California Colonial Records

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United States

U.S. Colonial Records

California

Colonial Records

Online Records

• 1582-1842- Ramo de Californias. Images only. In Spanish.
• 1862- Muster rolls of the Russian River Rifles. Images only.
• 1796-1798- California Spanish Mission Censuses. $ Index and images at Ancestry.com.

Church or Mission Name	Years Covered	Record Type	Language
Catholic Church. Mission San Gabriel Arcangel (San Gabriel, California)-images only	1771-1908	Baptisms, marriages, confirmations, burials, and official reports	Spanish
San Gabriel Mission and Plaza Church (Los Angeles), California- images only	San Gabriel Mission (1771-1864) and Plaza Church, Los Angeles (1826-1873)	Baptismal records of San Gabriel Mission (1771-1864) and Plaza Church, Los Angeles (1826-1873)	Spanish and English
Catholic Church. Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo (Carmel, California)- images only	1770-1899	Extracts of church records	English
Parish Records (San Diego, California)- images only	1771-1966	Baptism, confirmation, marriages, deaths	Spanish, English, Latin
Misión de San Francisco Solano California : bautismos 1828-1839, matrimonios 1834-1838, (5 defunciones)-images only	1828-1839	Baptisms and marriages	English transcriptions
Registros parroquiales, 1774-1868. Iglesia Católica. Misión Nuestra Señora del Santísimo Rosario (El Rosario, Baja California), College of Saint Albert (Oakland, California)- images only	1774-1868	Baptisms, marriages, and burials	Spanish
Church records. Catholic Church. Mission San Antonio de Pádua (Jolon, California)- images only	1771-1882	Baptisms, marriages, deaths and burials, confirmations, church records, inventory of patents, and deed and land patents.	Spanish and English
Church records. Catholic Church. Mission Santa Barbara (Santa Barbara, California)- images only	1783-1847	Baptisms and marriages	Spanish
Church records.Catholic Church. Santa Inis Mission (Santa Barbara, California)- images only	1806-1917	Baptisms, marriages, and burials	English
Los Angeles County, California, Baptismal records- images only	1771-1873	Baptisms	English
Mission registers. Catholic Church. Mission Santa Barbara (Santa Barbara, California)- images only	1776-1912	Baptisms, marriages, burials, church records, church statistics	Spanish and English
Book of baptisms, San Diego Mission- images only	1769-1822	Baptisms	English transcriptions
Church records. Catholic Church. Our Lady Queen of the Angels (Los Angeles, California)- images only+++	1826-1920	Baptisms, marriages, burials	Spanish
Church records. Catholic Church. Mission San Rafael Arcangel (San Rafael, California)- images only+++	1817-1907	Baptisms, confirmations, marriages, and burials	Spanish and Latin
Church records. Catholic Church. Mission San Juan Capistrano (San Juan Capistrano, California)- images only+++	1777-1954	Baptisms, marriages, burials, and confirmations	Spanish, Latin, English
Church records. Catholic Church. Mission San Luis Rey de Francia (San Luis Rey, California)- images only+++	1811-1828	Church censuses, Biographical sketches of clergy (1820), and baptisms	Spanish
Mission registers. Catholic Church. Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa (San Luis Obispo, California)- images only+++	1772-1906	Baptisms 1772-1869, Marriages 1772-1902, Deaths and burials 1772-1838, Confirmations 1778-1906, Church records (padrones) 1833-1835, Grants, patents and inventory 1806-1840 (includes list of martyrs of all California missions), and Church records (padrones) 1797-1798	Spanish and English

History

From 1542 to the beginning of the 19th c., Spain, Mexico, England, and Russia all tried to claim California. The Spanish established several settlements over the course of the 18th c.:

• 1769 - San Diego de Alcalá Mission
• 1770 - Monterrey Mission
• 1771 - San Antonio de Padua mission and presidio
• 1771 - San Gabriel mission
• 1772 - San Luis Obispo mission
• 1776 - San Francisco mission and presidio
• 1777 - San José mission
• 1781 - Los Angeles
• 1782 - Santa Barbara mission and presidio

California became a part of Mexico in 1822 and was annexed by the United States in 1850.

Resources

Spanish Colonization

California Missions

• The Franciscan Missions of California by John A. Berger. (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1941).
• "The Parochial Books of the California Missions." Historical Society of Southern California Quarterly 43 by J.N. Bowman. (September 1961): n.p.n. FamilySearch Digital Book
• The Missions of Alta California by John T. Doyle. (1896. Reprint. Santa Barbara, CA: W.T. Genns, 1991).
• The Missions and Missionaries of California 2 Vols. by Zephyrin Engelhardt. (Santa Barbara, CA: Mission Santa Barbara, 1929-30).
• The Missions of California and the Old Southwest by Jesse S. Hildrup. (1912. Reprint. Salt Lake City: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1995.) This contains early history of missions, churches, and Native Americans.
• Las Misiones Españolas de California by James M. Keys. (Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Instituto Juan, 1950). This is about Spanish missions in California.
• Santa Clara Mission, Index to Baptismal Records, 1777-1855 by Ralph Francis Corral. (n.p., 1979, film 1036271).
• Calendar of Documents in the Santa Barbara Mission Archives by Maynard J. Geiger. (Washington, DC: Academy of American Franciscan History, 1947).

