Rusk County was created in January 16, 1843 and formed from Nacogdoches County. Rusk County was named for Thomas Jefferson Rusk, a general in the Texas Revolution and leading statesman in the new state. The County Seat is Henderson. The Official County website is located at http://www.co.rusk.tx.us/. See also Extended History for more historical details.
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.
Rusk County Clerkhas Court Records from 1847, Land Records from 1843 , Probate Records from 1847, Marriage Records from 1843 and Birth/Death Records from 1903 is located at P.O. Box 758, Henderson, Texas 75652-0758; Phone: 903-657-0330, Fax: 903-657-0062; email: joyce.lewis@co.rusk.tx.us . 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 Rusk County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Rusk 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 Rusk 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 Rusk 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 Rusk County Census Records. Email us with websites containing Rusk 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 Rusk County Maps. Email us with websites containing Rusk 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 Rusk County Military Records. Email us with websites containing Rusk 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 Rusk County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Rusk 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 Rusk County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Rusk County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:
Rusk County Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 1314, Henderson 75653-1314
Rusk County Historical Commission, P.O. Box 1773, Henderson, TX 75652
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 Rusk County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Rusk 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 Rusk County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Rusk 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.
The area has been the site of human habitation for several thousand years. Archeological artifacts suggest that the earliest human inhabitants arrived during the Archaic Period, 2,000 to 3,000 years ago. Evidence of the prehistoric Caddo culture, which flourished between A.D. 1000 and 1600, has also been found in the area, and the earliest Spanish explorers encountered the remnants of that culture during their first forays into the region. Between 1761 and 1810 two Tejas villages are known to have existed in the area of the future county: Aynais, in the southwestern corner of the present county, and Nacogdoches Village, near the site of present Minden. As many as four early Spanish expeditions crossed what is now Rusk County between 1691 and 1788. Domingo Terán de los Ríos crossed the area on his way to the northeast in 1691, and Domingo Ramón led an expedition across the county around 1717. Fray José Calahorra y Saenz passed through the southwestern corner in September 1760, and in 1788 Pedro Vial traversed the northern portion of the future county. Although the area was part of the Department of Nacogdoches, the Spanish never built any permanent settlements in it, and today very little Spanish or Mexican influence can be seen in the county except for the names of a few streams. The first Anglo-American settlers came into Rusk County as early as 1829. The earliest land grant within the present-day borders of the county was issued to William Elliott on March 22, 1829; other early grantees included the brothers Thomas and Leonard Williams, Joseph Durst, and Henry Stockman. By 1834 white settlers began to arrive in large numbers; between May 2 and November 23, 1834, the Mexican government issued forty-three land grants in the area, the majority of them to recent American immigrants. After the Texas Revolution, the population grew rapidly, as new settlers arrived by way of Trammel's Trace, the Nacogdoches Road, and the Green Grass Trail. Cherokee and Shawnee Indians under the leadership of Chief Bowl occupied the western part of the area during the 1820s and 1830s, but with their removal after the Cherokee War in 1839 the way was opened for white settlement. Most of the new colonists came from the Old South, particularly Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, attracted by the availability of abundant cheap land. Although most of the early settlers were of modest means, some were wealthy planters, among them James Smith, Julien Sidney Devereux, and Albert Tatum, who brought sizable numbers of slaves with them. After Texas independence the territory was originally a part of Nacogdoches County, but upon an act of the Congress of the Republic of Texas, Rusk County was formed on January 16, 1843, and was named for Thomas Jefferson Rusk, who had been secretary of war under President Sam Houston. The county seat was established as near the center of the county as possible by the five commissioners appointed to acquire land for the purpose. Gen. James Smith donated the original townsite of 65.5 acres, and he later sold 69.5 acres more to the town. Later, William B. Ochiltree donated five acres north of the town square and in the deed named the town for his friend James Pinckney Henderson.
