Mormon Immigration Index
[Excerpt]… The Mormon Immigration Index database includes records of more than 93,000 Latter-day Saint converts who crossed both Atlantic and Pacific oceans between 1840 and 1890 to gather in Nauvoo, Illinois, LDS outposts, and later in Utah. Data includes name, age, country of origin, port of departure and arrival, passenger list, the company leader assigned to each voyage, and other general voyage information. Although this information is primarily for those with Latter-day Saint ancestors, those who traveled with the Saints are included also…..

Conquerors of the West: Stalwart Mormon Pioneers, Vols. 1-4
[Excerpt]… This database is a collection of histories compiled by The National Society of the Sons of the Utah Pioneers. This database includes all four volumes produced by The Sons of the Utah Pioneers and indexes persons with the last names A-Z. The database includes names, dates, and other vital information about the lives of Mormon (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) pioneers who settled in Utah…..

David Rencher, New Director of the Libraries Division of the LDS Family History Department
[Excerpt]… David Rencher has been promoted to the position of Director of the Libraries Division of the Family History Department. This puts him in charge of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, the Family Search Center in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, all of the family history centers worldwide, and the Public Outreach Department for the Family History Department of the LDS [Mormon] Church…..

LDS FamilySearch.org to Add 240 Million New Names, AuctionFerret, and more!
[Excerpt]… There hasn’t been any official announcement, but two Salt Lake City newspapers report that the Mormon’s popular online Web site will add a lot more records to their online database on Monday. The addition of 240 million new names will mean that a total of 640 million records will now be available. In addition, FamilySearch plans early next year to index the new Pedigree Resource File (PRF), a database of family history records being uploaded to the site by users. Only the index is expected to be online. The files containing PRF data will be available on a set of CD-ROM disks. The PRF, already listing more than 5 million names, is projected to grow at the rate of 1.2 million names per month…..

Free PAF Downloads at the LDS FamilySearch Site
[Excerpt]… Beginning Monday morning, June 28–just five weeks after the launch of its top-rated new Internet genealogy service–The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [Mormon] is offering free downloads of Personal Ancestral File® 4.0, a new Windows®-based version of its popular genealogical management program for home computers…..

LDS FamilySearch Site Eliminates 15-Minute Access Cycling
[Excerpt]… Due to the overwhelming response to the new (Mormon) LDS FamilySearch site that was officially launched on May 24, a 15-minute access cycle was implemented. After the initial launch, the site was reporting 100 million hits per day and many people had a difficult time accessing the site…..

LDS Church Officially Launches FamilySearch Site
[Excerpt]… In a press conference on Monday, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) announced the official launch of the FamilySearch Internet Genealogy Service at: www.familysearch.org….

New Sources for Tracing LDS Immigrants
[Excerpt]… Many genealogical sources are available for tracing the immigration of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). These include emigration records, passenger lists, LDS mission records, LDS Church records and indexes, diaries and journals, personal voyage accounts, genealogies, newspapers, Canadian Border Crossings, computer databases, Internet sites, and many others. The release of a new compact disc, known as the Mormon Immigration Index, by the Family and Church History Department in Salt Lake City will make the task of finding nineteenth-century Mormon immigrants much easier…..

Western European CD-ROM Now Available from LDS [Mormon] Church
[Excerpt]… SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH – Twelve and a half million vital records from Western Europe are now available on CD-ROM from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [Mormon]. The Vital Records Index for Western Europe includes information extracted from birth, christening, and marriage records from the Alpine, Benelux, French, German, Italian, and Spanish regions…..

LDS Family and Church History Department Adopts XML Standard
[Excerpt]… At a technical session of the GENTECH 2001 conference last week, Randy Bryson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [Mormon] announced that the Church is now standardizing on the XML programming language for all future software products. This announcement will have an immediate impact on producers of genealogy software and eventually will benefit all genealogists…..

More on LDS ChurchÆs Adoption of the XML Standard
[Excerpt]… Last week I wrote an article titled "LDS Family and Church History Department Adopts XML Standard." In the article, I wrote, "Randy Bryson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [Mormon] announced that the Church is now standardizing on the XML programming language for all future software products."….
 

