Tooele County, Utah Genealogy

Guide to Tooele County, Utah ancestry, genealogy and family history, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Description
The County was named for "tu-wanda", the Goshute word for "bear", or from "tule", a Spanish word of Aztec origins meaning "bulrush". The County is located in the northwest area of the state.

County Courthouse
Tooele County Courthouse 74 S 100 E Tooele, Ut 84074 Phone: 435-843-3230 Tooele County Courthouse County Clerk has birth and death records 1897-1905 and marriage records from 1887. Clerk District Court has divorce, probate and court records. County Recorder has land records.

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit Hometown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

History Timeline
NOTE: Unless otherwise mentioned, the events below were gleaned from Wikipedia for Tooele County.


 * 1849 Latter-day Saints established the first white settlement in the area.
 * 1850 January Tooele County formed as one of six original counties in Deseret, later called Utah Territory
 * 1850's-1860's Troubles between white settlers and Goshute Indians.
 * 1852 March 3 - Tooele County was created as an original county.
 * 1852 By this year, Grantsville, Batesville, and Pine Canyon (later called Lincoln) were settled by Latter-day Saints.
 * 1855 Richville named as county seat.
 * 1861 Territory of Nevada created, establishing the permanent western border of Tooele County.
 * 1861 County seat moved to Tooele City.
 * 1864 Gold, silver, lead, and zinc were discovered in Tooele County, spurring an influx of non-church members to the area.
 * Before 1874 The county courthouse was built.
 * 1874-1879. The Republic of Tooele was established by non-members politicians. Only taxpayers were allowed to vote, and there were complaints of fraud. The recorder's office was even jeopardized!
 * 1876 Territorial legislature passed a bill requiring voter registration and women's suffrage. Tooele County and it's political problems earlier were likely the spur to this law.

Cemeteries

 * Territorial-1966 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * Tooele county cemeteries at the Utah State Historical site
 * US Vol. 21 page 188 - Mercur Cemetery

Church Records
 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) Historically, most people in Utah were Latter-day Saints. Their records are, therefore, very important for early Utah research. For additional information, see Tracing Latter-day Saint Ancestors and Utah Church Records.
 * 1877-1918 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index

 List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Court Records

 * 1855-1956 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images. Also at Ancestry.com, ($)

Emigration and Immigration

 * 1847-1868 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & links to images

Funeral Homes
Tate Mortuary 110 South Main Tooele, UT 84074 Phone: 435-882-0676 Fax: 435-882-7814

Land and Property Records
Online Land Indexes and Records
 * 1855-1956 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images. Also at Ancestry.com, ($)
 * Dates Vary United States Wills and Deeds Experimental Search at FamilySearch - incomplete index and images, counties and dates vary

Local Histories

 * Blanthorn, Ouida. A history of Tooele County, Utah Centennial County History Series
 * Wendover Air Force Base, now closed, was the training base of the Enola Gay crew which dropped the first atomic weapon in 1945.

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Utah Gazetteers


 * 2012 Google highway map of Tooele County 2012
 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Migration
Early migration routes to and from Tooele County for emigrant settlers included:
 * 1846-1869 California Trail 1846 to 1869 from western Missouri to northern California
 * 1846-1869 Mormon Trail 1846 to 1869 from Nauvoo, Illinois to Salt Lake City, Utah
 * 1847 Mormon Trail to Southern California 1847 from Salt Lake City, Utah to Los Angeles, California
 * 1859-1869 Central Overland Trail 1859-1869 from Salt Lake City, Utah to Carson City, Nevada (and usually on to northern California)

Military Records

 * Territorial-1966 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images

 Civil War
 * 1861-1865 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images at Partner site

World War I
 * 1914-1918 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1914-1918 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1917-1918 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1917-1918 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1914-1919- Militia honor roll, 1914-1919 - FamilySearch Catalog

 World War II
 * 1939-1945 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1940-1947 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images

Naturalization and Citizenship
Online Naturalization Indexes and Records
 * 1848-2001 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1855-1956 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images. Also at Ancestry.com, ($)
 * 1906-1930 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1906-1930 Utah, Federal Naturalization Records, 1906-1930 at Ancestry- index & images ($)

Newspapers

 * 1850-2003 Utah Newspapers, 1850-2003 at MyHeritage — index & images ($)
 * Utah Digital Newspapers Project gives newspaper images online. Search All Newspapers by name or keywords, or Browse by County to view the digitized newspapers.
 * Tooele County Chronicle and Tooele Transcript-Bulletin, covering 1947-1948 and 1894-1924 respectively are included.

Obituaries

 * 1850-2005 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & links to images
 * 2010-2013 Utah, U.S., Obituary Index, 2010-2013 at Ancestry - index ($)

County Records

 * 1855-1956 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images. Also at Ancestry.com, ($)
 * 1917-1919 Councils of Defense Records, 1917-1919 at Utah Division of Archives and Records Service – index and images

Prisons

 * 1892-1949 Board of Pardons Prisoners' Pardon Application Case Files, 1892-1949 at Utah Division of Archives and Records Service – index and images

Probate Records
Online Probate Indexes and Records
 * 1800 – 1985 Utah Wills and Probate Records 1800-1985 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1851 – 1961 at FamilySearch — images
 * a collection digitized by FamilySearch (free), includes the index to wills 1887-1955
 * Utah, State Archives a collection digitized by FamilySearch (free), includes probate court minutes, 1859-1888.
 * Dates Vary United States Wills and Deeds Experimental Search at FamilySearch - incomplete index and images, counties and dates vary

Social Security Records

 * 1935-2014 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
 * 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry ($) — index, click here for more information.
 * 1936-2007 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index

Birth

 * 1898-1905 Series #83862 at Utah State Archives. Not online, no online index. There are no names of children in the records.
 * 1903-1914 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1906-1910 1906-1910 online images

Marriage

 * 1805-1992 Utah, United States Marriages at Findmypast — index ($)
 * 1855-1956 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images. Also at Ancestry.com, ($)
 * 1871-1941 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1887-1937 Utah, County Marriages, 1887-1937 at MyHeritage - index ($)
 * 1887-1999 Utah, Marriages, 1887-1999 at MyHeritage — index ($)
 * Western States Marriage Index at BYU-Idaho — includes some divorces and alternative sources

Death

 * 1904-1965 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * Pre-1904 Utah State Burial Data Base This site includes information on many Utah residents, who died before 1904.
 * Tooele Genweb site has further information on Births, Marriages, Deaths record sources.

Archives

 * 1848-2001 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1855-1956 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images. Also at Ancestry.com, ($)

FamilySearch Centers

 * Grantsville Utah West FamilySearch Center
 * Tooele Valley Utah FamilySearch Center
 * Wendover Utah FamilySearch Center
 * FamilySearch Family History Main Library

Libraries

 * Grantsville City Library  42 Bowery Street Grantsville, UT 84029 Phone: 435-884-1670 Website
 * Tooele City Library 128 West Vine Street Tooele, UT 84074-2059 Phone: 435-882-2182 Website


 * Utah's Online Library, which provides links to library web pages, addresses, phone numbers, hours, and maps.

Societies

 * Tooele County Preservation Society Website

Websites

 * Tooele Gen Web, Utah Gen Web
 * Tooele USGW Archive, Utah USGW Archives
 * Linkpendium


 * – The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records.