Butte County, California Genealogy

United States California Butte County

Guide to Butte County, California ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

County Courthouse
County Recorder has marriage records from 1851, born and death records from 1859 and land records; County Clerk has divorce, probate, probate and court record from 1850; Meriam Library, California State University Chico, has divorce, probate and court records 1850-1879 and natural records 1850-1960  1850--Butte County was created 18 February 1850 as an original county. County seat: Oroville

Boundary Changes
For animated maps illustrating California county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation California County Boundary Maps" (1850-1925) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Records Loss
For a list of record loss in California counties see: California Counties with Burned Courthouses

Indian Reservations or Rancherias
The Berry Creek Indian Rancheria is located in this county.

Neighboring Counties

 * Colusa
 * Glenn
 * Plumas
 * Sutter
 * Tehama
 * Yuba

Church History and Records
LDS Ward and Branch Records


 * Chico
 * Gridley
 * Liberty (Gridley)
 * Oroville

Maps

 * Maps of California (1850-1925)

Migration
Early migration routes to and from for emigrant settlers included:


 * California Trail 1844 to 1869 from western Missouri to northern California
 * Beckwourth Trail 1850 left the Truckee Trail near present-day Sparks, Nevada going to Oroville and Marysville, California

Civil War

 * - 1st Regiment, California Cavalry (Union), Company A
 * - 1st Regiment, California Infantry (Union), Company A

Obituaries
The Paradise Genealogical Society has a large collection of obituaries and death notices from local Butte County newspapers, The majority are full obituaries but also include short obituaries and death notices. The collection includes approximately 85,800 records covering the years 1855-2008. Letters A through F are indexed and online. Copies of the obituaries can be ordered for $5.00.


 * Paradise, California Obituaries Butte County, California Free from GenealogyBuff.com. These obituaries were collected from local newspapers and funeral homes for genealogy research. The dates listed under the deceased's name represents the announcement date
 * For FHL entries for the obituary file index, 1883-1896, click
 * For FHL entries for the obituary file index, 1902-1967, click
 * For FHL entries for the obituary file index, 1963-1990, click
 * Gridley Herald

This collection was gleaned and indexed from Footnote.com. If you find possible family, the complete Obituary is available.

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
 * Gridley California Family History Center
 * Oroville California Family History Center

Societies
Paradise Genealogical Society Library Address: Paradise Genealogical Society 5587 Scottwood Road PO Box 460 Paradise, California 95967-0460 Phone: 530-877-2330

Vital Records
See also How to order California Vital Records

Marriage
For marriages from 1851-1886 see Western States Marriage Index.

Voting Registers
California county clerks were to keep voting registers every other year from 1866 and well into the 20th century. These large books, called Great Registers, listed the men who registered to vote in that county. Besides name and age, the record may show place of birth, address, occupation, naturalization date and sometimes even a physical description.

These records are at the California State Library (1866-1944), and microfilmed copies are available through Family History Centers (1866-1910). Ancestry ($) has a searchable database of Butte Great Registers from 1867-1898.

The Butte county records for 1872 are available on the RootsWeb site, by clicking here.

Genealogy Societies, Archives and Libraries

 * List of California Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical & Genealogical Societies

Web Sites

 * Butte County, CA History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * California Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * California Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * Butte County [CAGenWeb]
 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.