Latter-day Saint Preliminary Survey

Tracing LDS Ancestors   Preliminary Survey

There are a few resources you want to check when you first get started in the search for the records of your LDS ancestors.

Home Sources
The records that are held by parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins could be very beneficial. The time spent in searching for original records could be reduced by finding what was searched by others before you. In addition to home sources, extended family members may have submitted information about your common ancestor to the Family Tree, Pedigree Resource File, or to the old Ancestral File, or to the old "Four Generation Program" which were microfilmed as part of the Family Group Records Collection. Many LDS ancestors are found in the International Genealogical Index.

Online Sources
The following list of sites on the Internet will be helpful in searching for the records of your LDS ancestors. In many cases, these sources will lead to other records where your ancestors were mentioned. Click on each source for more details about the record. A link to the web site for each source is also provided:


 * 1) Ancestry.com has several databases specifically related to LDS ancestors
 * 2) Chronology of Church History
 * 3) Heritage Gateways
 * 4) Iowa Mormon Trails Association
 * 5) Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel 1847-1868
 * 6) Mormons and Their Neighbors
 * 7) Oregon-California Trails Association
 * 8) Tracing Mormon Pioneers Also see the FamilySearch Wiki article Tracing Mormon Pioneers
 * 9) Utah State Archives Cemetery Burials
 * 10) Utah State Archives Death Certificates