Cochran County was created in 1876
(Organized in 1924)
and formed from Bexar and Young Territories. Cochran County was named for Robert E. Cochran, a defender of the Alamo. The County Seat is Morton. The Official County website is located at http://www.co.cochran.tx.us. See also Extended History for more historical details.
The Cochran County courthouse was built of brick and glass in 1926 in Texas Renaissance ttyle. It was constructed at a cost of $126,000 by the W.M. Rae and Sampson Construction companies. The original design, by W. P. Kaufman, was altered by a 1968 Contemporary style remodeling.
PLEASE READ!! Please call the clerk's department to confirm hours, mailing address, fees and other specifics before visiting or requesting information because of sometimes changing contact information.
Cochran County Clerk has Court Records from 1924, Land Records from 1924, Probate Records from 1924, Marriage Records from 1924 and Birth/Death Records from 1924 is located at 100 N. Main, Courthouse Room 102, Morton, TX 79346-2558; Telephone: (806) 266-8843 . The County Clerk's Office is the record keeper of the county. The county records include birth certificates, death certificates, marriage licenses, brand registrations, DD214s (military discharges), land / real estate / property records, probate and civil filings.
Below is a list of online resources for Cochran County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Cochran County Court Records by clicking the link below:
Texas Immigration & Emigration Records - Immigration records help the family historian to understand the movements of their ancestry as they relocated to different parts of the world.
Click Here to Search Texas Birth, Marriage & Death Records! - Birth, marriage, and death records are connected with central life events. They are prime sources for genealogical information. Look also for baptism, christening, and burial records in this collection.
Vital Records,1100 West 49th Street,
Austin, TX 78756, Please allow up to approximately 6-8 weeks for processing of all type of certificates when ordered through the mail. They have the following records:
Birth Certificates: Birth records maintained by Bureau of Vital Statistics, Dept. of Health since 1903 through the present. For births that occurred within the past 75 years, copies can be requested only by the immediate family of the person whose name is on the birth certificate.
Cost: The cost of a birth record is $22.00. If no record is found or no copy is made, state law requires that we keep $22.00 for a searching fee. Please do not send cash in the mail.
Processing Time: 6-8 weeks when ordered by MAIL or 2-5 Days when you order ELECTRONICALLY
Death Certificates: Death records maintained by Bureau of Vital Statistics, Dept. of Health since 1903 through the present.
For deaths that occurred in the past 25 years, copies can be requested only by immediate family members of the deceased.
Cost: The cost of a certified death certificate is $20.00 for the first copy and $3.00 for each additional copy issued at the same time for the same certificate. If no record is found or no copy is made, state law requires that we keep $20.00 for a searching fee. Please do not send cash in the mail.
Processing Time: 6-8 weeks when ordered by MAIL or 2-5 Days when you order ELECTRONICALLY
Marriage & Divorce Certificates: Marriage Verifications from Jan 1966 and Divorce Verifications from Jan 1968. Certified copies of marriage licenses or divorce decrees are only available from the county clerk (marriage) or district clerk (divorce) in the county or district in which the event occurred. Marriage verification or divorce verification letters can now be ordered ELECTRONICALLY
Cost: $20 - Fee is for verification only.
Processing Time: 6-8 weeks when ordered by MAIL or 2-5 Days when you order ELECTRONICALLY
Order Online: You can also order Order Electronically and get the certificates within 2-5 days by ordering below
Order In Person: The certificates may be ordered by coming into this office. If you want the copy the same day, our hours for same day service are 8:00 A.M. until 5:00 P.M. Monday – Friday. The Texas Vital Statistics Office in Austin is located at 1100 W. 49th Street,
Austin, TX 78756.
Order By Mail: Mail a check or money order (no cash) payable to the "Texas Vital Records " along with the necessary information to the following address: Texas Vital Records, Department of State Health Services, PO Box 12040,
Austin TX 78711-2040. Please include return address on envelope and application form.
