The Sonoma Searcher was published from the spring of 1973 to the final issue of volume 44 in the fall of 2016. In 1993 the Society published an index for volumes 1 through 15 (1973-1987), and that index is available on microfiche at the Sonoma County History and Genealogy Library (Annex). In 2002 the Society published an index for volumes 16-28 (1988-2001) which included a reprint of the earlier index. This index is also available at the Annex, and is for sale at Heritage Books.

In 2019 the Society began a project to combine both indexes into one, and make them available publicly on their website at <SCGSonline.org>. Annie Conley, Carol Eber and Nita Miller transcribed the original typewritten index for volumes 1 through 15, so it could be combined with the digital version of 16-28. Maggi Andrews assisted with the transcriptions, proofreading and compilation. 

The original indexes for volumes 1 through 28 did not include several categories of material, so there has been an addition of over 17,000 names. Carol Eber, Susan Hester and Maggi Andrews transcribed these pages. They include lists that were already alphabetized, like the Militia Rolls or Relatives in Obituaries. Some of these lists were not transcribed because the information could be more readily found in on-line sources, such as Find A Grave or City Directories. The final index for volumes 1 - 28 lists over 41,000 names.

The next phase of the project will be to create an index for the remaining volumes 29 - 44.

The individual Searcher issues were scanned and have been added to the Members Only section of the website. SCGS member Bob Hobbs scanned all the available issues and burned the raw images and the OCR processed images onto a DVD. He also organized the Society’s copies so that each volume is individually stored in an archival quality sheet protector and the individual volumes have been bound together into six binders. For a history of the cover images, click HERE.

Information about this Index

In the early volumes, the Queries were included in the original index. The Queries were not added to the index for the later volumes. The Surname Directory was a listing of names being researched by SCGS members. If not already included in the original index, they were not added. Some other names not added to the this revised index may be found in the original publications held by the Sonoma County History and Genealogy Library. The Local History Index is online and includes "History of Sonoma County, Calif." by Honoria R. Tuomey HERE . McKenney's City Directory (8 county 1884-85) was republished in the Searcher more than once and is available at the ANNEX R979.41058 McKENNEY'S

If the name found in the Searcher is part of a continuing series, be sure to read the introduction in the first volume listed so that you understand what is included and what is not. (The explanation in the later volumes is usually just an abbreviated version, and does not include all of the information.)

As with any name search, be sure to include all possible variations. For instance, De Vine may also be DeVine or D’Vine. The names were transcribed as originally found in the Searcher publications, even if it was known to be incorrect. For instance, Julio Corrillo is undoubtedly supposed to be Julio Carillo, but it is included in the index as Corrillo, as that is probably what was on the original record (another example of why it is so important to find the original, if possible.) The index may include multiple listings for the same person, with given name variations (Mary - Mary B. - Mary, Mrs.). Be sure to look at the entire page of the both the index and the publication, as there may be multiple mentions of the same name on a single page.

Please remember that this index was created by volunteers and as with any human endeavor, there are bound to be errors. These entries have been copied several times, multiplying the chances for mistakes (the original transcription, the original alphabetization, the original publication, the first digital transcription and consolidation, this final digital transcription and consolidation.) Anomalies in the alphabetization occur because of how the computer interprets the data. If errors are found, please notify us by sending an email to Sonoma.projects@scgsonline.org and the information will be accumulated for a future revision.