Amador County, California Genealogy

United States &gt; California &gt; Amador County

County Courthouse
Amador County Courthouse 500 Argonaut Lane Jackson, CA 95642 Phone: 209-223-6468

Clerk of the Superior Court has divorce, probate and court records.

County Archives has naturalization records.

County Recorder - Clerk has birth and death records from 1873, marriage records from 1854, and land records from 1854. Address: 810 Court Street, Jackson, CA 95642. Phone: (209) 223-6468.

Parent County
11 May 1854: Amador County was created from Calaveras and El Dorado Counties. County seat: Jackson

Record Loss
1862: Courthouse burned and many records were damaged.

For further information on researching in burned counties, see the following:


 * Burned Counties Research
 * http://blogs.ancestry.com/circle/?p=2424

Neighboring Counties

 * Alpine
 * Calaveras
 * El Dorado
 * Sacramento
 * San Joaquin

Cemeteries

 * Amador County Cemetery Board has a database of tombstone transcriptions giving name, year of birth, year of death, and cemetery where buried. Further information and photos may be on the USGenWeb Tombstone Transcription Project.


 * LDS Cemetery Records, Vol. 21, page 1 - a cemetery located in the county.

Individual cemeteries:


 * Protestant Cemetery, Volcano BillionGraves

Church History and Records
LDS Ward and Branch Records


 * Ione

Maps
For historical maps, search the following free sites:

• Maps-Historical-Sate of California, the Carlifornia government's site. Links to American Memory (Library of Congress), California Missions, and the State Library

• Historical Maps of California

• California Maps - HSU Library, also lists and links to gazetteers

• David Rumsey Collection for Amador, California

• Perry-Castaneda Map Collection for California

For topographical maps of California mountains, rivers, etc., try the sites listed at USGS Topographic Maps of California.

For current maps, search Google Maps or MapQuest or other map services online.

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


 * California Trail 1844 to 1869 from western Missouri to northern California


 * Carson (River) Trail 1848 (aka Mormon Emigrant Trail) crossed the Forty Mile Desert past the west side of the Carson Sink to pick up the Carson River near Fallon, Nevada up to Hope Valley and Red Lake. The Devil's Ladder then climbed 700 feet (210 m) in half a mile so ropes, chains, and pulleys were required to lift the wagons. Carson Pass was followed by the relatively easy West Pass (Kirkwood, California) and then on to Pollock Pines, Placerville, and Sutter's Fort, California


 * Grizzly Flat Road 1852 an extension of Carson Trail down the middle fork of the Consumnes River to Grizzly Flat and Placerville, California
 * Volcano Road 1852 from Coral Flat (Pioneer) on the Carson Trail to Volcano, California

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
 * Jackson California Family History Center (Sutter Creek)

Marriage
For marriages from 1854-1885 see the Western States Marriage Index.

Websites

 * Amador County CAGenWeb Project
 * Linkpendium
 * USGenWeb Archives
 * USGenWeb Archives backup site