Amador County, California Genealogy

United States

California

Amador County

Guide to Amador County, California ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Amador County, California
Map
Location in the state of California
Location of California in the U.S.
Facts
Founded	May 11, 1854
County Seat	Jackson
Courthouse
Address	Amador County Courthouse 500 Argonaut Lane Jackson, CA 95642 Phone: 209-223-6468 Amador County Website

County Information

Amador County, California Record Dates

Known Beginning Dates for Major Records
Birth*	Marriage	Death*	Court	Land	Probate	Census
1872	1854	1872	1854	1854	1854	1850
Statewide registration for births and deaths started in 1905. General compliance by 1920.

County Courthouse

Clerk of the Superior Court has divorce, probate and court records.

County Archives has naturalization records.

Historical Facts

Parent County

11 May 1854: Amador County was created from Calaveras and El Dorado Counties.
County seat: Jackson

Description

The county was named for José María Amador, a soldier, rancher, and miner, born in San Francisco in 1794, the son of Sergeant Pedro Amador (a Spanish soldier who settled in California in 1771). The county seat Jackson and the county was created May 11, 1854. The County is located in the east central corner of the state.

Boundary Changes

For animated maps illustrating California county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation California County Boundary Maps" (1850-1925) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Record Loss

1862 There was a courthouse fire in 1862 destroying some records.

Places/Localities

Populated Places

For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Cities
Amador City Ione	Jackson Plymouth	Sutter Creek
Unincorporated communities
Allen Barton Bonnefoy Bunker Hill Carbondale Clarsona Clinton	Dagon Edwin Electra Enterprise Firebrick Kit Carson New Chicago	Pine Acres Plasse The Luck of Roaring Camp Scottsville Sunnybrook Sutter Hill
Native American communities
Ione Band of Miwok Indians
Census-designated places
Buckhorn Buena Vista Camanche North Shore Camanche Village Drytown	Fiddletown Kirkwood Martell Pine Grove	Pioneer Red Corral River Pines Volcano

Neighboring Counties

• Alpine
• Calaveras
• El Dorado
• Sacramento
• San Joaquin

Resources

Biography

• Index to Amador County Biographies (USGenWeb Archives)
• Amador County Biographies (Genealogy Trails)
• Amador County Pioneer Stories (CAGenWeb Project)

Cemeteries

Cemeteries of Amador, California online and in print
Tombstone Transcriptions Online	Findagrave.com California GenWeb California GenWeb Archives Tombstone Project Billion Graves
TombstoneTranscriptions in Print (Often more complete)	Family History Library WorldCat
List of Cemeteries in the County	Findagrave.com Billion Graves California's Genealogy Guide for Finding Obituaries, Cemetery Burials and Death Records Amador California Cemetery Records
See California Cemeteries for more information

The following web sites may have additional information on Amador County cemeteries.

• Interment.net California cemetery records by County.

Census

For tips on accessing Amador County, California Genealogy census records online, see: California Census.

Church History and Records

Church records and the information they provide vary significantly depending on the denomination and the record keeper. They may contain information about members of the congregation, such as age, date of baptism, christening, or birth; marriage information and maiden names; and death date. For general information about California denominations, view the California Church Records wiki page.

• 1864-1985 - California, Church Records, 1864-1985 at FamilySearch — index

Ward and Branch Records of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

• Ione

History

Local histories are available for Amador County, California Genealogy. County histories may include biographies, church, school and government history, and military information. For more information about local histories, see the Wiki page section California Local Histories.

• Amador County History Records (USGenWeb Archives)
• Amador County History (Genealogy Trails)

Land and Property

Land and property records can place an ancestor in a particular location, provide economic information, and reveal family relationships. Land records include: deeds, abstracts and indexes, mortgages, leases, grants and land patents.

See California Land and Property for additional information about early California land grants. After land was transferred to private ownership, subsequent transactions were usually recorded at the county courthouse and where records are currently housed.

• Index to Amador County Land Records (Genealogy Trails)

Maps

For historical maps, search the following free sites: • Maps of California (1850-1925)

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• Maps-Historical-State of California, the California government's site. Links to American Memory (Library of Congress), California Missions, and the State Library

• Historical Maps of California

• California Maps - HSU Library, also lists and links to gazetteers

• David Rumsey Collection for Amador, California

• Perry-Castaneda Map Collection for California

For topographical maps of California mountains, rivers, etc., try the sites listed at USGS Topographic Maps of California.

For current maps, search Google Maps or MapQuest or other map services online.

Migration

Early migration routes to and from Amador County, California Genealogy for emigrant settlers included:

• California Trail 1844 to 1869 from western Missouri to northern California

• Carson (River) Trail 1848 (aka Mormon Emigrant Trail) crossed the Forty Mile Desert past the west side of the Carson Sink to pick up the Carson River near Fallon, Nevada up to Hope Valley and Red Lake. The Devil's Ladder then climbed 700 feet (210 m) in half a mile so ropes, chains, and pulleys were required to lift the wagons. Carson Pass was followed by the relatively easy West Pass (Kirkwood, California) and then on to Pollock Pines, Placerville, and Sutter's Fort, California

The usage of "Mormon" and "LDS" on this page is approved according to current policy.

