SMC Newspapers: Half Moon Bay Review

SF Call 13 Jan 1907

The Half Moon Bay Review was established in 1898 by Harry Griffith. It has been serving coastside readers ever since.

The paper was purchased by Wick Communications in 1886 and they in turn announced plans to sell it in September 2017.  At that time a group of community members formed the Coastside News Group and entered into an agreement to buy the paper. 

The sale was completed in 2018. 

The paper is published each Wednesday, with over 7500 paid copies being distributed to homes from Montara to Pescadero.

The new owners come from a variety of backgrounds: Lenny Mendonca owns the Half Moon Bay Brewing Co.; Rich Klein is the former chief technology officer of a tech company; Susy Castoria serves on some San Mateo County commissions; Roy Salume is a former school board member in Half Moon Bay; and Kelly Hoffman-Davis is a business owner.

Half Moon Bay Review  (Facebook)  The newspaper office has hard copies of newspapers from about 1960 on and everything from 1998 on is available in their online archive

Half Moon Bay Review 19?-19? CALib 1916-1924 (sc) ; SMCLib original 1916-1928, microfilm 1916-1924 (sc) 1925-1928 (s) - Online SMCLib 1997-present.  The San Mateo County Library in Half Moon Bay has microfilm of early copies.  Most likely even earlier than the 1916 listed here, but unfortunately they are currently in storage.  Efforts are being made to get the papers digitized. 

If you are looking for copies, contact both the library and the newspaper office for updates on their availability.


Half Moon Bay Review - Wikipedia
Article by Chris Lampert
_____________________________________________________
(w) weekly (d) daily (n) daily except Sunday and holidays
(p) partial run  (s) scattered missing issues (sc) scattered copies
CA Lib - California State Library
UCR - University of California Riverside - Newspaper Master Files
RCL - Redwood City Public Library
SM Lib - San Mateo City Library
SMCLib - San Mateo County Library

SMCGS Databases Online: The Clipping File

The SMCGS Clipping file is a small, but growing, collection of articles about San Mateo County residents. 

Researchers are encouraged to submit articles about early San Mateo County ancestors to aid others researching the same families.  If desired contact information for the submitter will be supplied to anyone requesting copies.



Index to the SMCGS Clipping File




Copies of clippings from this collection can be obtained by contacting the Research team at SMCGS.


 

SMCGS Databases Online: Inventories

Historical Records Survey

In 1938 an inventory of the Archives of San Mateo County was taken as part of the Historical Records Survey: Division of Women's and Professional Projects - Work Progress Administration.  It was published by the Historical Records Survey in San Francisco in June 1838.  While delving into the drawers at the County Record Repository many years ago, a copy of the publication was found.  This is a digitized copy.  In it you will find a listing of all the found records by department.  As we search for records of the past this is a guide to what existed just prior to WWII.

Historical Records Survey #42 - San Mateo County
Historical Records Survey - Living New Deal
Historical Records Survey - Wikipedia
Historical Records Survey - Guide to Unpublished
NARA Records of the Work Progress Administration



Historical Records of County Government in California

In 1981, Secretary of State, March Fong Eu, in conjunction with the State Archives, the California Historical Records and Consultant Service with funding from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, created "Identification of the Historical Records of County Government in California."  This document provides a helpful description of the records that should be found in every county in the state.

Identification of the Historical Records of County Gov. in CA

SMCGS Databases Online: Jury Lists

Index to Juror Lists 1908-1932

One of the privileges of being able to vote is also being able to serve on a jury.  Well, I suppose, some believe that is one of the disadvantages.  Whatever way your thinking leans, if you are looking for information on your ancestors, finding them on a jury list gives another peek into their lives.

The jury lists found in Drawer RC5B1-31 in the San Mateo County Record Repository are a combination of Certified Lists created by the Board of Supervisor at the request of various court judges and lists that were created to show that a summons to jury duty had been delivered. When both existed for the same court and time, double entries were eliminated from the index.  Unfortunately, there are many gaps in the lists which cover the years 1908-1932.  Some of the lists name the court and judge that requested the jurors, others do not.  Some lists give the address of the potential jurors, others do not.

