Emery County, Utah Genealogy

Guide to Emery 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 George W. Emery, governor of the Utah Territory in 1875. The County is located in the center area of the state.

County Courthouse
Emery County Courthouse 1850 N 560 W Castle Dale, UT 84513 Phone: 435-381-5419 Emery County Courthouse County Clerk has marriage records from 1888. State 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:

History Timeline
NOTE: Unless otherwise mentioned, the events below were gleaned from Wikipedia 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
 * 1840s-1850s Government explorers sent to the Castle Valley area. Kit Carson was one 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 Countybrought cattle and sheep into Castle Valley to graze and recognized the settlement potential of the region.
 * 1875 Livestock growers from Sanpete County brought cattle and sheep into Castle Valley to graze.
 * 1877 Young Latter-day Saint families began moving to settle the Castle Valley area.
 * 1877 Families began moving into 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 locate in Castle Valley.
 * 1879 Most of the lands had been taken up.
 * 1880, February County was created by the Utah Territorial Legislature.
 * 1880s 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.
 * 1890 Grand was created 13 March 1890 from parts of Emery and Uintah Counties.
 * 1894 Carbon was created 8 March 1894 from parts of Emery and Uintah Counties.
 * 1933 Due to the Depression, Civilian Conservation Corpcamps began to be constructed. First was in Joe's Valley in Mary.
 * 1935 Permanent camp established near Ferron and the second camp was established at Castle Dale.
 * 1938 Camp established at Green River.
 * 1970s Population expanded considerably due to construction of large coal-fired power plants in Castle Dale and Huntington.
 * 1900 Population of Emery County had reached 4,600 people with over 450 farms in operation.

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


 * Castle Dale City Cemetery 750 North Center Street Castle Dale, Utah 84513
 * Clawson Cemetery  Highway 10 (5 miles south of Clawson) Clawson, Utah 84516
 * Cleveland Town Cemetery 300 North 600 East Cleveland, Utah 84518
 * Elmo Cemetery  200 South 500 East Elmo, Utah 84521
 * Emery Town Cemetery  75 South Center Street Emery, Utah 84522
 * Ferron City Cemetery 300 East 200 North (Cemetery Road) Ferron, Utah 84523
 * Green River Cemetery Green River, Utah 84525
 * Huntington City Cemetery  400 West 575 North Huntington, Utah 84528
 * Lawrence Cemetery  Cemetery Road Lawrence, Utah 84528
 * Molen Cemetery  Molen Road Ferron, Utah 84523
 * Muddy Creek Cemetery Emery, Utah 84513
 * Orangeville Cemetery 1300 West Cemetery Road Orangeville, Utah 84537
 * Ridge Cemetery Utah 84513
 * Tucker Family Cemetery  Airport Road Utah
 * Victor Cemetery  Utah 84513
 * Wilsonville Cemetery 
 * Woodside Cemetery  Woodside, Utah

Census Records
Census records 1850 and later list names, ages, and places of birth (state or nation) for everyone in the household. Censuses locate the family and have other clues to find more records about them.
 * 1856, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, and 1940 Utah Census for online indexes and images of US federal censuses. of: 1856, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, and 1940.
 * 1856 statewide printed indexes, including 1856.
 * Using the Census to find other records about ancestors

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

Emigration and Immigration

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

Funeral Homes
website 710 North Center Street Castle Dale,UT 84513 Phone:435-381-2551 Fax: 435-637-6995
 * Fausett Mortuary

Local Histories
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." 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.


 * Geary, Edward A. A history of Emery County, Utah Centennial County History Series
 * 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. Digital version at Internet Archive.
 * 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.

Maps and Gazetteers
See Utah Gazetteers


 * Emery County Map
 * Emery County: San Rafael Motorized Route Designation February 2003.
 * Emery County: 2002 Draft Monument Proposal.
 * Emery County: Voting Precincts.
 * Google highway map of Emery County 2009
 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

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

 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
 * 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.
 * 1955-1956 Emery County Progress 1900-1910 and Green River Journal 1955-1956'', are included.
 * Olsen, Bruce L. A History of the Emery County Progress-Leader and Its Predecessors. Provo: Brigham Young University, 1965.
 * 1900-2001 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 FamilySearch Library. The library currently has volumes 1 (1900) thru 64 (1963) of the Emery County Progress available on 19 rolls of microfilm beginning with FS Library film . Volumes 65 (1964) thru 78 (1977) of the Emery County Progress-Leader are available on 8 rolls of microfilm beginning with FS Library film.

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 ($)

Prisons

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

Periodicals

 * Utah Periodicals

Probate Records
Online Probate Indexes and Records
 * 1800-1985 Utah Wills and Probate Records 1800-1985 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1851-1961 FamilySearch

Birth

 * 1898-1905 Online index to births 1898–1905 Series 84038
 * 1898-1905 Series #84038 at Utah state archives. Not online. 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
 * Southeastern Utah District Public Health Department (Emery County

Marriage
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.
 * 1805-1992 Utah, United States Marriages at Findmypast — index ($)
 * 1871-1941 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1887-1937 Utah, County Marriages, 1887-1937 at MyHeritage - index ($)
 * 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

Archives

 * Emery County Archives 75 East Main Street Castle Dale, Utah 84513. Phone: 435-381-2671; E-mail: Archives@co.Emery.ut.us
 * Green River Archives 1765 East Main Street Green River, Utah 84525 Phone: 435-564-3427 ext. 2 Fax: 435-564-3526

FamilySearch Centers

 * Castle Dale Utah FamilySearch Center
 * Ephraim Utah FamilySearch Center
 * Ferron Utah FamilySearch Center
 * Green River Utah FamilySearch Center
 * Huntington Utah FamilySearch Center

Libraries

 * Emery County Library 115 North 100 East Castle Dale, Utah 84513-9999 Phone: 435-381-2554, Fax: 435-381-2699. Website
 * Utah State University Eastern Library & Learning Commons 451 East 400 North Price, UT 84501 Website
 * The library holds microfilm copies of newspapers from several towns in Carbon and Emery Counties. They are willing to help with research if the exact date of an event is known.


 * See also Utah Public Library Directory.

Museums

 * Pioneer History Museum 65 East 100 North Castle Dale, Utah 84513 Phone: 435-381-5154
 * John Wesley Powell River History Museum 1765 East Main Street Green River, Utah 84525 Phone: 435-564-3427 Website
 * Museum of the San Rafael 70 North 100 East Castle Dale, Utah 84513 Phone: 435-381-5252 Email: museum@co.emery.ut.us Website

Societies

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


 * 1880-1980 Emery County, 1880-1980.: Emery County Historical Society, 1981.

Websites

 * Emery, UT Gen Web
 * USGW Archives


 * – 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.