An announcement at wwwfamilysearch.org was released on the 18th of this month stating that 250,000 Utah Death Certificates from 1905 to 1954 are now available online at no charge. These are not just extractions or indexes. They are the digital images themselves.

This service will open doors to additional information for family historians and genealogists with Utah ties. To search the index and view the certificates users need to go to http://historyresearch.utah.gov/indexes/index.html.

The online index was created by the State Office of Vital Records and Statistics and has searchable information limited to the name of the deceased person, their date of death, sex, and where they died. The Utah State Archives turned to Family Search to help them get the digital images online. Family Search digitized the images and provided technology to link the images of the certificates to the state’s online index.

Prior to viewing certificates online requesters had to order copies through the mail for a fee or visit the state archives office in person. The certificate has so much more information of family history importance that can be found on the certificate itself. This can be a huge aid in adoption searches if you have a connection to Utah.

Remember the death certificates are viewable for free on line in UT but only between 1905 to 1954. After you type the info into the search engine you will be direct to a brief summary of the ancestor’s death certificate with a link to view the original image. You then need to click on the certificate image to see a larger view of the original death certificate.

Keep in mind when searching that the search engine searches all kinds of documents, nut just this group of death records. So, when searching you may come across many records that are not digitized and may come from different record categories.