As the index was created it was noted that in 1912 county courts took month of July off and in 1922 Woodside and Portloa were part of Redwood City R FD.

When women gained the right to vote, the juror lists swelled with women’s names.  On some lists including that for the Grand Jury in 1930 the majority of those on the lists were women. 

Index to Juror Lists 1908-1932

San Mateo County Records on Family Search

A few years ago FamilySearch spent months in the San Mateo County County Record Center digitizing records.  Among the records were the entire series of Naturalization Records, Coroner's Records, Deeds, Homesteads, Patents, and Marriage Applications.

The images are currently available to browse, but are not indexed.  Fortunately SMCGS has indexes for many of the available volumes, including the naturalization records, the Coroner's Records, the Patents, Homesteads and some of the Deeds.  By using the indexes on our website first you can then access the online images .

The list of available volumes is arranged in Alphabetical Order, which sometimes makes it difficult to find what you are looking for.  With that in mind, we have created a page on this blog with links to the individual volumes, arranged in a more understandable order.  It is a work in progress, so continue to check if you don't find what you are looking for.

A few realities of using the images. First you are required to create a free account on FamilySearch and sign in  if you want to view the images.   Second, when you are searching for a page it is not going to be the same as the image number.  Depending on the volume there might be numerous document images for each page number.  Using the Naturalization Petitions as an example a page might have a Declaration of intention (2 images), a ship record, and other correspondence in addition to the two images of the petition page itself.  All of the sudden you might find that page 88 is in fact image 557.

Taking a few minutes to orient yourself is well worth while.  I usually look at the first page...which might be image 5 considering the image of the book cover, the book spine, etc.  Then I check the last page, and then look at the middle.  Using those three checkpoints you should be able to quickly navigate forward or backward to the record you are looking for.  Be sure also to scroll.  There might be two or more records on an image.  Depending on the zoom factor, you might not see those on the bottom or side. without using the scroll bars or downloading the entire image.




Index to Image Volumes on FamilySearch (with links to each volume)
Images on FamilySearch

SMCGS Databases: Early Land Records

One of the first databases posted on the SMCGS website was the Early Land Records Index.  This index, mainly compiled by Russ Brabec with a little help from Cath Trindle consists of nine volumes of early records.

The index includes:

• Patent   1-3 covering the years 1856-1921. Images of these volumes are available on FamilySearch  --  Land Patents were granted by the US Government on land they had acquired.  Most of the early patents in San Mateo County were verifying claims of those who had been given Spanish land grants.  Subsequent transfers of those original land patents are is made by deed.  It is possible to declare that the original patent has been transfered to an individual, which can give protections not necessarily transferred by deed.
• Record of Deeds   1-4 covering the years 1855-1866.   Images of these volumes are available on FamilySearch.  FamilySearch has images of deeds well beyond these initial 4 volumes as well as images of many of the indexes that were created over the years.  These are all browse only, but are not difficult to navigate and find the records you are looking for.
• Mortgages 1-2.  These records are available from the San Mateo Country Recorders Office.  These are just the first two of many Mortgage volumes available in the County Record Repository.  They can help provide a better picture of the worth of a property as amounts are often no included in the deeds.

Early Land Records Index

Images on FamilySearch

For other early land records of San Mateo County see

• Homesteads  Index Images
• Leases  Index
• Lis Pendens Index
• Sole Traders   Index Images
• Tax Sales Index to Sales by Tax Collector, Index to Sales, Executions and Certificates

More:

• Understanding Land Patents
• Bureau of Land Management - Land Patents  Original Surveys San Mateo County - includes Plat Maps and original patentees

_____________________________________________

SMCGS Databases Online: Leases

So, you found your family in census records but you can't find a deed?  Maybe you haven't found them at all, although the family insists they were in San Mateo County before the turn of the century.

