Because they are in a prison, the family-history centers here are not like those on the outside run by the LDS Church. Internet access is very limited, and names for extraction work are those of people who have been dead for decades, to guard against identity theft.

"It does hamper the work a bit," Jepsen said. "It's hard for the men to do some of the research, but it's better than nothing. We work with what we've got."

But the excitement is evident as these men, some who appear to be hardened criminals, break down in tears upon finding a long-lost family member or having a "Eureka!" moment upon discovering a missing branch in their family trees.

"Some of these names can be tricky to find," said inmate Dale Labrum, head clerk at the South Point Family History Center inside the Wasatch facility. "To me the challenge is trying to figure out how to find these individuals or find out where they went."

The genealogy work many inmates do has even led to reconciliations within their own families.

"In a lot of cases, they come out to prison, and they've done some pretty bad things and the family cuts them off," Jepsen said. "But as these men start to do family history work, these bridges start to get mended again."

One of the prison genealogists' biggest undertakings included the Freedman's Bank Project, a list of names of post-Civil War slaves. It took them about eight years to complete, but it benefits other genealogists worldwide.

"It was a huge undertaking," Labrum said.

Maroney pulls out a letter from the Rhode Island Historical Society, which helped him track down a record of his great-grandmother, who abandoned his grandmother as a baby after she was born in 1897. He shuts his eyes as tears well up.

"I get all teary because I've been looking for this lady for 30 years," he said.

The thrill of the discovery only leaves Maroney with more questions. Why was his grandmother given up? He may never know.

"I piece together this mystery of her life, and as I record it into her files and have shared it with other family members, I've been able to show that maybe some of the trials and tribulations I'm going through now aren't nearly as tough," he said. "Prison's a piece of cake compared to what my grandmother went through."

E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com