California, San Francisco Area Funeral Home Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States CaliforniaSan Francisco County

What is in the Collection?
This set is a collection of various records maintained by several San Francisco funeral homes, including


 * N. Gray and Co., (records of the Burlingame and San Francisco branches)
 * Halsted and Co. Undertakers
 * H.F. Suhr &amp; Co.
 * Godeau Funeral Service, (branches in San Francisco and Stockton)
 * George H. Clark Funeral Home (Sacramento)
 * Clark &amp; Booth Funeral Directors (Sacramento)
 * Kremple &amp; Halsted-Undertakers
 * W.P. Peterson &amp; Co.
 * H.W. Gantner (Gantner Bros.)

Several different types of records were created. The collection includes records from 1835 to 1979. The indexes are arranged alphabetically by surname, grouped by type of record. Some indexes will index the names of the deceased, others will index the persons making the funeral and financial arrangements, and others will index both. Some indexes refer to only the name and page number. Others may also include death and/or burial dates, the age at time of death, birth place, residence, cause of death, grave site, cemetery name, and the persons making funeral and financial arrangements. Some page numbers were incorrectly transcribed when the indexes were created and such records are usually found within a page or two of the page given.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The records usually contain:


 * Name of the deceased
 * Age of deceased
 * Date of death
 * Place of death
 * Cause of death
 * Name of physician

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 deceased ancestor.
 * The age of your deceased ancestor.
 * The date of death.
 * The place of death.
 * The names of relatives or other 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 "City (County)" ⇒Select the "Year Range" ⇒Select the "Funeral Home" ⇒Select the "Record Type and Volume/Page Range"

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



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 to verify the information and to find additional information.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Make sure to fully transcribe and cite the record entry for future reference; see the section Citing this Collection for assistance. Save or print a copy of the image
 * Use the information found in the record to find other records such as emigrations, port records, and ship’s manifests.
 * Use the record to learn your ancestor’s foreign and “Americanized” names, if they were different.
 * Use the record to learn the place of origin and find their church and vital records such as birth, baptism, and marriage records.
 * Use the information found in the record to find land and probate records.
 * Use the record to see if other family members who may have immigrated with the person you are looking for are listed and have additional information or leads; you may also find additional information on new 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.
 * Look for the Declaration of Intent soon after the immigrant arrived. Then look for the Naturalization Petition five years later, when the residency requirement would have been met. Look for naturalization records in federal courts, then in state, county, or city courts. An individual may have filed the first and final papers in different courts and sometimes in a different state if the person moved. Immigrants who were younger than 18 when they arrived did not need to file a Declaration of Intent as part of the process.
 * Check other possible ports of entry
 * 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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