New Resources and Updates 
to Mormon Pioneer Search


September 26, 2006

275 names for the year 1847 have been added. 

These names include three groups of Mormon Batallion members
who were too sick to continue onto California.  They wintered
in Pueblo, Colorado and arrived in Salt Lake City on July 29, 1847.
Many of the Batallion members did not stay in Utah very long.
Some continued onto California and others returned to the Midwest
to rejoin their families.

These groups are identifed as the Brown Sick Company,
the William W. Williams Detachment, and the Nelson
Higgins Detachment.


Another sub-group is a company known as the Mississipi Company.
They arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on July 29, 1847.

This company has not been well documented in terms of who was
actually in the company  until a roster could be found in
a document authored by Thomas Bullock.  This document is called
"Names of Pueblo soldiers and Mississippi brethren arrived in Great Salt Lake City, August, 1847"
and can be found out the LDS Church Archives.  A transcription of the list is also shown in the
part II article below.


To learn more about this group of people read the articles below.
They initially settled in the Cottonwood area and later some went onto
start the Mormon colony, San Bernardino in California which lasted
a few years until the colony was disbanded in part due to the coming
of federal troops to the Utah territory in an event known as the "Utah War".



Forgotten Pioneers (Mississipi Company)

Part I
http://www.utahcrossroads.org/newsv8n2.htm#Forgotten%20Pioneers

Part II
http://www.utahcrossroads.org/newsv8n4.htm#Forgotten%20Pioneers


Mississippi Mormons




April 25, 2005

2518 records from the 1867 Salt Lake City Directory, which can be found on FHL US/CAN Film 1377409, part 1 at the Family History Library. The names here are head of households, which were primarily men or widows. The company or ship field will contain "1867 SLC Directory" and additional information at the end of the reference, which is usually profession, trade and ward residence. Page numbers refer to the page the name can be found in the diretory. Space did not allow for a verbatim transcription so always refer to the original for additional details.

December 20, 2004

The records were trimmed of their trailing spaces which allows
searches to come back much quicker than previously.

277 names of deliquent Perpetual Emigration Fund Pioneers.
These are all listed under the year of 1854, however they
came in 1853 or prior years. The list was originally
published in the Deseret News on
February 2, 1854 Vol 4. No. 5 page 19 on
LDS US/CAN Microfilm 26587.

The following is an excerpt from that article,
BRETHREN:

You who have given your notes of hand are requested to call
upon the Treasurer of the Company and pay the amount of your indebtedness
on or before the last day of March: and you who have not given your
promissory notes, are requested to call upon the Recorder and settle up your
accounts: as the means are wanting to replenish the Fund, that the
Company may operate this season to a greater extent than heretofore,
in removing the Poor from their present locations of distress, that they
may experience the blessing of dwelling in this peaceful vale, and being placed
in as comfortable cirumstances as you are, by the same instumentality.

As all the Bishops of the several Wards in this Territory are agents
for this paper, they are requested to notify any of the above person who may
be libing in their wards, of this call upon them, that their pure minds may be
stirred up to a remembrance of the means that brought them from the house
of bondage; and also forward a list of the names living in their wards to the
Reocrder for future reference.

By order of the Company.
THOS. BULLOCK
Recorder.
G.S.L City, Jan. 25, 1854



March 22, 2004

354 names from the 1850 and 1860 Utah Federal Census Mortality Schedules, which included names of those who died in the year previous to the census, however for the 1850 census things were different (see additional information below). The Utah 1850 census mortality schedule is found on schedule 6 of the census and can be found on FHL US/CAN Film 1550328 item 1. The Utah 1860 census mortality schedule is schedule 3 of the census and can be found on FHL US/CAN Film 1550328 item 1. The vast majority of deaths were those who were less than 12 months old and are recorded with an age of zero as the database cannot represent an age less than one year. To search these records specify 1850 or 1860 and the name in question. The information that can be found on the mortality schedules is as follows:

The following is an explanation of the Utah Census mortality schedule of 1850 from http://web.archive.org/web/20070729133520/http://www.lofthouse.com/davis/mortality1850.htm


    What is a "mortality schedule"?  When a census was taken, the enumerators were to collect information on all persons who had died during the previous 12 months.  This information is included on a mortality schedule.

