Texas County Records

by Suzanne Sandlin Gay, February 1998

For all of us fortunate enough to have Texas roots, there is, in the Ready Reference section of Clayton Library, a wonderful resource guide by Michael Haskett, titled Texas County Records: A Guide to the Holdings of the Local Records Division of the Texas State Library of County Records on Microfilm.¹ A Texas-size title, to be sure! The cover is a bit dog-eared, but consider that a badge of praise.

Texas County Records is a reference tool and, therefore, not meant to be read from cover to cover in one reading. A scan, however, will show that the book offers far more than just listings of microfilm holdings. For example, information is provided on how to borrow microfilm through inter-library loan. On page 8, we find details concerning inter-library loan policy:

Limit of 5 reels per researcher at the same time
14-day check-out with renewal of 14 days (if no other request for that reel exists)
Certified copies of documents can only be obtained from the county or district clerk’s office where the originals are held
Borrowed microfilm is for in-library use only

It is important to note that support for the inter-library loan service of the Local Records Division is decentralized. Therefore, requests for the loan of microfilm must be directed to the specific institutional repository holding the microfilm you need. A listing of institutions to which requests can be made appears on pages 5 through 7. When requesting film, provide 1) the reel number, 2) the name of the county, and 3) the title of the record.

Most of the records listed in Texas County Records are from the offices of the county and district clerks, with some from the county superintendent of schools and the county tax assessor-collector. For more information about these records, see the “About County Records” section beginning on page 9. Even if you do not plan to order microfilm, reading this section will be well worth your time, as it provides a brief, historical introduction to the following records:

OFFICE OF THE COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS AND ITS RECORDS

OFFICE OF THE COUNTY CLERK AND ITS RECORDS

Records of Real Property

Deed records, deeds of trust or mortgage records, patent records, land commissioners minutes, homestead applications, and homestead records

Probate Records

Probate minutes, probate records, will records, probate cases, and guardianship case papers

Statistics

Marriage records, marriage records (freedmen), marriage bond records, marriage license applications, marriage affidavits, notices of intention to marry, marriage licenses, birth records (including delayed and corrected), and death records (including delayed)

Naturalization Records

Declarations of intention, naturalization records (sometimes called petition and record), county court minutes or county court civil minutes, probate minutes, commissioners court minutes, naturalization petitions, and naturalization certificate stubs

Court Records

County court minutes and dockets

Miscellaneous Records

Pauper records, discharge records, occupation tax records, official bond records, voter registration lists, and muster rolls

OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT CLERK AND ITS RECORDS

District court minutes, district court civil minutes, divorce minutes, district court records or final records, district court civil case papers, divorce case papers, declarations of intention, and naturalization records

OFFICE OF THE COUNTY TAX ASSESSOR-COLLECTOR AND ITS RECORDS

Tax rolls

Texas County Records really is a guide. It actually has a section called “How to Use This Guide” with a sample page of the county listings (pages 14-15). On the frontispiece is a Texas map showing all of the counties in the state. This is especially helpful, since each of the county listings elsewhere in the guide have, at the top left corner, the map coordinates of the county. How intelligent! For example, Brazoria County has the coordinates “F5.”

In addition to the lists of microfilm holdings, a lot of other useful information is provided in the county listings:

Dates of creation and organization of the county²
Courthouse fires or other events that may have caused destruction of the records
County seat and zip code of the courthouse
Name of the institution to which loan requests are sent (address list begins on page 5)
Office of the custodian of the records (e.g., Office of the County Clerk)
Title of the record and inclusive dates (e.g., County Court Minutes, 1867-1915)
Notes regarding indexing, lost records, etc. (e.g., indexed in volume)
Reel number with inclusive dates and volume number(s) (This information appears on the reel boxes at Clayton.)
Page breaks (i.e., breaks in the records as they appear on the reels)

At the back of the guide is a summary chart listing the 254 counties in Texas “and one county (Greer) formerly part of Texas, but now in Oklahoma.” This listing also contains coordinates to the map on the frontispiece. Much to my surprise, I found 27 additional counties, which have been formed but never organized. Among them, Buchel, Encinal, and Foley had survey and tax records created.

When I was planning this article, I thought I would focus more on a specific county and its records. However, the guide is such a storehouse of information for Texas researchers that it seemed more important to give Texas County Records my undivided attention. See you at the Library!

NOTES

Clayton Library has the second edition of Texas County Records (Austin: Texas State Library, 1990). The call number is 976.4 T355 TEX.
It is important to note the creation date of the county you are researching. If your ancestor was in the area prior to the creation of the county, records related to him may be in the parent county records office or in the records office of a neighboring county.

END

Clayton Library has an extensive microfilm collection for the State of Texas, but donations for the acquisition of additional film are always welcomed. If you wish to make a cash donation for the acquisition of county records microfilm, please contact Pat Metcalfe at (713)721-7062 for further information.

Originally published as:

Suzanne (Susie) Sandlin Gay, "Texas County Records,"
The CLF Newsletter XII (February 1998): 7-8.

All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.

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