molen, Muddy Creek, Old Emery, Orangeville, Ridge, Tucker Family, Victor, Wilsonville, and Woodside.


 * Find A Grave.com has burial information for the following Emery County cemeteries: Castle Dale, Clawson, Cleveland,Crandall Canyon Mine, Elmo, Emery, Ferron, Green River, Huntington, Lawrence, Molen, Muddy Creek, Old Emery, Orangeville, Ridge, Victor, and Woodside.


 * The Utah Cemetery and Burial Database on the Utah State History Website contains burial information for the following Emery County cemeteries: Castle Dale, Clawson, Cleveland, Desert Lake, Elmo, Emery, Ferron, Green River, Huntington, Lawrence, Molen, Muddy Creek, Orangeville, Ridge, Tucker Family, Victor, Wilsonville, and Woodside.


 * USGenWeb Archives, Emery County, Utah (Woodside Cemetery - no link); Ferron City, Utah (1 of 2)


 * USGenWeb Archives, Emery County, Utah Farron City Utah ( 2 of 2)

Census
The 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 U.S. federal population schedules of Emery 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.


 * 1880
 * 1890
 * 1900
 * 1910
 * 1920
 * 1930

Church Records
LDS Ward and Branch Records

Early church records, for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for Emery County Wards and Branches can be found on film and are located at the LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake City. The film numbers, for each ward, can be locate through the Family History Library Catalog. Or by refering to Jaussi, Laureen R., and Gloria D. Chaston. Register of Genealogical Society Call Numbers. 2 vols. Provo, Utah: Genealogy Tree, 1982. (FHL book 979.2258 A3j; fiche 6031507). These volumes contain the film numbers for many (but not all) membership and temple record films.

Court Records
7th District Court (Carbon, Emery, Grand &amp; San Juan Counties) 149 East 100 South Price, Utah 84501

The Clerk of the 7th District Court has court and divorce records from 1896-1986, and naturaliztion records from 1904-1942.

Emery County District Court 1850 North 560 West Castle Dale, Utah 84513 Phone: 435-381-2619 Fax: 435-381-5625

Emery County Justice Court 1850 North 560 West Castle Dale, Utah 84513 Phone: 435-381-5194 Fax: 435-381-5196

Emery County Justice Court - Green River 48 Farrer Street Green River, Utah 84525 Phone: 435-564-3204 Fax: 435-564-8322

Emery County Juvenile Court 1850 North 560 West Castle Dale, Utah 84513 Phone: 435-381-5311 Fax: 435-381-5625

Histories
NOTE: Unless otherwise mentioned, the events below were gleaned from Wikipedia forEmery County.

The San Rafael region dates back thousands of years to include people of the Desert Archaic Culture. Early explorers, both Spanish and American traversed the Uintah Basin from 1776 to the mid 1850’s. Notably Kit Carson was the first government explorer to the valley. Railroad engineers also came to the valley looking for a route for the Pacific Railroad.


 * 1875 Livestock growers from Sanpete Countybrought cattle and sheep into Castle Valley to graze and recognized the settlement potential of the region.
 * 1877 – Families began moving in to the valley to take up homestead.
 * 1877, August – Brigham Young President of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saintsissued an order for 50 families from Sanpete to located in Castle Valley
 * 1879 – Most of the lands had been taken up.
 * 1880, February – County was created by the Utah Territorial Legislature.
 * 1933 – Due to the Depression, Civilian Conservation Corpcamps began to be constructed. First was in Joes Valley in Mary
 * 1935 – Permanent camp established near Ferron and the second camp was established at Castle Dale.
 * 1938 - Camp established at Green River.
 * 1970’s – Population expanded considerably due to construction of large coal-fired power plants in Castle Dale and Huntington.

Local Histories

 * Emery County Historical Society. Emery County, 1880-1980. [Castle Dale, Utah]: Emery County Historical Society, 1981.


 * Geary, Edward A. A History of Emery County. Salt Lake City, Utah: Utah Historical Society, 1981. Also online at Marriott Library Digital Collections.


 * Geary, Edward A. "History Written on the Land in Emery County." Utah Historical Quarterly 66 (Summer 1998): 196-224.


 * History of Sanpete and Emery Counties Utah: With Sketches of Cities, Towns and Villages, Chronology of Important Events, Records of Indian Wars, Portraits of Prominent Persons, and Biographies of Representative Citizens.Ogden, Utah: W.H. Lever, 1898.


 * Mauerman, Lawrence A. Early Exploration and Initial Settlement of Emery County, Utah. Salt Lake City: University of Utah, 1967.


 * McElprang, Stella, compiler.Castle Valley: A History of Emery County. [Utah]:Emery County Company of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 1949.


 * Powell, Allen Kent, editor. Emery County: Reflections on Its Past and Future. Salt Lake City, Utah: Utah State Historical Society, 1979.


