California, Shasta County Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States California Shasta County

What is in the Collection?
This collection include images of naturalizations, marriage applications, veteran burials and probate records from the Superior Court in Redding, California for the years 1851 to 1950.

Coverage Map
To see a coverage map of FamilySearch's holdings of California marriages, click here.

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
Marriage license applications may include:


 * Name of the bride and groom
 * Names of the parents
 * Marriage date
 * Marriage place
 * Residences of the bride and groom
 * Age and races of the bride and groom
 * Family History Library Microfilm and item numbers for the source materials

Wills and probate records and estate case files may include:


 * Name of testator or deceased
 * Event year
 * Event place
 * Names of heirs such as spouse, children, and other relatives or friends
 * Sometimes the date of death

Naturalization records may include:


 * Name of the immigrant
 * Country of birth
 * Arrival date
 * Date of Declaration of Intent or Naturalization
 * Names of witnesses
 * Signature of judge or court official

In post-1906 records, you may also find:


 * Birth date
 * Birthplace
 * Age
 * Race
 * Last foreign residence
 * Current residence
 * Arrival place
 * Marital status
 * Name of spouse
 * Maiden name of wife
 * Birth date of spouse
 * Residence of spouse

Veterans’ grave sites may include:


 * Name of deceased
 * Residence of deceased
 * Date and place of birth
 * Date and place of death
 * War in which veteran served
 * Cause of death
 * Date and place of burial
 * Next of kin
 * Date and place of enlistment
 * Branch of service, rank and unit of service
 * Discharge date and place
 * Cemetery record includes grave number, book number and page of record
 * Source of information

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know:


 * The name of your ancestor
 * The approximate age of your ancestor
 * The place where your ancestor lived
 * The names of other family members and their relationships

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page: To search this collection you will need to follow this series of links: ⇒ Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page ⇒ Select the “Record Category” category ⇒ Select the “Record Type, Record Description, and Year Range” category which takes you to the images.

Look at each image comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine if the image relates to them. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination. Keep in mind:


 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names or variations of their name throughout their life.

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. Save a copy of the image or transcribe the information. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details. Add this new information to your records of each family. You should also look for leads to other records about your ancestors.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use the age in the record to find an approximate birth year to find other records such as birth, christening, marriage, census, and death records.
 * Use the information in each record to find additional family members.
 * Because marriage records for a locality may be missing, the widow’s pension application may be the best place to locate marriage information.
 * Use immigration records to find emigration records and vice versa. Each record set often contains unique information.
 * 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:

Image Citation: