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Utah Public Records
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To Search Public and Vital Records -
Vital records are records of life events important enough that
some level of government acquires, organizes, and preserves
them. While the term "vital records" is often applied
to a wide variety of life events... Read
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Utah Vital Records
In Utah, the civil registration of births, deaths, and marriages developed
slowly, culminating with a statewide system of recording births and
deaths beginning in 1905. Early legislative acts empowered, but did
not require, certain cities to maintain a register of births and deaths.
In 1898, the state legislature provided for central county records,
requiring county clerks to keep separate birth and death registers.
Since marriage was seen as a religious sacrament, the civil registration
of marriages was not required in Utah until 1887.
For birth and death records from 1 January 1905 and marriage records
from 1 January 1978, write:
Utah Bureau of Vital Records, 288 North 1460 West, Salt Lake City,
UT 84114-2855
For earlier records, write to the clerk of the county
in question.
Utah Land Records
Utah is a federal-land state. Lands were generally acquired from
the federal government or from other individuals. Before federal
land offices were established in the territory, land was distributed
by the elders of the Mormon church in lots which could easily be
maintained by a family. With the creation of a Federal Land Office
in Salt Lake in 1869, legal titles were granted to land which had
been previously held. See Jaussi and Chaston's (1974) and Arrington's
(1958) publications described under "Additional Sources,"
and Lawrence L. Linford's "Establishing and Maintaining Land
Ownership in Utah Prior to 1869," Utah Historical Quarterly
42 (1974): 126–43, which provides an excellent context for
researching Utah's land records. For Utah there is a master card
index for the cash entry files of U.S. lands sold by the Salt Lake
Land Office. It is accessible at the National Archives-Rocky Mountain
Region and the Bureau of Land Management in Washington, D.C., as
well as at the FHL.
Although the county recorder's office was created at the founding
of the county, their deed books did not become the predictable location
for land transactions until after 1874. Earlier land records can
be found among many classes of documents in the county seat, including
county court and probate records. After 1874, separate books for
land transactions have been continuously kept. Most counties have
indexes for their land holdings, usually referred to as grantee
and grantor indexes. For further information on land and property
research, consult:
Hone, E. Wade. Land and Property Research in the United States.
Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1997.
Utah Court Records
Court records include probate records (which include wills), guardianship,
naturalization, and a wide variety of other sources, ranging from
criminal trials to simple road orders. All contain information about
individuals within the area. It should be remembered that there
are different levels of jurisdiction for courts in the United States,
all of which should be considered for research under various circumstances.
Court of Common Pleas, Orphan's Court, Probate Court, District Court,
Superior Court, Supreme Court, and other titles are among those
encountered. To study more about court records in general, see "Research
in Court Records," by Arlene H. Eakle, in:
Szucs, Loretto Dennis, and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking, eds. The
Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy. Rev. ed. Salt Lake City:
Ancestry, 1997.
Utah Military Records
A Mormon unit of 13,000 soldiers, known as the Nauvoo Legion, a
territorial militia which included both Mormon and non-Mormon military-age
males, engaged in military activities from its earliest inception
to the end of the Black Hawk War in the late 1860s. The original
records for 1849–70 are at the Utah State Archives, along with
an extensive collection of other state militia, service, and veterans'
records compiled by the archives. Many are additionally available
on microfilm through the National Archives and FHL.
Volunteers from Utah served during the Civil War, and a unit of
500 engaged in the Spanish American War in 1898; 21,000 soldiers
were supplied during World War I, and many more during World War
II. Utah servicemen are included in the 1890 special census of the
Union veterans and widows of the Civil War, as are those who served
elsewhere but were living in Utah by 1890. Some Regular Army troops
served on the frontier in Utah and remained after discharge to take
advantage of mining or commercial ventures. For veterans of all
wars buried under the jurisdiction of the federal burial program
since 1861, write to Cemetery Service, National Cemetery System,
Veterans Administration, 810 Vermont Avenue, Washington, DC 20420.
Headstone applications taken from 1879 to 1924 were filed by applicant,
state, county, and cemetery.
See also Carter, Kate B., The Mormon Battalion (Salt Lake City:
Utah Printing, 1956); Long, E. B., The Saints and the Union: Utah
Territory in the Civil War (Urbana: University of Illinois Press,
1981); Powell, Alan Kent, ed., Utah Remembers World War II (Logan:
Utah State University, 1991); Prentiss, A., The History of the Utah
Volunteers in the Spanish-American War and in the Philippine Islands
(Salt Lake City: W. F. Ford, 1900); and Neagles, James C., U.S.
Military Records: A Guide to Federal and State Sources (Salt Lake
City: Ancestry, 1994).
Additional Sources
Arrington, Leonard J. Great Basin Kingdom: Economic History of the
Latter-day Saints, 1830–1900. Lincoln: University of Nebraska
Press, 1958.
Poll, Richard D., Thomas G. Alexander, Eugene E.
Campbell, and David E. Miller, eds. Utah's History. Provo: Brigham
Young University, 1978.
Jaussi, Laureen R., and Gloria D. Chaston. Genealogical
Records of Utah.
Utah Vital Records:
Event: Birth
Cost of copy: $12.00
Address:
Bureau of Vital Records
Utah Department of Health
288 North 1460 West
P.O. Box 141012
Salt Lake City, UT 84114-1012
Remarks: State office has had records since 1905.
If event occurred from 1890 to 1904 in Salt Lake City or Ogden,
write to City Board of Health. For records elsewhere in the State
from 1898 to 1904, write to County Clerk in county where event occurred.
Additional copies, when requested at the same time, are $5.00 each.
Check or money order should be made payable to Utah
Department of Health. Personal checks are accepted. To verify current
fees, the telephone number is (801) 538-6105. This is a recorded
message. Information on how to obtain certified copies is also available
via the internet at Utah Department of Health.
Search All Utah Records
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Event: Death
Cost of copy: $9.00
Address:
Bureau of Vital Records
Utah Department of Health
288 North 1460 West
P.O. Box 141012
Salt Lake City, UT 84114-1012
Remarks: State office has had records since 1905.
If event occurred from 1890 to 1904 in Salt Lake City or Ogden,
write to City Board of Health. For records elsewhere in the State
from 1898 to 1904, write to County Clerk in county where event occurred.
Additional copies, when requested at the same time, are $5.00 each.
Check or money order should be made payable to Utah
Department of Health. Personal checks are accepted. To verify current
fees, the telephone number is (801) 538-6105. This is a recorded
message. Information on how to obtain certified copies is also available
via the internet at Utah Department of Health.
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Event: Marriage (State)
Cost of copy: $9.00
Address:
Bureau of Vital Records
Utah Department of Health
288 North 1460 West
P.O. Box 141012
Salt Lake City, UT 84114-1012
Remarks: State office has had records since 1978.
Only short form certified copies are available.
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Event: Marriage (county)
Cost of copy: Varies
Address: See remarks
Remarks: County Clerk in county where license was
issued.
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Event: Divorce (State)
Cost of copy: $9.00
Address:
Bureau of Vital Records
Utah Department of Health
288 North 1460 West
P.O. Box 141012
Salt Lake City, UT 84114-1012
Remarks: State office has had records since 1978.
Only short form certified copies are available.
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Event: Divorce (county)
Cost of copy: Varies
Address: See remarks
Remarks: County Clerk in county where divorce
was granted.
Search All Utah Records
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