NorCal Genealogy | Online Genealogy Databases

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California Vital Indexes

BIRTHS

US Army - California Births of 1840-1905—FREE—sfgenealogy
1905-1995 California Birth Index—FREE—sfgenealogy
1905-1995 California Birth Indexes—FREE and $$$$—Vitalsearch-ca.com

Includes Delayed Births prior to 1955 which has some birth information prior to 1905.

1905—1995 California Birth Index—$$$$—Family Tree Legends.com
1905 —1995 California Birth Index—$$$$—Ancestry.com
1905—1910 California Birth Index—FREE—Ancestry.com

MARRIAGES / DIVORCES

Western States Marriage Index—FREE—BYU Idaho

About 15 California counties ranging from 1849 to 1944.
The bigger ones include Amador, El Dorado, Los Angeles, Santa Clara, Tuolumne, and Yuba counties.

Marriage Records On The Pacific Coast - 1872—FREE—Golden Nugget Library
1949-1986 California Marriage Indexes—FREE and $$$$—Vitalsearch-ca.com—Lookups: San Francisco, San Mateo County and Santa Clara County
California Marriage Index, 1960-1985—$$$$—Ancestry.com
California Divorce Index, 1966-1984—$$$$—Ancestry.com

DEATHS

Death Records On The Pacific Coast - 1872—FREE—Golden Nugget Library

Pre-1905 CA Death Index Project—FREE—Rootsweb
1905-2000 California Death Indexes—FREE and $$$$—Vitalsearch-ca.com—Research Tips—Lookups: San Francisco, San Mateo County and Santa Clara County
1940—1997 California Death Index—FREE—sfgenealogy
1940—1997 California Death Index—FREE—Rootsweb.com
1940—1997 California Death Index—$$$$—Ancestry.com

1940—1997 California Death Index—$$$$—Family Tree Legends.com

OBITUARIES

1996—present: Obituary Daily Times—FREE

index of obituaries/death notices around the world

2000 (Mar)—present—$$$$—ObituaryRegistry.com
Newspaper Abstracts, Pre-1935—FREE—an all-volunteer project with a searchable collection of newspaper abstracts and extracts from historic newspapers all over the U.S.

WILLS

Early California Wills, 1848-1900—FREE—TAG

California Biography

Who's Who Among the Women of California-1922—FREE—California Archives
Who's who in the Pacific Southwest: a compilation of authentic biographical sketches of citizens of Southern California and Arizona-1913.—FREE—TAG

California Business

California State Dental Association Officers & Members, 1933 - 1934—FREE—sfgenealogy

California Clubs and Societies

California Writer's Club Roster, 1953—FREE—Golden Nugget Library
Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons - State of California - 1882—FREE—sfgenealogy—a work in progress
Native Sons of the Golden West, various years (1885-1940)—FREE—Golden Nugget Library

California Directories

1880-81 McKenny's Pacific Coast Business Directory (images)—FREE—from the Golden Nugget Library
1898 (March) Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Co. Telephone Directory (images)—FREE—from the Golden Nugget Library

California Ethnic

Japanese Immigrants to the US, 1887-1924—FREE—BYU Idaho

California Maps, Sanborn Fire Insurance

Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, 1867-1970—FREE

These are available online from ProQuest UMI through participating libraries, including:

San Francisco Public Library (look under "articles & databases")
San Jose Public Library (look under "articles & databases")

California Maps, Other

California County boundaries, from 1850 to 1925—FREE

California Military Lists

Stevenson's Regiment, Roster of Officers, 1846—FREE—sfgenealogy
1st California Regiment of U.S. Volunteers, 1898—FREE—sfgenealogy
Register of Officers of the National Guard and Naval Militia of California, 1917—FREE—TAG
California Civil War Rosters—FREE—California Archives

"Records of California Men in the War of the Rebellion, 1861 to 1867”

A list of Spanish American War Veterans buried in California—FREE—spanamwar.com
California State Roster, 1899 Government and Military records—$$$$—Ancestry.com
California State Roster, 1909 Government and Military records—$$$$—Ancestry.com
California State Roster, 1911 Government and Military records—$$$$—Ancestry.com

California Miscellaneous

Notaries Public—FREE—Golden Nugget Library

California Pioneer Lists

Argonauts Of California (1890)—FREE—Golden Nugget Library

Includes the San Francisco Pioneer Association, 49ers, Pacific Coast Pioneers, Survivors of Colonel Stevenson's Regiment, and more.

