At least thirty-two counties that were established by Texas law no longer exist. These defunct counties fall into five categories:
Judicial counties;
Counties established by declaration of the Constitutional Convention of 1868-69;
Counties established by legislative act but never organized and later abolished by legislative act;
Counties established outside the present boundaries of Texas
Counties whose names have been changed.
The so-called judicial counties had the same status as constitutional counties except that they were not represented in the Congress of the Republic of Texas. County seats were established; county courts were organized; county judges, surveyors, and land commissioners were appointed. At the spring 1842 term of the Texas Supreme Court, in the case of Stockton v. Montgomery, judicial counties were declared unconstitutional, principally because the Constitution of 1836 specified that each county was entitled to at least one member in the House of Representatives. At its first session after the decision, the Republic of Texas Congress accepted the invalidity of the judicial counties but passed a law on July 18, 1842, that validated the acts of the surveyors and land commissioners of the defunct counties. The judicial counties were Burleson, Burnet, DeWitt, Guadalupe, Hamilton, La Baca, Madison, Menard, Neches, Panola, Paschal, Smith, Spring Creek, Trinity, Ward, and Waco. The Constitutional Convention of 1868-69, by declaration, attempted to organize Delta, Richland, Webster, and Latimer counties. Probably because of Texas prejudice against the radical Republican convention, the legislature never organized or legalized the counties, and three of them were never more than names. Delta County was reestablished by legislative act in 1870. The five counties authorized by the legislature but never organized were Buchel, Dawson, Encinal, Foley, and Wegefarth. Counties established outside the present boundaries of Texas were Greer, Worth, and Santa Fe, which were formed in areas that became parts of Oklahoma and New Mexico. Counties that were established under one name or functioned for a time under one name but have a different name at present include: Harrisburg County (changed to Harris County in 1839); Navasoto County (changed to Brazos County in 1842); Davis County (changed from Cass County in 1861 and back to Cass County in 1871); Buchanan County (changed to Stephens County in 1861); and Cibolo County (changed from Wilson to Cibolo and then back to Wilson County).
Buchel County, along with Foley, & Jeff Davis County were formed out of Presidio County
on 15 March 1887. In March of 1889, a legislative act passed attaching the county to
Brewster County. Although the then governor did not sign it into law, in 1897, Buchel County
was abolished.
Created in March 1887 out of Presidio County. The Texas legislature passed an act that created Foley, Buchel, and Jeff Davis counties out of part of Presidio County on March 15, 1887, shortly after passing a similar act making Brewster County from Presidio County. The original Brewster County occupied the northwestern portion of what is now Brewster County, and Foley County occupied most of the southern part. Foley and Buchel counties were not organized, however, and on March 22, 1889, the legislature passed an act attaching them to Brewster County for surveying purposes. Foley County had only twenty-five residents in 1890; thus it was one of the most sparsely settled counties in Texas. Seven years later the legislature passed a bill abolishing Foley and Buchel counties and attaching their territory to Brewster County; this bill was presented to Governor Charles A. Culberson on April 9, 1897, but he neither signed it nor returned it with his objections to the Senate within the constitutional time limit, so it became law without his signature. With the addition of the territory of Foley and Buchel counties, Brewster County became the largest county in Texas.
Harrisburg County, evolved from and named for the Municipality of Harrisburg, was established in 1836. In 1839 the name was changed to Harris County.