    The U.S. 1850 census was begun 1 June 1850, and was to be completed within five months.  Since Utah didn't receive official word until January, 1851 that the Territory of Utah had been organized by Congress, the Utah Census was taken prior to 1 July 1851The 1850 mortality scheduled was to include deaths from 1 June 1849 through 31 May 1850, but because Utah's census was taken late, it includes deaths through 1 July 1851.

    Enumerators of early census's were not known for their meticulous records.  Errors and omissions were fairly common.  If a person was listed, it was likely they belonged there; but if a person was not listed, the possibility remains that they were missed -- as deaths were often under-reported.

January 8, 2004

1392 names records from marriage notices in the Deseret News from 1850 to 1868. A typical entry looks like this

McKnight, James, 1852, NA, NA, Marriage in Deseret News January 24 1852 Vol. 2 No. 6 microfilm 26586

See the notice in the source, which contains the first three items below and sometimes additional information. January 5, 2004

The following changes have been made at the request of someone out there on the web [in braces], however the original records remain unchanged. Remember that scribes, clerks, etc. can and will get names wrong in the nineteenth century as well as our own, so use name variations when searching for someone and understand that a certain name may not match the current spelling. My own surname, "Nelson" comes in several flavors and so I must search for all when looking up records.

Dewsdrop [Dewsnup], Ann,1864, 20,John R. Murdock, Journal History 26-Aug-1864 p. 1A-1B microfilm 1259749
Dewsdrop [Dewsnup], Hyrum,1864, 12,John R. MurdockJournal History 26-Aug-1864 p. 1A-1B microfilm 1259749
Dewsdrop [Dewsnup], Jemima, 1864, 51,John R. Murdock, Journal History 26-Aug-1864 p. 1A-1B microfilm 1259749
Dewsdrop, [Dewsnup] Phoebe, 1864, 17,John R. Murdock,Journal History 26-Aug-1864 p. 1A-1B microfilm 1259749 14 p. 403 film 26590
Dewsnup,Phebe [Phoebe],1864, NA,NA, Perpetual Emigration Fund (Book)-Microfilm 25686

Updated the surname from "Dawsnup" to "Dewsnup" for Ann, Hyrum, Jemima, Phoebe, John who were listed on the Monarch of the Sea ship roster for 1864.

April 21, 2003

95 names from the Lott Smith Calvary company, which was the only group from Utah who served during the civil war for the Union army. Their assignment was a 90 day tour of duty in the Midwest to guard the telegraph lines. The source of these names is US/CAN Microfilm 1292645, which contains a card index of the names of the company. A more extensive record of the particulars of the group's enlistment can be found in the compiled service records, which are contained on US/CAN Microfilm 821588. Both of these films are copies made by the National Archives.

2845 names from the Iowa 1850 Federal Census. This is a head of family index of names of those found in the Iowa 1850 census of Pottawattamie county, which was an area that was a staging area for many coming to Utah in the late 1840s and early 1850s. The microfilm that contains this information is US/CAN 442963 and is found in the US census area on the second floor of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, but the film may also be ordered via any Family History Center.

A brief history of Mormon settlement at Pottawattamie County was written in 1916.


August 17, 2002

608 names from 1848 Journal History entries from the three divisions or companies that year. These are partial rosters.

August 16, 2002

2011 Names from rosters found in the Journal History, which include
969 Names from 1849
589 Names from 1850
453 Names from 1851

The names come from known companies and some independent ones.
 