Perhaps they leased the property they farmed or the shop they ran rather, than owning the land or building. The newest addition to the SMCGS database collection is an Index to Leases from the beginning of the county through 1921.  The early leases were recorded in Miscellaneous books but by the 1870's dedicated lease books were used.  Occasionally leases were recorded in the Miscellaneous volumes after that date, and a few are found in the Deed books.  The lease books end with #9 as does the index we used as the basis for our index.  Most likely leases continued to be recorded in either Miscellaneous books or Official Records after that date.

Not every lease was recorded, and many were recorded sometime after they went into effect. Sometimes, there was a problem on one side with meeting the terms of the lease.  Other reasons might include: one of the parties assigning their rights to someone else, the surrender of the original lease, or the death of the lessor with the estate taking over.  Many properties were continuously leased by the administrators of estates and you will find copies of court permissions to lease said properties in the volumes indexed.  Be sure to check who asked for the lease to be recorded as that might give a clue as to the reason it was.

While many of the leases are short and give little information beyond the location of the property, and even that is sometimes missing, others are full of information.  The lease of a restaurant or hotel might include a full inventory of every item included in the lease, right down to salt and pepper shakers.  Farm leases might include buildings, equipment and livestock.  There might be already-sown fields that are not included or agreements that crops would belong to lessee even if the lease was terminated.

Some lucky researchers will find property maps and building plans. 

Some individuals can be followed from farm to farm, as they expand operations, change partners or move to a different area of the county.

There are a number of "mineral"  and "timber" leases, many of which were "assigned" (transferred to others) numerous times.  There are a few equipment leases. Besides a possible description of the equipment, terms often included restrictions on where the equipment could be used. 

Our index includes: Name of each party and their Role, the Date of the original lease and the Date it was recorded, Fee book number if given, Notes (description of property, location of additional records, etc.), record location (record set (book) Pages).  When a corporation or fraternal organization was one of the parties, the principals are included and identified by role, if the corporation or organization appeared to be based in San Mateo County.

Index to San Mateo County Leases 1856-1921   

SMCGS Databases Online: Miscellaneous Ledgers

The Miscellaneous Registers for San Mateo County date from late 1856.  Register 7 goes into 1892.  At that point separate registers had been created for leases, mortgages, lis pendens and other record sets found originally only in the Miscellaneous Registers.  However, some of all those record types still find their way into the Miscellaneous Registers instead.

Besides leases, mortgages and lis pendens, you can find builders contracts, assignments, tax certificates, bonds, judgements, power of attorney, decrees of distribution and much more.  There are a number of maps tucked into the volumes.  In some cases there is a copy of the map as well as an original with a note that the original had been stolen but has now been restored to it's original home.







Some of the records in the early books were in Spanish and there are a few that are recorded in both Spanish and English.

Unfortunately, these books were not digitized.  Miscellaneous Registers 2-38 are located in the County Record Center.  Register one is not with them, perhaps it is at the Recorder's Office in Redwood City. To obtain copies of records found in the registers, contact the San Mateo County Recorders Office.    

An Index to Volumes 1-7 SMCGS Miscellaneous Registers  Indexes to later volumes are located on the same shelves with the Registers.

SMCGS Databases Online: Layng & Tinney Mortuary

One of the  mortuaries in San Mateo County, was that of Layng and Tinney, which was located at Marshall and Jefferson in Redwood City. The mortuary closed its doors and eventually the San Mateo County Genealogical Society acquired a collection of records that filled 11 vertical file drawers.  Due to computer problems, the index that was begun and worked on by many library volunteers in the 1990s was lost.

Fortunately one printout of that original index survived.  Fran Pillsbury scanned it and work began anew.  Irene Gough, Leon Glahn and Donna Farmar checked every entry against the files in those eleven drawers. Others joined in as the list was proofread two more times. Finally in 2005 the index was deemed complete and the society published it in book form.

The files, themselves, date mainly from the mid 1920's to about 1970. Additionally, through the years, various families removed their loved ones from Union Cemetery, favoring the perpetual care of the cemeteries in Colma. The  files of removals by Layng andTinney provide information on deaths back as early as 1877.

