Ann Eliza Webb: The Woman Who Divorced Brigham Young

Maren Peterson History, Research

The Utah State Archives and Records Service holds vital records for the state of Utah, including birth and death certificates, divorce records, and court records. Sometimes when perusing these records, an interesting story emerges. In a District Court Territorial Minutes book, Records and Information Management Specialist Maren Peterson unravels the story of Ann Eliza Webb suing her estranged husband, Brigham …

The People versus Frank Smiley: Investigating an 1894 Sodomy Crime in Territorial Utah

Guest Author History

This blog post was written by Randell Hoffman, a 2022 summer intern at the Utah State Archives and Records Service. They are working on their Master of Archives and Records Administration degree at the San José State University School of Information. They focus particularly on community archives and community involvement in archival processes, as well as Utah’s LGBTQIA+ history.  Who …

Spring City (Utah) Cemetery map

New Finding Aids at the Archives: July 2020

Gina Strack Finding Aids

Our archivists write inventories as finding aids to describe them for research. Here are the new ones created during July 2020: Inventory of Official transcripts from Alpine School District (Utah). American Fork High School, 1910-2020 Inventory of Municipal code from Riverton (Utah), 1978-2009 Inventory of Ordinances from Riverton (Utah), 1947-2020 Inventory of Administrative records from Spring City (Utah), 1917-2000. Inventory …

1850 Weber County Census Online

Gina Strack Digital Archives

The original Federal Census Population Schedule for Weber County from 1850 is now online. This census represents the first time that Weber County and the rest of Utah Territory was enumerated by the federal government. The series is significant, in part, because it was previously believed by many that the 1850 census for Utah was only taken on handmade forms …

Divorce Research Guide Updated

Gina Strack Research Guides

The research guide to divorce records has been updated to provide a more comprehensive resource during the territorial period (1850-1895). The list of records in that section listed most but possibly not all territorial court records where a divorce could be found. Now there are links to the county probate courts and district courts on the research guide to territorial …