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California Research Outline |
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Table of Contents
Records Of The Family History Library
Family History Library Catalog
Archives And Libraries
Bible Records
Biography
Cemeteries
Census
Church Records
Court Records
Directories
Emigration And Immigration
Gazetteers
Genealogy
History
Land And Property
Maps
Military Records
Naturalization And Citizenship
Newspapers
Periodicals
Probate Records
Vital Records
Voting Registers
For Further Reading
Comments And Suggestions
NATURALIZATION AND CITIZENSHIP Naturalization In 1880 the district and county courts were discontinued and the superior court took over all their functions, including naturalization. The county clerk was also the clerk of this court.
The California State Archives has records of Sacramento County for the years 1850 to 1903. The Los Angeles County Archives (225 North Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90012) has records of Los Angeles County for the years 1856 to 1886. The Family History Library has microfilm copies of naturalization records for some other California counties and is currently acquiring additional records. Declarations of intention Naturalization records could also be filed in U.S. district courts after 1850. In counties where a federal district court sits, the federal court, not the superior court, has jurisdiction over naturalization. The Family History Library has:
Records of the U.S. Eastern District Court are at the National Archives—Pacific Region (San Bruno). U.S. Central District Court records and San Diego Superior Court records are at the National Archives—Pacific Region (Laguna Niguel).
The Family History Library also has an extensive collection of voting records that name the court where an individual applied for naturalization and the date (see “Voting Registers” section).
For records after September 1906, contact the National Archives—Pacific Region (San Bruno) for northern California and the National Archives—Pacific Region (Laguna Niguel) for southern California, or the local office of the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
The California State Library has an extensive collection of California newspapers. Other large libraries in the state also have newspaper collections. Many newspapers are available on microfilm, and some libraries participate in interlibrary loan services.
Several guides and union lists of newspapers are available at university, college, and public libraries. A guide to early California newspapers is J. Budenz, Paul J. Smith, and J.H. Young, comps., Early Newspapers and Periodicals of California and the West (San Francisco: W. R. Howell, 1970; FHL book 979.4 A3b; film 1421815 item 8).
The major genealogical periodicals helpful for California research are:
Ash Tree Echo. 1966—. Published by the Fresno Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 1429, Fresno, CA 92516-1429. (FHL book 979.4 B2at.)
San Diego Leaves & Saplings. 1973—. Published by the San Diego Genealogical Society, 2925 Kalmia St., San Diego, CA 92104. (FHL book 979.498 B2s.)
Lifeliner. 1965—. Published by the Genealogical Society of Riverside, P.O. Box 2557, Riverside, CA 92516. (FHL book 979.497 B2L.)
Orange County California Genealogical Society Quarterly. 1964—. Published by the Orange County Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 1587, Orange, CA 92668-1587. (FHL 979.496 B2g; fiche 6087663—, vols. 1-27.)
Santa Clara County Historical and Genealogical Society (Quarterly). 1964—. Published by the Santa Clara County Historical and Genealogical Society, 2635 Homestead Rd., City Library, Santa Clara, CA 95051. (FHL book 979.473 B2s.) Title changed to Santa Clara County Connections in 1987.
proceedings were under the jurisdiction of the district court (a state court not a federal court) from 1850 until 1880. The county court was also given this responsibility from 1862 to 1880. The county clerk was the clerk of both these courts and kept the records. An 1872 state statute required the clerk to keep two alphabetical sets of records, one for declarations and one for admission to citizenship.
(1870-1928) for Alameda County, for example, are available at the Family History Library.
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NEWSPAPERS
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PERIODICALS
Valley Quarterly. 1962—. Published by the San Bernardino Valley Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 2220, San Bernardino, CA 92406-2220. (FHL book 979.495 B2v.)
The earliest probate records Many records of Humboldt, Marin, Mendocino, Nevada, Sonoma, and Sutter counties are at the California State Archives. The Family History Library has copies of some probate records, including 33,000 wills filed in San Francisco between 1906 and 1922 on 127 microfilms.
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PROBATE RECORDS
in California were kept by the probate courts in each county. Since 1879 the superior court in each county has held the jurisdiction over probate matters. The county clerk is usually the custodian of these records. You can obtain copies of the original records (such as wills and estate files) by writing to the county clerk.
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Version of Data: 11/12/2003]