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

United States Utah

What is in the Collection?
This collection is a 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. The 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.

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
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 Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search you need to know:
 * The name of the veteran.
 * The birth date of the veteran.
 * The death date of the veteran.
 * The death place of the veteran.

Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page: Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the ancestors in the list to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to compare the information about more than one person to find your ancestor.

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page: To search the collection you will need to follow this series of links: ⇒Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page ⇒Select the "First Letter of the Surname" ⇒Select the appropriate "Surname, Given Name(s) with Death Year" which takes you to the images

Look at each image comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine if the image relates to them. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination.

With either search keep in mind:


 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names or variations of their name throughout their life.

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor’s burial record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. Download a copy of the record, or extract the genealogical information needed. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details. Add this new information to your records of each family. The information may also lead you to other records about your ancestors.

I Found Who I'm Looking for, What Now?

 * Use the age and location of the military unit to find the soldier’s family in census, church, and land records.
 * Use the burial information to search for cemetery and funeral records.
 * Use date and place of birth to look for birth records to find the parents' names.
 * Use date and place of death to locate death records which may also provide parent’s names.
 * Continue to search the index and records to identify other relatives.
 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.
 * You may need to compare the information of more than one family or person to make this determination.

I Can't Find Who I'm Looking for, What Now?

 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for alias names, nicknames and abbreviated names.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby localities.
 * Try alternative search methods such as only filling in the surname search box (or the given name search box) on the landing page leaving the other box empty and then click on search. This should return a list of everyone with that particular name. You could then browse the list for individuals that may be your ancestor.

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection Citation: Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):

Image citation: