Genealogical Research in Washington

The first people to inhabit Washington were Asians who crossed the Bering Strait approximately 9,000 years ago. They then entered North America by way of the Pacific Northwest. The earliest known evidence of them remains in Washington - a human skeleton and burned bison bones – which date from around 7000 BC.

Although there are undocumented accounts of explorers Sir Francis Drake and Juan de Fuca exploring the area in the late 16th century, the first Europeans on record to visit Washington were 18th century Spaniards, notably Juan Perez in 1774, who explored the coastline as far north as Alaska, and Bruno Heceta, whose men made the first landing in Washington at the mouth of the Hoh River. The excursion ended in tragedy however, as Indians captured their landing boat and killed the explorers.

While searching for a Northwest Passage, English captain James Cook arrived in the area in 1778. He was the first of many English traders and explorers attracted to the area due to its wealth of sea otters, whose fur was very valuable. George Vancouver, another Englishman, followed in 1792, mapping the area of Puget Sound and the Pacific Coast. The mouth of the Columbia River was discovered by American fur trader Robert Gray, and as the trade fur grew, many more traders moved into the area, most representing the Canadian North West Company and the British Hudson's Bay Company.

During this time American interest in the area was piqued, and President Thomas Jefferson commissioned an overland exploration expedition to investigate the area that France acquired in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. The men who would lead the expedition, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark would become famous in their own right. After Lewis and Clark spotted the Pacific Ocean from the banks of the Columbia River in 1805, American and British traders began to follow their route into the area. When Clark was asked in 1831 to return to the area from St. Louis to assist in instructing the Native Americans inn the area in the Christian religion, the churches responded accordingly, flooding the area with missionaries who would establish the first settlement at Waiilatpu in 1836.The Indians were not receptive to the proselytizing however, and hostilities to the missionaries grew, culminating in a massacre of 14 Americans in 1847.

An American provisional government embracing the entire Oregon country and extending as far as the region that is now British Columbia, Canada, had been established as early as 1843. After much diplomatic and military maneuvering, a US-Canada boundary along the 49th parallel was established in 1846. The area became Washington Territory in 1853. The first territorial governor, Isaac Stevens, who was also a US superintendent of Indian affairs, negotiated a series of treaties with the Northwest Indian tribes and established a system of reservations. The treaties only made the already tense situation with the Indians worse, leading to the Yakima War in 1855, a series of bloody uprisings by the Yakima, Cayuse, and Nisqualli, which were not suppressed until toward the end of the decade.

The discovery of gold in the Walla Walla area brought prosperity to the entire region, which was boosted by the completion of the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1883. The railroad encouraged immigration, and by 1890, Washington's population, only 23,955 in 1870, swelled to 357,232. Washington was an early champion of women's suffrage, yet after granting women the vote in 1883, the suffrage acts were declared unconstitutional in 1887.

Famous Battles Fought in Washington

Washington’s history has been a relatively peaceful one, except for the Yakima War during the 1850’s.

The battle accounts that exist can be very effective in uncovering the military records of your ancestor. They can tell you what regiments fought in which battles, and often include the names and ranks of many officers and enlisted men.

Boundary Changes: Boundary changes are a common obstacle when researching Washington ancestors. You could be searching for an ancestor’s record in one county when in fact it is stored in a different one due to historical county boundary changes. The Atlas of Historical County Boundaries can help you to overcome that problem. It provides a chronological listing of every boundary change that has occurred in the history of Washington.

Name Changes: Surname changes, variations, and misspellings can complicate genealogical research. It is important to check all spelling variations. Soundex, a program that indexes names by sound, is a useful first step, but you can't rely on it completely as some name variations result in different Soundex codes. The surnames could be different, but the first name may be different too. You can also find records filed under initials, middle names, and nicknames as well, so you will need to get creative with surname variations and spellings in order to cover all the possibilities. For help with surname variations read our instructional article on How to Use Soundex.

Genealogical resources include not only records, but the organizations that house them, or can direct you to them. These institutions include: Archives, Libraries, Genealogical Societies, Family History Centers, Universities, Churches, and Museums.

Archives and Libraries

Washington Mailing Lists

Mailing lists are internet based facilities that use email to distribute a single message to all who subscribe to it. When information on a particular surname, new records, or any other important genealogy information related to the mailing list topic becomes available, the subscribers are alerted to it. Joining a mailing list is an excellent way to stay up to date on Washington genealogy research topics. Rootsweb have an extensive listing of Washington Mailing Lists on a variety of topics.

Washington Message Boards

A message board is another internet based facility where people can post questions about a specific genealogy topic and have it answered by other genealogists. If you have questions about a surname, record type, or research topic, you can post your question and other researchers and genealogists will help you with the answer. Be sure to check back regularly, as the answers are not emailed to you. The message boards at the Washington Genealogy Forum are completely free to use.

Washington Newspapers and Periodicals

Many genealogy periodicals and historical newspapers contain reprinted copies of family genealogies, transcripts of family Bible records, information about local records and archives, census indexes, church records, queries, land records, obituaries, court records, cemetery records, and wills.

Historical Washington Maps and Gazetteers

Maps are an integral part of genealogical research. They help us to locate landmarks, towns, cities, parishes, states, provinces, waterways and roads and streets. They also help us to determine when and where boundary changes might have taken place, and give us a visualization of the area we’re researching in.

For locating place names, a gazetteer is the best possible resource for any genealogist. Gazetteers are also sometimes called “place name dictionaries”, and can help you to locate the area in which you need to conduct research.

Washington City Directories

City directories are similar to telephone directories in that they list the residents of a particular area. The difference though is what is important to genealogists, and that is they pre-date telephone directories. You can find an ancestor’s information such as their street address, place of employment, occupation, or the name of their spouse. A one-stop-shop for finding city directories in Washington is the Washington Online Historical Directories which contains a listing of every available historical directory related to Washington.

Birth, Death, Marriage and Divorce Records – Also known as vital records, birth, death, and marriage certificates are the most basic, yet most important records attached to your ancestor. The reason for their importance is that they not only place your ancestor in a specific place at a definite time, but potentially connect the individual to other relatives.

Census Records

Census records are among the most important genealogical documents for placing your ancestor in a particular place at a specific time. Like BDM records, they can also lead you to other ancestors, particularly those who were living under the authority of the head of household.

Washington Church Records

Church and synagogue records are a valuable resource, especially for baptisms, marriages, and burials that took place before 1900. You will need to at least have an idea of your ancestor’s religious denomination, and in most cases you will have to visit a brick and mortar establishment to view them.

Most church records are kept by the individual church, although in some denominations, records are placed in a regional archive or maintained at the diocesan level. Local Historical Societies are sometimes the repository for the state’s older church records. Below are links archives that maintain church records, as well as a few databases that can be viewed online.

Central Repositories for Denominational Records

Washington Military Records

More than 40 million Americans have participated in some time of war service since America was colonized. The chance of finding your ancestor amongst those records is exceptionally high. Military records can even reveal individuals who never actually served, such as those who registered for the two World Wars but were never called to duty.

Washington Cemetery Records

As convenient as it is to search cemetery records online, keep in mind that there are a few disadvantages over visiting a cemetery in person. They are:

• Tombstone information is not always accurately transcribed
• The arrangement of the graves in a cemetery can be crucial as family members are often buried next to each other or in the same grave. This arrangement is not always preserved in the alphabetical indexes that are found online.

Washington Obituaries

Obituaries can reveal a wealth about our ancestor and other relatives. You can search our Washington Newspaper Obituaries Listings from hundreds of Washington newspapers online for free.

Washington Wills and Probate Records

The documents found in a probate packet may include a complete inventory of a person’s estate, newspaper entries, witness testimony, a copy of a will, list of debtors and creditors, names of executors or trustees, names of heirs. They can not only tell you about the ancestor you’re currently researching, but lead to other ancestors.

Most of these records must be accessed at a county court or clerk’s office, but some can be found online as well. You can obtain copies of the original probate records by writing to the county clerk.

Washington probate records have been recorded by the probate division clerks of the Washington District Courts and include dockets, wills, oaths, inventories, letters, bonds, appraisements, accounts, court orders, claims, and final settlements.

Washington Immigration and Naturalization Records

The naturalization process generated many types of records, including petitions, declarations of intention, and oaths of allegiance. These records can provide family historians with information such as a person's birth date and place of birth, immigration year, marital status, spouse information, occupation, witnesses' names and addresses, and more.

Most overseas immigrants came to Washington through east coast ports such as New, and then traveled by railway to Washington. Earlier immigrants landed at New Orleans and then traveled by steamboats upriver to Washington. The U.S. National Archives has passenger lists or indexes of American ports for 1820 to 1940, as well as immigration and naturalization records for the entire United States. These records can also be accessed at the National Archives Regional Branch in Washington City

Washington Native American Records

Bibliographies

• Woman’s Place: A Guide to Seattle and King County History, Mildred T. Andrews (Gemil Press, 1994)
• Northwest Women: An Annotated Bibliography of Sources on the History of Oregon and Washington Women, 1787-1970, Karen J. Blair (Washington State University Press, 1997)
• On Sidesaddles to Heaven: The Women on the Rocky Mountain Mission, Laurie M. Carlson (Caxton Printers, 1998)
• Seattle’s Black Victorians, 1852-1901, Esther Hale Mumford (Anase Press, 1980)
• Women and Their Quilts: A Washington State Centennial Tribute, Nancyann J. Twelker (That Patchwork Place, 1988)

Selected Resources for Washington Women’s History

Washington State Historical Society
Women’s History Consortium
1911 Pacific Avenue
Tacoma, WA 98402
Toll-free 1-888-BE THERE (1-888-238-4373)

Coalition for Women’s History
Washington State University
History department
Pullman, WA 99164

Washington State Library
Washington Northeast Collection
PO Box 42460
Olympia, WA 99164-7204

Common Washington Surnames

The following surnames are among the most common in Washington and are also being currently researched by other genealogists, most notably by members of the Seattle Genealogical Society. If you find your surname here, there is a chance that some research has already been performed on your ancestor.

