Welcome! Whether you have Gold Rush ancestors or have no family connection to California, you will find extensive support for your genealogy research at the California Genealogical Society (CGS).

Chinese Ancestry Day at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center 26 May 2018 Click here to register.

Intermediate Records Series - Land, Church, Court and Immigration for Genealogy
This intermediate class will focus on four specific record groups and demonstrate how to find these record types both on and off line.
  • Court Records: Probate, Guardianship, Wills, Other
  • Church Records: Sacramental, Membership, Business
  • Emigration, Immigration, & Naturalization
  • Land & Property Records: Federal, State, & Local land records, & Tax Records
  • Off-line Research: Using Online Sources to Find Off-line Records

Prerequisite: Either completion of “Building Skills for Successful Research” or ability to build families using vital, census, and other records found in own homes; an understanding of citing sources; and creating research plans.

The class will meet 6:00-8:30 PM each Wednesday in May at the Oakland FSL. Pre-registration is mandatory, no walk-ins will be accepted. Details and Registration.
2018 Salt Lake City Research Trip
The 2018 CGS research trip to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, April 22-29 is SOLD OUT. There's a wait-list link on the  Eventbrite page.
Our Newest Publication

We’re excited to announce that in June we published the highly anticipated book, The Ancestry of Samuel Sterling Sherman and Mary Ware Allen. It tells the stories of nine generations of former California Genealogical Society’s president, Frederick "Rick" S. Sherman’s family as they move from New England and Kentucky westward to California. Whether you love history, individual family stories or learning new research tips, or all three, we think this book has something to offer you. Whether a genealogist or not, readers will be moved by getting to know these diverse human beings.

The California Genealogical Society has publshed Mr. Sherman's incredible research effort as a fitting tribute to a man who gave to the society in so many ways as President, Chief Researcher, and Benefactor. His efforts were suddenly cut short by his death in 2008.
 
 

Biographical sketches of the ancestors of Frederick S. Sherman including Sterling Sherman (1794-1865) and Jane Noble (1788-1852), William Dewey (1793-1880) and Hannah Bond (1794-1827), John J. Hardin (1810-1847) and Sarah Ellen Smith (1811-1874), John J. Jacob (1819-1873) and Evelyn Johnson (1828-1901), Joseph Allen (1790-1873) and Lucy Clark Ware (1791-1866), William Gordon Weld (1775-1825) and Hannah Minot (1780-1860), Benjamin Franklin Copeland (1798-1863) and Julia Fellows Ruggles (1803-1867), Benjamin Kent (1794-1859) and Eleanor Bradford (1802-1885), and many more.

 

 Learn more.
The Ancestry of Samuel Sterling Sherman and Mary Ware Allen Cover
 

The California Nugget – The journal of the California Genealogical Society is published twice a year. Have you read our recent issue? Check out the summary of a recent issue.
 

Tip of the Iceberg Poster – Support the library and help spread this important message. Buy three, get one free! Order now.
 

California Names Index includes pre-1905 deaths in San Francisco. Search for your surnames to see if we have records for your ancestor. Learn more.

WHAT'S HAPPENING

Board of Directors Meeting: Second Saturday Monthly at 10:00 AM.

Read our blog to keep up with the latest news and coming events.

Visit Eventbrite to see and register for CGS events.

Occasionally CGS will partner with the Oakland FamilySearch Library to present events. Visit this Eventbrite page to see the list of upcoming joint events.

Visit Calendar of Events to see future events.

Looking for something genealogical to do this week? The Sutro Library's Genealogy Section maintains a Bay Area Genealogy Calendar with events at many local societies, libraries, and museums.