La Baca:
In early January 1842 the Sixth Congress of the Republic of Texas passed a joint resolution to establish and organize the county of La Baca. On January 12 President Sam Houston vetoed the resolution on the grounds that it was in violation of Section 5 of Article 1 of the Texas Constitution, which ensured each county representation in the House of Representatives. On January 29 the House voted to reconsider the resolution and, with the concurrence of the Senate, passed it over Houston's veto. At the same time the legislature attached the new county to the fourth judicial district of the republic. According to the resolution, the County of La Baca would contain parts of Fayette, Gonzales, Victoria, Jackson and Colorado counties. Joel Ponton, Richard Veal, James Brown, Thomas Chaudoin, and John Smothers were appointed commissioners and directed to hold elections and designate a county seat. The first Monday in February 1842 was chosen for the election of county officers. On February 5 the legislature postponed this election for one month. It also designated the home of Mrs. Margaret Hallett as the temporary site of the county and district courts. By this time, however, litigation testing the validity of the action was in the courts. The Supreme Court of the Republic of Texas agreed with Houston and in its 1842 term ruled that La Baca and all other "judicial counties" were unconstitutional. On July 18, 1842, the legislature passed an act validating land certificates, surveys, and patents that had been either issued or made in the judicial counties while they still functioned. Four years later, the County of La Vaca was established in place of La Baca, and, on July 13, 1846, immediately after the entrance of Texas into the Union, La Vaca County was formally organized.
Miller County, as created by an act of the Territorial Legislature of Arkansas on April 1, 1820, included most of what is now Miller County, Arkansas, and the Texas counties of Bowie, Red River, Lamar, Fannin, Cass, Morris, Titus, Franklin, Hopkins, Delta, and Hunt. The area, named for James Miller, territorial governor of Arkansas, was partially taken out of Hempstead County, where Stephen F. Austin had held court in 1820. The original county seat was in the John Hall house in the Gilliland settlement. In 1831 a five-man commission located the county seat at the Jonesborough plantation near what is now Clarksville, Texas. In 1836 Texas became a republic and Arkansas became a state. Most of the residents of the county considered themselves Texans; Travis G. Wright, Richard Ellis, and Bailey Inglishq were significant figures in the Republic of Texas. For a time the territory was represented in both the Arkansas Legislature and the Texas Congress. In 1837 Texas organized Red River County; Arkansas retaliated in 1838 by making it a misdemeanor for a citizen in the county to hold an office in the Republic. Texas then created and organized Fannin County in 1838. Arkansas failed in an attempt to establish a county court and attach the area to Lafayette County. Annexation of Texas to the United States in 1845 settled the approximate boundary between Texas and Arkansas. In December 1874 Miller County was created out of that part of Lafayette County lying west and south of the Red River, and Texarkana, Arkansas, was made the county seat.
Navasota:
Created January 1841 from Washington & Robertson Counties, the name changed to Brazos County in 1842
Neches:
Neches County was established for judicial and other purposes on January 29, 1841. Its area included all of what is now Orange County, the south half of the future Jasper County, and the south half of what is now Newton County; Madison was to be the county seat. Neches County was abolished by a Texas Supreme Court decision, Stockton v. Montgomery (1842), which declared all judicial counties unconstitutional.
Paschal:
Paschal County, established for judicial and other purposes on January 28, 1841, included all of the area of future Hopkins, Franklin, Titus, Morris, and Cass counties and most of future Marion County. The county seat, to be selected by county commissioners, was to be named Dangerfield. Paschal County was abolished by a Texas Supreme Court decision, Stockton v. Montgomery (1842), which declared judicial counties unconstitutional.
Santa Fe:
Santa Fe County, established on March 15, 1848, included practically all of the area of New Mexico claimed by the Republic of Texas and later by the state of Texas. At the time it was established, the Texas Legislature passed a joint resolution laying before the United States Congress the fact that Santa Fe County was a part of Texas and authorizing the governor of Texas to issue a proclamation to organize the county. The territory was made the eleventh judicial district of Texas on March 20, 1848, and Spruce M. Baird was appointed chief justice, but he never held a court. In October 1848 citizens of the area held a mass meeting at Santa Fe to protest incorporation with Texas, partially because Texas was a slave state and partially because of long animosity between the area and the Texas government. In 1849 Governor Peter H. Bell threatened to claim the area by force, and in January 1850 Santa Fe County was subdivided into Worth, El Paso, Presidio, and Santa Fe counties. Robert S. Neighbors made an unsuccessful trip to organize the counties. On November 25, 1850, in compliance with a section of the Compromise of 1850, Texas ceded to the United States, for $10,000,000, her claims to the upper Rio Grande area. Worth and Santa Fe counties became defunct, and El Paso and Presidio counties were reduced in area.