 * Taniguchi, Nancy Jacobus. Castle Valley, America: Hard Land, Hard-won Home. Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press, 2004.


 * Truman, Kathleen. Castle Valley, Emery County, Utah: Our Towns, Our Desert, Our Mountains. [Castle Dale, Utah]: Emery County Archives, 2004.


 * Wiggins, Lou S. Jean. History of Emery County. Salt Lake City, Utah: Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 2000.

Land and Property
Emery County Recorder 75 East Main, Room 104 Castle Dale, UT 84513 Phone: 435-381-2414 Fax: 435-381-2614

Maps

 * Emery County Map
 * Emery County: San Rafael Motorized Route Designation February 2003.
 * Emery County: 2002 Draft Monument Proposal.
 * Emery County: Voting Precincts.

Military
Emery County Recorder 75 East Main, Room 104 Castle Dale, UT 84513 Phone: 435-381-2414 Fax: 435-381-2614

The County Recorder has Military Discharge records from 1923-1952.

Newspapers

 * Olsen, Bruce L. A History of the Emery County Progress-Leader and Its Predecessors. Provo: Brigham Young University, 1965. To view a digital version of this book click here.


 * 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." Two newspapers from Emery County are included in this digital project, the Emery County Progess and Green River Journal. Read more... about using Utah newspapers for your family history research.


 * The Emery County Progress is a weekly newspaper published every Tuesday. The paper has been published since 1900. In 1963, the name of the newspaper was changed to the Emery County Progress Leader after merging with the Green River Leader. In 1977, the newspaper resumed the name Emery County Progress. The online edition of the paper is free to the general public. The Website's archives currently date back to the year 2001.


 * Back issues of the Emery County Progress and Emery County Progress-Leader are available on microfilm at the Family History Library. The library currently has volumes 1 (1900) thru 64 (1963) of the Emery County Progress available on 19 rolls of microfilm beginning with FHL film . Volumes 65 (1964) thru 78 (1977) of the Emery County Progress-Leader are available on 8 rolls of microfilm beginning with FHL film.
 * The Utah digital newspaper project has many early Emery County newspapers online at http://digitalnewspapers.org/

Taxation
Emery County Assessor 75 East Main Castle Dale, UT 84513 Phone: 435-381-2474 Fax: 435-381-5529

Vital Records
Emery County Utah Vital Records Emery County Clerk 95 E Main Street Castle Dale, UT 84513 Phone: 435-381-2465

The County Clerk has marriage records from 1888 to the present.

Emery County Birth Register, 1898-1905. An index to Emery County births, 1898-1905 is currently available online at the Utah State Archives and Record Services Website.

Emery County Marriage Licenses, 1888 - Current are available online at Emery County Online Services. The database is fully searchable and contains digital images of the actual marriage license. A marriage license may contain information such as the name of the bride and groom, their ages, residence, date and place of marriage, and names of parent or guardian, witnesses, and marriage officiator.

Utah Death Certificates 1904 - 1956 are available online 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

Archives, Libraries, and Museums
Emery County Library 115 North 100 East Castle Dale, Utah 84513-9999 Phone: 435-381-2554 Fax: 435-381-2699

Emery County Archives 75 East Main Street Castle Dale, Utah 84513 Phone: 435-381-2671 E-mail: Archives@co.Emery.ut.us Hours: T-Th 12pm-5pm

Emery County Historical Society P.O. Box 96 Castle Dale, Utah 84513 Phone: 435-381-2510 Fax: 435-381-2614

Green River Archives 1765 East Main Street Green River, Utah 84525 Phone: 435-564-3427 ext. 2 Fax: 435-564-3526 Hours: T-Th 10am-4pm

Museums
Pioneer History Museum 65 East 100 North Castle Dale, Utah 84513 Phone: 435-381-5154 Hours: M 12pm-4pm; T-F 10am-4pm; Sat. 12pm-4pm; Closed Sundays

John Wesley Powell River History Museum 1765 East Main Street Green River, Utah 84525 Phone: 435-564-3427

Museum of the San Rafael 70 North 100 East Castle Dale, Utah 84513 Phone: 435-381-5252 Email: museum@co.emery.ut.us Hours: M-F 10am-4pm; Sat. 12pm-4pm; Closed Sundays

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
 * Castle Dale Utah Family History Center
 * Ferron Utah Family History Center
 * Green River Utah Family History Center
 * Huntington Utah Family History Center

Towns and communities

 * Cities: Castle Dale | Ferron | Green River | Huntington | Orangeville


 * Towns: Clawson | Cleveland | Elmo | Emery | Lawrence | Molen | Moore


 * Ghost Towns: Connellsville | Desert Lake | Mohrland | Victor | Wilsonville | Woodside

Neighboring Counties
Carbon | Grand | San Juan | Sanpete | Sevier | Uintah