It seems that researching California roots is very lonely. I rarely come across anyone who is researching their family in California. They themselves may be from California, but their ancestors come from elsewhere. Their ancestors were here briefly, but were passing through. Or, their ancestors lived in another state, but came to California after 1900, so their roots in the state don’t run deep. It isn’t long before they are off researching elsewhere.
All of my ancestors came to California eventually. They came from Ireland, England, Australia, France, and the Azores Island. They briefly lived in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Hawaii. But all of them left for the Golden State. Once they got here they stayed. For the most part they lived in San Francisco, Oakland, Spreckels, and Salinas.
Is there anyone else out there researching California? If so, where in the state did your ancestors settle? It would be nice to know that others are compiling information on Californian roots.
I know what you mean about how lonely it is researching California roots (actually, I think it is pretty lonely researching all the Pacific states). Most of my mother’s family came to California during the Gold Rush, they settled in Alameda, San Francisco and San Joaquin Counties. One of the things I like about your blog is that you are one of the few out there researching California roots also. So no, you aren’t alone though we certainly seem to be a small club.
Leah, nice to meet someone else working on California. It is a lonely pursuit. I think you are right that very few people seem to be researching the Pacific coast states.
Looks like your relatives and my Grandma’s Irish kin arrived around the same time. The Kelly’s showed up sometime in the early 1850s and settled in San Francisco. The Dolans came soon after. Then the rest of my kin arrived over the next 40 years. All stayed in California.
My Irish and Italian ancestors settled in San Francisco in the 1850s, and my Azorean ancestors settled in Oakland in 1906. My great grandfather was a stone mason so there was lots of work in San Francisco. I have found a lot of church records which filled in the blanks for me. But it was always so discouraging when a date I needed info on was one of the periods for which the official records were lost after the earthquake and fire. Keep up the good work, I really enjoy your blog.