Williams Funeral Home

The Amos Williams Funeral Home Books contain the records of six funeral homes, located in San Jose, California. The records span the period from 1902 through the mid-1970s. See below in the “About Amos Williams Funeral Home” for a list of the funeral homes.

The Amos Williams Funeral Home Books are available on microfilm in the Heritage Pavilion at the Santa Clara Central Library. They are accessible for viewing and copying during all hours that the library is open.

If you are unable to visit the library you can request that the Research Team search the file for specific information. Please read more about our Research Services.

The index on this website is an alphabetical list of all names mentioned in the Amos Williams Funeral Home Books. It contains 23,655 names. Of these 4,519 are cross-references, so the list represents 19,136 people. The cross-references are for maiden names, and names where we could not tell which was the first and which was the last name and a few where the handwriting was so difficult we came up with several possible spellings.

About the Amos Williams Funeral Home

The funeral home records books donated by Darling & Fischer Mortuary to the Santa Clara County Historical and Genealogical Society (SCCHGS) in 1999 are, in actuality, the record books from several undertaking parlors, not simply those of the Amos O. Williams Funeral Chapel. Mr. Williams became a partner in the firm in 1918 and sole owner in 1934.

Note: The Darling & Fisher Mortuary, 471 E. Santa Clara St., is approximately 1 ½ blocks from the final address of this series of changes: 345 E. Santa Clara St. The original Williams Building still stands, and is large enough to have an owner’s apartment upstairs. Research in San Jose City – Santa Clara County Business Directories housed in the California Room, Martin Luther King Library, San Jose, California, detailed the following changes.

Directory	Business Listing	Partners	Notes
1902 – 1903	Hocking & Chittenden Undertakers, 279 N. First Street	Albert J. Hocking, S. D. Chittenden	Hocking states residence address is same as business address. Continued as partners until 1910
1911 – 1912	Hocking-Arnold-Monahan, Inc. 279 N. First Street	Albert J. Hocking, Edward Arnold, Amos O. Williams	Continued as partners until 1917
1918	Hocking-Arnold-Williams, 279 N. First Street	Albert J. Hocking, Edward Arnold, Amos O. Williams	First time Williams with business
1919 (moved 1924)	Hocking and Williams 279 N. First Street, 345 E. Santa Clara, corner 8th St.	Albert J. Hocking, Amos O. Williams	Continued as partners until 1933
1934 – 1978	Amos O. Williams & Co., Inc., 345 E. Santa Clara Street	Amos O. Williams, Charles B. Williams, Charles A. Blewett	1975: Andy L. and Joan R. Andersen listed as president and secretary
1979	Anderson-Williams Funeral Home, 345 E. Santa Clara Street	Andy L. Andersen, Joan R. Anderson	It is “son” in funeral home listing, and “sen” in their individual listings.

About Amos O. Williams

1902-03	Blacksmith; shop on Alum Rock at corner of Jones Ave., residence at 95 Adams. Also at the Adams address was Mrs. Phyllis BLEWETT, who ran a grocery store downstairs (see 1934-1978).
1905-06	Blacksmith; shop on Alum Rock at corner of Webster; residence at 68 Webster.
1911-12	(Minnie); blacksmith; shop on Alum Rock at Jones Ave.; residence 4 Jones Ave
1918-1930’s	Amos O. Williams served as county coroner, was an officer in several savings and loans, and lived at 169 North Sixth Street until the late 1940’s, when he moved to 323 South Fifteenth Street. He disappears from the city directories in 1953.
1953	Last time Amos O. Williams listed in city directory as either an individual or as a business partner. Wendell Tully, director. No partners names after 1953