June 27, 2002

3031 Names from Utah Bishops' Report (1852-1853)

In the winter of 1852-1853 the bishops of Utah took a census. The recorded the name of the head of each family in their ward or branch. The source for the names was from microfiche 6051208. See Also FHL book 979.72 K2r; microfilm 823831

This resource is incomplete, but provides some clues as to where some early pioneers settled during this time. This reference has been listed under the year of 1852, so to search for this reference specifically set the year to 1852 and provide a surname to begin the search.

No ages are listed, but the ward or branch is listed in the reference field of the record.
 
 

November 3, 2001

615 names from 1868 rosters
These include the the John Gillespie roster and the lesser known F.C. Anderson Company. Other names from 1868 rosters had been added previously.
Special thanks go to Ann McClary from Seattle and Joelen Passey of Idaho Falls for their transcription efforts.
 
 
 
 

Names from 1854
September 18, 2001

217 names from Journal History.

"No rosters have been found of the companies that crossed the plains and mountains as L.D.S. emigrants in 1854, but a few names, culled from other sources are listed here. For further particulars of each person and sources of information from which they have been obtained see Journal History Index."

Journal History, October 5, 1854
 
 

1860 Nebraska Census
August 27, 2001

1175 names from the Nebraska 1860 census. These names were gleaned from the Douglas county area where the saints had gathered prior to leaving for Utah. The resource used for this name extraction was the 1860 Nebraska Territory Census compiled by Evelyn Cox and this book is found at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City under the call number of US/CAN 978.2 x2pa 1860 or on microfilm US/CAN 924579.  The original 1860 Nebraska census  can be found on two microfilms as there were two filmings.  The second filming tends to be easier to read and is found on microfilm US/CAN 803665 and the first filming is on US/CAN 14889.  I have found the transcription to be very accurate, but you should always consult the original to be sure of the information.

The order of the entry when found in Mormon Pioneer Search will be Surname, First Name, Age, NA (since no company or ship is involved), and the reference, which lists the page number on the census and what family group the name was found with. Using the group number you can easily identify families as they will have the same group number.

These names were compared with other names in the Mormon Pioneer Search database and those with matches were included. Due to bad spelling and/or transcription errors names may have some problems so try several variations or just search using the first two letters of the surname if repeated attempts do not find any matches.

Please refer to the book and films listed above for more information such as occupation and place of birth, which are both important when doing genealogical research.

April 4, 2000

183 names (mostly heads of households) from the 1856 Nebraska Territorial Census. They were listed as Mormons who intended to stay in Florence, Nebraska or to go onto to Salt Lake City in 1856.
Additional information in the source includes numbers of those who were with the person listed by age range and gender.

November 17, 1999

Problems with not being able to retrieve some names was solved, which will allow full searches to be done.

November 13, 1999

At the request of some an index of the microfiche
of the Daughters of Utah Publication series Our Pioneer Heritage has been created.

Our Pioneer Heritage was one
resource used in created entries for Mormon Pioneer Search.

November 8, 1999

Some entries were corrected that had some typos in them.
Some references were updated to include microfiche numbers in addition to book volumes that were previously listed.

June 30, 1999

The last of the published Pioneer rosters have been
transcribed and included into Mormon Pioneer Search.

2289 entries were added from 1864-1868 pioneer companies as shown below
 

1864
 


1865
 

1866
 

1868
 

May 22, 1999

3989 entries added from 1860-1863 pioneer rosters as shown below

1860

1861
 

1862
 

1863 (Note: only a single company was listed in Journal History for this year)

April 22, 1999

534 entries from 1858 and 1859 pioneer rosters.
Judging by some of the spelling many names are probably spelled differently than one may think, so try several variations on the name if the first try does not succeed.

April 22, 1999

226 entries for passengers of the 1846 voyage of the Brooklyn, which began in New York and went around South America and back up to California. Most entries for the passenger list were found in Our Pioneer Heritage, Volume 3.

