A treasure of indigent records has been discovered in the archives in Sonoma County, California. These records cover the period from 1878 to 1926 and give the names of persons who asked for money from the county because they had no other means of financial support. For the most part, these are the people who have “fallen through the cracks” of genealogical research. Most of them owned no property and had fallen on hard times because their primary provider had become ill, died, deserted them, was in jail, or was just too old to be gainfully employed. The format for data presentation is in two volumes. Book One gives information about the applicant, his or her family, and circumstances of the request. Book Two gives a listing of the taxpayers who supported the applicant on his/her request for county funds. The taxpayers who signed the applications for indigents are important because the applications provide a substitute census for the county in lieu of the 1890 federal census, most of which was destroyed by fire. Of the 16,000 signatures, over 8,000 of them occur in the period from 1881 to 1909.
Sonoma County Genealogical Society, Inc.
2006, 8½x11, paper, alpha., 2 vols., 436 pp.
ISBN: 9780788443107
101-S4310
