Biography

The Genealogical Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized in 1894 "as an aid in assisting members of the Church to accomplish their greatest responsibility as stated by Joseph Smith, 'to seek after our dead.'"

Beginning in 1879, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were encouraged to work together to obtain correct family records from Scotland, in order to "secure far more family history and records at much less expense and avoid duplicating work," especially in terms of temple ordinances.

In September 1888, following a suggestion by Church President Wilford Woodruff, "The Latter-day Saints' Genealogical Bureau" was organized and advertised in the Deseret News. An agent working in Scotland was paid $0.25 for every name record he could find and send to Salt Lake, and in 1892, the Saints were offered help in doing research in England through the services of James B. Walkley of London; he agreed to collect data on anyone who had died between 1827 and the present, at the rate of $7.50 per hundred names, or $0.25 per single name if preferred.

It soon became apparent that a larger organization was needed to assist members of the Church to do the work they would be unable to do individually. The Genealogical Society of Utah was organized by Church leaders as a function of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and incorporated on November 13, 1894, for a period of 50 years. Its chief purpose, as stated in the first meeting, was to "collect, compile, establish, and maintain a genealogical library for the use of its members and others."

By 1895, the library had collected its first 100 volumes, which were originally housed in the Historian's Office Building on East South Temple. In 1917, the Church opened its general office building at 47 East South Temple, and moved the library there. In January 1934, it was moved to the Joseph F. Smith Memorial Building (formerly the Hotel Utah) on 80 North Main Street; and in April 1963, to its current location at 107 South Main Street.

From 1910 to 1941, at the suggestion of Joseph Fielding Smith, the Church published the Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine, with Anthony W. Ivins and Anthon H. Lund as editors. The Society was reincorporated on November 21, 1944, for 100 years under the name "Genealogical Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In 1961, "Society" was replaced with "Association." The term "Genealogical Association of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" was used on all publications and letterheads for about a year before the name was changed back to the Genealogical Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in April 1962, when the Church Priesthood Correlation Committee was assigned the responsibility of coordinating the activities of the organization.

As of 2023, the Society is known as FamilySearch International, a nonprofit genealogical organization owned by the Church and dedicated to connecting families across generations; its parent website, FamilySearch.org, launched in 1999, is headquartered in Lehi, Utah, and has users in 238 countries. The library, most commonly known as the Family History Library, is now the FamilySearch Library, which houses over 2 million rolls of microfilm and microfiche, 340,000 books, and 125,000 periodicals; it is one of the largest genealogical libraries in the world.

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