Jones County, Texas
History, Records, Facts and Genealogy

Jones County Facts

Jones County was created in February 1, 1858 (Organized in 1881) and formed from Bexar and Bosque Counties. Jones County was named for Anson Jones, the fifth president of the Republic of Texas. The County Seat is Anson. The Official County website is located at http://www.co.jones.tx.us/. See also Extended History for more historical details.

Areas adjacent to Jones County are Haskell County (north), Shackelford County (east), Callahan County (southeast), Taylor County (south), Fisher County (west), Stonewall County (northwest)

During the interval that the county seat was moved from Phantom Hill to Jones City in 1881, court was held at the home of W.H. Smith, County Clerk. Shortly after, Frank Huie brought an ox-drawn wagonload of lumber from Abilene (twenty miles south), to Anson, to build a 24 by 32 foot box and strip courthouse. Soon the little courthouse became too small and a more prestigious building was purchased in 1884. This was a two-story building on Block 10, Lot 4 of the city plat that had been built for a hotel. The building cost $2,250 to purchase. Within two years, 1886, a new brick building was erected in the center of town, with the building and grounds occupying all of Block 15. The brick was made in the county and the cost of the building was $23,000. This building also housed a jail. This new courthouse was centrally located in the public square, and aligned along the main north-south street, Commercial.

By 1910 the 1886 courthouse proved too small for a rapidly growing county. Jones County population, which had risen steadily from 546 in 1880 to 7,053 in 1900, reached 24,299 by 1910. This dramatic growth was made possible by the arrival of several railroads in Jones County, including the Texas Central, Wichita Valley, and Abilene and Southern railroads. The Commissioners met in November and December 1909 and planned a new courthouse. They chose Elmer G. Withers as their architect, and gave him free reign to do as he thought best. Withers had grown up in Stamford, 15 miles to the north, and had an office in Fort Worth. He was paid 3% of the total cost of the courthouse, which brought his share to $2,568.81. On March 3, 1910, a bid of $84,469 was let to the Texas Building Company of Fort Worth, James T. Taylor, President. After some deliberations on materials, the bid was increased to $85,627 on March 7, 1910. The Commissioners Court chose Pecos red sandstone and Frazer Johnson quality (1) No. 530 face brick for the exteriors.

Jones County, Texas History Books at Amazon.com
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Jones County Court Records

Jones County Vital Records

Jones County Census Records

Jones County Maps & Atlases

Jones County Military Records

Jones County Tax Records

Jones County Genealogical Addresses

Jones County Church & Cemeteries

Family Trees & Genealogy Tidbits

The use of published genealogies, electronic files containing genealogical lineage, and other compiled sources can be of tremendous value to a researcher.

When view family trees online or not, be sure to only take the info at face value and always follow up with your own sources or verify the ones they provide. Below is a list of online resources for Jones County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Jones County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:

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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.
Jones County, Texas Family Books at Amazon.com

Extended History

In the years before Anglo settlement, several nomadic groups roamed the area that would eventually become Jones County, including the Comanche, Kiowa, and Tonkawa Indians. Caddos and Delawares camped along the Clear Fork, and Wichitas occasionally hunted in the area. Large herds of bison provided food and other necessities for these Indian groups. The earliest white settlement of Jones County was in 1851 when Fort Phantom Hill, near the site of present Hawley, was established as one of a line of forts from the Red River to the Rio Grande. These military outposts guarded the frontier and furnished protection to Forty-niners following the Randolph B. Marcy trail across Texas. Supplies were hauled from Austin. The fort was abandoned in 1854, and in 1858 the location was made a station on the Butterfield Overland Mail route from St. Louis to San Francisco. Jones County was established on February 1, 1858, from Bexar and Bosque counties. During the Civil War Indian raids forced the frontier back to the east, and the area was not settled for another fifteen years. In 1872 the military post was reestablished, and a settlement was made on a stream four miles distant. The actions of Ranald S. Mackenzie and federal troops removed the Indian threat in the mid-1870s. Buffalo hunters were followed by bone haulers, and the last buffalo was seen in the county in 1879. Owners of herds of longhorn cattle moved in to take advantage of the grass-covered range. In 1873 Creed, John, and Emmett Roberts and Mode and J. G. Johnson established ranches in the area of Fort Phantom Hill. Other early ranches included the T-Diamond, established in 1876, and the Ericsdale Ranch of the Swenson Land and Cattle Company, established in 1882 (see SMS RANCHES). In 1880 John Merchant built a mesquite corral at the site of the future county seat, and Henry Foster put up the first wire fence in the county. The population of Jones County reached 546 that year, and when the county was organized in 1881 Jones City was declared the county seat. In 1882 the name of the county seat was changed to Anson.