Abbott Abrahamsen Acker Ackeren Ackley Acosta Adams Addie Adkins Ageet Agnew. Ahlgren Aikman Ainsley Aker Albee Albers Alberts Ames Amig A Androv Anfang Angel Angell Angeloff Anschell Anthony, Antoine Anvick Apel Apgar Applegate Applegreen Appleseed Appleton Archer Archibald Arens, Arlowe Asbury Ash Ashbridge Ashleman Ashley Ashling Ashworth Asimakoupoulos Axtell Ayrault Babcock Bachinski Bacho Backus Bacon Bader Baggaley Baggott Bassey Bast Basye Batchelder Batcheller Batdorf Bathum Batte Battershell Bauer Baughman Bauguss Bavetta Baxter Bay Beatty Beaumont Beaupre Beaver Bechtol Beck Becker Beckett Beckwith Bedford Beede Beedle Beekman Beeks Beeman Beers Beeson Beetle Behar Behelmo Belas Belcher Belisle Belknap Bell Bellson Belluschi Bemben Bemedetti Bender Benecke Benish Benitz Benjamin Bennage Bennett Benscoten Benson Bent Bentley Benton Beppu Berg Bergem Bergen Berger Bergereau Berges Bergsma Bergstrom Berk Blaine Blair Blaize Blake Blakemore Blakey Blanchard Blanchet Blauvelt Bleakney Bledsoe Blekkink Blesen Blethen Blindheim Blish Bliss Bloedel Blomquist Bloom Bloomer Bloss Blott Blough Bogue Bohm Bohne Bohnert Boies Brunzell Bruseth Brush Bryan Bryant Brygger Bryson Buchanan Bulkeley Bull Bullitt Bunch Callaway Callison Callner Callow Caltharpe Calvert Cameron Camp Campbell Candy Canedy Carcich Cardwell Carey Carkeek Carlin Carlisle Carlon Carlough Carnahan Carney Carothers Carpenter Carraher Carruthers Carson Carstensen Carswell Carter Chamberlain Chamberlin Chambers Champion Champlin Champney Chan Chance Chandler Chaney Chapel Chaplin Chastek Chattey Chauncy Cheadle Checkley Cheek Cheesman Coeur Coffee Colburn Colcock Coldwell Cole Colgate Collier Collins Collord Colman Colson Colt Colton Columbus Coman Comber Combs Conant Conkle Cota Cottingham Cotton Couch Coughlin Coulter Courtney Covert Cowan Cowell Cowles Cox Coy Coyle Crabill Crabtree Craft Craig Crain Cramer Crampton Cranney Cranston Crist Cristman Crocker Crockett Cromwell Crosby Cross Crouch Crounse Crow Cruttenden Crystal Culbertson Cullen Culp Culver Cummings Cunningham Cuntz Curran Curtis Cushman Custis Czarnecki Dace Danielson Danner Dargan Darling Darrah Darst Dashiell Davenpal Davenport David Davidson Dedomenico Dee DeFiglia DeGrazia DeHart DeHaven Deitz DeJarnatt Delaney Delano DelFierro DelGiudice Deloach Delore DeLosAngeles DeMandeville Demaray DeMarcas DeMartinez DePartee dePasquale Deppman Depue Derham Deringer DeSchweintz Dickens Dickgleser Dickinson Didrickson Diem Dieterich Dietrich Dietz Digges Ehlers Eichenberger Eidsmoe Ekdahl Elam Elderkin Eldredge Elicker Elkins Elsasser Elwell Elwick Elworthy Ely Emerson Emery Emmott Enfield Engeldinger Englaud Engstrom Eshom Eskridge Ettrup Evanson Everett Everly Evoy Ewing Eylar Eyring Faget Faigenblum Fain Fairbanks Fairbrother Fairchild Fairty Fakkema Falconer Falk Fancher Fannin Fanning Farber Faris Farley Farnam Farquahar Farrens Farrer Farris Farrow Fass Fast Fauble Faulk Faunce Fayssoux Fazel Featheringstonehaugh Feazle Fee Feely Felder Feldman Frayn Frazee Frederici Freels Freeman Freer French Frette Freurait Freyd Friend Frink Fritzen Fromm Galvin Galyean Gamlen Gandy Gantzhorn Gauger Gaul Gault Gilpin Gingras Girt Gjording Glaamen Gladden Glasbrener Gleason Gleb Glen Glenn Glennon Glover Godel Godfrey Godsey Goe Goering Goff Goldberg Goldman Gonda Goodell Goodhue Goodrich Goodspeed Goodwill Goodwin Gordon Gorham Gormley Gorsuch Goslin Gosnold Goudreau Gulliford Gumpf Gunn Gunnell Gunnison Gurley Gurney Gust Gustafson Guthrie Gwynn Hach ndorn Hacker Hackleman Hadley Hagan Hageman Haggard Haglund Hagy Hahn Haig Hailey Haines Hakansson Halbert Hale Hallock Haman Hamblin Hamel Hamer Hamerquist Hamersley Hamilton Hammer Hammond Hamon Hanavan Hancock Handley Haney Hanford