Utah, Salt Lake County Death Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Utah  Salt Lake County

What is in the Collection?
This project was indexed in partnership with the Utah Genealogical Association. The collection consists of an index and images for the years 1849 to 1949. Some records in this collection may be for deaths occurring before 1908 where the remains were re-interred between 1908 and 1949.

Sample Images
In 1847, death records were first recorded in the membership records of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Later in 1851, the State of Deseret authorized the Church to register deaths on behalf of the government. Then in 1860, the Territorial Government of Utah authorized Ogden and Salt Lake City to keep a record of deaths in their cities. In 1888, this authorization was extended to all cities. Beginning in 1898, the State of Utah required all medical personnel, clergymen, sextons, and parents to register deaths with the county. In 1905, the State of Utah had the county clerks forward the original death record to the State Board of Health, making a second copy for their own county death register. All counties began reporting deaths to the state in 1905, when the Department of Health created the Division of Vital Statistics. A death certificate was required for burial in Utah, so compliance was high. Deaths from 1908 to 1949 were recorded on certificates.

Deaths for the years 1848 to 1908 are recorded in registers, which are bound into volumes. The volumes are arranged chronologically and the entries are arranged numerically within the volumes. Deaths from 1908 to 1949 were recorded on certificates. They are arranged numerically by registered number then by date of death (month and year).

Deaths were recorded to better serve public health needs. They were also used in connection with the probate of wills and the administration of estates. The information recorded about the death is usually reliable, including the cause of death, the name of the attending physician or medical professional, the name and address of the funeral home, and the date and place of burial. The accuracy of other information depends on the reliability of the informant, often a family member.

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
Death registers usually contain the following information:


 * Full name and gender of deceased
 * Death date and certificate number
 * Age in years, months and days
 * Place of death
 * Race
 * Marital status of deceased
 * Occupation of deceased
 * Birthplace of deceased
 * Parents' names

Death certificates usually contain the following information:


 * Full name and gender of deceased
 * Residence of deceased
 * Date and place of death
 * Cause of death
 * Age in years, months and days
 * Race/color of deceased
 * Marital status and occupation of deceased
 * Sometimes, spouse's name, if married
 * Birthplace of deceased
 * Father's name and birthplace
 * Mother's maiden name and birthplace
 * Name and address of attending physician
 * Name of informant
 * Burial information

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know the following:


 * The place where the death occurred
 * The name of the person at the time of death
 * The approximate death date

Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page: Fill in the requested information in the boxes on the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the individuals 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 look at the information on several individuals comparing the information about them to your ancestors to make this determination. 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.
 * If your ancestor used an alias or a nickname, be sure to check for those alternate names.
 * Even though these indexes are very accurate they may still contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned.

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 death record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors. Add this new information to your records of each family.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use the birth date or age along with the place of birth to find or verify the birth record and the parents' names.
 * Use the birth date or age along with the place of birth to find the family in census records.
 * Use the residence and names of the parents (if the deceased is a child) to locate church and land records.
 * Use the parents’ birthplaces to find former residences and to establish a migration pattern for the family.
 * The name of the undertaker or mortuary could lead you to funeral and cemetery records, which often include the names and residences of other family members.
 * 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 person to make this determination.
 * Compile the entries for every person who has the same surname; this is especially helpful in rural areas or if the surname is unusual.
 * Continue to search the records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives of the deceased who may have died or been buried in the same county or nearby. This can help you identify other generations of your family or even the second marriage of a parent. Repeat this process for each new generation you identify.

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

 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for nicknames and abbreviated names.
 * Look for another index. Local genealogical and historical societies often have indexes to local records.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby counties.
 * 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 with the same family number.

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For a summary of this information see the wiki article: United States, How to Use the Records Summary.

Known Issues with This Collection
For a full list of all known issues associated with this collection, please read the attached Wiki article. If you encounter additional problems, feel free to report them at [mailto:support@familysearch support@familysearch.org]. Please include the full path to the link and a description of the problem in your e-mail. Your assistance will help ensure that future reworks will be considered

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):