FBI Hires LDS Church Data Chief
[Excerpt]… In the 27 March 2002 edition of this newsletter, I wrote about the FBI efforts to improve their databases used to track criminals. The agency consulted with some of The Church of Jesus-Chist of Latter-day Saints [Mormon] computer experts who manage the huge genealogy databases in Salt Lake City…..

The New LDS Web Site
[Excerpt]… The genealogical world shook a bit in May 1999 when The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (hereafter referred to as the LDS Church) [Mormon] formally announced the online debut of FamilySearch® Internet Genealogy Service. The collection is the World Wide Web version of its genealogical databases formerly available only on CD-ROM at the LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake City and at its branch family history centers. After a few weeks of excited and voluminous patronage, the church also announced the release of the long-awaited Personal Ancestral File® (PAF) version 4.0, a Windows-based software program downloadable from the church’s Internet site (www.familysearch.org) at no charge…..

[Mormon] LDS Biographical Encyclopedia
[Excerpt]… The biographies in this database, collected around 1900, detail the lives of many men and women who played a role in the organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [Mormon]. The information for some is more complete than for others, church leaders being among the more detailed. However, most biographies include birth and death dates, marriage and children information, and even professional accomplishments. For the researcher looking for early members of the LDS church, this is a valuable tool…..

Encyclopedic History of the LDS [Mormon] Church
[Excerpt]… This reference work is a compilation of historical information, terminology, conference information, and church organization. Also included is a chronology of important events in church history and short biographies of key church members. This database is of significant importance to all who are interested in LDS Church development and history or with LDS ancestry…..

The Library (LDS Family History Library)
[Excerpt]… This is a description of the collections and services available at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and its hundreds of branches located throughout the world. By using this guide, the genealogist can determine what records have been collected, what time periods they are in, and how to access them. It also includes charts detailing the library’s holdings for nearly every country in the world…..

History of the LDS Church, 1830-1930
[Excerpt]… This seven volume set, written by one of the most eloquent church leaders was commissioned by the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was intended to commemorate the one hundredth anniversary of the organization of the church in 1830. It provides a wealth of information regarding the persons who helped bring about the phenominal growth and stability of this world-wide church. Researchers of LDS ancestors will find many helpful facts regarding the birth, occupation, religious views, and death of many early church converts…..

LDS Member Name Index, 1830-45
[Excerpt]… Officially organized in New York State in 1830, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints grew to a membership of over 30,000 before the death of its founder, Joseph Smith, in 1844. This database is an index of early members of the church whose names appear in over one hundred volumes documenting church history. Each record provides the surname and given name of the member, along with the reference where that name appears. Many entries also include parents’, siblings, or names of children. It contains over 30,000 entries. For researchers of early Mormon ancestors, this can be a great source of detailed information…..

LDS Military Records, 1840-47
[Excerpt]… Formed shortly after the founding of Nauvoo, Illinois, the Nauvoo Legion was a part of the Illinois Militia even though all its members were Latter-day Saints. This database is a listing of men who served in the legion between 1840 and 1844. It also contains a listing of men mustered in July 1846 into what was called the Mormon Battalion. Each entry contains the soldier’s name, rank and commission date. Containing the names of nearly 1000 men, it can be a helpful source of information for researchers of early Mormon ancestors…..

LDS Redress Petition Listing, 1843
[Excerpt]… The Judiciary Committee of the Twenty-eighth Congress of the United States received a petition in 1843 to redress the "injuries to persons and properties" of Mormons expelled from Missouri in the 1830s. This database is a listing of residents of Hancock County, Illinois who signed that petition. Compiled by respected family historian Lyman Platt, each record reveals the signatory’s name, ward of residence in Nauvoo, and page in the original petition on which their name appears. The original document numbered fifty-nine pages and contained 3400 signatures. For researchers seeking information regarding early LDS ancestors, this can be a helpful database…..