Land

• Spanish Archives, 1833-45. California, Surveyor-General's Office. Land records. The original records are at the California State Archives in Sacramento.
• Ranchos of California: A List of Spanish Concessions, 1775-1822, and Mexican Grants, 1822-1846 by Robert Granniss Cowan. (Fresno, CA: Academy Library Guild, 1956).
• California Ranchos: Patented Private Land Grants Listed by County by Burgess McK. Shumway. (San Bernardino, CA: Borgo Press, 1988). This lists name of rancho and grantees with date and description of the land.
• Index to the Spanish-Mexican Private Land Grant Records and Cases of California by J. N. Bowman. (1958. Reprint. Berkeley: Bancroft Library, University of California, 1970, film 0833343).
• The History of San Diego County Ranchos : the Spanish, Mexican, and American Occupation of San Diego County and the Story of the Ownership of Land Grants Therein by Robert W. Brackett. (1939. Reprint. San Diego: Union Title Insurance Co., 1960).

Miscellaneous

• 1790 Padron of California. (n.p., n.d., film 1036747). This was copied from "Las Familias de California" section of Southern California Historical Society Quarterly.
• "The First Census of Los Angeles." Historical Society of Southern California Quarterly 16 by Thomas Workman Temple. (1931): 148-9.
• California under Spain and Mexico, 1535-1847: A Contribution Toward the History of the Pacific Coast of the United States, Based on Original Sources (Chiefly Manuscript) in the Spanish and Mexican Archives and Other Repositories by Irving Berdine Richman. (1911. Reprint. New York: Cooper Square Publishing, 1965, film 0897366).
• The Founding of Spanish California: The Northwest Expansion of New Spain, 1687-1783 by Charles E. Chapman. (New York: Macmillian & Co., 1916).
• A History of California: The Spanish Period by Charles E. Chapman. (New York: Macmillan & Co., 1921, fiche 6051216).
• Pioneer Spanish Families in California by Charles Howard Shinn. (1896. Reprint. Santa Barbara, CA:W.T. Genns, 1991).
• Spanish Alta California by Albert Johnston Denis. (New York: Macmillan & Co., 1927, film 1697423).
• Spanish Families of Southern California 38 Vols. by Adam C. Derkum. (n.p., 1967, film 1597975 ff).
• Spanish and Indian Place Names of California, Their Meaning and Their Romance by Nellie Van de Grift Sanchez. (San Francisco: A.M. Robertson, 1930, film 1320727).
• Spanish Mexican Families of Early California: 1769-1850 by Marie C. Northrup. (New Orleans: Polyanthos, 1976).
• Ramo de Californias: 1582-1842 Historical materials from Viceroyalty of Nueva details Lower and Upper California. Includes settlement records of Pueblo de Los Angeles (1781), military lists (1748, 1769-74), and Inquisition records. Orginal records are at the Archivo General de al Nación in Mexico City.

• Spanish Bluecoats, the Catalonian Volunteers in Northwestern New Spain, 1767-1810 by Joseph P. Sánchez. (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1990). History and maps of Spanish claims to Mexico, California, and Alaska.
• Spanish and Mexican Records of the American Southwest: A Bibliographical Guide to Archive and Manuscript Sources: A Bibliographical Guide to Archive and Manuscript Sources by Henry Putney Beers. (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1979). Includes Arizona, California, New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico.
• Survey of Pre-Statehood Records: A New Look at Spanish and Mexican-Californian Genealogical Records by Rudecinda Lo Buglio. (Salt Lake City: Corporation of the President, 1980, fiche 6085820).
• The Story of San José: California's First Pueblo, 1777-1869 by Oscar O. Winther. (San Francisco: California Historical Society, 1935).

Other

• California Gazetteer. (Wilmington, DE: American Historical Publications, 1985, fiche 6088199).
• Catalogue of materials in the Archivo General de Indias for the History of the Pacific Coast and the American Southwest by Charles E. Chapman. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1919).
• Guide to American Historical Manuscripts in the Huntington Library by Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery. (San Marion, CA: The Library, 11979).
• The Russian Advance into California by Flora Faith Hatch. (Berkeley: University of California, 1922. Reprint. San Francisco: R & E Research Associates, 1971, fiche 6039366).
• The Illustrated Atlas and History of Yolo County, California: Containing a History of California from 1513 to 1850, History of Yolo County from 1825 to 1880, and the Official County Map. (1879. Reprint. Woodbridge, CT: Research Publications, Inc., 1968, film 0468752).
• Index to Genealogical Tables of Spanish and Mexican Families of California by Thomas Workman Temple. (Berkeley, CA: Bancroft Library, 1959, film 0874197).
• A Brief History of the Calafia: The Californians, 1533-1795 by Michael W. Mathes. (San Diego: n.p., 1974).
• French Activities in California: An Archival Calendar-Guide by Abraham Phineas Nasatir. (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1945).
• A Guide to the History of California by Doyce B. Nunis and Gloria Ricci Lothrop. (New York: Greenwood Press, 1989).
• Directory of Archival and Manuscript Repositories in California 3rd ed. Society of California Archivisits. (San Marino: The Society: The Society, 1991, 1st ed. on film 1035038).
• Local History and Genealogy Resources of the California State Library. Rev. ed. by Gary E. Strong. (Sacramento: California State Library Foundation, 1991).
• The Russian population in Alaska and California : late 18th century-1867 by by Svetlana G. Fedorova ; translated and edited by Richard A. Pierce and Alton S. Donnelly. (Kingston, Ontario : Limestone, 1973).

Maps

• The Diseños Collection at the California State Archives. This is a collection of early hand drawn maps of Spanish and Mexican California lands.

To view online images that are "locked" (as indicated by a key over the camera), you must visit a FamilySearch History Center or an Affiliate library. Go to the Family History Center and Affiliate Library Locator map for locations.