Announcing the Second Printing of San Francisco, California, I.O.O.F. Crematory Records

The California Genealogical Society proudly announces the second printing of San Francisco, California I.O.O.F. Crematory Records by Barbara Ross Close. 

First printed in 2001, San Francisco, California I.O.O.F. Crematory Records is an index of eight registers (volumes A–H) for the now defunct Independent Order of Odd Fellows Crematory of San Francisco. Approximately 10,000 cremation records are indexed, dating primarily from 1895 to 1911. Some cremations were of disinterred remains from prior burials; the earliest date for a disinterment seems to be 1857.

Nancy Simons Peterson gave a short history of the crematory in Raking the Ashes: Genealogical Strategies for Pre-1906 San Francisco Research (2011):

A crematory was once located on the grounds of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) Cemetery. Originally exempt from the ordinance that disallowed burials within the San Francisco city boundary, it was demolished following the passage in 1910 of a similar ordinance applying also to crematories.

Abstracts include the deceased's name, birthplace, sex, date of death and age, place and cause of death, and whether an obituary is available in the original record. San Francisco, California I.O.O.F. Crematory Records is now available for purchase at our Lulu bookstore.

Volunteer Anna Junglas took on the project as part of a push by the Publications and Marketing Committee to re-issue our older books using print-on-demand by Lulu.com. With the re-printing, the committee decided a cover redesign was needed and turned to volunteer Cathy Paris who designed the covers of the Deaths and Probate series. She photographed one of the original I.O.O.F. register books which are in the care of the society, and integrated it into the new cover design.

San Francisco, California, I.O.O.F. Crematory Records is one of a set of California Genealogical Society publications related to the Odd Fellows facility in San Francisco. As part of the re-printing process the publications team made an effort to correlate the content with the original books located in our manuscript vault. This revealed some inconsistent terminology within the original manuscripts. The terms "register" and "ledger" caused confusion about how many sets of originals existed so for the re-print we settled on the term "register" because it was most commonly used in the original manuscripts and because it is a general term that was most applicable.

The California Genealogical Society acknowledges the many volunteers who were part of Barbara Closes' team and who contributed to this publication when it was first published in 2001. They include Jane Cassedy, Julie Collins, Vernon Deubler, Lew Ellingham, Cynthia Elliot, Wil Frye, Gloria Hanson, Marilyn Jaeger, Paul Jones, Melissa Kelley, Esther Mott, Harry Neumann, Lee Penland, Anne Robinson, Marilyn Rowan, Christine Scott, Laura Spurrier, James Thansute, Bill West, and Marjorie Wyatt.

Anna Junglas noted, "It was a pleasure to work with the publications team on the re-printing of San Francisco, California, I.O.O.F. Crematory Records. The collaboration, support, and conscientious feedback from everyone on the team made this project very enjoyable."

Congratulations, volunteers, on another job well done!

San Francisco, California, I.O.O.F. Crematory Records

First Edition, Second Printing

411 Pages

Softbound, 8 1/2 x 11" format 

ISBN 978-0-9672409-2-3 

Published by the California Genealogical Society

Copyright © 2013 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library.

San Francisco Deaths 1865-1905: Abstracts from Surviving Civil Records

The California Genealogical Society is pleased to announce publication of a new four-volume set: San Francisco Deaths 1865 - 1905: Abstracts from Surviving Civil Records. Now, for the first time, an index is available to all San Francisco civil death records known to have survived the 1906 earthquake and fire. The index was compiled by a team of member volunteers lead by Barbara Close and Vernon A. Deubler.

Research Director Nancy Peterson provides some background in Raking the Ashes: Genealogical Strategies for Pre-1906 San Francisco Research (2006):

While most of the vital records that were created by the city and county of San Francisco were destroyed in the earthquake and fire of 1906, a few volumes of death records and indexes, six months of death certificates, a coroner's register and an index to a little under two years of marriage records somehow survived.

Access by the public to the original records has been restricted. Fortunately, the Genealogical Society of Utah filmed most of the records that did survive. Using their films, the California Genealogical Society (CGS) extracted enough information to build an index of these death records. CGS was able to film the several indexes that had not been previously filmed.

