Texas State Facts & Information

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.

Native American tribes resided in the area when present-day Texas was settled in 1682 by the Spanish at Isleta, near present-day El Paso. Between 1685 and 1700, Franciscan missions and Spanish military outposts (or presidios) were established in east Texas at Nacagdoches, Goliad, and San Antonio. In 1718 San Antonio, with its military post and mission, became the administrative headquarters of the region under Spanish jurisdiction. The province of Texas was established in 1727 with vaguely defined boundaries. Groups of colonists supplemented the population of soldiers and priests, particularly in San Antonio but in smaller numbers elsewhere. Early municipalities were organized in Texas under the Spanish and Mexican governments. Between 1731 and 1836 twenty-nine political subdivisions were founded completely or partially in Texas.

As a result of the Louisiana purchase in 1803, a boundary dispute erupted with Spain over the Louisiana-Texas border. Spain claimed land east to the Red River, while the United States contended its territory expanded west to the Sabine River. The dispute reached a temporary compromise when a region of neutral ground was established in 1806. Because neither country had jurisdiction over this area, it became a haven for outlaws.

Louisiana Catholics were encouraged to emigrate and settle in Texas, and Spanish officials loosened traditional barriers against alien immigration. The Sabine River was accepted as the western boundary of Louisiana in 1819, although border problems continued. The next year Arkansas Territory organized Miller County, partially inside Texas.

Mexico gained its independence from Spain in 1821, and claimed the area of today's Texas. The new Mexican government, while insisting that only immigrants of Roman Catholic faith were desired, did permit American settlers to enter under the auspices of certain grantees (impresarios).

Beginning about 1809, Quapaw, Osage, and Oto tribes were transported to the region. Large groups from Tennessee and Arkansas migrated into Texas beginning in the 1820s. Others from Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Kentucky followed. The municipality of Refugio was created in 1825, followed by Austin in 1827, Goliad about 1828, and Nacogdoches and Liberty in 1831.

Stephen F. Austin, the first American impresario, inherited his father's grant and established a colony in Texas which was part of the new nation of Mexico. His colonists were among the first Anglo-Americans to settle in present-day Texas. Boundaries were undefined and colonists spread from the coast to the old San Antonio road and from the Lavaca to the San Jacinto rivers. Austin's colony was the stimulus for others to follow.

Contracts from the Mexican government continued to be issued through 1832. Duplication of granted land and undefined boundaries complicated land titles. The number of early municipalities, organized in the eighteenth century under Spanish and Mexican governments, were increased in the 1830s. A comparison of the names of the last and first municipalities reflects the great influx of Americans into present-day Texas by that time.

Families from South Carolina and Georgia migrated overland through Alabama and Mississippi to Texas; others left Alabama and Mississippi for Texas. Some traveled by ship from the port at New Orleans to Galveston and Indianola.

General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna led his Mexican troops against American forces. The ensuing military conflict included the Battle of the Alamo. Four days before the decisive victory at San Jacinto, the Republic of Texas was established on 2 March 1836.

By 1836 American citizens residing in the state were actively promoting statehood for Texas. To encourage immigration the Republic of Texas offered colonization contracts beginning in 1841. After some boundaries were defined and settled, Congress accepted the Republic of Texas into the Union in 1845 as the twenty-eighth state.

This incited the Mexicans and led to the Mexican War, 1846-48, which was fought over and on Texas soil. The Mexican government hoped to retain Texas and other territory in the southwest which both countries claimed, including California. The United States was victorious and made good its claims to the southwest. To make the area suitable for extending settlements a number of fortifications were built by the federal government to protect settlers from the native Americans. Conflict with native Americans continued intermittently through the early decades of statehood.

Prior to 1850, over 30,000 Germans had settled in Texas. Sympathies were divided among Texans over the slavery and states' rights issues that preceded the hostilities between the North and the South. Over the objections of Gov. Samuel Houston and the German settlers, Texas seceded from the Union and joined the Confederacy, supplying many soldiers to the Confederate army. Texas was readmitted in 1866.

Expansion of cotton production, livestock, wheat growing, and oil provided great stimuli for growth. Several groups of European immigrants settled in Texas, including Czechs, Poles, Germans, Swedes, Norwegians, and Irish. During the Depression, the Post Cereal Company offered inexpensive land in west Texas for those who would contract to grow grain for the company's products. The state has continued to be a destination point for its Mexican neighbors seeking employment in farm and industry.

Native American - The most significant tribes represented in the state include Comanche, Kiowa, Arapaho, Crow, Wichita, Ute, and Creek. Other tribes in Texas include Arkokosa, Attacapa, Caddo, Coahuiltecan, Karankawa, Nacogdoches, Nasoni, Neche, and Tonkawa. Most of those remaining in Texas in 1859 were forcibly removed to Indian Territory. During 1875 the surviving Comanche surrendered to federal forces. The Alabama-Coushatta Indian Reservation remains in the state.

Records for Native Americans in Texas after 1845 are on file in the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs and in Bureau records in the National Archives. Those records in the Texas State Archives pertaining to Native Americans are usually insignificant for genealogical purposes. A better collection is housed by the
Oklahoma Historical Society
Indian Archives Division
Historical Building
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105.

Republic of Texas Settlers - The Republic of Texas ceased to exist when President Anson Jones handed over the reins of government to the United States of America on 19 February 1846. Descent from one of Austin's Old Three Hundred or other residents of Texas prior to that date has always been a genealogical asset.

