Gaines County, Texas Genealogical Records Information

Start your family tree. We'll start searching. It's FREE. - Enter a few simple facts about recent generations of your family. We'll use what you enter to try and find more about your family in the world's largest online collection of historical records and family trees.

SEARCH THIS SITE

SEARCH FOR YOUR ANCESTORS IN THESE TEXAS GENEALOGICAL DATABASES:

TX Court, Land & Wills

TX Public Records

TX Birth, Marriage & Death

Gaines County History and Information

Gaines County Facts

Gaines County was created in 1876 (Organized in 1905) and formed from Bexar and Young Territories. Gaines County was named for James Gaines, merchant and signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. The County Seat is Seminole. The Official County website is located at http://www.co.gaines.tx.us. See also Extended History for more historical details.

Areas adjacent to Gaines County are Yoakum County (north), Terry County (north), Dawson County (east), Martin County (southeast), Andrews County (south), Lea County, NM (west)

The current Gaines County courthouse was built in 1922 with Sanguuinet & Staats as the architects. A 1955 remodeling was the work of Styles, Robert, Gee & Messersmith who redesigned the courthouse in Contemporary style of limestone and concrete.

Gaines County, Texas History Books at Amazon.com
Family History Library - The largest collection of free family history, family tree and genealogy records in the world.

There are free downloadable and printable forms to help with your research. These include U.S. Census Extraction Forms, U.K. Census Extraction Forms, Research Calendar, Ancestral Chart, Research Extract, Correspondence Record , Family Group Sheet , Source Summary Form.

Gaines County Court Records

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.

Gaines County Clerk has Court Records from 1906, Land Records from 1905, Probate Records from 1905, Marriage Records from 1905 and Birth/Death Records from 1905 is located at 101 S. Main, Room 107, Seminole, TX 79360-4342; Telephone: (432) 758-3521 .
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.

There are a few online databases for Court, Land and Probate Records which include: Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997, Texas Deaths, 1964-98, Texas Marriage Collection, 1814-1909 & 1966-2002, and Texas Divorce Index, 1968-2002. You may also search the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) which does cover Texas. Many pioneers and settelers bought land from the government instead of individuals.

Click Here to Search Texas Court, Land, Wills & Financial Records! - Researchers often overlook the importance of court records, probate records, and land records as a source of family history information.

Below is a list of online resources for Gaines County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Gaines County Court Records by clicking the link below:

Gaines County, Texas Court Books at Amazon.com
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.

Gaines County Vital Records

See Also Research In Tax Records

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 Gaines County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Gaines County Tax Records by clicking the link below:

Gaines County, Texas Tax Books at Amazon.com

Gaines County Genealogical Addresses

See Also Other Texas Genealogical Addresses

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 Gaines County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Gaines County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:

?
Local Texas Researchers, Find a local researcher or become a local researcher.
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 Genealogical Society, 2505 Beluche Drive, Galveston 77551
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.
Texas Genealogical Society Books at Amazon.com

Gaines County Church & Cemeteries

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.

There are many churches and cemeteries in Gaines County. Some transcriptions are online. A great site is the Gaines County Tombstone Transcription Project.

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 Gaines County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Gaines County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:

Family Trees & Genealogy Tidbits

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 Gaines County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Gaines County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:

Search 60 Years Of Everton Data: For the first time ever you can get access to more than 150,000 pedigree files and family group sheets from Evertons. Learn More
Search the Family Tree DNA Project- Use DNA testing to break through your genealogical barriers!
Sites on USGenweb: [ Gaines County ] [ Texas ] [ Main Page ]
[GenForum Message Boards] [Rootsweb Message Boards]
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.
Meet your ancestors. Learn their stories. Start your FREE family tree.
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.
Genealogical Document Search and Retrieval Service
Gaines County, Texas Family Books at Amazon.com

County History

The area was Comanche country until the United States Army campaigns of 1875 and 1876. An Indian burial mound has been excavated near Cedar Lake. It is believed that Quanah Parker, the last great Comanche chief, was born in the vicinity. Cedar Lake was also the site of a skirmish between Indians and United States cavalrymen in October 1875. Buffalo hunters moved into the region in the 1870s, and some of them began ranches and remained in the area after their game had disappeared; the land was plush with grama grasses but limited in surface water. In 1876 the Texas legislature formed Gaines County from Bexar County. Gaines County was attached to Bexar County for administrative purposes in 1876, then to Shackelford County in 1877 and to Martin County in 1885. As early as 1879 ranchman C. C. Slaughter ran herds on much of eastern Gaines County from his headquarters at Rattlesnake Canyon. C. C. Meddin, who moved his family and herd to Gaines County in 1880, was the first permanent settler; the United States census reported only eight people in the county in 1880. In the 1880s and 1890s other ranchers moved into the area, including C. M. Breckon, the Brunson brothers, Bill Anderson, Dave Ernest, Robinson and Winfield Scott of the Hat Ranch, C. Bill Higgins of the Wishbone Ranch, J. E. Millhollon of the MH Ranch, and the several owners of the Triangle H Triangle north of Seminole. Until the early twentieth century cattle raising was the only industry in the county. The population was sixty-eight in 1890 and fifty-five in 1900, when six ranches and 16,432 cattle were reported by the agricultural census.