• Grizzly Flat Road 1852 an extension of Carson Trail down the middle fork of the Consumnes River to Grizzly Flat and Placerville, California
• Volcano Road 1852 from Coral Flat (Pioneer) on the Carson Trail to Volcano, California

• 1906-1935 - California, Pioneer Migration Index, Compiled 1906-1935 at FamilySearch — index

Military History and Records

• Amador County Military Records (USGenWeb Archives)
• Amador County Military Data (Genealogy Trails)

Civil War

- 1st Regiment, California Infantry (Union), Company C

- 7th Regiment, California Infantry (Union) , Company C

Naturalization and Citizenship

• 1831-1985 - California County Naturalizations, 1831-1985 at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers

Additional newspapers abstracts can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Amador County, California Genealogy newspapers in online catalogs like:

• WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).
• Do a Amador County, California Genealogy Place-name search for these and other records in the FamilySearch Catalog. Do NOT use the word County. (For instructions see FamilySearch Catalog Place-name Search).

Obituaries

• Index to Amador County Obituaries (Genealogy Trails)
• Amador County Obituaries (USGenWeb Archives)

Probate Records

The county clerk is usually the custodian of probate records. The records include wills, fee books, claim registers, legacy records, inheritance records, probate ticklers, and dockets.

Content: Probate Records may give the decedent's date of death, names of his or her spouse, children, parents, siblings, in-laws, neighbors, associates, relatives, and their place of residence.

You can obtain copies of the original probate records (such as wills and estate files) by writing to the county clerk at the county courthouse.

The FamilySearch Catalog lists films of probate records. To find the records for this county, use the Place Search for California - Amador - Probate records.

Online Probate Records

• 1782 – 1999 California Wills and Probate Records 1782-1999 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
• 1833 – 1991 California Probate Estate Files 1833-1991 at FamilySearch — images

Repositories

Archives, Libraries and Museums

California State Library Genealogy Hub

Family History Centers

Family History Centers provide one-on-one assistance and free access to premium genealogical websites. In addition, many centers have free how-to genealogy classes.

• For current information about a center near you, go to the Family History Center Map

• Introduction to Family History Centers
• Jackson California Family History Center (Sutter Creek)

Taxation

California tax records complement land records and can supplement the years between censuses. There may be gaps of several years in the tax records of some counties. For more information, see the wiki page California Taxation.

Vital Records

Vital Records consist of births, adoptions, marriages, divorces, and deaths recorded on registers, certificates, and documents. See the CDC Where to Write website for information on acquiring copies of these records. The State office has records since July 1905. For earlier records, contact the County Recorder. See also How to order California Vital Records

Birth

• 1800 - 1994 - California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1812 - 1988 - California Births and Christenings, 1812-1988 at FamilySearch — index
• 1873 - 1979 - Amador County Birth Records 1873-1979 at FamilySearch
• 1905 - 1995 - California Birth Index, 1905-1995 at FamilySearch — index
• 1905 - 1910 - Amador County Births, 1905-1910 (Genealogy Trails)
• Index to Amador County Birth Notices by year. (Genealogy Trails)

Marriage

• 1800 - 2007 - California, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
• 1850 - 1945 - California Marriages, 1850-1945 at FamilySearch — index
• 1850 - 1952 - California, County Marriages, 1850-1952 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1854 - 1885 - Western States Marriage Index.
• 1960 - 1985 - California Marriage Index, 1960-1985 at FamilySearch — index and images

Divorce

• 1966 - 1984 - California Divorce Index, 1966-1984 at FamilySearch — index

Death

• 1800 - 1994 - California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1905 - 1939 - California Death Index, 1905-1939 at FamilySearch — index
• 1905 - Amador County, California Deaths for 1905 (Genealogy Trails)
• 1940 - 1997 - California Death Index, 1940-1997 at FamilySearch — index
• 1940 - 1997 - California Death Records at Ancestry.com

Genealogy Societies, Archives and Libraries

Amador County Historical Society
P.O. Box 761
Jackson 95642

Amador County Genealogical Society
322 Via Verde
Sutter Creek 95685

Amador County Historical Society
148 Main Street, Suite A
Jackson, CA 95642
Phone:209-257-1485
Website

Amador County Archives
12200-A Airport Rd.
Jackson, CA 95642
Email:[1]
Phone: 209-223-6389
Appointments Recommended
Website

• List of California Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical & Genealogical Societies

Websites

• Amador County, CA History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
• California Genealogy Network Community on Google+
• California Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
• Linkpendium
• USGenWeb Archives
• FamilySearch Catalog
• Amador County, California Genealogy Trails
• Amador County CA Genealogy (ldsgenealogy.com)

References

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