Latinos - There were two distinct Spanish colonies in present-day Texas during the early stage of the area's settlement. Although discouraged by Apache and Comanche, the Tejas colony was founded with a mission in 1690; it was located along the Nueces River and then north and east, near present-day Crockett. The other colony was that of Nuevo Santander in the Rio Grande Valley. Twenty-four settlements were established between 1749 and 1755.

Mexican population increased slowly in the state. In the early 1800s the Tejas population was less than 5,000, concentrated near San Antonio, Goliad, and Nacogdoches. In 1835, the population of the Nuevo Santander settlements had increased to 15,000. After statehood Latinos in Texas faced difficulties such as property rights, justice in the American court system, and differences in religion, language, and custom. The 1850 federal census shows that Latinos represented only 5 percent of the state's population.

During the Civil War, approximately 3,000 Tejanos enlisted in the Confederate Army, but many deserted. Other Tejanos joined the Union Army. The state's constitutional convention of 1868 authorized bounty-land grants for Union service: eight acres for six months service and 320 acres for service of one year or longer. Many Latinos who served for the Union became U.S. citizens during Reconstruction.

During the 1920s there were waves of migration from Mexico into Texas and other southwestern states. In 1960 Latinos numbered 1,448,900 in Texas, the highest concentrations in three counties: Hidalgo, Bexar, and El Paso.

In 1972 the legislature established a uniform statewide system for preservation of records in regional historical resources depositories. Under this act, the Local Records Division of the Texas State Library collects and maintains city, county, and local government records; these are available to the public. Michael Heskett, Texas County Records: A Guide to the Holdings of the Local Records Division of the Texas State Library of County Records on Microfilm (1978; 2d ed., Austin, Tex.: Texas State Library, 1990), is a valuable guide.

• Newspapers & Periodicals - The Newspapers & Periodicals Collection lets you discover a wealth of information about your ancestors from many historical newspapers, magazines, and other periodicals. These types of sources can often supplement public records and provide information that is not recorded anywhere else. Here, you can learn more about your ancestor's possible daily activities by placing them in the context of their time.
• Directories & Member Lists - Directories and member lists are typically compilations of information about people who belonged to various associations and groups or lived within city boundaries. They can be thought of as the predecessors to the modern-day phone book and usually list names, addresses, and sometimes the occupations of your ancestors.
• Stories, Memories & Histories - Stories and histories compiled by others researching a person or area can be an amazing source of information about your ancestors. Not only do they generally contain dates and places of vital events like birth, marriage, and death, but they often relate stories and memories that help you really get to know the character of your ancestors.
• Family Trees - Ancestry has thousands of family trees shared by other members. They can help you identify how ancestors are related and give you clues about birth, marriage, and death information. Family trees are an excellent resource for filling in gaps in your research or even to simply know where to begin.
• Pictures - One of the more exciting discoveries in doing family history research is finding a photograph of your ancestors or their residence. Finding historic postcard photos and drawings of towns and important events throughout history can also give you a visual look into your ancestors lives.
• Reference Materials & Finding Aids - Reference materials, including dictionaries, encyclopedias, and other how-to books, can be tremendously helpful in finding and interpreting historical documents. Many of these books can help you learn where to look for more information and how to use what you've already found to uncover more clues.

Texas County List

 

County records, such as land and property records, probate records and wills, marriage records, naturalization papers, and district court minutes, are micro filmed and kept in a depository designated for the county's respective area. Thus there is no one state depository with a complete set of records.

Each of the twenty-six depositories has some original records and manuscripts concerning that particular region. In some instances micro filming of county records has not been done. Inventories of the records available in nearly eighty of the 254 county courthouses have been made. Many Texas counties have suffered a loss of records due to courthouse fires, floods, and theft. This is reflected in the earliest dates for record availability.

The first date in the county record dates that follows is the creation date. It is sometimes followed by a second date indicating the date of organization, the date from which a researcher can expect to find vital, land, probate, and court records for each county. Some counties were organized twice. Although twenty-seven additional counties were created by the legislature, none were organized. Of these only Buchel, Encinal, and Foley counties had records. Buchel and Foley were incorporated into Brewster County, while Encinal was included in Webb County. Deeds are located through the county clerk, probates at the county clerk's or the probate clerk's office in larger counties, and court records through the county or district court clerk. Letters should be addressed to the appropriate clerk. Choose from the counties below to view the county information.

Texas Discontinued Counties

 

At least thirty-two counties that were established by Texas law no longer exist. These defunct counties fall into five categories:

1. Judicial counties;
2. Counties established by declaration of the Constitutional Convention of 1868-69;
3. Counties established by legislative act but never organized and later abolished by legislative act;
4. Counties established outside the present boundaries of Texas
5. 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).

• Buchanan County: Formed in 1858, Renamed Stephens County in 1861
• Buchel 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.
• Cibilo County: Between 1869 and 1874 Wilson County was called Cibilo County
• Davis County: Formed as Cass County, Called Davis County from 1861-May 1871, Renamed Cass County
• Encinal County: Formed in 1856 never organized. Abolished in 1899 and incorporated into Webb County
• Foley County: 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.
• Greer County: Formed in 1860 from Young County, Organized in 1886. Now located in Oklahoma
• Harrisburg County: 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: 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 County: Created January 1841 from Washington & Robertson Counties, the name changed to Brazos County in 1842
• Neches County: 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 County: 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 County: 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 County: 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 County: 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 County: 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.

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Texas Burned Courthouses

 

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.

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