Are You Looking in the Right Place?

When California was admitted to the Union in 1850, Southern California consisted of only four counties: San Diego (which was huge!), Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo. Take a look at this map from the California State Association of Counties website:

From 1850 to 1907, six additional counties were created. If you are not finding a particular record in one county, perhaps you should be looking in the parent county. Although it does not list all the boundary changes that have taken place over the years  (click here for that), the chart below may be helpful in determining what other counties to check:

County	Created	Parent(s)	County Seat
Imperial	6 Aug 1907	San Diego	El Centro
Kern	2 Apr 1866	Tulare; Los Angeles	Bakersfield 1874-present Havilah 1866-1874
Los Angeles	18 Feb 1850	Original	Los Angeles
Orange	11 Mar 1889	Los Angeles	Santa Ana
Riverside	11 Mar 1893	San Diego; San Bernardino	Riverside
San Bernardino	26 Apr 1853	Los Angeles	San Bernardino
San Diego	18 Feb 1850	Original	San Diego
San Luis Obispo	18 Feb 1850	Original	San Luis Obispo
Santa Barbara	18 Feb 1850	Original	Santa Barbara
Ventura	22 Mar 1872	Santa Barbara	Ventura

There have been no changes in the location of the county seats, except in Kern County, and I don't believe you'll find what you need in Havilah!

Museum, Kern County Court House, Havilah, California; photo from Wikipedia.

Sources:

1. “California County History,” California State Association of Counties  (http://www.counties.org/default.asp?id=5 : accessed 12 January 2012).
2. “California County Creation Dates and Parent Counties” FamilySearch Research Wiki, (https://www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/California_County_Creation_Dates_and_Parent_Counties : accessed 12 January 2012)

© 2012 Denise Spurlock, Ancestral Trees Research

Tuesday's Tip - Riverside and San Diego Newspapers Online

The following Riverside and San Diego newspapers have been added to the historical newspapers collection available, by subscription, at GenealogyBank:

• Riverside Daily Press, 5/20/1938-10/1/1942
• (San Diego) Evening Tribune, 7/1/1925-1/25/1935
• San Diego Union, 3/1/1908-7/8/1934

Newspapers are a wonderful source of information about our ancestors' lives. I was excited to find references to my grandfather's employment as a watchmaker for J. Jessop & Sons and an advertisement for his watch-making school in the San Diego papers.

By Lewis Hine [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Disclaimer: I have a paid subscription to GenealogyBank. I also have an affiliate agreement. If you click on the GenealogyBank link above and subscribe to their service, I receive a small commission. You pay the same price for a subscription as if you had visited the site on your own.




© 2012 Denise Spurlock, Ancestral Trees Research

Happy New Year from the SoCal Genie!

Pasadena Schools Float in 1922 Rose Bowl Parade.
Public domain image via Wikimedia  Commons.

The Rose Parade is tomorrow (January 2), so it doesn't feel like New Year's Day to me! But I offer the following poem to wish you all the best in 2012!

A New Year’s Wish.

May each day bring thee something

Fair to hold in memory—

Some true light to shine

Upon thee in the after days.

May each night bring thee peace,

As when the dove broods o’er

The young she love; may day

And night the circle of

A rich experience weave

About thy life, and make

It rich with knowledge, but radiant

With Love, whose blossoms shall be

Tender deeds.

—Helen Van Anderson Gordon

Source:

George Wharton James, editor, The California birthday book: prose and poetical selections from the writings of living California authors, with a brief biographical sketch of each (Los Angeles : Arroyo Guild Press 1909), 12.

© 2012 Denise Spurlock, Ancestral Trees Research