You can find obituaries, death records, receipts, letters and more within the files.

There are over seven thousand files housed in the SMCGS library. They are filed alphabetically by surname and then given name. In the case of two identical names the earlier death is filed first. Some records are contained in file folders and others in envelopes. It is important to remember if you use these records that they are anywhere from 45 to 90 years old and, therefore, they are somewhat fragile.  If you visit the SMCGS Library during staffed hours, a volunteer can retrieve a file for you to view.  If you would like to order a record you will find information on the SMCGS Research Page.

Today the index, like all indexes created by SMCGS is available for free on our website.

Layng and Tinney Mortuary Record Index

Registers for earlier Layng and Tinney burials can be found in the Redwood  Library History Room.

SMCGS Databases: Naturalization Records

The Naturalization Indexes were published by SMCGS around 2000.  PDF versions which include the written explanation of the records have been posted on the society website.  They index all known naturalization records held at the county level, including Declaration of Intention to become a Citizen, Petitions and Certificates.

• San Mateo County Naturalization Index to Sept 25, 1906
• San Mateo County Naturalization Index 1907-1925
• San Mateo County Naturalization Index 1926-1945
• San Mateo County Naturalization Index 1946+

The Camp Fremont Index includes many soldiers from other places who were naturalized before they were discharged from the Army after WWI.

• San Mateo County Naturalization Index Camp Fremont 1918-1919

In order to vote, it was necessary to provide information on naturalization if you were foreign born. The county created a card file of those who had done so, the information included might provide not only a place of naturalization, but also a date, the name of the person who was naturalized (in the case of a wife or child), a marriage date and the voting district the person was living in at the time they provided the information.  (Note: this card file was not copied by FamilySearch but all information on the cards was extracted here.)

• Naturalized Voters Card File

FamilySearch has digitized the Naturalization Records for San Mateo County through 1946, including the card file mentioned above.  Later records can be ordered through the County Recorders Office, or obtained from the federal government.

This new Finding Aid will hopefully direct you to the volume that you need to find the records after using the indexes above.

Index to Images on Family Search

SMCGS Database: Homesteads

Index to San Mateo County Homesteads Vol 1-4

We are all familiar with the Homestead Act of 1862 which helped populate the west by giving free land to those willing to settle and improve the land,  but that is not the basis for the Homestead Registers found in California.  

The California state archives gives the following description of the Homestead Registers in their collections: Homesteads Recorded declarations, and usually abandonments, of homestead indicating intent to use property as a place of residence. For declarations, contains name of homesteader, statements on marital status, residence on property, and intent to use property as a homestead, description and estimated value of land, date recorded, and signature of homesteader. Abandonments include statement of voluntary release of homestead rights, date of homestead, and signature of homesteader

Homestead Registers were the result of the approval of a "An Act to Exempt the Homestead from forced sale in certain cases" by the California State Legislature  on 21 April 1851.  The registers, however, do not appear to have been kept separately from other documents until the passage of an amendment to the original law on 28 Apr 1860.   

The San Mateo County registers start after that date as do those in the CA Archives collection.  Earlier declarations and abandonments would most likely be found in Miscellaneous Registers, Sole Trader Registers, or Deed Registers.

Basically the law gave a husband and/or wife (or a head of household) the right to declare, in writing, that a quantity of land with a dwelling house, on which they resided, was a homestead exemption from creditors.  The worth of the homestead could be no more than $5000. The declaration must be signed and recorded.  The 1860 amendment specified that husbands and wives were to be considered joint tenants of any homestead that either declared.

The law goes on to state that the exemption does not extended to any mechanic's, laborer's or vendor's lien which had been lawfully obtained or to any mortgage that was taken to purchase the homestead. Prior to an amendment approved on 12 May 1862 it was necessary to file an abandonment of homestead in order for a new lien, mortgage, etc. to be legal.  After that as long as all interested parties signed the new document the homestead was considered abandoned.


