Utah, Salt Lake County Death Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Collection Time Period
This collection contains death records in registers from 1848 to 1908, and death records on certificates from 1908 to 1949.

Record History
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 which was later extended to all cities in 1888. Beginning in 1898, the State of Utah required all medical personnel as well as 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.

Why This Record Was Created
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.

Record Reliability
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.

Record Description
Each death was recorded on a one-page, preprinted form. The same forms were often used by both Salt Lake County and State of Utah.

Record Content
Death entries include the following genealogical information:


 * Death and burial date
 * Birth date (frequently included)
 * City, county, and state of death
 * Name and location of the cemetery
 * Country or state and sometimes town and county of birth for the deceased (frequently included)
 * Country or state and sometimes town and county of birth for the parents (frequently included)
 * Name of the deceased, spouse’s married name, and parents’ names (frequently includes maiden surname of the mother)
 * Name of the informant (often a son or daughter or other family member)
 * Age (frequently listed in years, months, and days)
 * Sex
 * Residence or address (frequently includes how long at that residence or length of time in the United States if foreign born)
 * Marital status (single, married, widowed, or divorced at the time of death)
 * Occupation

How to Use the Record
Begin your search by finding your ancestors in the index. Name indexes to deaths make it possible to access a specific record quickly. Remember that these indexes may contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned.

When searching the index 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.

Use the locator information found in the index (such as page, entry, or certificate number) to locate your ancestor in the death records. Compare the information in the death record to what you already know about your ancestor to determine if this is the correct person. You may need to compare the information of more than one person to make this determination.

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. For example: • Use the birth date or age along with the place of birth to find or verify their birth records and 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. • Occupations listed can lead you to employment records or other types of records such as military records. • Use the parent’s birth places to find former residences and to establish a migration pattern for the family. • The name of the officiator is a clue to their religion or area of residence in the county. • 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. • 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. • When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.

If you are unable to find the ancestors you are looking for, try the following: • Check for variant spellings of the surnames. • Check for a different index. There are often indexes at the beginning of each volume. • Search the indexes and records of nearby counties.

Related Web Sites
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Related Wiki Articles
Utah Vital Records

Sources of This Collection
"Utah, Salt Lake County Death Records, 1908-1949," database, FamilySearch Record Search (http://familysearch.org); from Salt Lake County Management and Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah. FHL microfilm. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.

How to Cite Your Sources
''An example of citing these records is: Salt Lake County Management and Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah. Utah, Salt Lake County Death Records, 1908-1949. Death record. From FamilySearch Internet (www.familysearch.org), April 23, 2010. John Hampton Smith, 15 Dec 1944, Image number 00002.''

Instructions for citing this source can be found at: How to Cite FamilySearch Collections  ID1459704 Please do not erase or change the identification number, this number is not currently active but will become so when the other death record sets are added. The CID number currently in the template above will no longer work at that time