Search the Social Security Death Index for FREE - Search over 82 million death records and get genealogical information crucial to your family research. New content added weekly! Most comprehensive SSDI site online!
Research Death records In The World's Largest Newspaper Archive at NewpaperArchive.com! - Find thousands of historical Texas newspaper articles about deaths. Search for local articles about an old family friend that died many years ago or a celebrity that committed suicide. Historical newspapers contain a wealth of information about the deceased.
Texas Birth Certificates, 1903-10, 1926-29 - Browse by county, then year, then surname, beginning with the first letters of the last name of the person you seek. If you're unsure of the year or location, use the search box under the browse menu. These records can be searched by father's first and last names, mother's first and maiden names, year, county, and city. The certificates include the child and parents' full names, residence, occupations, age, time and date of the birth, and the name of the physician attending the birth.
Texas Death Certificates, 1890-1976 - These records are searchable by first and last name of the deceased, year, county, and city. A certificate may include the decedent's date, place, and cause of death; age; date of birth; last residence; and marital status. If known, it will also include occupation, birth place, parents' names, and place of burial. Browse by county, then year, then surname, beginning with the first letters of the last name of the person you seek. If unsure of the year or location, use the search box under the browse menu.
Click Here to Search Texas Voter Lists & Census Records! - Few, if any, records reveal as many details about individuals and families as do government census records. Substitute records can be used when the official census is unavailable.
Countywide Records: Federal Population Schedules that exist for Cochran County, Texas are 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1890 (fragment, see below), 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930. The Texas State Library holds microfilm editions for all of Texas' federal censuses. Although the 1850, 1860, and part of the 1870 mortality schedules have been published, all the original mortality schedules are at the Texas State Library and on microfilm The 1830 territorial census of Miller County, Arkansas, enumerates an area that is in today's Texas boundaries. The remaining 1890 population schedules which exist for Texas include: Ellis County (Justice Precinct 6, Mountain Peak, and Ovilla Precinct); Hood County (Precinct 5); Rusk County (No. 6 and Justice Precinct No. 7); Trinity County (town of Trinity and Justice Precinct 2); and Kaufman County (Kaufman). Although Greer County in present-day Oklahoma functioned as part of Texas between 1886 and 1896, the 1890 census for this county was enumerated under Oklahoma Territory.
Other Federal Schedules to look at when researching your family tree in Cochran County, Texas are Industry and Agriculture Schedules availible for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. Slave Schedules exist for 1850 & 1860. The Mortality Schedules for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. There are free downloadable and printable Census forms to help with your research. These include U.S. Census Extraction Forms and U.K. Census Extraction Forms
Below is a list of online resources for Cochran County Census Records. Email us with websites containing Cochran County Census Records by clicking the link below:
Genealogy Atlas has images of old American atlases during the years 1795, 1814, 1822, 1823, 1836, 1838, 1845, 1856, 1866, 1879 and 1897 for Arkansas and other states.
You can view rotating animated maps for Texas showing all the county boundaries for each census year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries. You can view a list of maps for other states at Census Maps
You can view rotating animated maps for Texas showing all the county boundary changes for each year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries. You can view a list of maps for other states and State Department of Transportation Maps at County Maps.
Below is a list of online resources for Cochran County Maps. Email us with websites containing Cochran County Maps by clicking the link below:
Click Here to Search Texas Military Records! - Military and civil service records provide unique facts and insights into the lives of men and women who have served their country at home and abroad.
The uses and value of military records in genealogical research for ancestors who were veterans are obvious, but military records can also be important to re-searchers whose direct ancestors were not soldiers in any war. The fathers, grandfathers, brothers, and other close relatives of an ancestor may have served in a war, and their service or pension records could contain information that will assist in further identifying the family of primary interest. Due to the amount of genealogical information contained in some military pension files, they should never be overlooked during the research process. Those records not containing specific genealogical information are of historic value and should be included in any overall research design.