In 1860 the right to declare a residence a homestead was extended to all white residents regardless of whether they were married or head of a household.  The value of the homestead exemption allowed was set at $1000. The amount of land was set at 320 acres or if in city limits no more than 320 feet square.

California still allows homestead declarations. You can find many websites dealing with declaring a homestead today.  The following links are to background information on homestead legislation in California.

General Laws of the State of California, from 1850-1864 - Homesteads
Homestead Legislation in California

This index to San Mateo County Homestead filings covers the years 1860 through 1913.  Digital images of the recordings can be found on FamilySearch.  There are links to the online books at the beginning of the index.

Index to San Mateo County Homesteads Vol 1-4

SMCGS Databases: Water Rights Appropriations

These applications for the rights to previously unappropriated state water can include maps, protests of the appropriations and other treasures for those researching in the county.  They date from the 1870s to the 1950s and include applications by both individuals and companies (farms, land developers and water).

The records in the database are located in drawer 67 or in Water Rights Book #1, both in the County Record Repository.

Index to Water Appropriations

Index to Water Appropriations

Index to Water Appropriations

SMCGS Databases: Official Bonds and Election Certificates

Before taking office, elected officials were required to file bonds. Election Certificates were documents signed by the county clerk, verifying the election.

These bonds and certificates are located in the county record center in one of the small drawer cabinets (SM - RC5B1 - 15 - 21) You will find original signatures on many of the documents.

There are two indexes to the bonds and certificates. They are currently located on shelves that are being moved so the final location of the books is uncertain, but the indexes have been recreated digitally by Lauren Perritt and  are available here.

Index to Official Bonds and Election Certificates


   

SMCGS Databases Online: County Poor Farm

This listing of Inmates and Patients at the San Mateo County Poor/ Relief Farm was created from a variety of sources.  There were three registers, the earliest dating from the opening of the farm in 1876.  That first register was relatively well maintained and for many individuals gave quite a bit of information including age, birthplace, how long they had lived in California and how long in the county. Some entries included the reason for the admission, the town where they had been living and their next of kin.  Unfortunately, that wealth of information was not carried forward in the later registers.

Besides the three registers, there was a bath list and a series of monthly reports that filled in or supplemented the sparsity of records for the early twentieth century.  Gaps still exist.  The two later registers, were most likely copied from other records.  The handwriting is often close to illegible and the lack of consistency in spelling creates a feeling of basic illiteracy.  Census records were also used to provide more information on individuals, in a few cases individuals listed on the farm in the census were not found in any other records.

Many patients were admitted for just a few days.  Others were residents for a long time, a few for decades.  Many were discharged and readmitted a number of times.  This lists tries to give the first date of admission and the last known discharge date or the death date.  When it is not clear that two entries are for the same person they were not combined even though it seems likely they were in fact the same.

Many of those who are shown as deceased in this list and in the registers were in fact never residents of the farm, or not so at the time of their death.  The farm's cemetery was used as a pauper's burial ground, and those buried there were entered in the register on the date they were buried.  An effort was made to find all those who were deceased in the early county death records, the state death index and/or the coroner's index to verify that they were in fact deceased. That the earliest deaths were not found was expected, however, there were death's after 1906 that were not found.  It is possible that they died outside the county, and even more likely that the names were so badly spelt that they weren't found, although a search was made in most cases just by death date (but only in San Mateo County).

• Index to Inmates and Patients of the County Poor/Relief Farm and Hospital.

Annual Reports and ledgers provide some insight into the income and expenses of the poor farm, mainly in the early part of the twentieth century.  The Income and Expense reports and the Contracts are located in the County Record Repository at Tower Road in Cabinet RC5B1 drawers 5, 26 and 27.

• Income and Expenses 1916-1920
• Index to County Poor Farm Contracts 1912-1917 
• Income Reports to Board 1903-1905

Employee lists were culled from Census records (families living on the farm are included) and entries in ledgers held by the San Mateo County Historical Association Museum.  Judging from the turnover of cooks and nurses in the records found, the list should probably be much longer.  If further sources are located names will be added to the list.  

