Vitals (San Francisco County)

In 1906 everything was lost in the earthquake and fire. There is no hope!!

Well, not exactly. Although the birth, marriage and death certificates perished along with wills and probates, there are still many resources available. The largest available resource are newspaper notices. We have been collecting them and publishing them on this site (see the links down below). Otherwise, there are many other databases and indexes available on the internet as well. Also, please note that San Francisco County has only one city, San Francisco, and both County and City are served by one government.

Do you want a document from 1906 to current, but don't have a date? The birth and death indexes, and some of the marriage, are on the internet. The Assessor-Recorder's office has a complete index of marriage records.

NOTE: Birth and Death Certificates are available as Certified Authorized or Informational. Anyone can request an Informational copy for genealogical purposes.

NOTE: VitalCheck works with the County and State governments to get copies of vital documents. Although they are more expensive, they are quicker.

BIRTH

• S.F. County Clerk (not last 3 years)
• S.F. Dept of Public Health (only last 3 years)
• State of California

• California Vital Indexes
• San Francisco Birth Notices (over 3300 transcribed notices)
• San Francisco Vital Notices Board (user posted vital notices)
• L Vital Notices 1846-1849 , 1850 , 1851 , 1853
• Vital records from the Daily Alta California, including record from the Golden Era and the Wild West, 1854 (FamilySearch)
• L Vital Notices (Sacramento Bee, 1857)
• Vital Notices 1856, 1857 , 1861 (The Daily Evening Bulletin) (Internet Archive)

• Vital Notices (The Daily Alta and Wide West, 1854-1855; San Francisco Bulletin, 1856-1874) $ (Vitalsearch-CA)
• Vital Notices (San Francisco Call, July 1, 1904 – June 30, 1905) $ (California Genealogical Society)
• Vital Notices (San Francisco Call , 1869–1900) (jwfgenresearch)

Find more BIRTH information at Newspaper Birth Notices, Orphans , and Offline books

MARRIAGE

• San Francisco Office of the Assessor-Recorder
• State of California (Marriage Records, 1905-1999, 2008-2023)
• State of California (Divorce Records, 1962-June 1984)
• Licenses, Indexes, and Certificates (Groom and Bride Indexes, 1906-1975; Affidavits, 1906-1915; Licenses, 1918-1936; Certificates, 1906-1922) (FamilySearch)
• Marriage License (Internet Archive)
  • Dec 16, 1912 - Feb 14, 1913
  • Feb 14, 1913 - Jun 24, 1913
  • Jun 24, 1913 - Dec 15, 1913
  • Dec 14, 1913 - Jun 15, 1914
  • June 14, 1914 - Jan 14, 1915
  • Apr 1915 - Jun 1915
• S.F. Dept of Public Health, Grooms 1894-1906, 1913-1915 $ (Vitalsearch-CA)
• S.F. Dept of Public Health, Brides 1904-1906, 1913-1915 $ (Vitalsearch-CA)
• S.F. Dept of Public Health, Rerecorded Marriages, Grooms & Brides, 1860-1973 $ (Vitalsearch-CA)

• California Vital Indexes
• San Francisco County Recorder, Re-recorded marriages, 1860-1975; index to marriage certificates, 1904-1906 (FamilySearch)
• L Re-Recorded Marriage Records, 1869–1905
• San Francisco Marriage and Divorce Notices (over 5100 transcribed notices)
• San Francisco Vital Notices Board (user posted vital notices)
• L Vital Notices 1846-1849 , 1850 , 1851 , 1853
• Vital records from the Daily Alta California, including record from the Golden Era and the Wild West, 1854 (FamilySearch)
• L Vital Notices (Sacramento Bee, 1857)
• Vital Notices 1856, 1857 , 1861 (The Daily Evening Bulletin) (Internet Archive)
• Record of Marriages and Deaths on the Pacific Coast, images, 1872 ( Overland Monthly )
• L Marriage Notices, 1892, 1893, 1894 (San Francisco Call)
• L SF Marriage Index, April 15, 1906 - May 31, 1906
• L Miscellaneous Marriage Records, 1906-1999
• San Francisco County Clerk, Affidavits for marriage licenses, 1913-1915, San Francisco County and City : and index (FamilySearch)