Below is a list of online resources for Cochran County Military Records. Email us with websites containing Cochran County Military Records by clicking the link below:
Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783 (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents in NARA publication M246 include muster rolls, payrolls, strength returns, and other miscellaneous personnel, pay, and supply records of American Army units, 1775-83.
Southern Claims Commission from the State of Texas (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents In the 1870s, southerners claimed compensation from the U.S. government for items used by the Union Army, ranging from corn and horses, to trees and church buildings.
Texas tax records constitute one of the most complete sets of available records generated at the county level (by the Commissioners Court) because these documents are maintained by the state. These lists may only include approximately sixty percent of eligible males over the age of twenty-one. Persons exempted from taxes included native Americans, "idiots," "incompetents," and those exempted because of age. This final category of exemptions varied over time. Years without an older age exemption were 1840 and 1862-70. Between 1841-44 exemptions began at forty-five years; in 1845 and from 1850-61 the upward age was set at fifty years. In 1837, 1848, and 1849 the limit was established as fifty-five, and in 1846-7, and 1871 the upward limit was set at sixty years.
Texas Ad Valorem (poll, personal, and real property) tax records for 1836 through 1976 are available in microfilm at the Texas State Library from the date of respective county organization; these are arranged by county and date and are somewhat alphabetized within each division. Microfilm copies are housed in the Genealogy Section. Tax lists for the various counties from creation to 1901 may be borrowed through interlibrary loan. Tax records through 1901-1947 are readily accessible, but not on interlibrary loan. Those for 1948 through 1976 can be obtained upon request.
Below is a list of online resources for Cochran County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Cochran County Tax Records by clicking the link below:
The Repositories
in this section are Archives, Libraries, Museums, Genealogical
and Historical Societies. Many County Historical and Genealogical
Societies publish magazines and/or news letters on a monthly,
quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis. Contacting the local societies
should not be over looked. State Archives and Societies are
usually much larger and better organized with much larger archived
materials than their smaller county cousins but they can be
more generalized and over look the smaller details that local
societies tend to have. Libraries can also be a good place to
look for local information. Some libraries have a genealogy
section and may have some resources that are not located at
archives or societies. Also, take a special look at any museums
in the area. They sometimes have photos and items from years
gone by as well as information of a genealogical interest. All
these places are vitally important to the family genealogist
and must not be passed over.
Below is a list of online resources for Cochran County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Cochran County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:
Texas State Library and Archives Commission, P.O. Box 12927, Austin, TX 78711-2927 Holdings under the auspices of the Texas State Library are divided. Most important for genealogical research are the Texas State Archives with its Local Records Department, the Records Management Division, and the Information Services Division, which includes a Genealogy Section and a Reference Department.
The Genealogy Section maintains vertical ties that contain notes, clippings, pamphlets, and correspondence on Texas families. These files may be accessed in person, by phone (512-463-5463, forty-five minute limit), or through correspondence.
Texas Historical Commision The Texas Historical Commission (THC) is the state agency for historic preservation. THC staff consults with citizens and organizations to preserve Texas' architectural, archeological and cultural landmarks. The agency is recognized nationally for its preservation programs.
Texas Newspapers & Periodicals Records - Newspapers and periodicals are the diaries of local communities. They are excellent sources of family history details - often recorded nowhere else. Look for obituaries, marriages, legal notices, and more found in our Historical Newspaper Archives.
Click Here to Search Texas Obituary Records! - This database is a compilation of obituaries published in U.S. newspapers, collected from various online sources. Obituaries can vary in the amount of information they contain, but many of them are genealogical goldmines, including information such as names, dates, places of birth and death, marriage information, and family relationships.
During Texas's colonization period Roman Catholics were the most numerous, but early citizens included those representing other religious faiths such as Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Christian or Disciples of Christ.
Many cemetery records have been collected and transcribed, including the largest of which is multi-volumes compilation by the DAR and two volumes for Peters Colonists and descendants. The DAR collection, also microfilmed, is available at the Texas State Library and through the FHL.
