Genealogy 1
Raking the Bones of Your Past: Genealogy in Texas
Script for KWBU-FM and Texas NPR Stations
By Terri Jo Ryan
HOST (Mary Landon Darden)
The Texas Collection at BaylorUniversity may be one of the first places that come to mind when researching the collective past of Central Texans. But what about the individual past? How does it rank when undertaking the journey of self-discovery that ensues when researching the ol’ family tree?
Terri Jo Ryan, freelance writer and vice-chairperson of the Waco History Project, recently interviewed the staff at The Texas Collection to learn more about the quest for information to fill in those missing leaves. . . .
WRITER (Terri Jo Ryan)
Speaking as a long time fan of the place, I must say I was surprised to learn just how many resources there are for people doing genealogical research. I was taken on a “behind the scenes” tour of the stacks to see for myself the thousands upon thousands of books and other kinds of publications, such as pamphlets, church histories, funeral home records, the Sanborn insurance maps, and even cookbooks.
Cookbooks?
Yes. The Texas Collection has one of the most comprehensive cookbook collections in the state, if not the country. And many of these cookbooks are the result of multi-generational family heirloom recipes being handed down from days of yore. From making church suppers for 300 to a simple dish of Breakfast Scallops that “passed the Uncle Vernon test,” these cookbooks can offer examples of unusual but valuable ways of preserving family legacies.
One staff member, for example, pointed me to the Cates Family Cookbook, which integrated family photos and anecdotes about their favorite culinary delights with the practical, how-to information on preparation.
Well, before we get too far afield in our hunt for sources, let’s start at the beginning, shall we?
Sure. The folks at The Texas Collection report that although they are not an “official” genealogical library, nor do they have any such specialist on staff, they try to accommodate as many requests as they are able by steering people to the right resources. They get several requests a week from people who, for example, start their story this way:
“My great-great-grandpappy was in a Confederate regiment . . .” or “Great-Great Uncle Hiram was a Baptist preacher on the frontier,” etc. To save them from a lot of blind groping at the start, Texas Collection staff recommends starting with the county records.
In general, Texas began officially recording births and deaths in 1903. So, birth and death certificates are on file at the Texas Department of Health. Marriage and divorce records are on file at the county clerk's office of each individual county. It should be noted, however, that although the state required filing of birth and death certificates in 1903, this law was not strictly adhered to by many physicians until years later, so early records are somewhat sketchy. Some earlier vital records are on file at the county level in only some counties.
For example, The Texas Collection is a Regional History Resource Depository for the following counties in addition to McLennanCounty: Bell, Bosque, Burnett, Coryell, Falls, Hamilton, Hill, Lampasas, Limestone and Williamson.
An RHRD library is one of 23 participating libraries in Texas that receives the microfilm records of selected counties in our area from their Local Records Division. These microfilm materials are loaned through the Interlibrary Loan system and can be requested for off-site use. Patrons can contact a library assistant to request materials or for more information about the program.
What kind of county records are we talking about?
This is where it gets a little tricky, because it’s only what those particular counties decided to microfilm. For example, in HillCounty, they have the birth, death, marriage and deed records from 1903 until 1938microfilmed. They also have the minutes of the district court’s civil case papers from 1867 until 1932, for example. They have the minutes from divorce hearings dating back to 1876 – and those are kind of fun to read because they talk about the grounds for the divorce and the separation of the property.
Hmm, she gets the mule and he gets the house?
Exactly, that sort of thing. HillCounty has them up to 1947. They also have the naturalization records from 1896-1913 and the declarations of intent, from 1907-1913. These are the records that people had to swear before a local official like “I hereby renounce King so-and-so of such-and-such as I will become an American citizen.”
Let’s see. . . .HillCounty also has the tax rolls from 1853-1910 on microfilm.
If you owned a business, I suppose, the government was going to get its share.
That’s right. Those are just a small example of the kinds of records that are available. And the thing is, each county is unique – some saved more, some saved less. The good news is, if you need to research items from a county that is NOT a part of the Texas Collection’s assigned depository, you can request a loan of microfilm from another of the libraries in the system.It’s a free service to the taxpayers of Texas, a library-to-library loan. How cool is that?
Of course, before you get too excited about it, just remember, not all records for all counties are available on microfilm just yet. Although some records of Texas courts, such as naturalization and probate records, have been microfilmed; others, including criminal and civil case papers are available only in paper format.
