New FamilySearch database focuses on the lives of early Mormon missionaries

FamilySearch has announced the release of a new feature on its website which enables users to find out whether they have a Mormon missionary in their family tree.

The database aims to allow family members to discover more about the Utah pioneers who served missions in the first hundred years of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Early Mormon Missionaries database, announced at RootsTech 2016 by Elder Steven E. Snow, is a collaborative effort between FamilySearch, the Church History Library and the Church’s Missionary Department to match FamilySearch users’ family trees with the database to identify early missionaries. 

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If the feature finds a match, you will see digital images of your missionary ancestor’s call and acceptance letters, mission journals, and possibly even photos. FamilySearch is a free service.

More than 1.1 million LDS members have connections to the information in the database, but you don’t need to be a Mormon to have ancestral ties to the global Church. The Early Mormon Missionaries database includes records of over 40,000 Church missionaries that served between 1830 and 1930. The feature contains resources such as:

• Biographies
• setting-apart information
• call letters
• mission journals
• registries
• photos. 

You can also contribute additional information your family might have about your missionary ancestor. 

Start the search for your Mormon missionary ancestor

To see if you are a descendant of early Mormon missionaries, visit the Early Mormon Missionaries database. You will view a personalized page that reveals the identities and stories of any of your early missionary ancestors. 

Allison Hadley, FamilySearch campaign manager for the project, said: 'Taking historic databases, like the Early Mormon Missionary collection, and mapping them against FamilySearch users’ family trees online to create new, interesting, personalized discoveries for them has increased users’ engagement in their family history dramatically.'

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This collected edition of beginner features, previously published in Family Tree, is packed full of expert tips, how-to advice and lots of ideas for starting your family tree from scratch and writing up your family history.

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