Access Millions of Digital Documents from the Library of Congress

An amazing source of information is the Library of Congress' website, http://www.loc.gov/about/

The Library of Congress is a research extension of Congress itself. Additionally, it serves to document cultural information. The LOC is the largest library in the United States (and the largest library in the world). It contains millions of books, recordings, photographs, maps and manuscripts in its collections- much of which are accessible online! There is a learning curve to effectively conducting research through their online database but its worth it. Considering their massive online database, you're bound to get lost in the world of historical documents.

For example, there's a write-up about Romualdo Pacheco, a Hispanic who has served as Governor of California who served from 1875-1875 (only 10 months). He was son to an upper-echelon Californio couple, Ramona Carillo de Pacheco and Captain Romualdo Pacheco. He was born in Santa Barbara, California on October 31, 1831. You can read more about his life at the LOC's website, http://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/congress/pacheco.html

Romualdo Pacheco
Image source: Library of Congress

For more information about Romualdo as Governor of California, visit http://governors.library.ca.gov/12-Pacheco.html

No Cost Genealogical Databases for U.S. and California via U.S. GenWeb Project

There are a few well-known genealogical databases on the web such as www.ancestry.com. Ancestry.com is a great source because it includes research other's have already done but also can include images of documents like death certificates, marriage certificates, census data, etc. The downside to Ancestry.com is that they charge a monthly or annual fee to use the site.

Note: Sometimes they offer a 2 week free trial (but you have to input your credit card information and cancel within 2 weeks.

A free alternative is the U.S. GenWeb Project which is run by volunteers who aim to provide free genealogy websites and research within the US.
http://usgenweb.org/research/

The state of California has its own website- which is part of the U.S. GenWeb Project.
http://www.cagenweb.com/

I recommend accessing more than one database or research site because they may not all contain the same information. Good luck!