Local Genealogy

A VERY POWERFUL genealogy site is Ancestry, available for FREE at the Central Library only.  Other sites (free anywhere) include:

  • Berkeley Obituary Index
    An index to death stories and obituaries of Berkeleyans, both famous and not, contained in the Berkeley Daily Gazette and other newspapers. Currently available years: 1894 to 1907, 1920, 1923, 1925, 1930-1933, 1935, 1936, 1940, 1941, 1955, 1960-1963 & 1977-1979. Other years are in progress. Call the Reference Desk at 510-981-6148 for more information.
  • Lives of the Dead
    A blog on those interred in Mountain View Cemetery, some of whom were Berkeley citizens.
  • Local Cemeteries
    Including many lists of interred former Berkeley citizens in various Alameda County cemeteries.
  • Social Security Death Index
    The SSDN - where birth dates and/or locations, previous residencies, and so forth are to be found. Search for the persons name. After the search you can limit to, for instance, birth century and decade, and/or birthplace.
  • California Death Index
    California (like most states) has required that all deaths in the state be recorded for over a century. Below are the records (available online for free) for 1940 to 1997.
  • US Genweb Project
    Connect with others researching your family. Select the state you wish to do research in, then the county. Each county is independently run by volunteers, so they are hit-or-miss in quality. Some are great, some not so much. Remember, though: you can always volunteer to make it better.

 

Related Topics
Local Genealogy
Style
Gray