Humboldt County, California
The CAGenWeb Project & The
USGenWeb® Project

Hello,
My Name is Martha and I am your County Coordinator.
I live on the Central Coast of California, so cannot do 'on the ground research in Humboldt County.'
But, that said, I am an experienced Online Researcher and might be able to
help you locate that 'missing piece of your Ancestral Pie'
I can be reached via email: Contact: Martha

Please come back often as there will be new resources as I discover them.

Table of Contents
History ~ Biographies and Pioneers ~ What's New ~ Maps ~ Queries and Lookups

Vital Records ~ Cemeteries ~ 'Old Humboldt County Files' ~ Obituaries ~ Newspapers
Military ~ Crime and Punishment ~ Odds and Ends

Humboldt County Neighbors:
Del Norte ~ Trinity ~ Siskiyou & Mendocino


Search Humboldt County



History ~ Biographies and Pioneers ~ What's New ~ Maps ~ Queries and Lookups

Humboldt County sits approximately 200 miles north of San Francisco along the Pacific Coast on Hwy 101. Eureka, the county seat, is 278 miles north of San Francisco and 466 miles south of Portland, Oregon. The county encompasses 2.3 million acres, eighty percent of which is timber land and recreation areas. The county is mostly mountainous, except for the level plain that surrounds Humboldt Bay. Elevations run from sea level to 6,934 feet. Located within the county boundaries are 10 state parks, 16 county parks and beaches, recreational areas and reserves, and portions of the National Park and National Forest. Humboldt County was incorporated on May 12, 1853. It's County seat, Eureka, was created on that same date. The county derived its name from Humboldt Bay which was entered by a sea otter party in 1806, but was not rediscovered until 1849. In 1850, Douglas Ottinger and Hans Buhne entered the bay, naming it Humboldt in honor of the great naturalist and world explorer.
And from the Humboldt Wiki ~ The formation of Humboldt County
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Books and Biographies
"Davis Commercial Encyclopedia of the Pacific Southwest,
California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona"
Edited and Published by:
Ellis A Davis, Berkeley, Calif, 1914
The Humboldt County Men's Index is Here ~ Biographical Pages are Here
The California Historical Pages are Here
The Complete Index is Here

"History of Humboldt County, California":
With illustrations descriptive of its scenery, farms, residences, public buildings, factories, hotels, business houses, schools, churches, etc., from original drawings, including biographical sketches.
Author: W.W. Elliott & Co Publisher: San Francisco : W.W. Elliott: 1881
This Index is just for the Bios
The full Index is Here ~ Read Online or Download

"History of Humboldt County, California"
by Leigh H. Irvine Complete in One Volume
Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California: 1915
The Biographies from this book have been transcribed:
The Index is Here ~ The Transcribed Biographies are Here

"Records of the Families Of California Pioneers"
For The Years: 1925-1926  ~ Vol II
Book: Read Online or Download

Joseph Tracy: Pioneer History
Please Use This Link for the Book

"Goin' West: 1830 - 1880"
Compilers: Richard Nelson & Alice, Vols 1 - 4
Richard Nelson & Diana Whitworth, Vols 5 & 6
This is a series of booklets detailing Families and Individuals coming to the Great Northwest,
each Volume is alphabetical.
Family Search has Vol's1 and 4 - 12: Please use this Link
FS does not have Vols 2 and 3: Here are links to Vol 2 and Vol 3

The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft

"Who's Who on the Pacific Coast"
A Biographical Compilation of Notable
Living Contemporaries West of the
Rocky Mountains
Edited by
Franklin Harper
Harper Publishing Company
Los Angeles, Cal.
1913
The Index is Here ~ Read Online or Download

"Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography "
by Wilson, James Grant, 1832-1914; Fiske, John, 1842-1901
Publication date 1900 
Appleton Review
Ice Drive Link - There are many Volumes.
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<<What's New>>
The National Archives has a really nice set of digitized records that can be free accessed.
The Chart below is linked to each resource: Entitled: "Browse by Category"
Genealogy/ Personal History Private Sector Wars/ International Relations Time Spans
Businesses Civil War 1800 –1900
Foundations World War II 1900 –1940
Casualties Labor Unions Korean War 1940 –1955
Civilians Securities Vietnam War 1955 –1965
Military Personnel Places Cold War 1965 –1975
Immigrants Countries Diplomatic Records 1975 –1985
Prisoners of War States Government Spending 1985 –1995
Indexes to Counties Contracts 1995 present
Photographs Cities/Towns
Textual Records Zip Codes Grants and Assistance Browse by Subject

Cemeteries, Marriage & Death Records: FS Catalog, Book & Films
Marriage Records:
Miscellaneous Years, List of 19 Links - 1873 - 1911

Death Records: Film
004666503, # 2, # 3

"Hydesville Cemeteries" James Michael Carter, Author 008690135 #2
Here are three pages of Index and Explanation, P1, P2, P3