Some Texas county historical and genealogical societies have published local cemetery and/funeral home records. These are normally available for purchase through the respective society. Two references can help determine which cemeteries have been recorded: Kim Parsons', A Reference to Texas Cemetery Records (Humble, Tex.: by author, 1988), arranged by county; and Sharry Crofford-Gould's, Texas Cemetery Inscriptions: A Source Index (San Antonio, Tex.: Limited Editions, 1977).
Below is a list of online resources for Cochran County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Cochran County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:
Find Obituaries in The World's Largest Newspaper Archive at NewpaperArchive.com! - Find thousands of Texas obituaries to help you research your family history. Search for a Texas newspaper obituary about your ancestor or a celebrity. Begin your search today and find death notices and funeral announcements printed in newspapers from Texas.
Click Here to Search Texas Family Tree Records! - 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 Cochran County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Cochran County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:
Genealogy Encyclopedia: General Abbreviations, Early Illnesses, Nickname Meanings, Worldwide Epidemics, Early Occupations, Common Terms, Censuses Explained, Free Genealogical Forms
Nichols and Related Families of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virgina.
Texas Family & Local History Records - The Family & Local Histories Collection lets you read journals, memoirs, and other first-hand historical narratives right on your computer. Gathered from some of the world's finest libraries, these materials may provide hard-to-find town, county, and state information; tax records and wills; military, church, and court records; as well as photographs, stories, and maps.
According to archeological evidence, Indians hunted in the area that is now Cochran County 5,000 to 10,000 years ago. In the 1600s Kiowas and Apaches made war and hunted in the region after acquiring horses from the Spanish. In the 1700s, Comanches of the Quahadi or Antelope band took the area in battle; relying on buffalo hunting and raiding of other Indians and whites, they were dominant until the United States Army subdued them in the 1870s. In 1880, a detachment of Texas Rangers led by George W. Arrington stopped at Silver Lake on the way from Yellow House Canyon to New Mexico in search for the legendary "Lost Lakes."
In 1876 Cochran County was formed by the Texas legislature from land previously assigned to Bexar and Young counties. It was a land of grass, sand hills, mesquite, jackrabbits, coyotes, bison, and pronghorn antelope. Until the 1920s, when farmers began to move into the area, the county's economy was dominated by ranches; the huge XIT Ranch controlled much of the land. In 1879 and 1880, the Capitol Reservation was surveyed, and in 1885 its land title passed to the XIT, which covered about 3,000,000 acres of land in the region. In 1887 XIT manager A. G. Boyce divided the XIT into seven divisions; Cochran County was within the southernmost division (known as Las Casas Amarillas, or Yellow Houses). The Yellow House division was used as the XIT's breeding range.
The 1890 census does not show any residents in the county, and in 1900 only twenty-five people lived there. In 1901 George Washington Littlefield bought 238,858 acres, including some of Cochran county, for his great ranch; other parts of the county were ranched by C. C. Slaughter. The first headquarters of Slaughter's ranch was established in 1898 near the site of present-day Lehman, but was moved a year later to a site two miles southwest of Morton. For all his interest in cattle breeding to produce crossings of Herefords and shorthorns of record size, Slaughter foresaw other economic developments for West Texas. In 1907 he predicted that "the fertile Plains...will become the breadbasket of the great Southwest."
Nevertheless, as late as 1920 only fourteen ranches and farms had been established in the county, and only sixty-seven people lived there. During these first years of its existence, the judicial administration of the area was assigned to Hockley and Lubbock counties. A post office was located in the county at Mexline, now a ghost town, from 1903 to 1905. Another post office was established at Edwards in 1905, and named for the county's first storekeeper, Edward P. Kirkland, the postmaster. This post office closed in 1913. Until the 1920s, county residents got their mail from the Yoakum County post office of Bronco.