Settlers continued to pour into the area during the late 1840s, and by 1850 Rusk County had a population of 8,148, the second largest county population in the state, surpassed only by Harrison County. The majority of the residents were farmers, with merchants, lawyers, and carpenters the most common other occupations. More than one-fourth of the inhabitants (2,136) were slaves, a reflection of the flourishing plantation economy that had already begun to develop. The 1850 census listed seventeen plantations of 10,000 acres or more; James Smith, owner of 53,000 acres, was the largest landowner. A number of noted plantations were located around Henderson, including those of John Graham, Richard B. Tutt, Milton M. Boggess, and William Wright Morris. Numerous new communities sprang up during the late 1840s and early 1850s, and by 1857 twenty-two localities had post offices, the largest of them being Henderson, Camden, Harmony Hill, Millville, Mount Enterprise, New Salem, and Pine Hill. The "Wire Road," so called because in the early 1850s it was flanked by one of the earliest Texas telegraph lines strung on brackets nailed to trees, was a busy thoroughfare with regular stagecoach lines carrying passengers and freight from Marshall and Jefferson to Crockett and points south and west. In contrast to much of the state, on the eve of the Civil War Rusk County was heavily farmed, with more than 80,000 acres in production in 1858. A sizable amount of the land—more than 37,500 acres—was given over to growing corn; 25,782 acres was planted with cotton, 4,741 with wheat, 50 with sugarcane, and 12,384 with miscellaneous crops. The population continued to grow rapidly during the late 1850s. In 1860 Rusk County, with a total population of 15,803, was the most populous county in Texas. It was fifth in total wealth, with the combined value of its land, slaves, livestock, and property worth $6,494,175. Twenty-one persons reported estates with an estimated value of more than $30,000. A considerable proportion of the county's wealth was invested in its 6,132 slaves, one of the largest slave populations in Texas. One indication of the county's wealth and importance is the fact that two proposed railroads, the Eastern Texas and the Galveston, Houston and Henderson, were chartered to link Henderson with the outside world in the late 1850s. The Galveston, Houston and Henderson Railroad was completed between Galveston and Houston by January 1860, but the Civil War prevented its extension to Henderson.
The year 1860 was perhaps the most tumultuous in the young county's history. An unprecedented drought and record high temperatures ruined crops across the county. The intense heat and growing discord over slavery and secession, which had been brewing throughout that summer, combined to yield disastrous results. When a huge fire destroyed the courthouse and nearly the entire business section of Henderson on August 5, most of the population blamed the calamity on pro-Union arsonists. A man named Green Herndon, a recent arrival from the North who was known to harbor abolitionist sentiments, was singled out as the alleged perpetrator after a black woman reportedly confessed that Herndon had hired her to set fire to the town. On the strength of her testimony a mob gathered, lashed Herndon to a horse, and dragged him around the public square until he died. They then hung the body from a tree and fired repeated shots into it. Not surprisingly, given the prevailing sentiment, Rusk County citizens voted overwhelmingly for secession early the next year—1,376 for and only 135 against. The prosecession vote total was the second highest in the state, surpassed only by that in Smith County. The Civil War and its aftermath brought profound changes to the county. Although Rusk County made only a small material contribution to the war effort, it ranked first in the number of men contributed to the fighting forces, with more than twelve companies mustered at Henderson. Those who remained behind were forced to deal with the lack of markets and unstable Confederate currency, as well as concern for their relative and friends on the battlefield.
The end of the war brought disaster to the county's economy. For many of Rusk County's white residents, the abolition of slavery meant devastating economic loss. Before the Civil War slaves had constituted nearly half of all taxable property in the county, and their loss, coupled with a sharp decline in property values, caused a profound disruption for most planters. The 1870 census showed a marked decline in personal wealth compared with 1860. The twenty-one people with incomes of more than $30,000 just before the war shrank to two by 1870. The black population was no better off. Although most resident African Americans remained in the county, many black farmers left the farms owned by their former masters to seek better working conditions. For the vast majority, the change brought only slight improvement in living and working conditions. Most ended up working on the land on shares, receiving one-third or one-half of the crop for their labors. During Reconstruction Rusk County received little attention from federal political or military authorities. There was little of the violence that many other counties underwent, so federal troops were only briefly stationed in the county. One reason the county remained placid was the influence of James Winwright Flanagan and his son, David Webster Flanagan, who allied themselves with the moderate wing of the Republican party rather than the Radical Republicans and were able to use their influence to prevent harsher governmental measures.
During the early 1870s the county began to show signs of recovery. Several new schools opened, including Henderson Male and Female College, incorporated in Henderson in 1871, and Alexander Institute (see LON MORRIS COLLEGE), established at Kilgore in 1873. In 1872 the first railroad, the Illinois and Great Northern, reached the northwest corner of the county, and Overton became the principal shipping point. Two years later a branch line was built to Henderson. The arrival of the railroad opened new access to markets. Henderson in particular benefitted from the railroad link, and during the 1870s and early 1880s the town became one of the leading commercial centers of the region. During the early 1870s residents in the northern part of the county moved to separate and form a new county. On April 30, 1874, the legislature approved the proposal, and Gregg County was formed. Rusk County lost 284 square miles of territory and with it several thousand residents. The loss was partially offset by a modest growth in the population during the decade of the 1870s. But in the 1880s the population actually declined slightly, falling from 18,986 in 1880 to 18,559 in 1890, as some farmers moved farther west in search of more inexpensive land. Although the population of Henderson reached the 2,000 mark in the early 1890s, there was virtually no manufacturing in the town, and the county as a whole remained predominantly rural and agricultural, with cotton and corn as the leading crops. In 1890 Rusk County's farmers harvested 367,766 bushels of corn and 4,145 bales of cotton. In 1894 the Caro Northern Railway was built from Caro in Nacogdoches County to Mount Enterprise, and in 1909 the Timpson and Northwestern Railway was completed between Timpson, Shelby County, and Henderson. The addition of the two railroads helped to ensure access to markets for some the county's farmers, although, as one guidebook noted, much of the best land was not near any of the three lines.
