Records of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Tracing LDS Ancestors   Church Records

For a more detailed article on LDS Church Records, see LDS Church Records Class Handout.

The following articles describe records created primarily by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:


 * LDS Census gives information about censuses taken by the Church to locate and count Church members.
 * LDS Emigration and Immigration describes the records of Saints who emigrated from Britain, Europe, and Scandinavia, and the journey of the pioneers to Utah.
 * LDS Membership Records explains how to find the local branch, ward, stake, or mission documents that show the births, blessings of children, baptisms, confirmations, marriages, move-ins and move-outs, and deaths of Latter-day Saints.
 * LDS Missionaries gives information about indexes and records of members who served full-time missions for the Church.
 * LDS Patriarchal Blessings discusses how to find copies of blessings given by Church patriarchs, and explains their genealogical value.
 * LDS Priesthood Records explains what quorum records are, how to find them, and how to trace priesthood lineages.
 * LDS Temple Records describes how to locate official documents created by temple recorders showing living and proxy priesthood ordinations, endowments, sealings to parents, and sealings to spouse.
 * Ward Membership Records

For further details about researching Latter-day Saint records see Tracing LDS Ancestors.

Archives and Libraries

 * The Family History Library has all of the genealogical records described above. The associated Family History Centers have access to the Library's microfilms.
 * The Church History Library collects the Church's historical records from around the world.

Other major repositories holding records which can be used for documenting Latter-day Saint ancestors are described in LDS Archives and Libraries.