California, San Francisco Earthquake Cards - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States CaliforniaSan Francisco County

What is in the Collection?
This collection will include records from 1906. These records include an index and images of note cards of compiled information concerning deaths or probable deaths of earthquake victims.

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
The records may contain any of the following:


 * Name of the victim
 * Nature of injuries or cause of death if known
 * Place of death or injury
 * Name of hospital and doctor who treated the injured
 * Where death is recorded
 * Name of court processing probate
 * Names of family members
 * Names of Newspaper articles listing conditions or names of victims
 * Name and address of damaged building; nature of the damages

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


 * The name of the victim
 * The place of residence
 * The nature of injuries
 * The names of family members

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.

Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page:

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page: To search the collection you will need to follow this series of links: ⇒Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page ⇒Select the appropriate "Dead or Probable Dead" ⇒ Select the appropriate 'Surname Range' which takes you to the images

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line video at FamilySearch Search Tips.

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 information to locate a newspaper about your ancestor or a death record or a cemetery where they were buried.
 * Use the information on the latter records to find additional records such as birth, marriage, or census 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.
 * Church Records often were kept years before government records were required and are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

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.
 * Search the indexes and records of California, United States Genealogy.
 * Search in the California Archives and Libraries.

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):

Image Citation