Descriptions Are Not Always Correct

Don’t get me wrong, I love the materials that the Family History Library has on microfilm and in digital format. But the individuals who enter in the catalog descriptions are human and sometimes are not intimately familiar with the materials they are cataloging.

Once in a while years of items will be slightly off. I’ve seen records that indicated the materials ended in 1915, but the index was also filmed and it went through the 1930s. I’ve also seen church records where the first few pages of the communion registers contained a brief handwritten history of the church.

Sometimes you’ll make unexpected finds in records that the LDS Family History has on microfilm. Use the catalog descriptions as a guide, not as script set in stone.