Guide
Texas Genealogy Search at a Glance
Texas family history spans Spanish, Mexican, Republic and state periods, and the Texas General Land Office in Austin holds the land grants from all four, with a free online index to Spanish and Mexican titles, Republic headrights and state grants that name most early settlers. Texas began statewide vital registration in 1903, and the Texas death index from 1903 to 2000 and birth index from 1903 to 1997 are public and free online. The Texas State Library and Archives Commission in Austin holds the Republic and state records, Confederate pensions and county records on microfilm.
Texas took no state censuses, but the 1867 voter registration lists and the county tax rolls from the 1830s fill the gaps, and the Republic of Texas census of 1840 survives for most counties.
Official sources on this page were checked on September 25, 2026.
Guide
Texas Genealogy
Guide
Vital records for Texas family history
Texas began statewide birth and death registration in 1903, with some cities keeping records earlier, and the Texas Department of State Health Services Vital Statistics office in Austin holds the certificates, with county clerks holding copies. Birth certificates become public after 75 years and death certificates after 25, and the Texas birth index from 1903 to 1997 and death index from 1903 to 2000 are free online through several sites, with certificates through the public years imaged on FamilySearch. Marriage licenses were issued by each county clerk from the county's founding, and the state has a marriage index from 1966, and divorce records sit with the district clerk.
Guide
Texas archives, census and military records
The General Land Office holds the Spanish and Mexican land titles, the Republic of Texas headright and bounty grants, the state preemption and school land grants and the county maps, with free online images, and the State Library and Archives holds the Republic of Texas claims and audited accounts, Confederate pension applications from 1899 onward with an online index, the Texas Adjutant General's service records for the Texas Rangers and Confederate units, the 1867 voter registration, the state penitentiary registers and county records on microfilm. The Portal to Texas History offers free digitized newspapers and records, and the National Archives at Fort Worth holds Texas's federal court, naturalization and immigration records.
Guide
County courthouse records in Texas
Texas county clerks hold deeds, mortgages, marriage licenses, probate records and the county copies of birth and death certificates from each county's founding, and district clerks hold civil, divorce and older naturalization files, with most county clerks posting online indexes and many with deed images back to the 1800s. The State Library and Archives and FamilySearch have microfilmed the older books of nearly all 254 counties. Courthouse fires took early records in Bexar, Cameron, Hill, Hunt, Kaufman, Nacogdoches and dozens of other counties, and the land grants and tax rolls are the substitutes.
Guide
Federal & National Authoritative Sources
Straight answers
Texas Genealogy Search, questions
Are the Texas birth and death indexes free?
Yes. The Texas birth index for 1903 to 1997 and death index for 1903 to 2000 are public records available free online, and death certificates through the public years are imaged on FamilySearch.
Where are Texas land grants?
At the Texas General Land Office in Austin, which holds Spanish, Mexican, Republic of Texas and state grants with a free online index and images. The county clerks hold later deeds.
Did Texas take state censuses?
No, but the Republic of Texas census of 1840, the county tax rolls from the 1830s and the 1867 voter registration lists substitute, and the State Library and Archives holds them.