It has been a challenge having so much of my ancestor in San Francisco before and after the earthquake. It can be really difficult finding records that replace those lost during the disaster. I have found three resources to be indispensable for researching San Francisco: 1. The US Federal Census. Using the 1900 and 1910…
Category: California Genealogy
In Remembrance of the 1906 Earthquake and Fire
Were your ancestors living in San Francisco on April 18th, 1906? My Kelly, Dolan, Jones, and Segalas relatives were there. The Mazeres and Breilh cousins were over in Oakland and Berkeley. The Cosma’s and a couple of Pacheco’s were new arrivals in Oakland. I like to think of what that period must have been like…
San Francisco Reburial Mysteries, Part Four
A few months ago, I received a copy of a photograph of Catherine (Dolan) Kelly tombstone. It gave me chills. This was my ancestors tombstone! Almost immediately the questions swirled in my heard. Guess what? The date on the tombstone doesn’t match the card in Holy Cross’s file. Are you surprised? LOL The card for…
San Francisco Reburial Mysteries, Part Three
One of the things that really baffled me about the reburials that Patrick Dolan paid for was that his wife wasn’t among them. His wife died a good 20 or so years before him. If he was going to fork out all this money to rebury is sister, Catherine’s family, and to purchase a plot…
Do you have California roots?
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,…