Description
Funeral records, daybooks, and death and burial registers for seven funeral homes, mostly based in San Francisco--with the
exception of Clark and Booth in Sacramento, as well as a few records from Burlingame and Stockton--acquired over time by the
present-day firm of Halsted N. Gray Carew & English.
Background
Halsted N. Gray – Carew & English began as several predecessor funeral homes, mortuaries, and undertakers in San Francisco,
Sacramento, and Stockton, which by 1985 had become merged into one firm, from which this collection has been received. The
corporate history is characterized by frequently shifting business partnerships and locations. N. Gray was established in
1850 by Nathanial Gray, who also served as the second Coroner of San Francisco from 1851-1852. Halsted & Co. began in 1883
as Halsted & Kremple and became a family business by 1887. This chronology documents the seven firms represented in this collection.
(Sources: San Francisco History Center Ephemera Collection and Card Files,
San Francisco: the Imperial City, http://www.halstedngray.com, Nancy Peterson of the California Genealogical Society, and San Francisco City Directories)