Spring Creek:
Spring Creek County, established for judicial and other purposes on January 21, 1841, included parts of the future Grimes, Montgomery, and Harris counties. It was named for the creek that ran through its center; the county seat was to be named Greenville. The county was abolished by a Texas Supreme Court decision, Stockton v. Montgomery (1842), which declared judicial counties unconstitutional.
Waco:
Waco County, as established for judicial and other purposes on January 29, 1842, embraced the area of present Falls County. Viesca was named the county seat. Waco County was abolished by a Texas Supreme court decision, Stockton v. Montgomery (1842), which made all judicial counties unconstitutional.
Wegefarth:
Wegefarth County, established by the Texas legislature on June 2, 1873, was named for C. Wegefarth, president of the Texas Immigrant Aid and Supply Company. The territory of the county lay in a disputed area west of Greer County in the eastern Panhandle of Texas. Wegefarth County was abolished by the act of legislature on August 21, 1876, which established the other Panhandle counties.
Texas, one of the West South Central states of the United States. It borders Mexico on the southwest and the Gulf of Mexico on the southeast. To the west is New Mexico, to the north and northeast lie Oklahoma and Arkansas, and Louisiana bounds Texas on the east. Austin is the capital of Texas. Houston is the largest city. The Official State Website is www.state.tx.us/
Texas is the size of Ohio, Indiana, and all the New England and Middle Atlantic states combined, and its vast area encompasses forests, mountains, deserts and dry plains, and a long, humid, subtropical coastal lowland. Texas’s wealth of mineral resources is almost unequaled among the other states. The rapid economic development stimulated by these resources and the state’s vast size have made Texas an American legend. Oil wells, chemicals, ranches, and cattle have played a major part in that legend.
For more than 100 years, Texas was part of the Spanish Empire in America. When Mexico gained its independence from Spain in 1821, Texas was for a while joined to Mexico. The section from San Antonio southward retains the flavor of the Hispano-Mexican period in its architecture, foods, and festivals.
The name Texas is derived from tejas or teyas, the rendering by the Spanish in the mid-16th century of the Caddo people’s word for friends or allies. It gradually became used to denote the region north of the Río Grande and east of New Mexico, and was officially applied as Texas when the area was organized as a republic in 1836. Texas was an independent republic until it joined the Union on December 29, 1845, as the 28th state. Its single-star flag dates from its independent period and has given Texas the nickname the Lone Star State.
The destruction of courthouses greatly affects genealogists in every way. No only are these historic structures torn from our lives, so are the records they housed: marriage, wills, probate, land records, and others. Once destroyed they are lost forever. Even if they have been placed on mircofilm, computers and film burn too. The most heartbreaking side of this is the fact that many of our courthouses are destroyed at the hands of arsonist. However, not all records were lost.
Below is a list of Texas Counties and the years the Courthouses were subjected to a disaster. This does NOT mean that ALL RECORDS were lost. Often, folks took their documents again in for recording after a disaster and later deeds will contain long chains of title, etc.
Hardin County - burned about 1886. Early county records were destroyed in the conflagration
Hood County - In 1875 fire destroyed the courthouse in Granbury. Most records were destroyed.
Hopkins County - built in 1882, was destroyed on Feb. 11, 1894 by a fire that also burned the jail and several nearby structures.
Houston County - A brick building, which replaced the first courthouse in 1851, was destroyed by a fire of mysterious origin in 1865. The third courthouse and jail burned in 1882. Most early records were destroyed
Hunt County - Destroyed by a fire, in 1883 which heavily damaged the town's commercial district. Some early records destroyed
Shelby County - Courthouse destroyed by a fire, in 1882. All earlier records destroyed with the exception of some Land Records
Tarrant County - Courthouse burned in a fire in 1876 which destroyed all county documents
Trinity County - In 1873 the courthouse at Sumpter burned with most of the county records.