Cochran County began to grow rapidly after 1921, when Slaughter's heirs dissolved the Slaughter Cattle Company and began to sell its ranchlands to farmers. The area's limited rainfall had helped to deter settlement of the county for many years, but the new farmers tapped into underground water supplies a shallow depths. By 1925, there were fifty-six farms and ranches in Cochran County, which was now experiencing a minor farming boom. By 1930, 285 farms and ranches had been established in the county, and the population had increased to 1,963.
In 1924, after the influx of new farmers had begun, the county was formally organized, and a spirited political struggle ensued between Morton J. Smith, a rancher, and the Slaughter heirs. The Slaughter family, having failed on two earlier attempts to secure rail connections to their ranch, had founded Ligon four miles south of the site of Morton, in hopes that Ligon would become the county seat. Smith, meanwhile, was pushing to have the new town of Morton made county seat. In the 1924 election, Morton received seventy-nine votes to Ligon's twenty and thus became the county seat.
All of the towns presently in the county were established in the 1920s. When the Santa Fe Railroad built into Cochran County from Lubbock in 1925, the towns of Whiteface, Chipley, Lehman, and Bledsoe sprang up, and Ligon was moved four miles south to become Lehman. The railroad made Bledsoe Cochran County's largest town in the 1920s, but its population declined afterward as most of the county residents moved to Morton.
During the 1930s many residents were hurt by the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. The county had some of the worst sandstorms ever seen; new sand dunes as high as twenty-eight feet were reported. Nevertheless, the number of farms in the area increased to 431 by 1940, and cropland harvested in the county increased from 28,045 acres in 1929 to more than 90,500 acres in 1940. Many farmers in the county were turning to cotton during the 1930s, as land devoted to cotton production increased from about 5,300 acres in 1929 to almost 24,500 acres in 1940. By 1940 sorghum, which became the county's other important crop, was sown on more than 52,000 acres.
The discovery of oil in 1936 also helped to provide jobs and to stabilize the economy during this period. The first producing well in the county was drilled in 1936 at the Duggan ranch, south of Whiteface, and in 1938 Cochran County produced 95,458 barrels. Reflecting this growth during the 1930s, the county's population also increased significantly during this period, rising to 3,735 by 1940. The oil business boomed in Cochran County during World War II; production was 5,087,237 barrels in 1944. The area's agriculture also continued to grow; by 1947 county farmers worked on 108,000 producing acres, compared with 38,647 acres in 1935. Girlstown, U.S.A., was established on Duggan ranchland near Whiteface in 1949, and a Lehman gasoline plant started operations in 1954. As the county economy continued to develop in the 1940s and 1950s, the population grew to 5,928 in 1950 and to 6,417 in 1960. After the 1960s, however, it declined. The population was 5,326 in 1970, 4,825 in 1980, and an estimated 4,377 in 1990.
The decline is largely traceable to the trend toward larger farms and does not necessarily indicate poor economic prospects for the future. Most Cochran County farm families live in Morton and commute to their jobs. Prosperity since the 1960s owes much to the tapping of underground water for irrigation, mostly for cotton raising. By 1986 the county included about 300,000 acres of cropland, 110,000 of which was irrigated. Cattle range comprises almost 191,500 acres of county land, and the county has a feed lot and a horse-meat packery. By the mid-1980s the Santa Fe Railroad had abandoned its tracks in the county.
Oil production has continued to be significant for the local economy since World War II. County wells produced almost 6,902,000 barrels in 1948, almost 7,348,000 barrels in 1956, more than 6,215,000 barrels in 1960, and more than 12,315,000 barrels in 1978. Production dropped in the 1980s before rising slightly again in the early 1990s. In 1990, it was almost 8,266,000 barrels. The cumulative total was more than 428,357,000 barrels by 1991.
State highways 214 (north-south), 114 (east-west), and 125 (east-west) serve the county. The county's communities include Whiteface (1980 population 463) and Bledsoe (125). Morton (1992 estimated population 2,597) is the county's largest town and its seat of government. Cultural events include a rodeo, county fair, and a museum.
Texas Birth Certificates, 1903-10, 1926-29