• Poor Farm Employees

 For  a list of sources used to compile the Poor Farm database see:

• County Poor Farm Sources

Additional information was culled from newspaper articles.  They are identified when used.  The early San Mateo Times Gazette is not currently easily accessible in a searchable format.  When it becomes available information on the workings of the poor farm should be uncovered.  An additional resource that has not yet been located would be the minutes of the Board of Supervisors. 

SMCGS Databases: Orphans and Indigents

Orphans

Covering the years 1910-1915, this ledger of Orphans, Half-Orphans and others receiving public support payments is located in the San Mateo History Museum Archives ( # 15-182-5  //   #5 H2 16). You will find name, birthdate and place, parents, their place of nativity and marriage date and place, application date and notes which include information on why the children need support and who they are living with.

Treasurer's Receipt Book 1904-1912
SMCHA  75 -182-7

The County Poor Farm Report for April 1915 included a listing of Payments to Indigents who were not living on the farm.  Financial reports for the Poor Farm often included amounts paid to county indigents. But this was the only list found in the records found in the San Mateo County Record Repository. The holdings of the SMCHA Archives, however include two ledgers with entries of payments to indigents.  The earliest the "Treasurer's Receipt Book" includes monthly lists from Jan 1904 to Apr 1912. The second the "Day Book" picks up in May of 1912 and goes through Jan 1915.

Day Book 1897-1929
SMCHA  75-182-4

In the back of the day book are some clippings of reports Albert Eikerinkotter made to the board of supervisors. One includes a list of those who were receiving indigent payments and includes the length of time they were receiving those payments.  Although undated it was possible to match it with the registers and date it to March or April of 1905.  Using that list it is possible to identify some payments as early as 1897.

If earlier and later lists are located this database will be updated.  For a listing of resources used for this list and the upcoming list of County Poor Farm / Hospital inmates see the SMCGS website.
(Research / Institutions / Poor Farm Sources)

SMC Databases Online: School Records 1

Redwood City School 
Courtesy San Mateo County History Museum 

Funding (or lack thereof) of schools and teachers is not a new problem.  In 1907 the following petition was filed.....

To the Honorable Board of Supervisors of the County of San Mateo.

Gentlemen:

The Undersigned respectfully represent that they are citizens and taxpayers of and within San Mateo County; that the salaries paid the teachers in the grammar schools of San Mateo County are less than the average salaries paid in corresponding  counties in the State of California; that as your Board is well aware, the expenses of living have increased twenty-five per cent. And over, and there has been a corresponding increase in wages paid laborers and other employed persons; that the salaries of teachers in the grammar grades have not increased except in rare instances and that the salaries paid such teachers are disproportionately low when compared to other occupations.

Your Board is in a position to grant a measure of relief by increasing the County School tax XXXXX which tax at the present time is below the average school tax in the State of California.

WHEREFORE your petitioners respectfully pray that your Board increase the rate of school taxes to be levied by your Board on the third Monday in September, next, five (5) six (6) cents above the rate levied last year, for the purpose of providing funds for bringing the salaries of teachers up to the average paid in this State.

Respectfully submitted, -

Dated August 29, 1907

Included in the records found in Drawer 31 in the SMC Record Repositories are signatures from 391 individuals living in San Mateo, Burlingame, Pigeon Point, Pescadero, Redwood City, Jefferson, and San Bruno districts.  List of Signers

In 1920 the trustees of the school districts signed the following petition

To the County Superintendent of Schools, San Mateo County, Cal.,

Dear Sir, -

In order that our schools may have sufficient funds to pay fair salaries and to provide for proper maintenance, we the trustees of the following School Districts respectfully request that you ask a sufficient tax rate to cover all expenses. The tax rate for the past year was inadequate.

List of signers

SMCGS Databases Online: Lis Pendens

Lis Pendens filings for San Mateo County are found in drawers 53-56A in the County Record Repository. There are also eight registers located on shelves along the back wall.   This index to the original filings located in the drawers includes records dating  from the 1850s through the early 1900s. 