Most records contain a wealth of genealogical information: sex, age (often in years, months and days), occupation, place of birth (sometimes very specific information, including, for instance, county of birth in Ireland), marital condition (married, single, widow or widower), date and cause of death, residence at time of death, place of burial, physician, undertaker and additional remarks. This collection includes records for many who were not necessarily San Francisco residents, including the
following:

• those who died in San Francisco
• those who died at sea for whom San Francisco was the next port of call
• military personnel who died in the Spanish-American War and whose bodies were returned
  to the Port of San Francisco
• those who died abroad and whose bodies were returned to San Francisco 
• those whose bodies were to be re-interred
• those whose bodies were sent to San Francisco for forensic or other investigation

San Francisco Deaths 1865 - 1905: Abstracts from Surviving Civil Records is available for purchase at our Lulu bookstore.

Many members of the society contributed to this effort. Barbara Close and Vernon A. Deubler, long
time members of CGS, led the project and contributed innumerable hours working with other volunteers in doing research and in extracting and digitizing information from all the pertinent records they could find. The result is this unique and invaluable four volume set of death indexes arranged alphabetically by surname.

The California Genealogical Society acknowledges with gratitude the many people who contributed to this publication. They include Kay Arnold, Bob Bly, John Callan, Barbara Close, Verne Deubler, Joyce Dye, George Field, Wil Frye, Tom Gesner, Marjorie Kelt, Judy Kettwig, Bette Kot, Lynne Fisher, Lisa Lee, Esther Mott, Mark Pierce, Michelle Reeder, Bev Schroder, Phil Seelinger, Nancy Servin, Rick Sherman, Marilyn Tanner, Shirley Thomson, Terry Toomey, Judy Velardi, Lorna Wallace, Marjorie Wyatt, Sharon Yost, and Judy Zelver. Special thanks goes to Cathy Paris who designed the covers and shepherded the digitization project from start to finish.

San Francisco Deaths 1865 - 1905: Abstracts from Surviving Civil Records
Softbound, 8 1/2 x 11" format
481 pp., vol. I, A-D
475 pp., vol. II, E-K
477 pp., vol. III, L-P
481 pp., vol. IV, Q-Z
Library of Congress Control Number 2009940489
ISBN (4-vol. set) 978-0-9785694-1-9
Published by the California Genealogical Society


Copyright © 2010 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library.

Announcing: San Francisco Probate 1906-1942 Register of Actions

In the early 1980s, the Superior Court in San Francisco completed the filming of the Registers of Action for probate cases dating from the 1906 Earthquake and Fire through early 1942. After learning that the intent was to destroy the original oversize volumes, the California Genealogical Society obtained the originals. These priceless volumes became a fixture on our shelves and were indexed by a team of our member volunteers lead by Vernon A. Deubler.
 
As explained by Research Director Nancy Peterson in Raking the Ashes: Genealogical Strategies for Pre-1906 San Francisco Research (2006):

Register of Actions ledgers reference all papers that will be found in a probate file. Arrangement of entries in them is chronological according to initial filing date, or the date of reopening of pre-earthquake proceedings... (R)eferences to pre-earthquake proceedings have been found in ledgers as late as 1925.

The 1906 calamity destroyed all San Francisco probate files including wills, guardianships and administrations. With the exception of one lost register (volume 11) covering the two-month period, January 9 to March 17, 1908, the registers include the period from April 12, 1906 to March 27, 1942. Some of the cases were not finalized until the mid 1980s.

For the first time in print, San Francisco Probate 1906-1942 Register of Actions, provides an index to the 108,898 names in the registers of probate action of the city and county of San Francisco.

Each Register of Actions captures in abbreviated fashion every transaction required to process the probate. Many of the transactions are routine administrative actions, such as the recording of an affidavit, public notification of time and place of future actions or hearings, voucher files, etc. Some probate proceedings required years to complete. Entries for wills, mailings to heirs, final settlements and distributions of assets may lead to useful genealogical information. Rarely are original wills retained in the files that are indexed, but register entries usually point to locations where these documents have been transcribed or summarized.

