Sabine County was created in 1836
(Organized in December 14, 1837) and formed as an Original
County. Sabine County was named for the Sabine River, which forms its eastern border (Sabine is Spanish for cypress). The County Seat is Hemphill. The Official County website is located at ?. 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.
Sabine County Clerk has Court Records from 1876, Land Records from 1876 , Probate Records from 1879, Marriage Records from 1880 and Birth/Death Records from 1903 is located at PO
Drawer 580,
Hemphill, TX 75948; Telephone:
(409) 787-3786. 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 Sabine County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Sabine 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 Sabine 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 Sabine 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 Sabine County Census Records. Email us with websites containing Sabine 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 Sabine County Maps. Email us with websites containing Sabine 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 Sabine County Military Records. Email us with websites containing Sabine 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 Sabine County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Sabine 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 Sabine County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Sabine 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 Sabine County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Sabine 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 Sabine County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Sabine 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.
Sabine County was named for the Sabine River. The original inhabitants of the area were the Ais tribe of the Caddo Indians. Probably the first Europeans in the area were members of the Moscoso expedition in the early 1540s. In the early 1700s Louis Juchereau de St. Denis led three expeditions into Texas, one of which took him through what is now northern Sabine County, along the Old San Antonio Road, which later became the main route of travel to Texas. Thereafter the area slowly began to be settled. Original land grants from Spain and Mexico took up 220,000 acres; the largest, made to Juan Ignacio Pifermo in 1794, encompassed 17,713 acres near the site of later Geneva. Other settlers in the 1790s included Jack Cedars, Christobal Concha, and David Watman. Cedars, who lived on part of the Pifermo grant, was the first Anglo settler in the region. Concha is thought to have lived along Palo Gaucho Bayou, and Watman settled on Patroon Bayou. Before 1832 the area was part of the Municipality of Nacogdoches. It belonged to the Municipality of San Augustine from 1832 until 1835, when it became the Municipality of Sabine. A ferry across the Sabine River was established in the northern part of what became Sabine County. This ferry is thought to have been called El Paso de Chalán until 1796, when Michael Crow established Crow's Ferry. It operated until 1812, when it was purchased by James Gaines and renamed Gaines Ferry. Gaines served as alcalde of the Sabine District of the Municipality of Nacogdoches in 1824. Other settlers at this time included Donald McDonald, James Hines, Isaac Lindsey, and Elbert Hines, who was alcalde of the Sabine District in 1826.
With the aid of Gaines Ferry, communities began to develop in the area. In 1825 Haden Edwards received a land grant to settle 800 families there, but due to his involvement in the Fredonian Rebellion, he was forced to leave Texas. In 1828 the town of Milam was established in the northern part of what is now Sabine County. Lorenzo de Zavala was given a settlement land grant, but because a section of his grant was in an area forbidden to foreign settlers, they did not receive title to their land until 1835. At that time a census listed the population of the Municipality of Sabine as 1,240. Shortly before the outbreak of the Texas Revolution, Benjamin Holt, Jesse Parker, and Absalom Hier served as delegates from the Sabine District to the Convention of 1832 in San Felipe de Austin. Mathew Caldwell and William Clark, Jr., served as delegates to the Convention of 1836 and were signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence. During the Runaway Scrape Texans fled to Louisiana across Gaines Ferry. Benjamin F. Bryant, in response to Sam Houston's call for troops, organized the volunteer Sabine Company, which served at the battle of San Jacinto in 1836. After the victory at San Jacinto, the government of the Republic of Texas began to organize. On December 14, 1837, Sabine County was organized and its boundaries defined. John Boyd represented the county at the First and Second congresses of the Republic of Texas, and Matthew Parker was appointed the first chief justice. The county boundaries have remained unchanged since its establishment; however, when the area was known as the Municipality of Sabine, it encompassed parts of present-day San Augustine, Jasper, and Newton counties. Milam was the original county seat, but as early as 1850 settlers began to petition the government for a more centrally located county seat on the grounds that Milam was more than five miles from the geographic center of the county. In August 1858 an election was held, and 160 out of 260 votes were cast in favor of relocation. However, the election was invalidated because there was not an official survey proving Milam was outside the five-mile limit. On November 11, 1858, after a survey found Milam to be six and three-quarter miles from the center of the county, another election was held, and a majority again voted for relocation. J. A. Whittelsey, Alex Harris, John H. Smith, George L. Clapp, and C. K. Blanchard, acting as the Sabine County Court, used a survey by E. P. Beddoe and ordered that the county seat be located at the center of the county. The new town was named Hemphill, in honor of John Hemphill, a former Texas Supreme Court justice, who at the time was serving as a United States senator.
Sabine County's population grew from 1,021 in 1847 to 2,498 in 1850, of which 1,556 were Anglo-Americans and 942 were African-American slaves. The population was 2,750 in 1860. During the Civil War the county was the scene of a Confederate supply trail along which cattle were driven to Natchez, Mississippi. The war's toll on the civilian population resulted in assistance by the Confederate government to families of those serving in the army, and in February 1864 Chief Justice J. A. Whittelsey compiled a list of 334 people eligible for relief. Educational efforts in Sabine County began shortly before the Civil War. Public schools were established as early as 1854. Milam Masonic Institute opened in 1854 under the direction of Bertrand McClosky and operated until 1859. Sabine Baptist College opened in Milam in 1858 but closed during the war. It reopened in 1868 under the direction of W. C. Maund and was closed permanently in 1870. Sabine Valley University was established in 1876 in Hemphill. It was sponsored by Mount Zion Baptist and Bethlehem Baptist associations. By 1890 there were fifty-one rural community schools in the county.