You will find records related to right of way such as that of the Ocean Shore Railway Co, foreclosures, and satisfaction of mechanic's liens among others.  Some state that they are an effort to quiet title, which means a suit is being brought to obtain a determination of the title of a certain piece of property.  These suits can involve property lines, probate problems and more.  While these documents can provide great information for your family research, they are also interesting in and of themselves. They come in all colors and on various types of paper including oil cloth.  Some are handwritten.  Some are fill in forms.  Others have been specially printed in their entirety.  

Lis Pendens Index

lis pendens - The People's Law Dictionary

(lease pen-dense) n. Latin for "a suit pending," a written notice that a lawsuit has been filed which concerns the title to real property or some interest in that real property. The lis pendens (or notice of pending action) is filed with the clerk of the court, certified that it has been filed, and then recorded with the County Recorder. This gives notice to the defendant who owns real estate that there is a claim on the property, and the recording informs the general public (and particularly anyone interested in buying or financing the property) that there is this potential claim against it. The lis pendens must include a legal description of the real property, and the lawsuit must involve the property. Otherwise, if there is a petition to remove the lis pendens from real property not involved in the lawsuit, the plaintiff who originally recorded a false lis pendens will be subject to payment of attorney's fees as a penalty. 

Code of Civil Procedure
Lis Pendens - What it is and how it affects title 

San Mateo County Records: Estray Notices

Estray, in law, is any domestic animal found wandering at large or lost, particularly if the owner is unknown.

The Estray Act of 27 Mar 1897 provided that anyone that found any estray or domestic animal upon his property or on the roadway adjacent to his property may take the animal into possession and have a statutory lien on the animal for all the expenses incurred for its care.

The person who is holding the estray must file a notice with the Department of Agriculture within 5 days of impounding it.

An authorized inspector could take possession of the animal.  The inspector must try to find the owner and turn the animal over in exchange for the handling expenses.  If the owner did not come forward within 14 days the animal could be sold with the net proceeds (after paying the expenses) going to the Dept of Agriculture.  The owner could claim the net proceeds within a year.

Some of the Estray Notices filed in San Mateo County can be found in various drawers in the County Record Depository.  Here is an index of those found to date.

Dr	Date	Found by	Where	Description
5	1910	Barron, Andrew S	Owl Dairy - Beresford 2nd township	4 calves
5	1907	Conti Bros.	Colma	one mare, 2 yr old colt, 6 m old colt held for damages to yard
5	1909	Corey & Rease	Pebble Beach Hotel Pescadero	1 sow 2 barrow black
5	1909	Cramer, Charles	Belle Air Park San Bruno	Roan Colt
5	1902	Dotta, Louis	Ranch north of Pescadero	2 year old heifer
5	1910	Emhoff, Frank	Ranch Pescadero	dark bob tailcow
5	1905	Enos, Manuel	South San Francisco	2 wk calf
5	1898	Gillogley, Peter	San Pedro	bay mare about 8
5	1903	Greene, B S	Colma	bay mare
5	1903	Griffin, M S	Colma in potato field	3 heifers
5	1897	Hall, Asa	San Carlos	bay colt
5	1904	Marceau, F	Lake San Andreas	sorrel colt
5	1908	Picaso, Andrew	Ranch Pescadero	Bull and Heifer
5	1902	Regley, CP	Twelve Mile House	black horse about 8
5	1897	Silva C	Ranch near San Bruno on mission road	red milch cow
5	1896	Wilber A		appraisal of lost property - Bicycle
61	1918	Holberton, George	NW Side of Whipple 1 mile from RC	55284A and 55325- 43 Holstein
61	1940	SF Union Stock Yards		81441

Learn more about Estray laws:

• Animal Law in California  Michigan State University Animal Legal and Historical Center  
• Statutes and Amendments to the code 1897
• Prior to 1897 Estray Law in San Mateo County was governed by the Estray Act of Apr 27, 1868 - Section 2637 General Law of California  .