Updates

Almost as soon as a book of this type is published, there is a need to update. New material becomes available online; files are transferred from one location to another; and new ways of looking at old material surface. Such has been the case with this edition. The list of updates follows.

Vital records
  • Burials recorded in “Book of the Dead” and headstones read at old Masonic Cemetery can be found at Ancestry.com under the title “California Mortuary and Cemetery Records, 1801-1932.”
  • Indexed funeral home registers from N. Gray, J. S. Godeau, Halsted & Co., Gantner Bros. and W.P. Peterson are available over the years 1850-1920 at FamilySearch.org, under “California, San Francisco Area Funeral Home Records.” One 1888 Gray ledger was not initially digitized and must be viewed at San Francisco Public Library (SFPL) or through the mortuaries link at sfgenealogy.com. Post-1920 digitizations, some of which represent removals and thus contain pre-earthquake information, can be found at both Ancestry.com and sfgenealogy.com. Last year SFGenealogy.com added digitized records of 21,000 burials from the ledgers of H. F. Suhr over the years 1922-1978. Later records may help solve puzzles and occasionally contain photocopies of the official death certificates.
  • Burial ledgers, maps, crematory ledgers and columbarium ledgers from the old IOOF cemetery, and index cards and daily log books from the Italian Cemetery at Colma beginning in 1899 are at FamilySearch.org (look under “California, San Francisco County Records, 1824-1997” then “Collections of the California Genealogical Society” and finally “San Mateo County, Italian Cemetery Records.” An index to the IOOF cemetery records will soon be released by CGS.
  • All burial ledgers for old Calvary Cemetery and Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma, as well as records of removals have been digitized and placed online by sfgenealogy.com. Digitizations of other records at Colma cemeteries will be added as they are completed.
  • Marriage affidavits (1913 through 1915), certificates (late April 1906 through 1922), and licenses (1906-08, 1914-18 and 1920) are now at FamilySearch.org under “County Records, 1824-1997.” They provide year  and place of birth, and usually the maiden name of the mothers of both bride and groom. The Family History Library (FHL) film containing the two surviving marriage registers (1904-06) and re-recorded marriages is also available, along with most marriage indexes 1906-75. Archive.org has marriage affidavits 1912-15 and 1904 death certificates.
  • The FHL films of the California death index 1905 through 1939, formerly only available online by subscription, have now been digitized at FamilySearch.org.
  • The DAR publications of abstracts of births, marriages and deaths for the years 1856, 1857 and 1861 from the Daily Evening Bulletin are available as digitizations at Archive.org.
  • Digitizations of FHL films of all surviving pre-earthquake death ledgers are at VitalSearch-CA.com by subscription, along with references to marriages published in The Call, 1894-1904.
  • Among the ledgers of N. Gray that have been digitized and placed online at FamilySearch.org is one ledger that contains information on 1870 removals from the old Yerba Buena Cemetery to City Cemetery. At the FamilySearch website it is referenced as “1850-1856” but the first digitization reveals a title on the original ledger spine reading “1850 to 1854.” The entries appear as the last page of each alphabetical surname grouping under one of two titles: “stone” or “wood,” referring to the nature of the marker. Name, age and date of death are entered.

Newspapers
  • The availability of digitized newspapers, is continually increasing. Digitizations of The San Francisco Call and San Francisco Call  & Post jointly at the Library of Congress site “Chronicling America” and at the California Digital Newspaper Collection now extend to December 31, 1913. Also digitized at Archive.org are a number of films of ethnic newspapers held by SFPL. Check SFPL holdings for the accurate name to use in the Archive.org search box. Films of six early Irish and Catholic newspapers can be found at the Irish Cultural Center at 2700 – 45th Avenue, San Francisco. Hours are limited—call first.
  • The “Newspaper Clippings” category at FamilySearch.org, “California, San Francisco County Records, 1824-1997,” consists of names and subject indexes to The Examiner, a card file in the History Room at the San Francisco Public Library that appears to point to file drawer locations and not to the newspapers themselves.

Land and Property
  • All surviving pre-earthquake land records previously filmed by the FHL at SFPL are available as digitizations at FamilySearch.org. Look for “California, San Francisco County Records, 1824-1997.” This includes not only deeds and deed indexes, but also Spanish and homestead records and Alcalde’s ledgers (see p. 64), described as “Book AA” and “Book BB.”
 
Court and Voter Records
  • Digitizations of the Registers of Action of San Francisco Superior Court, April 1906 – March 1942, are at FamilySearch, under the title “Holdings of the California Genealogical Society.” As it is arranged, it is difficult to follow because continuation pages of lengthy probate proceedings are widely separated from initial pages. CGS volunteers, however, have prepared their own finding aid and can provide copies of longer files for a minimal fee. One ledger (vol. 11) covering several months was lost, but file numbers for that period can be accessed using the name index available under “California, San Francisco County Records, 1824-1997”, sub-heading “Probates.”
  • The Index to Naturalizations in the Northern California U.S. District Court, 1852-1989 (NARA film #1744) is at FamilySearch.org, along with a card index (year prepared?) to naturalized voters indicating where naturalizations (1858-1944) took place. In the same grouping are post-earthquake Superior Court registers listing naturalizations 1906-1929 and a card file titled “Restorations of Declarations [of Intent]” vols. A1 and B1.
  • At the same site under “California County Records . . .” and grouped as Public Records” are a number of pre-1851 ledgers, a Superior Court defendant index 1891-95 and plaintiff index 1902-06.
  • Great Registers over the years 1866-98 are at Ancestry.com, and those for 1867, 1869, 1873, 1876 and 1877 are at FamilySearch.org, also grouped under “Public Records.” These indicated where naturalization took place.
  • Filmed indexes to probate, 1906-44 and 1962-77 are at FamilySearch.org.

Miscellaneous
  • Alien Enemy Registrations from 1918 (see pp. 134-35) are at FamilySearch.org as “Affidavits” under “California, San Francisco County Records....” These detailed records were not required of naturalized citizens.
  • Digitized Annual Municipal Reports are at Archive.org, along with city directories and many books from the History Room at SFPL. Digitized periodicals include a full run of the California Historical Quarterly, The California Herald and The California Review (Native Sons and Native Daughters of the Golden West publications).
  • Digitized San Francisco passenger arrival lists, 1893-1953 are at Ancestry (indexed) and FamilySearch.org (currently unindexed).
  • Two ledgers recording vehicle (horse-drawn) licenses 1886-1889 and automobile licenses 1903-1906 survived the 1906 fire can add color to a family history and may be viewed at SFPL. Similar ledgers recording the issuance of restaurant and liquor licenses were found for scattered years beginning in 1878.
  • Those researching Chinese ancestry might find help identifying family members living in San Francisco in 1904 in four ledgers of “Residential Inspection Records” archived at the Holt-Atherton Library, University of the Pacific in Stockton. Name and age are provided for household members, arranged by both address and surname.

Note: Digitization of SFPL holdings by Internet Archive is ongoing; but locating useful material is not easy. For an updated listing of a known title check the website www.archive.org/details/sanfranciscopubliclibrary. City directories are best accessed through links at sfgenealogy.com.

—Nancy Peterson, CG, 2/14/2012 (updated 8/10/2013)