Thursday, September 1, 2011

Tracing Mormon Pioneer Ancestors: Heritage Organizations

There are two major heritage organizations related to the history of the early settlement of Utah: Daughters of Utah Pioneers (DUP) and Sons of Utah Pioneers (SUP). I will mostly mention DUP in this post.
Daughters of Utah Pioneers
On the main page, look at the menu under the bottom of the pictures. (The locations may change if the organization were to redesign its website.)

Under "Histories" select  "Pioneer Index." A search on "Litson" brings up the following:


Thanks to some kind cousins, I now have copies of all of those except the history of Mary Jane Glade Litson. I will post them on subsequent days, starting tomorrow, (skipping the weekend like I usually do), and then will resume this tutorial.

The other major service that the DUP provides is collecting and sharing images of the pioneers.

Under "Photos," select "Photo Index." "Litson" brings up the following:


Once again I have photos of the listed pioneers except for that of Mary Jane Glade Litson. There is only one known picture of Frances Ann Mathews Litson and I will include it with her history. I am not sure which picture or pictures the museum would have of Eliza Mary Litson Glade, but I do have a number of pictures of her, and would probably not go to the bother of ordering what may be duplicates from the DUP Museum.

The photographic curator at the museum was very helpful recently when I emailed to ask about a photo of Ann Prior Jarvis.

Despite any debate about the role of heritage organizations and their place in society, the Daughters of Utah Pioneers have collected a wonderful collection and are very helpful about sharing it with the descendants of the pioneers, both on site in their beautiful museum across from the State Capitol in Salt Lake City, or by mail.

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