California County Marriages, 1843-1918 - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States California 

What Is in the Collection?
This collection is an index to selected marriage records in California for the years from 1843-1918. Most of the entries are for Napa County. Due to privacy restrictions, the images associated with these indexes are unavailable at this time.

Sample Images
Click on images for a larger view.

Coverage Map
To see a coverage map of FamilySearch's holdings of California county marriage records, click here.

What Can This Collection Tell Me?
Marriage records may contain the following information for both bride and groom:


 * Name
 * Age
 * Birth year
 * Birth place
 * Parents’ names
 * Marriage date
 * Marriage place
 * Marital status
 * Race
 * Previous spouse
 * Title
 * DGS number
 * File number
 * Page/Volume/Entry/Certificate number

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know at least one of the following:


 * The name of the bride or groom
 * The approximate marriage date
 * The location where the event took place
 * The approximate age of the bride or groom
 * The name of a parent or reletive

Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information in the list to what you already know about your ancestor to determine if it is the correct family or person. You may need to compare several persons in the list before you find your ancestor.

When searching keep in mind:
 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names, or variations of their name, throughout their life.
 * If your ancestor used an alias or a nickname, be sure to check for those alternate names.
 * Even though these indexes are very accurate they may still contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned.

For more tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page:

What Do I Do Next?
Whenever possible, view the original records to verify the information and to find additional information that might not be reported. These pieces of information can lead you to additional records and family members.

I Found Who I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * Use the age in the record to find an approximate birth year, which will help you find their other records.
 * Use the information in each record to find additional family members.
 * Repeat this process with additional family member’s records to find more generations of the family.

I Can't Find Who I'm Looking For, What Now?

 * Try viewing the original record to see if there were errors in the transcription of the name, age, residence, etc. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name. *Collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you identify possible relations that can be verified by records.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby locality in an area search.
 * Standard spelling of names typically did not exist during the periods our ancestors lived in. Try variations of your ancestor’s name while searching the index or browsing through images.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.

Citing This Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection Citation:

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):