Utah, Box Elder County Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Utah Box Elder County

What is in the Collection?
The collection consists of images of county records located at the county courthouse in Brigham City for the years 1856 to 1960. Included in this collection are:


 * Marriages (1887-1960)
 * Naturalization/Citizenship (1869-1945)
 * Military (1917-1957)
 * Land and Property (1857-1942)
 * Probate (1856-1878)

Soon after they were formed, counties began recording vital records, court records, and land transactions. The records are generally well preserved. The records were made to establish legal rights and to help track the population for health and taxation purposes. The information is generally reliable, but depends upon the reliability of the informant. Some transcription errors may have occurred.

Coverage Map
To see a coverage map of FamilySearch's holdings of Utah marriages click here.

What Can these Records Tell Me?
Marriage licenses and certificates have the following information:


 * Name, age and residence of groom
 * Name, age and residence of bride
 * Date and place of marriage
 * Sometimes, name(s) of those who gave consent
 * Name of person who solemnized marriage
 * Names of witnesses

Military Certificates of Service included the following information:


 * Name of serviceman
 * Rank and military unit in which served
 * Period of service
 * Military specialty given
 * Character reference
 * Date and place of filing, recording
 * Signature of recipient
 * Signature of commanding officer

Petitions for Naturalization included the following information:


 * Court, city and county where petition was filed
 * Date of filing
 * Birth date and place of birth of petitioner
 * Complete physical description
 * Marital status and name of spouse
 * Number of children
 * Place of emigration
 * U. S. port of entry
 * Affidavits of witnesses

Other Box Elder County Records may contain the following information:


 * Date of event, transaction or recording with county
 * Names of individuals, family members and/or witnesses
 * Ages, relationships and residences
 * Occupations
 * Signature(s) or mark
 * Legal descriptions of land
 * Amount of money exchanged as part of business transactions.

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know at least some of the following:
 * The name of the individual or individuals, such as the bride and groom or the deceased.
 * The approximate date the event occurred
 * The type of event.
 * The place where the event occurred.

Compare the information on the image to what you already know about your ancestor to determine if it is the correct family or person. You may need to compare several images before you find your ancestor.

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page then: ⇒Select the "Record Category" ⇒Select the "Record Type, Volume, and Year Range" category

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

What Do I Do Next?
Whenever possible, view the original records to verify the information and to find additional information that might not be reported. These pieces of information can lead you to additional records and family members.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use the information to find other records such as emigrations, port records, ship’s manifests, birth, christening, census, and land records.
 * Learn foreign and “Americanized” names
 * Use the information to find additional family members.
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.
 * Church Records often were kept years before government records were required and are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

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

 * Try viewing the original record to see if there were errors in the transcription of the name, age, residence, etc. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * Collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you identify possible relations that can be verified by records.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby locality in an area search.
 * Standard spelling of names typically did not exist during the periods our ancestors lived in. Try variations of your ancestor’s name while searching the index or browsing through images.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Search the indexes and records of Utah, United States Genealogy.
 * Search in the Utah Archives and Libraries.

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: Image citation: