Researching Early LDS Records

Those with ancestry in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints may find that they have a lot of names in their pedigree, but how much of that research has been well documented? This question is asked in the FamilySearch.org Research Wiki article entitled, "Tracing LDS Ancestors." Here is the entire question in context:

If your LDS ancestors have been researched before, are they well-documented? Do your family group records show one or more sources of information for each event? Don't just settle for copying someone else's research, cite the evidence that proves it! Careful documentation reduces errors, unwanted duplication, and may help uncover an overlooked ordinance.

If your LDS ancestors were done in the way I did my own research years ago, you will find a majority of the source references are to "family group records" or "personal knowledge." Very, very few of the events in the lives of early LDS members have been documented at all but this is rapidly changing. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions of valid source entries are pouring into the FamilySearch.org Family Tree program. This is especially true since the introduction of the Record Hints feature of the program.

If you go to the Family Tree to review your LDS heritage and you find that few of your ancestors have been documented, I suggest that you begin with the Research Wiki article cited above. Here are several quick references to LDS sources for information about your ancestors:

• LDS Online Genealogy Records
• Mormon Migration
• Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel 1846-1868
• Pioneer Ancestors Search
• Early Latter-day Saints 
• Tracing Mormon Pioneers
• FamilySearch Historical Record Collections
• Mormons and Their Neighbors
• The Winter Quarters Project
• Trails of Hope: Overland Diaries and Letters, 1846-1869
• Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah, Part 1, FamilySearch Books Online; Part 2,
• FamilySearch Books Online
• Encyclopedia of Mormonism
• Mormon Missionary Diaries
• Ancestry.com LDS Databases
• Utah Territorial Case Files
• Mormon Battalion Pension Files

Remember to add these sources to the appropriate ancestors in Family Tree.