Divorce

[trish1]

Does anyone know where I might find information on a divorce that took place between 1870 and 1880 in California. I'm also interested in vital records for California 1850 - 1900. Ancestry seems to have much later records.

Trish

[SarahND]

Hi Trish,
In most cases the records (if they exist) will be held at the courthouse in the county seat. Which county are you interested in? Barring a courthouse fire, etc. you should be able to find the divorce records at the circuit court office. The vital records are harder to come by in that time period. The farther west you go in the U.S., the later they started keeping records. Some places there is almost nothing before 1900. The county history section of the local library would be the place to ask about vital records. Or the county historical society.

All the best,
Sarah

[trish1]

Hi Sarah

I thought it was tricky having 50 states - didn't realise I needed to look at counties also

There is some info online about this family - but nothing is sourced & while trying to verify some "facts" I came across the divorce - it seemed really early for such an event I wondered if it would be reported in any newspapers (they were in Australia at that time). I am probably just wondering why on earth??

Anyhow - the lady was in San Francisco County with her family & parents and siblings in 1870, and divorced & still with parents in 1880 when they had moved to Sonomo county - somewhere in between she got divorced

1870 US California San Francisco Ward 11 page 495A
Jeffreys John 45 m w Sulphur rep 1500 1000 England
do Elizabeth 44 f w keeping house Scotland
Stubbs Chas 40 m w Farmer 5000 1000 England
do Mary 23 f w ke Australia
do Elizabeth 5 f w Cal
do Ena 2 f w Cal
Jeffreys Thomas 21 m w hardware clerk - 150 Australia
do Agnes 18 f w at home Cal
.... other siblings

1880US Russian River Sonoma California Roll 84 Page 156C ED 126
Jeffries (Jeffrus) J T w m mar 53 head miner England England England
do Elizabeth w f 53 wife mar keeps house Scot Scot Scot
do Mary E w f 38 dau divorced Aust Eng Scot
do George W m 18 son single Labour California Eng Scot
do Waler w m 16 son single at school do do do
do Lizzie w f 15 g dau single at school do do do (one of Mary's daughters)
do Alexander w m 14 son single at school do do do
do Egbert w m 9 son single at school do do do

Mary remarried - but later census records show her alone from any family, or with a married child - one census says she has 5 living children
I can find them if needed but the family are not direct ancestors - so not critical. Parents John and Elizabeth are reported to have died in the 1890s - I was looking for some verification of same - but again, not of major importance to my research - I just don't like taking other's information if it can't be sourced.

I will google the counties and see what I may find - thankyou for replying

Trish

[SarahND]

Oh I was afraid you were going to say San Francisco... The big earthquake and fire of 1906 did away with many things

Give this site a try, in case there was something in the newspaper: http://www.sfgenealogy.com/ There is normally an announcement in the newspaper about each divorce, along with the probate announcements, etc.

Good luck! I'll let you know if I think of anything. I have found quite a few 19th century divorces and interesting reading they are! Hope you can figure this out and that they didn't divorce in San Francisco...

Sarah

[SarahND]

A quick look at the San Francisco Morning Call Newspaper index on the above site gives both her marriages, but I don't see mention of a divorce:

Stubbs, Charles ... married in 1873 to Stubbs, Mary E. ... 1873M-2799
Stubbs, Mary E. ... married in 1883 to Gould, N.C. ... 1883M-4358

Regards,
Sarah

[SarahND]

Another tip: A new genealogy search engine just came out: http://www.mocavo.com
It restricts the search pretty well to only hits in genealogical sites, so gets rid of lots of the extra stuff. For the moment, it is only good for U.S. searches. A quick search for "charles stubbs" california brought up a number of interesting things! Have a look

Best wishes,
Sarah

[trish1]

A quick look at the San Francisco Morning Call Newspaper index on the above site gives both her marriages, but I don't see mention of a divorce:

Stubbs, Charles ... married in 1873 to Stubbs, Mary E. ... 1873M-2799
Stubbs, Mary E. ... married in 1883 to Gould, N.C. ... 1883M-4358

Regards,
Sarah

Hi Sarah
How did you get directly to the paper search from your above link - I got there by using your search results seriously internet challenged

many thanks to the searches/finds - I am still unsure as to where to go & how and why etc.

Trish

Edit: Now that I am within the paper - lots of the Family there - name even spelt correctly Jeffress - glad the newspapers weren't lost in the fire

[SarahND]

How did you get directly to the paper search from your above link

Um... I can't seem to duplicate what I did!
But go here: http://www.sfgenealogy.com/sf/sfdata.htm and you will see tons of data, including city directories going way back, etc. There is lots of information on this site!

Feeling a bit challenged myself at the moment

Sarah

[trish1]

Thanks Sarah - that should keep me busy.

I did try the voter registrations on Ancestry - was most disappointed until I remembered not everyone votes in the US. Down here it is compulsory so 99% tend to enrol. Has a few advantages in regards to genealogy - not sure about the advantages in other areas.

Trish