LDS Deceased Membership Records

Do you have an LDS ancestor who died between the years 1941-1988?  If so, you might find a wealth of genealogical information in the LDS Deceased Membership Records.  For each member, these records include the following information: member's name, parents' names, birth date and place, names of children, death date, place and in some instances, cause of death, plus information on baptism, confirmation, marriage, spouse, mission, priesthood ordinations and transfer of membership records, last address, ward, stake, etc. 

 These records were kept in each ward, and sent in to the church historian’s office at the death of the individual.  They were accumulated in the historian’s office alphabetically in files from 1941 to 1974.  The years since 1974 pertain to the years when additional records were added to separate collections of the deceased files and not the actual death date, but most of them were filed at the time of death.  Some of these have death dates even before 1941. 

 These records were filmed and are contained on 517 rolls of microfilm as follows: 

 Each of the above groups of microfilms are separately and alphabetically filed. 

 For a full index of the above films, go to the FamilySearch.org website, www.familysearch.org : 

    Click on Family History Library Catalog
    Click on "Keyword Search"
    Type "deceased members" in the search box, click "search"
    Click on  "Deceased membership records 1941-1988"
    Click on the little box in the upper right hand area that says:  "view film notes"

There are 525 film notes that correspond roughly to the 517 rolls of microfilm. The initial search displays the first 100 film notes.  At the bottom of this list you can search for a specific film note number and you will get a list of 100 film notes, starting with that number.

 The microfilms are located at the Family History Library, as well as at the Church History Library.  They are restricted microfilms.  There is no circulation to Family History Centers, and photocopying is not allowed.

At the Family History Library, the films are located on Floor B-1.  Ask for them at the Library Attendant’s Window, B104.  You will be asked to leave your driver’s license as collateral.  The attendant at the window then trudges off to some other room and gets the requested film.  It is on a red (restricted) reel. 

Ask at the reference desk for the microfilms that you wish to view.  There are microfilm reader machines there for you to use, in the glassed in white glove area against the East wall.  There are two computers on this floor of the Church History Library where you can access Family Search and the library catalog.  

The individual names on these microfilms are not indexed in the Library Catalog, or at the Church History Library, but many of them are indexed in the IGI.  When you use Family Search and find an ancestor in the IGI, check the Source Information on the IGI Individual Record.  Under Source Information: If you find a  Batch Number: starting with the letter ‘H’, the source of that IGI entry is the LDS Deceased Membership Records File.  Below the Batch Number, the Source Call No.: lists the film number or numbers where the actual LDS Membership Record is located.

If you click on the Batch Number and then click on Search, you will see a long list of individual names that are in that particular batch, that includes your ancestor's name.  There doesn't appear to be a particular significance to the actual batch number, except to break down a longer list of names into more workable lists.  Each batch seems to contain from 1200 to 1500 names.

If you click on the Source Call No.: you will see a reference to the same "Deceased membership records 1941-1988" that you saw in the above search of the Family History Library Catalog.   

Information about the IGI source data can be found in the Family History Resource Guide titled: International Genealogical Index (IGI): Finding a Source, form # 31024, six pages.   This Resource Guide details IGI Sources, and discusses the many different kinds of possible batches.  On page five of this guide there is a detailed discussion of Batch Numbers beginning with the letter ‘H’, where it states:

“H—Batches: These are Latter-day Saint membership records for deceased members.  Names are usually listed alphabetically by surname. (Women are usually listed under their married surname, if applicable.)  If there is no call number, check the Deceased Members File Register at the US/CAN reference desk in the Library.  These microfilms are not circulated as they include information on living persons.”     

Many of the Family History Resource Guides are available on-line, but this particular guide is not yet available on-line.  To see the Resource Guides that are available on-line: from the Family Search home page, where you see: Forms, maps and guides, click on guides and check out the guides Sorted by Title, Sorted by Subject, and Sorted by Document Type.