Farming began to develop in the county after 1904, thanks to the sale of railroad land and the 1895 School Land Act, which gave settlers the right to purchase one section of agricultural land at two dollars an acre and three sections of grassland at one dollar an acre. Although mesquite was not as widespread then as now, farmers had to clear shinnery and mesquite from the land before planting. As more people were moving into the area, the county was formally organized in 1905, with the new town of Seminole designated as the county seat. A courthouse was built in the town in 1906 and a jail in 1907. By 1910, 206 farms and ranches, encompassing 500,772 acres, had been established in Gaines County; about 2,700 acres was planted in corn, the area's most important crop at that time, and farmers had planted more than 2,000 fruit trees (mostly peach). Ranching still dominated the local economy, however: almost 32,250 cattle were counted in Gaines County that year. The expanding population reflected the developing economy; by 1910 the county had 1,255 residents.

Rail transportation was delayed until the Santa Fe reached Seagraves in 1917. Until then, food had to be hauled by wagon seventy miles from Midland, and cattle had to be driven to Midland or Amarillo and shipped from there by rail. In spite of the county's new rail connection, however, an extended drought in 1917 and 1918 drove out some of the earlier settlers; by 1920 only 140 farms remained in the county, and its population had declined to 1,018. Farming took hold during the 1920s, primarily because of a sudden boom in cotton culture in the area. Only 8 acres in Gaines County was planted in cotton in 1910, and only 485 as late as 1920. By 1929, however, 20,566 acres of the county was devoted to the crop. At the same time, sorghum and corn cultureq also rose significantly, to 56,500 acres by 1929. The number of farms in Gaines County rose quickly during the 1920s, particularly during the first half of the decade: by 1925, 436 farms had been established in the county. Meanwhile, cattle ranching continued at a significant level, though declining in its actual and relative importance to the local economy. In 1929, almost 20,300 cattle were counted in the area.

Many local farmers were devastated during the 1930s as they suffered through the effects of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression.q Many left their farms to look elsewhere for better economic opportunities; between 1929 and 1935 the number of farmers who fully owned their land dropped almost 50 percent, to only eighty-three. The landscape presented a dismal sight, as sand mounds twenty to thirty feet high and thirty to fifty feet wide were formed by winds that drove vegetation against fences and piled up sand drifts on it. Such sand mounds often surrounded fields that had lost their topsoil to expose a surface of unproductive, hard red clay. Cotton production dropped significantly during the 1930s, and by 1940 only 5,580 acres in the county was devoted to growing the crop. Cropland harvested in the county declined from about 56,500 acres in 1929 to 54,732 acres in 1940. Some of the worst effects of the Dust Bowl and the depression, however, were offset by the discovery of oil during the 1930s. Drillers first sought oil in the county in 1912 near Cedar Lake, then tried there again in 1918-19 without success. In 1926 the Humble Oil Company (later Exxon) leased more than 100,000 acres in the western part of the county at fifty cents an acre. Farmers took this lease bounty with wonder and gratitude; leasing continued between 1927 and 1929, and prices rose in some places to ten dollars an acre. Actual oil production was not achieved in the county until 1935. In 1936 drillers found the Seminole Pool at 5,000 to 6,000 feet. Other discoveries followed, and in 1938 more than 650,109 barrels of crude was taken from county wells. Thanks to the oil boom, the population of the county increased significantly during the 1930s to reach 8,136 by 1940.

The 1940s also saw a revival of agriculture sparked by new irrigation techniques. Farmers abandoned the flood method of irrigation because the sandy soil would not hold the water, and began utilizing the vast stores of underground water with sprinkler irrigation. Mechanization also helped turn what had been a desolate area into a blooming garden. Tractors and other machinery displaced the old technique of plowing one row at a time behind a team of horses. By the mid-1970s Gaines County had 1,093 cotton farms, 1,023 feed-grain farms, 162 wheat farms, 121 peanut farms, and other farms that grew peaches, pecans, potatoes, beans, and other crops. As an illustration of the size and breadth of agriculture in the county, the United States agricultural census of 1982 reported production of 2,470,350 bushels of sorghum and 1,488,504 bushels of wheat. The county that year ranked first in the state in cotton production with 186,112 bales, fourth in peanuts with 23,895,785 pounds, and sixth in alfalfa production with 23,642 tons. There were also 32,878 cattle and 645 acres of orchards. Irrigated land amounted to 400,000 acres.

Oil production has continued to play an important role in the county's economy. In 1948 crude production totaled more than 15,663,000 barrels and in 1956, more than 24,395,000 barrels. By the 1970s there were seventeen oilfields scattered over the county, with 1,600 wells producing at from 5,000 to 14,000 feet. Production was almost 60,707,000 barrels in 1978 and about 47,522,000 barrels in 1982. The county produced almost 42,686,000 barrels in 1990. By January 1991, 1,670,602,104 barrels of petroleum had been taken from Gaines County since 1936.

Your user agent does not support frames or is currently configured not to display frames.