The index is presented in two volumes, the first covering surnames beginning with A-K, and the second L-Z. Information was extracted from 179 volumes, each containing 500 pages. Included are 108,998 names, aliases and minor’s names representing over 85,500 probates and guardianship proceedings.

Many of the probates from 1906 were ongoing proceedings from before the fire and represent reopened and reconstructed files. A date of “1906” may, therefore, be misleading and refer to earlier probate proceedings no long in existence. Other probates from before 1906 may have been re-opened when additional assets were uncovered. Those will bear the date of re-opening and not the date of the original filing.

San Francisco Probate 1906-1942 Register of Actions is available for purchase at our Lulu bookstore.

Verne Deubler and the California Genealogical Society acknowledge with gratitude the many people who contributed to compiling the index, including Carol Backhus, Dorothy Fowler, Gloria Hanson, Patti Melvin, Nancy Servin and in particular, the most diligent proofreader, Anita Dean, who single handedly reviewed more than two-thirds of the index.

In addition, we extend our thanks to Barbara Close and Cathy Paris for transforming and publishing the index as reference books

Vernon A. Deubler is a past president and long-time board member of the California Genealogical Society. He compiled the book, San Francisco, California: Columbarium Records 1847-1980, published by the society in 2003. With Barbara Close, he compiled the four volumes set of books, San Francisco Deaths 1865-1904: Abstracts from Surviving Civil Records, also scheduled for publication in 2010.

San Francisco Probate 1906-1942 Registers of Action
Softbound, 8 1/2 x 11" format
498 pp. (vol. I)
490 pp. (vol.II)
ISBN 978-0-9785694-7-1
LOC 2010926283
Published by the California Genealogical Society


Copyright © 2010 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library

CGS Member Spotlight: Barbara Close

Scores of volunteers at the California Genealogical Society work in the background to keep the library humming along. Whether they are shelving books, cataloging periodicals, opening mail, paying bills, maintaining computers or performing umpteen other tasks, members selflessly contribute their time to the overall running of the society.

Usually CGS volunteers do their work behind the scenes, without fanfare or public acknowledgment. But occasionally members step forward to significantly contribute to a published work that warrants placing their name on the cover of a book. If you scroll down the right sidebar of this blog you will see some of the publications edited by Barbara Close.



Barbara Ross Close directed the indexing of several society projects, including the San Francisco I.O.O.F. Crematory records, the S.F. Death series and the California Surname Index. Each work represents time spent by a team of members, gathering up raw data held by CGS, then writing and sorting it – imposing order by printing, proofing, formatting, finishing, publishing, marketing and distributing it along the way. Thousands of volunteer hours are the underlying reality of the CGS publication list. In addition to her contribution supervising specific indexing projects, Barbara also served as chair of the Publications Committee for the last three years.

Barbara is well-trained for her tasks at CGS. She holds a B.A. in English from University of California, Berkeley and has a Masters in Library Science from San Jose State. The twin skills of patience and perseverance required for indexing were honed during a career in education in Oakland, where Barbara taught grades four through nine, and was a school librarian.

Close has been a member of the California Genealogical Society since 1991. She was first introduced to the society by past-president, Rick Sherman, who shares another passion with her – folk dancing. (I'll have to blog sometime about the large number of CGS members who are involved in all manner of dance pursuits!) Barbara's interest in genealogy dates back to a conversation with her uncle just after her father's funeral in Redding, California. She realized that she knew almost about her father's family and the search began.

Barbara recently stepped down as chair of the Publications Committee. Thanks, Barbara, for all of your exceptional work.

CGS titles edited by Barbara Close:
California Surname Index: Biographies from Selected Histories, California Genealogical Society, 2000
San Francisco, California: I.O.O.F. Crematory Records, California Genealogical Society, 2001
San Francisco Deaths 1902-1904, California Genealogical Society, 2003
San Francisco Deaths 1865-1869, California Genealogical Society, 2004

Photograph by Kathryn Doyle.