Can you give us some examples?
Examples of court records the diligent family researcher can hunt through include:
* Justice of the Peace Courts
Justice of the peace courts are among the lowest level of the local trial courts in the Texas judicial system. Their jurisdiction is restricted to the least serious of misdemeanor offenses and minor civil matters, including small claims. Justice of the peace officers also have the power to issue search or arrest warrants and they serve as the coroner in counties where there is no provision for a medical examiner.
* County Courts
County courts generally have more authority than that of the justice of the peace courts but less than that of the state district courts; they have jurisdiction over appeals of cases from justice of the peace and municipal courts. The county clerk records a wide variety of documents for the county, including deeds, marriage licenses, and cattle brands. The main duties of the county clerk are to serve as clerk of the county court and the county commissioners' court, act as recorder of deeds and other instruments, issue marriage licenses, and take depositions. The clerk is also responsible for conducting countywide special and general elections and for handling absentee voting.
* District Courts
The district court is the principal trial court in Texas, usually for both civil and criminal cases. It is the court of original jurisdiction in all family law matters and is the court of appeal in probate matters. Courts of original jurisdiction provide the first hearing on a specific case as opposed to appellate courts, which hear appeals of cases that were originally tried in other (lower level) courts.
Sounds like it could be an overwhelming amount of information to sift through, though.
Agreed. So the people at The Texas Collection may refer questions or patrons to Bill Buckner, genealogy specialist at the Waco-McLennan County Library system. He often recommends people begin with the U.S. Census records for their dearly departed kinfolk. The most recent census for which people can get partial or restricted information is the 1930 census.Texas’ first federal census, of course, was 1850 (it became a state in 1845).
It used to be a long and tedious process to sift through those records. But now, several on-line data bases have digitized some of the data. For example, the Baylor University Library system subscribes to the Heritage Quest service, which is first and foremost for the research needs of Baylor students and the university community.
What do the Census records say?
Census records are great for finding head of households, wives, kids, in-laws, boarders, and tracking age, education level, professions, whether or not they owned land, etc. It’s a snapshot of a given day in one year of their life. You can use the information to chart migration patterns in your family.
However, Census surveys are only taken every 10 years; so if you have no idea where your ancestor was living in a given year, or the census-taker happened to misspell the last name, you can find yourself going down a lot of blind alleys.
Other great avenues to pursue, according to Texas Collection staffers, are the area or county histories compiled by the amateur historians of a region. In most cases, they are the compilations of mini-biographies, if you will, of the people of a place that have been submitted along the years. The GraysonCounty book, for example, has the stories of ordinary citizens of that area compiled for more than 100 years – people who have shared their anecdotes, information and family photographs to enrich the public record.
The Texas Collection also boasts at least 100 church histories in its records. These church histories may sometime include minutes of board meetings, baptismal records, as well as marriage and death records.
How about those books that families give out at family reunions. Is there a place for them as well in the Texas Collection?
You bet! In fact, the staff mentioned that they welcomed those most of all. People put a lot of work into creating those family record books, and often have no idea just how valuable they could prove to some researcher some day. Most people are unaware that libraries are so keenly interested in those documents. And when they are told about it, these amateur historians are oftenflattered that someone would like to keep a copy for posterity.
One staff member told me about afamily that, every generation, designates a record keeper. Thus, their family history is now in its fifth edition – very impressive!
What are some other resources likely to be overlooked by beginning genealogists?
Cemetery records for one. The Texas Collection has an eight-volume set of cemetery records for Waco and McLennanCounty. Someof the information was gleaned Eagle Scouts or other volunteers doing graveyard census research, such as taking photos and notes on each tombstone inscription they came across.
And don’t forget funeral home records, which documentwho dies, includingwhen and where, and often recount some of the circumstances of a death. The accounts from the pioneer days make fascinating reading – it seems a lot of folks were killed being run over by wagons or falling from buildings, or sicknesses that we don’t worry about anymore. The records often indicate if the decedent’s family paid in cash or had to barter for services.
That is something that would never happen today.
One staff member alerted me to “The Index toEarlyMcLennanCountyDeaths,” by John M. Usry, published in 1987 by the Central Texas Genealogical Society. It contains close to33,000 names of people who died before 1917, or folks who were important in early days of Waco history but whose death dates are unknown. Most of the information was gleaned from cemetery books, law and health records, marriage records, obituaries, funeral home records, newspaper accounts, as well as family and county histories.