The historical society,the Ship Brooklyn Association is based in California and keeps the history alive of this historic voyage.

See also Our Pioneer Heritage, Volume 3, pages 473-587 with a call number of US/CAN 979.2, H2bh, Vol. 3. or microfiche 6049777 for biographical information on the following individuals and families who took part in the Brooklyn voyage.

For more information on Samuel Brannan and the voyage of the Brooklyn see also
Samuel Brannan and the Golden Fleece. Reva Scott (New York, New York, The Macmillan Company, 1944). This book can be found in Salt Lake City in the Joseph Smith Memorial building, fourth floor with the call number of US/CAN 721.73 B735sr. This book has *not* been microfilmed.
 
 

April 9, 1999

966 entries from the following 1856 pioneer company rosters found in the Deseret News
 

584 entries from mostly heads of families for the following 1855 pioneer rosters:
 
 
 

Note: There were no rosters printed in the Deseret News or included in Journal History for the year 1854.

March 27, 1999

The last of 1852 rosters were added, which was 7 names from the Harmon Cutler company. The entry in Journal History stated that "in this company were 262 persons including old & young the names of which are not reported." Only the leaders of the company were listed.

1976 entries from the following 1853 rosters were added.
Some rosters were complete and others were not.

Names from 1853 Companies Added
 


 

March 6, 1999

860 entries from 1852 pioneer rosters contained in the Deseret News and Journal History.

The following companies albeit incomplete are included in this update
 

The pioneer rosters for 1852 were very incomplete and it caused the editor of the Deseret News, Willard Richards to speak out on the matter in the following manner:

Owing to the informality, bad spelling, bad writing, and other imperfections in the reports from the different companies, we are not able to make out such a report as we would wish; besides we have no report at all from some of the companies and with what we have, this is as full as can be given under the circumstances.

It is the duty of every captain and clerk of 50, and of all lesser and other companies, if such there be not included in the fifties and numbered with them, and who have not already done it, to make out a full list of every soul that was organized in thier company, (name and age) and occupation of every man, with a list of those who died by the way...

Deseret News September 18, 1852
 

February 22, 1999

1407 names from The Pioneers of 1847
Book US/CAN 929.2 W2p
Microfilm Europe 1183516 item 10

February 15, 1999

2901 names from Handcart Rosters found in the Daughters of Utah Pioneers book, Our Pioneer Heritage Volume 14, pages 308-328. The book can be found on microfiche 6049788.

This volume was published in 1971 and contains some names that were not in the rosters listed in the book, Handcarts to Zion.
 
 

Added January 23, 1999
Names from Emigration Rosters of 1852
The first 7 rosters, which listed mostly heads of households e.g.
Lamb, George wife and 3 children.
The following rosters are included with 369 total entries added.
Note: The word "kids" has been substituted for the word children in some entries.

  1. James W. Bay
  2. James J. Jepson
  3. Thomas C.D. Howell
  4. Joseph Outhouse
  5. John Tidwell
  6. David Wood
  7. Henry B. Jolly


Source: Deseret News, Volume 2, Page 90 (September 18, 1852) on microfilm 0026586
 
 

Added December 29, 1998
Names from Scandinavian Pioneer Rosters (3786 names)
from Journal History and the Deseret News.
The names are mostly Scandinavian but some non-Scandinavians are included as well on some rosters.
 
 

Added December 22, 1998
Mormon Batallion (505 names) from Pioneers and Prominent Men p. 43-45
Call Number: US/CAN 979.2 D3e 1913 or US/CAN 979.2 D3e 1966
Microfilm 1000617 item 1 and 599816
Note: The names in this set of names is listed under the year of 1846.
Some names may appear in other years as they came to Salt Lake City.
 

Added December 22, 1998
Australian Emigration List (368 names) from Australian Mission List of 19th Century Members
Call Number: British 994 k22n
Microfiche: 6072503
 
 
 

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