California Pioneer Register and Index, 1542—1848—FREE—a work in progress
Society of California Pioneers, 1854 Officers—FREE—sfgenealogy
Society of California Pioneers, 1863 Membership Roster—FREE—sfgenealogy
Society of California Pioneers, 1874 Membership Roster & Officers since 1850—FREE—sfgenealogy
California Pioneers Project—FREE—

"is a list of settlers to California who migrated to or were born in California prior to 1880...and obtained from ... individuals doing genealogical research."

Native Daughters of the Golden West (NDGW) Roster of Pioneers and Index—FREE and $$$$—sfgenealogy

Contains over 35,000 references to biographical entries of individuals who entered the State or were born in the State prior to 1870.—$$$$ (for a fee by NDGW)

Census of Overland Emigrant Documents—$$$$ (for a fee by OCTA)—Oregon-California Trails Association (OCTA)

California Prisons

Japanese-American Internee File, 1942 - 1946—FREE—U.S. Archives

searchable database of local Japanese residents who were detained during World War II.

California Schools

State Normal School, San Jose, California, 1862 - 1889—FREE—sfgenealogy

California Ship and Wagon Arrivals and Passenger Lists

Record of Ships Arriving at California Ports, 1774-1847—FREE—sfgenealogy

no passenger lists

Argonauts Of California (1890)—FREE—Golden Nugget Library

includes lists of Overland groups and Ship Passenger lists for 1849

California Bound —FREE—by John Ireland

"This site contains passenger lists for ship and wagon train passengers traveling to California between 1848 and 1873. The lists are transcribed from microfilm of the New York Daily Times, the New York Herald, the New Orleans Picayune, the Panama Star, the Panama Herald, and the Boston Daily Evening Transcript. " Also includes some vitals information for Panama.

California Passenger and Crew Lists, 1893-1957—$$$$—Ancestry.com

California Voter Registration

1872 Foreign-Born Voters of California Database Index—$$$$ (further information on each individual require a fee by Jim Faulkinbury)

U.S. Census Indexes (for California)

Lookups

(Note: 1850 and 1890 records are not available for San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara Counties.)

1880 United States Census Index—FREE— Research Tips

Provided free by the LDS (no images)

1790 - 1930 United States Census Indexes and Images—$$$$

Provided FOR A FEE or FREE by HeritageQuest through libraries (List of participating libraries).
Images and indexes available for California (head of household name index): 1860, 1870, 1880*, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930*

1790 - 1930 United States Census Indexes and Images—$$$$

Provided FOR A FEE by Ancestry.com
Images and indexes for California (all names index): 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910 (only head of household names index), 1920, 1930
One Step Searches by stevemorse.com

1790 - 1930 United States Census Indexes and Images—$$$$

Provided FOR A FEE by Genealogy.com
Images and indexes for California: 1850*, 1860, 1870, 1880*, 1900, 1910, 1920*, 1930*

U.S. Newspapers

GenealogyBank.com—$$$$

Various California newspapers. Includes images of the newspapers along with a searchable index. California list.

Google News Archive—FREE

An index of newspaper articles in online free and fee-based databases. Fee-based includes ProQuest and Newspaperarchive.com.

Newspaperarchive.com—$$$$

Various California newspapers. Includes images of the newpapers along with a searchable index.

ProQuest—FREE—through libraries

Los Angeles Times (1985-current), New York Times, New York Times Book Review, New York Times Magazine (1999-current), and Wall Street Journal (1984-current). Includes images of the newpapers along with a searchable index.

California Newspaper Project

Nothing up yet, but they have been awarded grants.

Paper of Record—$$$$

Nothing for California as of October 2006.

U.S. Social Security Death IndexResearch Tips

SteveMorse.org—searches the following databases—FREE
Rootsweb.com—FREE
NewEnglandAncestors.org—FREE
FamilySearch.org—FREE
FamilyTreeLegends.com—FREE (not updated since 2003?)
Genealogy.com—FREE (not updated since 1997?)
These two commercial sites allow you to do an initial search, with more info if you are a subscriber:

Ancestry.com—$$$$ (for a fee)
GenealogyBank.com—$$$$ (for a fee by ancestry.com)

U.S. Immigration Records

Index to Case Files for Early Immigrants to San Francisco and Hawaii—FREE—U.C. Berkeley

A searchable online index to records held at the National Archives and Records Administration in San Bruno, California, for nearly 250,000 people who tried to immigrate through San Francisco and Honolulu during the period of the Chinese Exclusion Acts, 1882-1943.

U.S. Military Records (searchable for California)

Civil War Soldiers and Sailors—FREE
From the National Archives Archival Online Databases—FREE

World War II Army Enlistment Records and Prisoners of War (POWs)—FREE

World War II Electronic Army Serial Number, ca. 1938 - 1946

Korean War Casualities, Dead, and POWs—FREE
Vietnam Casualties, Dead, MIAs and POWs—FREE

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