As an academic library we also provide a wealth of historical information that
can be useful for family history researchers. Try the extensive Atlas and Map
Collections on the second floor to see historical maps or detailed
topographic maps so you may trace your family's travels. If you have a place
name that you can't locate, try the Getty Thesaurus of
Geographic Names Online. It's a gazetteer containing
more than a million entries and is provided free by the Getty Research
Institute.
Look for county histories for areas where your family may
have lived, but be prepared to take the glowing descriptions of your ancestors
with a grain of salt. During the 1890s and at the turn of the century several
publishing firms wrote "history and biography" books for California counties,
often called "mug books" because they included many photographs of prominent
local citizens. Theses books were sold by subscription so you won't read
anything but complimentary phrases. The county histories produced by Thompson
& West in the 1880s are well worth hunting down for the wonderful detail of
the "bird's eye view" illustrations of local properties. If you are not
searching for California antecedents, the area your ancestors lived in during
the same period may have similar volumes. Due to the efforts of many volunteers,
the biographical sections of many Sacramento Count histories have be indexed and
scanned and placed on the web. As of the January 2010, biographies from the
following books can be read online:
- Wright, George F., "History of Sacramento County, California" 1880.
- Davis, Hon. Win. J., An Illustrated History of Sacramento County,
California. Lewis Publishing Company. 1890.
- “A Volume Of Memoirs And Genealogy of Representative Citizens Of
Northern California” Standard Genealogical Publishing Co. Chicago. 1901.
- Willis, William L., History of Sacramento County, California.
Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, CA. 1913.
- Reed, G. Walter, History of Sacramento County, California With
Biographical Sketches. Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, CA. 1923.
- Wooldridge, Jesse Walton, Maj., “History of the Sacramento Valley
California Vols. 1-3”. The Pioneer Historical Publishing Co., Chicago (1931)
Go to: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~npmelton/sacb.html
We also have the Biography and Genealogy Master Index. This tool directs you to the appropriate biographical tool (such as Who Was Who) that contains an entry for the name you have searched.