tugs@utcsrgv.UUCP (Stephen Hull) (11/03/83)
A brief general-ppurpose to get things off to a start: I understand that virtually all the information one can hope to find about one's genealogy is available at one place -- the Mormon headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah. Apparently they copied all existing records of everyone's birth and death, as there are certain genealogical requirements for admission to the C of JC of the LDS. Comments? This is hearsay, and I'd be delighted to have it confirmed/denied, plus further relevant information (like an address). steve hull (hull, a corruption of hill; there are, to my knowledge two hull families, an English and an Irish/Scottish; mine's the latter -- records indicate a Thomas de Hulle living in Normandy in the 16th century...) -- UUCP { linus ihnp4 allegra floyd utzoo decwrl garfield qucis cornell mcgill-vision sask watmath uw-beaver ubc-vision }!utcsrgv!tugs { decvax cwruecmp duke research floyd }!utzoo!utcsrgv!tugs Arpa utcsrgv!tugs@UW-BEAVER
emma@uw-june (Joe Pfeiffer) (11/06/83)
Regarding the Mormons-- it is true that they have a huge amount of information. No, they haven't copied every birth and death record in the world... they're working on it. They have a belief that salvation can be offered to dead ancestors, once you know who your dead ancestors are. So, it is sort of an imperative that a practicing Mormon work to find out as many ancestors as possible. And when you go to a public library to get genealogical information, they are likely to assume you are a Mormon, they see so many of them. Anyway, they are kind enough to allow the rest of us access to their records. It is possible to obtain information by going to Utah, or to their local parishes (they don't call them parishes, but I don't remember the word they do use). -Joe P.
thomas@utah-gr.UUCP (Spencer W. Thomas) (11/06/83)
It is true that there is a GREAT deal of genealogical info available here in SLC at the Mormon Genealogical Library. The reason they are so interested in this info is so that they can baptize their ancestors into the church retroactively. There are very few post-1900 records, since many people born after 1900 are still living, and this would be an invasion of privacy (or so the story goes). I'd like to take a moment here to plug the upcoming June Usenix conference right here in SLC. Come to Usenix and discover your roots! =Spencer
dennis@beesvax.UUCP (11/07/83)
A great deal has been gathered by members of the church as far as genealogical records are concerned, however, they have not been able to gather as much as they would hope for. To microfilm these old records, members (who have the time and money, usually retirees) have gone to places and photographed parish records or township documents and send them back to Salt Lake to be stored. Many times the local officials or government will not allow this and the records of their area will go unsaved. So the church does not have *all* records, but they are trying. Also, the comment that it is a prerequisite for admission to the church is to have some geneaology work done is not true. After a person is baptized into the church they are encouraged to search out their ancestors. If you would like some information on your genealogical questions simply drop a note via snail-mail to: Genealogical Society of Utah 50 E North Temple Salt Lake City, Utah 84015 This is not for members only so don't think you have to join the church to get the information. The people here are more than happy to help anyone. Dennis McCurdy Beehive International (..harpo!utah-cs!beesvax) t
dennis@beesvax.UUCP (11/07/83)
Oops! On a prievious article I gave the wrong zip code for the geneology library here in Salt Lake City. I said it was 84015 and the REAL zip code is 84150. Sorry about that. Must of been the donut I had this morning. My thanks to Daryl of byucse for pointing out the mistake. The correct address: Genealogical Society of Utah 50 E North Temple Salt Lake City, Utah 84150 Dennis McCurdy Beehive International (..harpo!utah-cs!beesvax)
meldrum@fluke.UUCP (Glen Meldrum) (11/09/83)
If you are interested and you happen to live in one of the more populated areas, there is a good possibility that there will be a Mormon genealogical library near you. To find out, try looking in your telephone directory in the white pages under "Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints". Under that heading look for Branch Genealogical Library or Stake Genealogical Library. If you find one near by, pay them a visit. Tell the receptionist that you would like to find out what is available and how to use there services. Glen Meldrum
b-davis@utah-cs.UUCP (Brad Davis) (11/17/83)
Inquiries can be directed to Geneological Department The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints 50 E North Temple Salt Lake City, Utah 84111 Phone numbers all have 801 prefixes Library information 531-2331 British reference 531-2367 European reference 531-2881 Scandinavian reference 531-2198 US-Canada reference 531-2364 Aquisitions 531-2307 Technical services 531-2414 The department has the most complete collection of geneological records anywhere in the world. It includes records from all parts of the world, not just Europe and North America (some of these records might not be available at this time do to the time it takes to catalog the information). Records include geneologies, microfilm of parrish records, microfilm of Oriental family trees, and other records of geneological importance (diaries etc.). Donations to the library are welcome. Library information can give you better help than I can. Bradley Nordfors Davis P.S. Yes, I am a Morman. P.P.S. Are there any Nordfors' on the net??
ofut@gatech.UUCP (11/17/83)
Let's donate a vax to these guys in Salt Lake city so that they can answer us directly! Anybody got an extra vax...? -- Jeff Offutt School of ICS, Georgia Tech, Atlanta GA CSNet: Ofut @ GATech ARPA: Ofut.GATech @ Csnet-Relay uucp: ...!{akgua,allegra,rlgvax,sb1,unmvax,ut-ngp,ut-sally}!gatech!ofut