California Church Records

Before 1900 the largest religious groups in California were the Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Congregational churches. The Family History Library has several histories of the Catholic, Presbyterian, Latter-day Saint, and Methodist churches in California.

Roman Catholic
The first Catholic missions were organized in 1769. Most of the mission records begin in 1770 and are on film. The Family History Library and the Bancroft Library have extensive collections of the early records. For the index to these records, see Thomas W. Temple III, An Alphabetical Listing of the California Mission Vital Records (Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1985; FHL film 1307621 item 4; fiche 6047009).

The following sources may help you find Catholic mission records:

Weber, Francis J. A Select Guide to California Catholic History. Los Angeles, California: Westernlore Press, 1966. (FHL book 979.4 K21c.)

Bowman, J.N. "The Parochial Books of the California Missions, 1961," The Quarterly (Historical Society of Southern California), Volume 43, number 3. (FHL book 979.4 B2s.)

Barton, Noel R. "Genealogical Research in the Records of the California Missions," Genealogical Journal, Volume 4, number 1. (FHL book 973 D25gj.)

Many original mission records and other Catholic records have been gathered into central repositories. These include:

Santa Barbara (Old Mission)

Old Mission Santa Barbara

2201 Laguna Street Santa Barbara, CA 93105 Tel (805) 682-4713 Website: http://www.sbmal.org/ E-mail: [mailto:research@sbmal.org research@sbmal.org]

A guide to this extensive collection is Maynard J. Geiger, Calendar of Documents in the Santa Barbara Mission Archives (Washington: Academy of American Franciscan History, 1947; FHL book 979.491 A5g, Volume 1).

Archdiocese of Los Angeles 3424 Wilshire Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90010-2202 Telephone: 213-637-7000 E-mail: [mailto:info@la-archdiocese.org info@la-archdiocese.org] Website: http://www.la-archdiocese.org/

Historical Archives Archival Center for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles 15151 San Fernando Mission Boulevard Mission Hills, CA 91345 Phone:'818-365-1501 Fax:'818-361-3276 Website: http://www.usc.edu/libraries/archives/arc/lasubject/records/id69.html

Diocese of San Diego 3888 Paducah Drive San Diego, CA 92117

Mailing Address P.O. Box 85728 San Diego, CA 92186-5728 Telephone: 858-490-8200 Fax: 858-490-8272 Website: http://www.diocese-sdiego.org/

Methodist
Holt-Atherton Church Archives University of the Pacific 3601 Pacific Avenue Stockton, CA 95211 Telephone: 209-946-2404 Fax: 209-946-2810 Website: http://library.uop.edu/ha/ua/index.asp

Presbyterian
San Francisco Theological Seminary Library 105 Seminary Road San Anselmo, CA 94960 Telephone: 415-451-2845 Website: http://library.gtu.edu/services/sfts.html