[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Church Records of Latter Day Saints

[Nancy Gertner]

I also have found errors in LDS records, but think this first  
statement is a little too general, so that it may be misleading.

The LDS Church has a repository of records unparalleled by anyone else.

The accessibility is facilitated worldwide via their branch Family  
History Centers.

The records that may be most prone to the errors Jennifer mentioned  
are the ancestry records that were submitted by a church member to  
fulfill a requirement to document their genealogy.

In fulfilling this 'homework' assignment and perhaps meeting a  
deadline, errors are perpetuated.

These are Secondary Records if they are not the actual records  
(Primary Records) that documented the event, like the church record  
of a baptism or death or funeral or marriage.  Researchers should  
always question the accuracy of Secondary Records.  Especially if  
they don't cite any reference for the data.

An example of errors that I found for my ancestors were stating that  
the birthplaces of my immigrant great-grandparents was the same as  
their place of death.  This shows them born in Minnesota in the 1840s  
and 1850s, before statehood and before it was even a territory, and  
the prairie where they homesteaded in the 1870s was was probably  
populated only by Bison and other native species.

Nancy

On Jun 27, 2006, at 12:04 PM, Jennifer K. Walker wrote:

> I have found the records of the Mormon Church/Latter Day Saints to  
> be full
> of errors.  I have checked and rechecked much of the information  
> that is
> there, and ultimately have concluded that, as far as my research is
> concerned, their records are not reliable.
>
> I discussed this with a distant cousin of mine who was also  
> researching our
> family, after she converted to the Mormon Church.  She made the  
> point that
> new converts MUST research their family in order to become members  
> (in an
> effort to pray for all those who have died previously, so that they  
> can be
> brought into Heaven.)  As a result many of those who have submitted  
> their
> records have done so hastily and without much scrutiny of the  
> records.  It
> is these records which are maintained by the church.
>
> Jennifer Walker
> ---------------------------