The period around the turn of the century showed a gradual decline in prosperity for many of the county's farmers, especially those of African-American descent. A 1907 report on conditions in the county noted that "slightly less than one-half of the farms in the Henderson area [were] operated by owners," and that the average-sized farm was only about seventy-five acres, with only one-half of that total in cultivation, "or about what can be cultivated with one mule." By 1910 2,351 of the county's 4,894 farms were worked by sharecroppers, the overwhelming majority of them black. Nevertheless, during the first three decades of the twentieth century, the county population gradually grew, to 26,946 in 1910 and 31,689 in 1920. The number of farms also grew during the same period, from 4,894 in 1910 to 6,059 in 1920. Just before 1920 and during the succeeding decade, numerous new roads were built and many already existing roads were upgraded. The 1925 Texas Almanac reported that Rusk County had "one of the best systems of good roads in Texas," with "180 miles of improved highways." By the late 1920s Henderson residents numbered nearly 4,000. The town had 5½ miles of paved streets, a sewer system, and an electricity-generating plant. A new courthouse was built in 1928, and several new school buildings were constructed after 1900. Overton, the second-largest town in the county, had a population of 600, two banks, and a new high school.
At the end of the decade Rusk County remained chiefly agricultural, with cotton still the leading crop. But in October of that year Columbus M. (Dad) Joiner discovered oil on the Daisy Bradford lease. Attempts to locate oil in the county had started as early as 1911, when O. P. Boynton drilled a well near Millville. Boynton, however, failed to reach oil, and the search was taken up by Dad Joiner, who defied the "expert" opinion that there was little or no oil in the area and drilled his first well, Daisy Bradford No. 1, in 1927. On his third attempt, three years later, his discovery opened the East Texas oilfield, which proved to be one of the richest oil finds in the United States. The promise of quick riches immediately set off an oil frenzy. Farmers neglected to harvest their cotton crops, too busy trying to negotiate better leases or high royalties, and men and equipment poured into the county to look for new gushers. The First National Bank and Citizens National Bank in Henderson reported that within a week of Joiner's find, deposits increased nearly $150,000, and estimates put the amount received by Rusk County residents in the first seven days after oil was struck at nearly $500,000. In the first year of the find (1931) production was only 27,000 barrels, but the following year the volume reached 109,561,000 barrels, and by 1933 the amount of oil produced had nearly doubled to 204,954,000 barrels. Between 1930 and 1936 Rusk County's population mushroomed from 32,000 to 65,000, as oilfield workers, wildcatters, speculators, lawyers, and other opportunists arrived to take advantage of the find. The discovery of oil not only changed the composition of the population but altered the very appearance of the area. New towns such as Joinerville, Carlisle, New London, and Turnerville sprang up; established settlements changed from rural communities to bustling boomtowns. Numerous new hotels, offices, and oil-related businesses were built in and around Henderson. Oil derricks and pumps soon dotted the countryside. Henderson, formerly a sleepy county seat, was transformed into a busy center of activity. Between 1930 and 1940 the town's population grew from 2,932 to 6,437. Though once something of an agricultural backwater, Rusk County overnight became a scene of conspicuous wealth, where the average household income far exceeded the statewide average. Yet not all of the county's residents benefitted. Poor white tenant farmers and many of the county's numerous blacks actually fared worse as land and housing prices increased. Some found jobs in the oilfields, but many were left to toil on the land in the face of slumping agricultural prices. Many others found themselves on the unemployment rolls. Oil money, however, helped to offset the worst effects of the Great Depression for the county in general, and the inhabitants got through the hard times considerably better than their counterparts in most other Texas counties.
Although oil brought new riches, it also brought disaster. In March 1937 a powerful explosion caused by a natural gas leak blew up the New London School, killing nearly 300 children and teachers (see NEW LONDON SCHOOL EXPLOSION). Moralists saw the disaster as a result of excesses brought by so much new wealth and wondered whether the oil money was worth such a catastrophe. Oil also brought the beginning of the end of Rusk County's status as a leading cotton-producing area. During the mid-1920s the county's farmers had been producing 25,000 bales a year, with peak production in 1926 exceeding 44,000 bales; during the 1930s the figure gradually declined, and in 1945 the county agent reported that only 1,541 bales had been ginned. Production amounts increased again in the late 1940s, but the levels never again approached what they had been in the 1920s.