The economy of Sabine County gradually recovered after the Civil War. The number of farms increased to 1,064 in 1900, and the primary crops were cotton, corn, and sweet potatoes. The population went from 3,256 in 1870 to 6,394 in 1900 to 12,299 in 1920. The number of farms increased slightly to 1,270 in 1920. Cotton bales ginned went from 2,409 in 1910 to 2,919 in 1920 to 4,760 in 1929, with a high of 8,209 in 1926. The county had eighteen manufacturing establishments in 1920.
A county newspaper called the Sabine County Reporter began publication in Hemphill in 1883. It merged with the San Augustine Rambler and became known as the Sabine County Reporter and the Rambler. In the early 1900s a number of other newspapers were published, including the Hemphill Reporter, the Hemphill Sabine County Reporter, and the Sabine County Citizen. Telephone service from the Sabine Valley Telephone Company was available between Bronson and Hemphill as early as 1911, and in 1914 the Sabine Citizens Telephone Company was authorized to build and maintain a telephone service along all public roads and streets. Railroads first came into Sabine County in 1902-03 when the Gulf, Beaumont and Great Northern Railroad laid a track north from Jasper County. In 1948 the railroad was leased to the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway, which merged with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe in 1965. The Lufkin, Hemphill and Gulf Railway ran eastward through Bronson in 1912 and reached Hemphill in 1916; the track was abandoned in 1938. In the 1920s construction began on State Highway 21 from Geneva to Milam and State Highway 87 from Milam to Hemphill. The era of growth at the turn of the century was accompanied by the organization of six financial institutions. Bronson State Bank was established in 1907 and merged with Peoples State Bank of Bronson (1919) in 1921. This bank was closed in 1931 due to insolvency. Farmers and Merchants State Bank of Hemphill later became First National Bank and was also liquidated in 1931. Sabine County was without a local bank until September 1944, when the First State Bank at Hemphill was established. Pineland State Bank was established in May 1957. Both banks were still in operation as of the 1980s.
The era of the 1920s to the 1950s was a period of general decline for Sabine County, with the population decreasing to 8,586 in 1950. This was due partly to the effects of the Great Depression, the cutting out of the virgin timber in the area, and the establishment of Sabine National Forest in 1933, which removed 112,000 acres of timber from cutting. The number of farms increased to 1,598 in 1940 and then dropped to 873 by 1950, with farm value decreasing by one-third. Crop production fluctuated and by 1950 had declined to pre-1900 lows. Cotton bales ginned fell to 1,000 by 1950. During the 1930s two Civilian Conservation Corp camps, one near Pineland and one near Milam, helped the Texas Forest Service build fire watchtowers and roads and assisted in the planting of pine seedlings in Sabine National Forest. The corps also helped with the construction of the Red Hills Recreation Area. Another New Deal project, the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service, was established in Hemphill to implement crop and livestock programs to help reduce excess production. In 1933 the state Highway Department took over the ferry at Pendleton, the site of Gaines Ferry, when the county could no longer afford the expense; in 1967 a bridge was built to replace the ferry. Electricity was brought to Sabine County in 1938 by the Deep East Texas Electric Cooperative, which was originally funded by the Rural Electrification Agency. By 1935 there were only thirty community schools, twenty-five for white students and five for black. An independent school district was established at Geneva and was discontinued in 1942. The Bronson and Pineland school districts, established in the early 1900s, were consolidated into the West Sabine Independent School District in 1961. Hemphill Independent School District was established in 1918 and remained in operation in the 1990s.
Construction began on Toledo Bend Reservoir in 1964. The impoundment of water began in 1966, and the electrical plant was finished in 1969. Toledo Bend, the largest man-made lake in the South, covers 181,000 acres, over a third of which are in Sabine County. Another construction project was the Pineland Airport, built in the mid-1960s a mile southwest of Pineland on U.S. Highway 96. The Arthur Temple, Sr., Memorial Library was built in 1969 with funding from the T. L. L. Temple Foundation and the city of Pineland. By 1969 the number of farms in the county had dropped to 382, but their value had increased to $32 million. Cotton production decreased from 1,000 bales in 1950 to the last reported figure of 520 in 1960. Sabine County experienced an era of growth in conjunction with the completion of Toledo Bend Dam and Reservoir. In 1970 the county had 7,187 residents-1,715 black and 5,445 white- and manufacturing increased to eighteen establishments. In 1975 the Sabine County Hospital District was established and collected $1,500,000 in funding for the construction of Sabine County Hospital, which in 1980 had thirty-six beds. Residents had previously been served by the City Hospital, established in 1953 by Dr. G. C. Winslow. In 1984 Congress set aside 9,946 acres for the Indian Mounds Wilderness Area, administered by the Yellow Pines Ranger District of the United States Forest Service, in Hemphill. The district also supervises the operation of the Red Hills, Willow Oak, Indian Mounds, and Lakeview recreation areas. Twenty-five percent of the money received from oil and gas royalties and the sale of timber from within the forest goes toward the support of the county road and school systems.
Politically, Sabine County has voted overwhelmingly for Democratic presidential candidates. Before 1900 the only major fluctuation was in the 1892 election, when the Populist candidate carried the county. From 1900 through 1992 Democratic candidates carried all but two races-Richard M. Nixon in 1972 and Ronald Reagan in 1984. In 1982 the county produced 58,744,000 cubic feet of gas and 36,244 barrels of oil. The population was 9,586 in 1990. Manufacturing remained steady, while the number of farms decreased to a low of 224. In 1990 the main population centers were Hemphill (population 1,182), Pineland (882), and Bronson (259). The economy was based on tourism, livestock and broiler chicken production, and the lumber industry. The county offers a wide variety of recreational activities, including fishing in Toledo Bend Reservoir and hunting in the Sabine National Forest. It also has a Mayfest and a county fair in October.
Texas Birth Certificates, 1903-10, 1926-29