Hanlin Hanna Hanna/Hannah Hannula Hanon Harding Hardisty Hardy Hargrove Harken Hayes Haynes Hayward Hazen Head Headlee Headley Healy Healy/Heill Hellum Helm Helsby Henderson Hendricks Hendrickson Hening Henke Henley Henrikson Hildreth Hill Hilliard Hillis Hillman Hills Hilton Hinch Hinderlin Hinds Hines Hinkle Hinton Hippert Hull Hulse Hume Humphry Hunley Hunt Hunter Huntley Ibsen Ide Ides Ingalls Inge Ingersoll Ingham Ingram Inman Irish Irvin/Irvine Irving Irwin Iskos Jackson Jacobi Jacobson Jaech James Jameson Jansen Jarmusch Jarvis Jeffries Jenkins Jenne Jennings Jensen Jenseth Jepson Jernigan Jerome Jerrard Jerry Jetland Jewett Jobb Johansen Johnes Johns Johnson Johnston Jolly Jones Jordan Jorgensen Jory Joseph Joshua Jouett Joy Jueling Junkerman Kalass Kalich Kam Kanikkeberg Kankelfritz Karavity Kassik Kassner Katz Kaufman Kay Kaye Kays Keane Keats Keck Keeler Keeling Kehn Keihl Keiser Keith Kellar Kenaston Koch Koehler Koehler Koelsch Koet Kolb Konecki Kossen Kotolaris Kozai Krahling Kramer Krebs Krebs Kretzler Kreutz Krick Krippner Krug Kubota Kuenzi Kulien Kulzer Kunde Kuperberg Kupka Kurose Kurtz Kushner Kutner Kvammen Kvande Kvisvik Lackey Laird Lallemand Lally LaMarche Lamb Lambert Lamoureux Lampman Lamson Lancelott Land Landers Landes Landis Landman Landon Landreau Lane Langston Langworthy LaPoint Larish Lariviere Larson Laucks Laughery Laughlin Lawrence Laws Lawson Leibundgut Leigh Leitzel Leland Lemere Lemon Lenfesty Lennon Lenoue Lent Leonard Lercher Lesniak Leverenz Leverett Levine Levy LeWarne Lewis Liddell Lindsay Lindstrom Ling Lintner Lischy Lisson Listen Little Lobuglio Lochrie Locke Lockhart Lodge Logan Lomen Long Longley Longnecker Loomis Looney Loop Loper Lord Loring Lowry Lowther Lucas Luce Lucius Luck Ludden Lull Lund Lundquist Lunzer Luoma Lupton Lutgen Luther Luvera Lycette Lyda Lyles Lyman Lynch Lyon Lyons Lysson Lyte Mabry MacArthur MacBean Macbeth MacQuarrie MacSweeney MacThomas Macumber Madden Maddox Maffeo Magill Maglathlin Manahan Manangan Manchester Mandeville Mangels Mangun Mann Manning Manrow Manuel Mapes Maple Maraveller March Marsh Marshall Mayhew Maynard Mayo Maze McAdams McBroom McCain McCarta McCarthy McCartney McCarty McCary McCausland McClain McClanahan McClelland McClintock McClur McCune McCutcheon McDaniel McDermott McDonald McFadden McFarlan McFarland McGaughey McGehee McGlade McGreevy McGriff McGuigan McHenry McHugh McIlvenna McInturf McIntyre McKissick McKnight McWilliams Mead Meadows Meany Mefford Megee Mehus Meier Meigs Meir Meisner Mesher Mesick Messenger Messer Messervy Minshall Minson Mitcham Mitchell Mitchener Mizuta Moberg Mock Moe Moix Molzan Mooney Moore Moorhead Moran More Moreland Morse Mort Moshcatel Mosher Mosley Moulton Mowbray Moyer Moyle Murphy Murray Musgrove Muzzall Myers Myrick Mythe Napoli Napper Narehood Narodick Nash Nation Navoni Naylor Needham Neeley Neff Negus Nehrbas Neligan Nelms Nelson Neserboovig Nesvig Nolan Nonus Norcross Norden Nordstrom Norgore Norman Norris Norstrand North Northrop Northway Norton Notti Nottingham Nurkiewicz Nyberg Nye Obelweiss Osgood Osl Osterhout Ostrander Ostrom O'Toole Ottenheimer Ousley Overstreet Owen Owsley Oxenbridge Oxley Oziel Packard Packwood Page Palgrave Palm Parkharst Parnell Parrett Parrish Parry Parsell Partridge Pate Patience Paton Patten Peacock Peak Pearce Pearse Pearson Peck Pelham Pelland Pellegrini Pellett Pelton Pelz Penniman Pennington Perry Person Pitt Pival Pizzio Plassman Platt Policar Pollard Pollow Pomeroy Pond Pontius Pool Poorman Poot Pope Porta Porter Pottenger Potter Potts Powell Power Prantle Prasch Prater Priestly Prime Prior Pritchard Probasco Proctor Pruett Pruy Pynchon Quash Quigley Quincy Quinlan Rabel Rabideau ains Ragan Ragesdell Raible Raine Rainey Ralston Ramage