Census Records for Utah
This entry was originally written by Patricia Lyn Scott, CA and Gary Topping Ph.D. for Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources.
Contents
Federal
Population Schedules
• Indexed'1850(1), 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930
• Soundex'1880, 1900
Mortality Schedules
• 1850(1), 1860, 1870, 1880
Union Veterans Schedules
• 1890
The 1850 census for Utah Territory was taken in 1851. It has been reproduced alphabetically within each county in Annie Walker Burns, First Families of Utah, As Taken from the 1850 Census of Utah (Washington, D.C.: the author, 1949). The index in this volume is to this transcription of the census records and not to the original records. A second index, The Genealogical Society of Utah's Index to Utah 1851 Census (Salt Lake City: the author, 1950) refers to the original entry in the federal returns and is indexed by surname. Mortality schedules are available on microfilm through the FHL.
In addition to the AISI (see page 3) indexes for Utah and the online census indexes through subscription databases (see page 17), there is a collapsed index covering the first three federal censuses for the territory:
- Kearl, J. R., Clayne L. Pope, and Larry T. Wimmer. Index to the 1850, 1860, and 1870 Censuses of Utah. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1981.
Territorial
There are fragments of what could be construed as territorial or state censuses from 1852, 1856, 1872, and 1896 with enumerations derived from tax lists. An example is the 1852 Bishops Reports, listing LDS heads of households in each LDS ward, available on microfilm with an index through FHL.
Of these, only the 1856 list, originally developed in an attempt to apply for statehood, has been indexed and published by AISI and Bryan Lee Dilts in 1856 Utah Census Index (Salt Lake City: Index Publishing, 1983). The accuracy of the original enumeration has been questioned, however, since it appears to contain names of deceased persons or members of the LDS Church who were not yet in the territory.
External Links
- Utah Census Records - free up-to-date guide to accessing Utah census records. Identifies federal, state, and territorial censuses, as well as substitute records (FamilySearch Research Wiki).