Cemetery Records: Films
007896946 [1950-1962] & 007729434 [187-1970] ~ 008620084 [1962]
Eureka: Death Records and Registers
008266133, #2, 1896-1913
004666508, #3, 1873-1898
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There is a collection of Transcribed Death Records on RootsWeb [Slated to move to Static Servers, January 2024]
These Records are from LDS Films and were a project begun many years ago by Volunteers.
The Deaths Transcribed are 'Pre 1905' for various CA Counties.
I have written to one of the Project Managers, but have not received a reply as of 14 November 2023.
It is my wish to preserve this work even though it was never completed.
Here is the RW Link for the whole Project

Here are reformatted files for Humboldt County [RW Code Stripped and converted to pdf]
There are over 100 Files for Humboldt County: They have been combined into alpha batches which are fully searchable.
A > B ~ C > D ~ E > G ~ H > K ~ L > M ~ N > Q ~ R > U ~ V > Z
Here is the Link to the FS Catalog which has the Films.
There is more information available on the Death Registers

There are Indexes for Humboldt County Neighbors
Del Norte ~ Mendocino [A-La ~ Le-Z] Siskiyou [Off Site]~ Trinity
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Obituary Indexes from the Legacy Collection of Jose Rivera Nieves
 Here is the Index for Humboldt County

Here is the Index for all of California
Here is the Index for the United States
Here is an index for Countries of the World

Note:
Many of the Obituaries might be found using Heritage Hub Digital Newspaper Collection
which is available in many local Public Libraries.
Check your local Library under 'Resources' - Access requires a Library Card

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There is a great site that has all sorts of links to free Historical and Genealogical Data
"The Ancestor Hunt"
Digital Newspapers ~ Year Books & Alumni Books School Records ~ Obituaries ~ Coroner, Mortuary & Cemetery Records
BMD's ~ Birth & Marriage Records ~ Divorce & Death Records ~ Probate & Tax Records ~ Institutional & Military Records Naturalizations & Immigration ~ Criminal & Digital Archives ~ Directories ~ Photos & Voter Records
Scroll down, left side has the menu
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Family Search Collections
Cemeteries, Etc [Burial, Cemeteries, Coroner, Funeral Homes, Graves]
Church Records[ Baptism's, Catholic Church, Christenings, Church [General]]
Legal Documents and Resources [Court, Estate, Probate Records]
Migration - Naturalization - Travel[ Border Crossings, Migration, Naturalization, Passenger Lists, Passports]
Military [Bounty [Land], Military [Misc], Pensions, Soldiers, Veteran's, War[s]]
Odds and Ends [Applications, Homestead, Membership, Native Americans, Parish [Location & Church], Pioneers, Prison, Voting, Obituaries, Veteran & Soldier's Homes, Children's Home]
Vital Records [Birth, Marriage, Divorce, Death, Mortality Records]
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Transcribed Obituaries, Homicides and an Article about Vietnam Memorials

All data is from Heritage Hub.
Newspapers: Times-Standard ~ Ukiah Journal ~ Humboldt Beacon
Highlighted Items:
Yellow: Suspicious Death, Accident, Etc
Blue: Memorial
Updated Index to 31 December 2023
Lookups Available: Contact Martha
2016 "Homicides in Humboldt County"
2013 "Vietnam War: Humboldt County Remembers..." Pt 3
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Maps
David Rumsey ~ Historic Map & Atlas Collection
Perry-Castaneda ~ Map Collection ~ Earthquake Fault Maps [CA}
American Georgaphical Society Library Digital Map Collection
Humboldt State University Map Collection
"Map Geeks" ~ California
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps for California~ Railroad Maps, CA
Topo Railroad Map, CA & NV
1886 Map of Humboldt County
1901 Map of Eureka
Spanish Land Grants ~ BLM Records
And, of course, Google Earth
Cities and Census Designated Places in Humboldt County
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Queries
Cyndi's List has a nice selection of places to post Queries
Please Use This Link

Lookup Volunteers
I found no list of Volunteers for Butte County. If you have access to local information and are willing to be a resource,
Please contact Martha


For Now, I am the only volunteer:
I have access to 'My Heritage' and Heritage Hub [Newspapers]

Heritage Hub
Extensive list of Newspapers as well as the Collections of NewsBank & Access World News

My Heritage: Library Edition
Census & Voter Lists ~ Histories, Memories & Biographies ~ Birth, Marriage & Death
Public Records ~ Schools & Universities ~ Directories, Guides & References
Maps ~ Immigration & Travel ~ Books & Publications
Military ~ Newspapers ~ Family Trees ~ Photos ~ Government, Land, Court & Wills

I will do limited lookups on My Heritage: contact Martha

Humboldt County "Local Research"
Humboldt County Historical Society
'Research Center' ~ Note, there are fees for Use and Research



"The Fine Print"
County Coordinator: Martha A C Graham
State Coordinator: Bob Jenkins

Assistant State Coordinator: Karen De Groote

All materials, images, sounds and data contained herein are not to be copied or downloaded for purposes of duplication, distribution or publishing without the express written permission of the
Humboldt
County Coordinator.

All data will stay with the CAGenWeb Project when and if the Coordinator resigns: Future contributions or donations will be returned to the Submitter upon request. Although believed to be correct as presented, any corrections, changes or additions or invalid links should be brought to the attention of the Webmaster.

Site Updated: 25 March 2024

Online Continuously since 1997
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