Although oil production has dropped off since the peak days of the boom, Rusk County continues to be a leader in the industry. In 1990 crude production was 7,690,643 barrels; between 1930 and January 1, 1991, 1,766,118,575 barrels were pumped from Rusk County wells, making it one of the state's all-time leading oil-producing counties. Despite falling oil prices in the 1980s, oil and natural gas extraction remain the leading industries, followed by metal-plate fabricating, agribusiness, heavy construction, sawmills, the manufacture of clay and brick tile, and lignite mining. Lumbering has at various times been an important industry. The county is nearly 50 percent forested, and as late as 1968 there were five lumbermills operating there. Subsequently, however, the industry declined, though it still remains among the leaders in the county's payroll.
In the 1980s Rusk County also remained a significant producer of livestock and poultry. In 1982 it ranked 140th among Texas counties in agricultural receipts, with 90 percent coming from livestock and livestock products. Approximately 50 percent of the land in the county was in farms and ranches, with 12 percent of the farmland under cultivation. The primary crops were oats, hay, and wheat; watermelons, peaches, and pecans were also grown in significant quantities. The total number of businesses in the county in the early 1980s was 696. In 1980 9 percent of workers were self-employed, 17 percent were employed in professional or related services, 20 percent in manufacturing, 19 percent in wholesale and retail trade, and 10 percent in agriculture, forestry, fishing, and mining; 35 percent were employed in other counties, and 4,102 retired workers lived in the county. Nonfarm earnings in 1981 totaled $399,266,000.
Schools in operation before the Civil War included the Rusk County Academy, Henderson Female College, Fowler Institute, and Mount Enterprise Male and Female Academy. In the early 1980s Rusk County had eight school districts, with twelve elementary, three middle, and eight high schools. The average daily attendance in 1981-82 was 6,781, with expenditures per pupil of $2,984. Forty-three percent of the 441 high school graduates planned to attend college. In 1983 70 percent of the school graduates were white, 27 percent black, 3 percent Hispanic, 0.1 percent Indian, and 0.1 percent Asian. The first churches in the county were organized shortly after the influx of Americans in the 1840s. In the mid-1980s the county had 111 churches, with an estimated combined membership of 22,864. The largest communions were Southern Baptist, United Methodist, and American Baptist.
After World War II the population of Rusk County declined, as many left to seek jobs in the growing cities. The census counted 42,234 people in the area in 1950 (down more than 20,000 from its peak at the beginning of the oil boom); thereafter the population dropped to 36,421 in 1960 and to only 34,102 in 1970. During the late twentieth century the county's population began to increase again, rising to 41,382 in 1980 and to 43,735 in 1990. In the latter year about 77 percent of the population was Anglo, 21 percent was black, and 4 percent was Hispanic.
By 2000 there were 47,372 people living in the county. About 72 percent were Anglo, 19 percent were black, and 8 percent were Hispanic. More than 74 percent of the residents age twenty-five or older had high school diplomas; almost 13 percent had college degrees. In the early twenty-first century oil and gas production, lumbering, and agribusinesses were the key elements of the area's economy. More than 2,823,000 barrels of oil and 75,642,595 cubic feet of gas-well gas were produced in the county in 2004; by the end of that year 1,828,535,077 barrels of oil had been taken from county lands since 1930. Almost 15,356,000 cubic feet of pinewood and almost 5,018,000 cubic feet of hardwood were harvested in the county in 2003. In 2002 the county had 1,391 farms and ranches covering 272,436 acres, 43 percent of which were devoted to crops, 29 percent to pasture, and 21 percent to woodlands. In that year Rusk County farmers and ranchers earned $39,348,000, with livestock sales accounting for $25,374,000 of that total. Beef cattle, nursery plants, and hay were the chief agricultural products. Henderson (2000 population, 11,273) is the county's seat of government and largest town; other communities include Overton (2,350), Tatum (1,175, partly in Panola County), Kilgore (11,301, partly in Gregg County), Selman City (271), Laneville (200), New London (987), Mount Enterprise (525), Laird Hill (405), and Minden (350). Lake Cherokee, Martin Creek Lake State Recreation Area, and Lake Striker provide recreation for the area, while Harmony Hill Ghost Town, historic homes, and other sites attract many other visitors.
Texas Birth Certificates, 1903-10, 1926-29