Latter-day Saint Newspapers

Newspapers publish notices of marriage, divorce, death, funerals, obituaries, and wartime casualty lists. Notices include names of the persons involved, the date of the event, and may contain maiden names, names of parents, and other relatives.

Newspapers also publish articles of local interest including religious and social events in the community with the names of those involved. Some newspapers serve several communities and devote columns to the everyday happenings in the area. Newspapers also include legal notices, estate sales, and advertising for local businesses. Latter- day Saints may be mentioned in newspapers of the areas where they settled. In addition, they may also be mentioned in one of the newspapers published by the Church.

The Family History Library does not usually collect newspapers. However, the University of Utah and Brigham Young University and most college libraries have good newspaper collections. For a list of 13 newspapers published by the Church see:

"Church Newspapers." Deseret News 1989–1990 Church Almanac. Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret News, 1988. (FHL book 289.305 D457). See page 191. Lists title, years published, first editor, and place of publication.

Deseret News
In 1850 the Church established the Deseret News. This newspaper includes many articles of genealogical interest including immigrants, obituaries, and wedding announcements.

Deseret News (Salt Lake City, Utah). Weekly. 1850–1898. Salt Lake City, Genealogical Society of Utah, 1957. (FHL films 026586–614).

Deseret News; Semi-Weekly (Salt Lake City, Utah). 1866–1905. Salt Lake City, Utah: Office of the Church Historian, 1960–1961. (FHL films 241150–81).

Deseret Evening News (Salt Lake City, Utah), 1867–1961. Salt Lake City: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1955–1961. (On 437 FHL films beginning with film 26899). Copies of the Church News are included.

Many of the old Deseret News and Deseret Evening News and other Utah newspapers are available online.


 * Utah Digital Newspapers
 * Library of Congress - Chronicling America

Indexes to the Deseret News
Jenson, Andrew. Index to the Deseret News Weekly 1850–1900. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1957. (FHL film 026586). Index to the weekly, semi-weekly, and evening news through 1901 (despite date in the title). This indexes several immigrant rosters not available elsewhere. Obituary references are found under "deaths" in this index.

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Historical Department. Index to Journal History. See LDS History for more information.

For a bibliography of indexes to the Deseret News see:

Bashore, Melvin Lee. Survey ''of Indexes to the Deseret News. Salt Lake City: Indexing Services, Latter-day Saint Church Historical Dept., 1987''. This source is available in the Historical Department—Church Library. It explains how to use seven indexes at the Historical Department and Brigham Young University.

Deseret News Death Notice Indexes at USGenweb Utah State Page

Deseret News Weekly Death and Marriage Notices 1852-1888 http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~utsaltla/archive/obit_DeseretNews_1850s.html

Abstracts of Death Notices unique to the Deseret News Semi-Weekly of Salt Lake City, Utah 1865-1900 http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~utsaltla/archive/obit_DeseretNewsSW.html

Church News
Deseret News (Salt Lake City, Utah). Church News: News of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 48 Volumes. Deseret News, Salt Lake City, Utah 1931–1967. (FHL book Q 979.225/S1 B3dc). The Church News for 1937–1961 is also available on microfilm with the Deseret Evening News (Salt Lake City, Utah), 1867–1961 cited previously. This newspaper contains historical articles and biographical sketches of some Church leaders and pioneers. Indexed in:

Index to the Church News, a Section of the Deseret News. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 1955–1965. (FHL book Q 979.225/S1 B3dc index).

Bashore, Melvin Lee. Index to the Church News [1931–1960]. Salt Lake City, Utah: Indexing Services, Latter-day Saint Church Historical Dept., [1987?] This is on 6 microfiche and in a computer database.

For other indexes to the Church News from 1961 see the Index to Periodicals of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints described in LDS Periodicals.

Early LDS Newspapers
(This section is a rough draft and is intended to be refined.)

The Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine ran a series of articles from 1837 to 1940 containing abstracts of vital records from several early LDS-related newspapers. Image numbers were current as of July 2015.


 * Utah genealogical and historical magazine - v. 27 (1936). Transcripts of early vital records of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints including deaths and marriages covering 1759-1836. https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/1337917


 * pp. 21-28 (images 45-52). Deaths and marriages from The Evening and Morning Star from December 1833 to April 1834, and the Latter-day Saints Messenger and Advocate from October 1834 to September 1836. https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/1732108


 * pp. 60-66 (images 92-99). Deaths and marriages from Latter-day Saints Messenger and Advocate, vol. 3, from October 1836 to September 1837, and The Elder's Journal from October 1837 to August 1838. Issues after October 1837 were printed in Far West, Missouri. https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/1732114


 * pp. 142-144 (images 188-191). Deaths and marriages from the Times and Seasons, vol. 1, from January 1840 to June 1840. Published in Nauvoo, Illinois. https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/1732119


 * pp. 180-192 (images 232-244). Deaths and marriages from the Times and Seasons, from June 1840 to October 1840 (vol. 1), 1 November 1840 to 1 September 1841 (vol. 2). https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/1732122


 * Utah genealogical and historical magazine - v. 28 (1937). Excerpts from the Times and Seasons, The [Nauvoo] Wasp, and the Nauvoo Neighbor. The Wasp was a weekly newspaper published in Nauvoo, Illinois, William Smith, editor, from 16 April 1842 to 3 May 1843 when it was superseded by the Nauvoo Neighbor. https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/1337921


 * pp. 14-18 (images 41-45). Cont. from vol. 27, p. 192. Death and marriage records from Times and Seasons. Starts with 15 September 1841 and ends 1 December 1844. https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/1731938


 * pp. 75-82 (images 104-111). Death and marriage records from The Wasp. Starts with 16 April 1842 and ends 26 April 1843. (No catalog entry.)


 * pp. 132-141 (images 164-173). Death and marriage records from The Nauvoo Neighbor. Starts with 3 May 1843 and ends with 17 January 1844. https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/1732129


 * pp. 157-164 (images 192-199). Death and marriage records from The Nauvoo Neighbor. Starts with 17 January 1844 and ends with 14 August 1844. https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/1732137


 * Utah genealogical and historical magazine - v. 29 (1938). Excerpted from the Nauvoo Neighbor and the Council Bluffs Frontier Guardian. The Frontier Guardian was a semi-monthly four-page newspaper published at Kanesville, Iowa, by Elder Orson Hyde. The first number was issued 7 February 1849. https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/1337925


 * pp. 37-44 (images 59-66). Death and marriage records from The Nauvoo Neighbor from 21 August 1844 to 12 February 1845. It is unclear if the last entry might be from 12 March 1845. https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/1732138


 * pp. 87-96 (images 115-124). Death and marriage records from The Nauvoo Neighbor from 12 March 1845 to 17 September 1845. https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/1732145


 * pp. 143-144. Continued from page 96. Concluded. Transcript of a list of death and marriage records taken from issues of "The Nauvoo Neighbor". Starts with the issue from 17 September 1845 and ends with the issue from 29 October 1845. https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/1732150


 * pp. 190-192 (images 235-237). Entries from Records of death and marriage from 7 February 1849 to 27 June 1849. It is unclear, but the final record might be from 11 July 1849. https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/1732153


 * Utah genealogical and historical magazine - v. 30 (1939) - Jan. 1939. Pp. 216-221. Excerpted from the [Council Bluffs] Frontier Guardian. https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/1337929


 * pp. 216-221 (images 235-240). Continued from vol. 29, p. 192. Records of death and marriage from The Frontier Guardian, from 11 July 1849 to 7 August 1850. https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/1732161


 * Utah genealogical and historical magazine - v. 31 (1940) - Jan. 1940. Excerpted from the [Council Bluffs] Frontier Guardian. https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/1337933