Usry became active in the society in 1971 after retiring from the Navy. He served in most of the offices of the society during the next several years. As a result of his strict, self-imposed schedule and his leadership, he and the other members gathered enough information to publish the eight volumes of cemetery records, two volumes of marriage records as well as a quarterly publication.
He read a lot of old newspapers to gather these obituaries. Some deaths he recorded for posterity come off as odd: “The walls of trenches collapsed, teams of horses broke loose, and it seems like one could hardly leave town without a corpse or two turning up in the countryside. Preachers died in their pulpits, or litigants were shot in the courthouse.”The phrase “struck in the head by a locomotive,” comes up. People died of “a cough,” or “suicided” by any variety of poisons including horse liniment, gunfire or jumps from bridges, barns or barges.
Usry also edited a comprehensive listing of the occupants of OakwoodCemetery, which was published in 1979. Ergo, it is already 30 years behind in recording the final resting places of the latest generation of prominent Wacoans.
Sounds like a good volunteer opportunity or student project. What else is available?
The Texas Collection also houses many genealogical volumes by researcher Ms. Frances Terry Ingmire, who chronicled several dozen county histories. One of her works, originally published in Chicago in 1893, has the ponderously long title of: (deep breath) “A Memorial and biographical history of McLennan, Falls, Bell and Coryell Counties, Texas: containing a history of this important section of the great state of Texas, from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its future prospects: also biographical mention of many of the pioneers and prominent citizens of the present time, and full-page portraits of some of the most eminent men of this section.”
That’s a mouthful, alright!
Some counties kept records on who was committed to mental institutions. More than 100 years ago, records were kept of people with epilepsy, for example.
The Texas Collection has the coroner’s inquest records of AndersonCounty from 1887 until 1928.
And don’t forget to check the scholastic census of various counties. Of course, before the historic U.S. Supreme Court Brown V. Board of Education decision in 1954, those records would include racial demographic information as well. For example, we have the McLennanCounty scholastic census records from 1930 until 1942, broken down by race.
You mentioned the assortment of records from surrounding counties. What other sorts of records do we have specific to McLennanCounty here in the Texas Collection?
Let’s see: the Tax rolls from 1851-1910, birth records from 1903 through 1917, county court orders from 1850-1858; deeds of trust from 1869-1889; land deeds from 1850-1906; marriage records from 1850-1916; Declarations of intent from 1887-1906, naturalization minutes from 1891-1900 and naturalization records from 1903-1906; probate records from 1853-1908, as well as two stashes of District Court civil case minutes. The Fifth District Court minutes are from 1893 until 1904, and the 19thDistrict Court records are from 1851 to 1907. There are neither criminal records nor adoption records that have been microfilmed for McLennanCounty, it seems.
Another path of investigation for the amateur family historian is to search through the ethnic periodicals, such as Polish Footprints, Czech Footprints, or family magazines like the Burleson Quarterly. The Texas Collection has more than 100 such titles for use. The various ethnic groups instrumental in the settlement of Texas are well represented in the library’s holdings.
What about folks with Confederate ancestors?
Many native Southerners are interested in pursuing lines of inquiry about their Confederate ancestors. Most counties have a military record called the Muster Roll or enrollment records in their holdings. Military discharge records provide a lot of information on times, places and circumstances of service. You can also check the pension applications as a way to verify a veteran or his survivors.’
Also, check the Cumulative Index ofThe Confederate Veteran,) a magazine published between 1893 and 1932. You can hunt by name or by unit through this three-volume index of 2,700 pages with 500,000 entries, including every name and significant mention and cross-reference charts as well. On a similar vein, the National Archives has published a "Consolidated Index to Compiled Confederate Service Records" on microfilm which is available in many large historical libraries
One of the holdings unique to The Texas Collection, the library assistant told me, is a six-volume set known as the Biographical Gazetteer of Texas, a 1985 publication of the biographical sketch file of The Texas Collection, an ongoing project. The Biographical Gazetteer of Texas, indexes more than 200 late 19th and early 20th century volumes. A finding aid for information about prominent individuals, it provides the name, a birth or death date, and the title and page number of the publications where the biographical sketch can be found. Several libraries across the state keep a copy of it.