• L Divorce Notices, 1856 - 1862 , 1875 (Jan-Jun), 1882 , 1883 , 1884 , 1885 , 1889
• California Divorce Index, 1966-1984 (FamilySearch)

• Vital Notices (The Daily Alta and Wide West, 1854-1855; San Francisco Bulletin, 1856-1874) $ (Vitalsearch-CA)
• Vital Notices (San Francisco Call, July 1, 1904 – June 30, 1905) $ (California Genealogical Society)
• Vital Notices (San Francisco Call , 1869–1900) (jwfgenresearch)

Find more MARRIAGE information at Offline books

DEATH

Government

• S.F. County Clerk : death certificates (over 3 years ago)
• S.F. Dept of Public Health : death certificates (in the last 3 years)
• State of California : death certificates
• S.F. Superior Court : wills and probate records

Indexes, transcriptions, etc.

• California Vital Indexes, 1776—2019
• State Marine Hospital Deaths, 1852-1853
• S.F. Dept of Public Health, Mortuary Record, November 1865-June 1904 $ (Vitalsearch-CA)
• San Francisco Pre-1905 Death Index (Rootsweb)
  • Transcription of records from the Record of Deaths (aka Mortuary Record of the City and County of San Francisco and Register of Deaths of the City and County of San Francisco), 1866-1871, 1894-1896, 1900
  • NOTE: This is only a partial transcription with missing information for each individual. Also, the “Date of Death” on some of the pages is actually the “Date of Entry”. Actual images can be seen online at Vitalsearch-CA.
• S.F. Dept of Public Health, Death Certificates, July-December 1904 (Internet Archive)
• S.F. Dept of Public Health, Death Certificates (transcribed), July-December 1904
• Wills, 1906-1922 (FamilySearch)
• S.F. County Coroner's Records and Death Reports, 1906-1956

• San Francisco Death Notices (over 11700 transcribed notices)
• San Francisco Vital Notices Board (user posted vital notices)
• L Vital Notices 1846-1849 , 1850 , 1851 , 1853
• Vital records from the Daily Alta California, including record from the Golden Era and the Wild West, 1854 (FamilySearch)
• L Vital Notices (Sacramento Bee, 1857)
• Vital Notices 1856, 1857 , 1861 (The Daily Evening Bulletin) (Internet Archive)
• L Hangings in San Francisco, 1851-1878
• L Charles Herbert Crookson Collection
  • 1863 to 1879, 1896: Abstracts from the Public Administrator's Report (probate info)
  • 1867-70, 1878: Deaths extracted from Chronological History of Principal Events of city directories
  • 1871-79: Abstracts from the Coroner's Report
  • 1876: Mortuary Report from Bishop's San Francisco City Directory
  • 1897:Health Officer's Report of Deaths in the Receiving Hospital
  • 1897/98:Deaths at Harbor Receiving Hospital
  • 1897/98:Police Surgeon's Report, Deaths in the City Receiving Hospital
  • 1897/98:Decedents over Ninety Years of Age
• Record of Deaths, 1872 ( Overland Monthly )</wrap>
• Record of Marriages and Deaths on the Pacific Coast, images, 1872 (Overland Monthly)
• L Removal Permits (Burials) for Yuba County that have references to San Francisco, 1889
• Pacific Union Club, 1889-1921
• L Barbary Plague Victims, 1900-1907

• Vital Notices (The Daily Alta and Wide West, 1854-1855; San Francisco Bulletin, 1856-1874) $ (Vitalsearch-CA)
• Vital Notices (San Francisco Call, July 1, 1904 – June 30, 1905) $ (California Genealogical Society)
• Vital Notices (San Francisco Call , 1869–1900) (jwfgenresearch)

Find more DEATH information at Mortuary Records , Newspaper Death Notices and Obituaries, Cemeteries, and Offline books