California, San Joaquin, County Public Library Obituary Index - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States California San Joaquin County

What is in the Collection?
This collection consists of images of index cards located at the San Joaquin County Public Library in Stockton, California. The index cards contain clippings of obituaries from various San Joaquin County and Stockton city newspapers. The collection covers the years 1850 to 1991.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The records usually include the following:


 * Name and age of deceased
 * Date and place of death
 * Occupation and residence
 * Names of surviving family members
 * Cause of death
 * Date, place and time of funeral services or burial

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know at least some of the following:
 * The name of your ancestor.
 * The approximate death date.
 * The person’s last known residence.
 * The names of known relatives and associates.

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 Pagethen select the Surname Range.

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



What Do I Do Next?
Indexes and transcriptions may not include all the data found in the original records. Look at the actual image of the record, if you can, to verify the information and to find additional information. .

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Copy the citation below, in case you need to find this record again later.
 * Use the information found in the record to locate the death record. (Only keep this sentence if the collection is obituaries or cemetery records/funeral homes)
 * Use the age or estimated birth date to determine an approximate birth date to find other church and vital records such as birth, baptism, and marriage records.
 * Use the information found in the record to find land, probate and immigration records.
 * Use the information found in the record to find additional family members in censuses.
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.
 * Church Records were kept years before counties began keeping records. They are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

I Can’t Find Who I’m Looking for, What Now?

 * If your ancestor does not have a common name, collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you find possible relatives.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby town or county.
 * Try different spellings of your ancestor’s name.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Check the info box above for additional FamilySearch websites and related websites that may assist you in finding similar records.

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):

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