Sources Searched shows that this number includes only 25 John Smiths from the IGI/British Isles perhaps a slight underestimate! Searches can be refined by using a year or range of years which for the year 1875 would reduce the results obtained by a “John Smith” search to 394 but still only including 25 John Smiths from the IGI/British Isles. It can also be, at first glance, misleading a worldwide search for John Smith will apparently find only 659 results but a glance to the right hand side of the results screen will explain why. The All Resources search on this page will usually produce more results than it is possible to sensibly analyse, particularly for those researching more frequently encountered surnames. Look carefully however there are four links at the top of this page which are often missed after all, who would look in the most obvious place?ī. The main screen, on the home page enables a general Search For Your Ancestors by typing in a first and last name and clicking to search all online Latter-day Saints (LDS) information for occurrences of the name. The HOME page instructions for use are easy to follow and This is that the Region locator has returned to its default position "North America" so be sure to check the region each time a search is made. Another common problem is the discovery that names one knows to be in the database seem to have disappeared. Be patient, remember that Utah is in a different time zone, avoid the busy times and come back to the site later. Sometimes this is due to routine maintenance, which the site is not good at warning the searcher about it may simply be overloaded. There are times when the IGI search engine appears not to be working properly, although not so many these days. The Church has also developed large databases of genealogical information.” The Church provides access to these records through the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and in over 3,000 local family history centres. To help these members in tracing their genealogies, the Church has microfilmed vital records throughout the world that identify hundreds of millions of persons who have died. Members of the Church are taught that they have a religious obligation to trace their own genealogies and perform Temple ordinances for their ancestors. Performing Temple ordinances receives strong emphasis in the Church. All Temple work is valid only if it is willingly accepted by each individual prior to the Resurrection. Latter-day Saints stand as proxies for their own ancestors in these ceremonies, including baptisms and sealings for husbands and wives and for parents and children. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that all saving ordinances are to be performed on earth on behalf of the dead. Provision must be made, then, for those who have died without that opportunity. Even today, millions live and die without ever hearing the name of Jesus Christ or without accepting the gospel he taught. The Latterday Saints have this to say about their reasons for studying family history: “For the millions of people who lived before the Restoration of Christ's Church, Temple ordinances were not available during their lifetime. It was created for use by the LDS church and its members. It may come as a surprise but most records were not created for the convenience of family historians and the IGI is no different. Take a look at the site statistics they are staggering. It is already very well known by online genealogists although it has been around only for a few years.
What is the IGI? The acronym comes from “The Church of Latter Day Saints - LDS International Genealogy Index” - IGI © and access is to be found on the Mormon Church site which makes the immodest but undoubtedly true claim to be The largest collection of free family history, family tree and genealogy records in the world.