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DEATH REGISTRY
First to shake
First to burn
First to take
Another new turn !

The 1906 earthquake affected more than just the residents of San Francisco. There are reports of people as far north as Washington feeling the tremor and those in Nevada seeing cracks in the ground. Streets buckled, buildings fell and people were injured. Cattle stampeded and the dogs were restless. Birds took to the air in huge flocks. Tombstones of loved ones fell in cemeteries. If your family was living on the West Coast and experienced anything unusual on the days surrounding April 18, 1906 please share their story with us.

Your oral histories hold the key to this research. Without them we would never be able to create an accurate account of the breadth and scope of this event. We want to document how the entire West Coast experienced this event. Please send a separate entry for each family member. If your family member was female, please include her maiden name if possible. Please include the following information in your response:


        • YOUR name, e-mail address and phone or address
        • Your ancestor’s SURNAME, GIVEN NAME, MAIDEN NAME, SPOUSE’S FULL NAME,
           RELATIONSHIP TO YOU, DATE OF BIRTH AND PLACE OF BIRTH
        • The street address of your ancestor BEFORE April 18, 1906 (or how you can
           • document they were here)
        • Reason WHY they were in San Francisco (job, family, traveling, etc.)
        • Was their residence or business destroyed or damaged?
        • Were they in a refugee camp? Where?
        • Were they injured, either physically or mentally?
        • If this is a child, were they orphaned or placed in a home?
        • Did they continue to live/work in San Francisco? If so – where?
        • Did they move out of the area? If so – where to?

Please feel free to make your story as long as you wish. Please be as detailed as possible using names of friends or relatives, specific addresses or locations, types of building and what they were made of. We will send you an e-mail acknowledgement as your ancestors are added to the Register.
 

Send this all to: The SFMuseum
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