Ramberg Ramey Ramsayer Ramsden Redfield Redford Reece Reed Rees Reeve Reeves Regan Rehbock Reid Reifschnider Reimers Riley Rilling Rind Rindahl Rindge Ring Rinker Riola Ripley Rising Risk Rispoli Roady Roam Roark Roats Robb Robins Robinson Robison Rochester Rockwood Rodale Rodda Royer Ruble Rucker Ruddel Ruddock Rue Rufener Ruffin Rugg Ruiter Rumley Ru Ryan Ryder Rye Saddler Sado Salerno Salisbury Salkind Salmon Salomon Saltarelli Saltmarsh Saltsman Salyer Samples Samp Sands Sandusky Sanford Santos Sasser Sauby Sauers Saunders Sayer Saylor Scales Scandora Schaar Schaefer Schantag Schattauer Schauer Schlosser Schluger Schmeiser Schmidt Schmitz Schmoe Schneiderman Schoenfeld Scholl Scholz Schoppert Schroope Schrum Schuchart Schudie Schultz Schuman Schurtz Schuster Schwarz Schwedler Schweizer Seiler Selby Selden Selig Senter Seufert Sewall Seward Severud Shane Shaner Shank Shannon Sharp Shaw Shaver Shawl Shay Shea Sheafe Shonyo Shope Shor Shores Shorey Shride Shrigley Shucker Shurtleff Siceloff Sick Sicks Sidell Siegel Siegrist Siewers Sifford Siler Sill Silsby Smallwood Smart Smiley Smith Smitherman Soule Southall S Spann Spano Spath Speagle Spear Spicer Spink Sprague Spratlin Spratt Springer Stear Stearns Stebbins Steward Stewart Stevens Stevenson Stever Stiefel Stilkey Stilwell Stimson Stine Stinnette Stoughton Stout Stow Stovall Stover Straight Strait Strandin Strange Stratton Street Streeter Streukens Strickler Strid Stringer Stringfellow Stucke Studebaker Stuntz Sturdivan Sturgill Swalwell Swan Swanberg Swanson Switzer Swope Sybrant Symms Symons Szekely Talaga Talasco Talbot Talcott Tampien Tangsruds Tanner Tapley Taplin Tapp Tappin Tarte Tashjian Tate Teller Tennessen Tenney Terrell Terry Tetreau Teufel Thacker Thatcher Thayer Themm Thieme Thiersch Thiry Thomaier Thomas Thompson Thorndell Thorne Thornsberry Thurber Thuringer Thurlow Thurston Tilden Tilden Tilghman Tilley Tillitson Tillotson Tindall Tingley Todd Tomassen Tomita Tomkins Tomlinson Tompkins Toner Tongate Tonk Toothaker Topf Torgeson Torghele Torrance Torres Torrey Totten Toups Tow Tower Towle Town Towne Townley Trego Treider Tremain Trent Trewin Trimble Triplett Tripp Trippett Trons Trott Troutman Trowbridg Tuggle Tull Tunnell Tupper Turk Turnbull Turner Turnquist Turpin Tuttle Tyler Tylor Tyrrel Tyson Udd Uht Ulbrickson Ulm Ulvestad Underwood Ungemach Ungstad Upchurch Updike Uphan Upson Usher Utterback Vallance VanAalst VanAntwerp VanAsselt VanBibber Vance VanCleef VanDeHoven VanDeranter Vanderbilt Vandewall VanDeWater Vaneslow VanEtten VanEvery VanHorn VanHouten VanKleeck VanLoon VanMeter VanNest VanSchaick VanSlyke Vaughan Vaught Vawter Veasey Vehmeier Verdi Verhoef Verlander Vertrees Vescelius Vesper Vincent Vining Vinje Vinson Vinton Virgin Wagnon Wagoner Wait Wakefield Wakelee Walborn Wald Waldron Walker Walkup Wallace Wallar Wallen Wallenberg Walsh Walters Walton Wanamaker Ward Ware Warren Wartes Warth Warwick Washburn Wasilchen Waskow Waterman Waters Watkins Watrous Watson Watts Way Weatherbee Weaver Webb Weber Webster Weston Westover Wetherill Wetterauer Weyman Weymouth Wheat Wheeler Wheeling Wheelock Whitney Wight Wiksten Wilbore Wilbur Wilcox Wilde W Willoughby Willson Wing Wingard Winger Wingfield Winter Winterstein Winthrop Wirt Wismer Wissing Witham Witmer Witt Witten Wojciechowski Wolcott Wolf Wolfskill Wombaugh Womelsdorf Woo Wood Woodall Woodard Woodbury Woodham Woodhull Woodin Woodley Woodruff Work Workman Worley Worral Wotton Wren Wright Wubbena Wunderlich Wurdemann Wyckoff Wyeth Wyman Wynn WyruchowskiYackley Yancy Yanick Yankee Yarbrough Yarneau Yates Yatsu Yaw Yawger Yeakel Yeend Yeomans Yesler York You Yumul Yunker Z Zellerhoff Zentz Zerrweck Zink Zinn Zirkel Zito Zobrist Zook Zsitvay Zumwalt Zuvela Zwingenberg