Patriarchal Blessings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Tracing LDS Ancestors   Patriarchal Blessings

Background
A patriarchal blessing is a blessing given to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by an ordained patriarch and usually provides genealogical information. The top of the printed copy of the blessing often gives the person’s complete name, birth date, birthplace, and parents’ names. When looking for a patriarchal blessing, always check for women under their maiden and married names. Some early Saints had more than one blessing.

Copies
The Church History Library serves as the custodian of the Patriarchal Blessing records. The following instructions are from their site 3 August 2015 regarding how to request copies:

To obtain copies of patriarchal blessings for yourself or a deceased direct-line ancestor, you will need the following information:


 * Your Church membership record number. (If you do not have it, please see your ward membership clerk.)
 * Blessing recipient's name at the time the blessing was given.
 * Names of blessing recipient's parents.
 * Birth date of blessing recipient.
 * Approximate year the blessing was given.
 * Your relationship to recipient.
 * Your mailing address.

You may request copies of blessings in three ways:

In Person: Please bring a valid photo ID when you come to the Church History Library. (Patriarchal blessing services are available Monday through Friday only. The patriarchal blessings staff is not available on Saturdays.) Only your own blessing may be requested in person. Ancestors’ blessings must be requested through LDS.org. For personal blessing requests, you will be directed to log in to your LDS Account. If you do not have an account, a staff member will direct you on how to create one. Your personal blessing will not be printed; it will be uploaded to your LDS Account as a PDF.

Through the Postal Service—Mail your request to the address below.

Church History Library Attn: Patriarchal Blessings 15 East North Temple Street Salt Lake City, Utah 84150-1600

All requests through the postal service will be fulfilled by mailing the requested blessing.

Online: Go to LDS.org. Click My Account and Ward, and then click Patriarchal Blessings. Log in to your LDS Account. (If you do not have an LDS Account, you will be required to register by creating either a member account or a friend account.) You may issue either personal or direct-line ancestor requests from this web page. Your personal blessing will be uploaded to your LDS Account as a PDF. Ancestral blessings will be mailed to you.

Requests for blessings for the deceased may take substantially longer to fulfill. Personal blessings will be fulfilled first and then ancestral blessings will be processed in the order received.

For information, please call 1-801-240-3500.