Registered Voters in Temecula and Murrieta: 1892
Anne Miller and Michelle Norris
Introduction
California passed legislation in 1866 requiring eligible men to register to vote and mandating that the registration information be compiled into books by county. The information was compiled into books called Great Registers for each county in California. The register for 1892 is unique because it was the first year that the registrants’ affidavits included a physical description. Those descriptions included height, complexion, color of hair and eyes, visible marks and scars, and where those marks and scars were located.
The list on this website includes men who gave their local residence as Temecula or Murrieta. Voters in the surrounding areas are not included. Although he did not live in the Temecula/Murrieta area, genealogists will appreciate the fact that one man in San Diego County had a tattoo with his name, birth date, and place of birth.
Please note that there are a number of errors in the Great Register. Many of those errors were clerical and seemed to have occurred when the names on the original affidavits were entered into the register. A few other errors were discovered where voters apparently gave misinformation. For example, one man indicated that he was born in the United States when he registered to vote in 1892, but he was later found on the 1900 census as foreign born and not naturalized. There is evidence that occasionally a man registered twice and sometimes even his physical description varied slightly between the two listings. No attempt was made to correct misspellings or other errors that were found as this list was prepared for the website.
For further information, contact Anne Miller by Email or Michelle Norris by Email.