Farmers arrived in the county soon after the ranchers, and the area had 1,191 acres in cultivation by 1880. The population increased more than seven-fold during the 1880s, reaching 3,797 in 1890, while the number of cultivated acres increased to 60,120. In spite of occasional drought conditions, farmers grew cotton, corn, wheat, and oats. By 1900 Jones County had a population of 7,049 and 820 farms and ranches. Cattle ranching continued to grow alongside of farming, and the number of cattle increased from 20,779 in 1890 to 39,924 in 1900. The county experienced its most spectacular growth between 1900 and 1910, when the population increased to an all time high of 24,299 and a total of almost a quarter million acres were brought under cultivation. This dramatic growth was made possible by the extension of several railroads into the county. In 1900 the Texas Central Railroad built from Albany across the northeast corner of the county, leading to the growth of two new communities, Stamford and Lueders. The Wichita Valley Railroad built south through the middle of the county in 1907. In 1911 the Abilene and Southern built from Anson to Hamlin, a new community in the northwest corner of the county. Cotton had become the dominant crop by the early 1900s. Acreage devoted to cotton increased from just over 25,000 acres in 1900 to 110,458 acres in 1910 and 245,298 acres, more than two-thirds of the land in cultivation in the county, in 1930. Farm tenancy rates grew with the increased dependence on cotton. While only 21 percent of the county's farmers rented their land in 1890, by 1910 57 percent were tenants, and by 1930, when tenant farming reached its peak, 68 percent of the 2,800 farmers were tenants. The county population fell slightly between 1910 and 1920 to 22,323, then rose once more to 24,233 in 1930.

Oil was discovered in 1926 at the Noodle Creek oilfield southwest of Anson. While there was never a boom in the county, productive new fields continued to be opened in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, and by 1990 a total of 206,770,955 barrels of oil had been produced. Several oil-processing plants were opened in the 1930s, and the development of the oil industry helped mitigate the effects of the Great Depression. While the value of farms dropped over 40 percent between 1930 and 1940 and there were 700 fewer farms at the end of the decade, the county population fell only slightly, to 23,378. In 1937 the construction of Fort Phantom Hill Dam was begun on Elm Creek near the southeast corner of the county. The area covered by the reservoir was annexed by the growing city of Abilene. The county economy became more diversified in the 1940s, as cattle ranching regained some of its importance and farmers increasingly turned to crops like sorghum and wheat. As the population slowly declined and the number of farms continued to drop, farm tenancy declined to 42 percent by 1950 and 36 percent in 1960.

In the 1970s, for the first time in the county's history, manufacturing made up a sizable part of the economy. In 1972 thirteen establishments employed 2,000 workers. Agriculture remained important. In 1982, 94 percent of the land was in farms and ranches, with 52 percent of the farmland under cultivation and 4 percent irrigated. Primary crops were wheat, cotton, sorghum, hay, and oats, and primary livestock and products were cattle, sheep, wool, and hogs. The industries with the most employment were agribusiness and trucking, oil and gas extraction, and the manufacturing of gypsum products. In 1990 the county remained a center of cotton, wheat, and cattle production. The most important minerals produced were oil, sand and gravel, and stone.

The population of the county continued to fall in the middle decades of the twentieth century, declining to 19,299 in 1960 and 16,106 in 1970. It recovered somewhat in the 1970s to reach 17,268 in 1980, then declined again to 16,490 in 1990. Since the 1870s the population has been overwhelmingly white. Blacks made up about 2 percent of the population in the 1920s and 1930s, rising to about 5 percent in 1950 and declining to 4 percent in 1990. The county was about 3 percent Hispanic by 1930 and almost 17 percent by 1990. From their first presidential election in 1884 through 1992 the voters in Jones County have generally chosen Democratic candidates. They supported Republican candidates in 1928, 1952, 1972, 1984, and 1988.

Education has always been an important part of the history of Jones County, which by 1905 had forty-two schools serving 3,000 pupils. Educational levels improved dramatically in the second half of the twentieth century. While only 13 percent of the population had completed high school in 1950, some 58 percent were high school graduates in 1980. In 1990 Anson, the county seat, had 2,644 residents, or 16 percent of the county's population. Other incorporated communities included Stamford (3,781 in Jones County, partly in Haskell County), Hamlin (2,788 in Jones County, partly in Fisher County), Hawley (606), and Lueders (365 in Jones County, partly in Shackelford County). The portion of the city of Abilene that extends up into Jones County from Taylor County has 797 residents. Jones County offers a number of historic events and recreational opportunities. At the site of old Fort Phantom Hill two events, the Cowboys' Christmas Ball and the Texas Cowboy Reunion, draw visitors. The Texas Forts trail passes through the county, and there are recreational parks for boating and fishing on several of the county's lakes and reservoirs, especially around Lake Phantom Hill.

Jones County, Texas
History, Records, Facts and Genealogy

Jones County Court Records

See Also Texas Land Records, Marriage Records, Court & Probate Records

Jones County Vital Records

See Also Vital Records in Texas

Jones County Census Records

See Also Research In Census Records & Statewide Records that exist for Texas

Jones County Maps & Atlases

See Also Research In State Map Collections

Jones County Military Records

See Also Military Records in Texas

Jones County Tax Records

See Also Research In Tax Records

Jones County Genealogical Addresses

See Also Other Texas Genealogical Addresses

Jones County Church & Cemeteries

See Also Church & Cemetery Records in Texas

Family Trees & Genealogy Tidbits

Extended History

Jones County, Texas History, Records, Facts and Genealogy

Jones County Court Records

See Also Texas Land Records, Marriage Records, Court & Probate Records

Jones County Vital Records

See Also Vital Records in Texas

Jones County Census Records

See Also Research In Census Records & Statewide Records that exist for Texas

Jones County Maps & Atlases

See Also Research In State Map Collections

Jones County Military Records

See Also Military Records in Texas

Jones County Tax Records

See Also Research In Tax Records

Jones County Genealogical Addresses

See Also Other Texas Genealogical Addresses

Jones County Church & Cemeteries

See Also Church & Cemetery Records in Texas

Family Trees & Genealogy Tidbits

Extended History

Jones County, Texas
History, Records, Facts and Genealogy