I would talk to Los Californios (a group of those who trace their ancestry to California prior to the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hildago) about the pre-American era. They have indices for the records of all the missions -- most of which maintained parish churches even after the secularization of the missions. One of them may be willing to do a look up for you -- or you could attend one of their meetings at which, for a nominal fee, you can browse their entire collection of research materials. I don't have an address, web or otherwise for them, but I'm sure someone on the list does. Here is another searchable site for Spanish California genealogy: http://www.angelfire.com/az/rchistory/ Another group with interest in the same time period is: Somos Primos. Again, I don't have an address, web or otherwise, but someone on the list should be able to help. Good luck! Mary Feliz