This data set contains information
comprehensive in its coverage of early Texas. Much of the importance of this
collection stems from the fact that it covers a period of time before statehood
and before federal record keeping was established. For example, although the
first federal census was not taken in Texas until 1850, here you'll find a virtual
census (recreated from poll lists) for 1846.
Also, while registration
of vital events did not begin until 1903, you can often find similar information
in the biographical and genealogical sketches collected here. This data set
also includes passenger lists and a history of German settlement in Texas. Approximately
94,000 early Texas settlers are referenced here.
You may learn the following
information about an ancestor referenced by this data set:
- Names and descriptions
of family members
- Dates and details of
vital events
- General characteristics
- Occupation
- Age
- Residence in Texas
- Previous residence
Books Included
in this Data Set
Republic of Texas:
Poll Lists for 1846
Marion
Day Mullins
This book lists the names and counties of residence of approximately 18,000
Texas taxpayers. Either a white male resident over the age of twenty-one or
a female head of a household, the Texas residents listed here paid a "poll"
tax of one dollar. This list is an especially valuable resource since federal
censuses for Texas didn't begin until 1850. Compiled from the original tax rolls
housed in the Texas State Archives, this 1846 poll list is the closest thing
available to a complete census of the period. As an approximation of the entire
adult male population of the state, the Poll List for 1846 is essentially a
reconstructed census for Texas.
Austin Colony Pioneers,
Including History of Bastrop, Fayette, Grimes, Montgomery and Washington Counties,
Texas
Worth Stickley Ray
Settled in the early 1820s, Austin Colony was comprised largely of the five
present day counties of Bastrop, Fayette, Grimes, Montgomery, and Washington.
Here you'll find biographical and genealogical sketches of the pioneers and
early settlers of those counties. Since Washington County was the "port of entry"
to the Austin Colony, much of the book's focus is on that County. Often, you'll
learn the following information about an individual included in Austin Colony
Pioneers:
- References to their
arrival in Texas
- His place of settlement
- Military experience
- Career highlights
- Names of family members
- Place of residence
- Place and date of death
- Place of origin outside
of Austin Colony
- Details of any participation
in famous battles such as San Jacinto and the Alamo
Ancestor Lineages
of Members: Texas Society/National Society Colonial Dames Seventeenth Century
Jeanne Mitchell Jordan Tabb
This compilation of lineages was extracted from the official application papers
of Texas Society members. It consists of an alphabetical list of the proven
ancestors of the National Society Colonial Dames Seventeenth Century upon whose
ancestry Texas Society memberships are based. For each of the 2,000 individuals
included here, you'll find:
- Dates and places of
birth, marriage, and death
- Name of spouse(s)
- Names of children
- Names and membership
numbers of Society members linked to that ancestor
Kentucky Colonization
in Texas: A History of the Peters Colony
Seymour V. Connor
This is the definitive historical and genealogical account of the 1847-48 settlement
of the Peter's Colony in Northeast Texas. For each of the 2,000 settlers, you'll
learn:
- Name
- Marital status
- Occupation
- Age
- Year of migration to
Texas
- County of settlement
- State of birth
- State from which he
migrated
Character Certificates
in the General Land Office of Texas
Gifford White
The records that make up this book were assembled from local land office records
after Texas gained its independence from Mexico. Filed in the General Land Office
in Austin, the Character Certificates help to establish the following information
about approximately 5000 early Texas settlers:
- Date and place of settlement
- Place of origin
- Names of family members.
Stephen F. Austin's
Register of Families
Villamae Williams
Under the terms of an 1824 colonization law, Texas settlers such as Stephen
Austin were required to record vital information on every settler to a new area.
Here you'll find vital information on approximately 3000 Anglo-American settlers
of Mexican Texas. This information includes:
- Name
- Marital status
- Place of birth or last
residence
- Occupation
Austin and his secretary
maintained these records even after a full Mexican local government was established.
The entries continued through February 1836, less than a week before the signing
of the Texas Declaration of Independence. Prior to their compilation in this
book, these records were accessible only at the General Land Office in Austin.
A New Land Beckoned:
German Immigration to Texas, 1844-1847
Chester W. Geue and Ethel H. Geue
A compilation of original source material on the settlement of Germans in Texas
from 1844 to 1847, here you will find lists of ships from Germany and the United
States as well as indication of the Germans they brought to Texas. For each
of the more than 4000 individuals listed, you'll learn:
- Age
- Names of accompanying
family members
- Place of residence
in Europe
- Dates of departure
and arrival
New Homes in a New
Land: German Immigration to Texas, 1847-1861
Ethel H. Geue
This work is essentially a compilation of information gleaned from 105 passenger
lists of ships that arrived at Galveston between the years 1847 and 1861. For
each of the 5,600 individuals listed, you'll learn:
- Age
- Family
- Residence in Europe
- Name of ship
- Date of departure from
Germany
- Date of arrival in
Texas
- Name of Texas county
in which the immigrant settled.
In addition to the lists
of immigrants, this work includes a brief history of German immigration to
Texas as well as the names and descriptions of some of the Germans who were
in Texas before it was a Republic. New Homes in a New Land is the sequel
to the author's A New Land Beckoned and brings the story of the German
immigration to Texas up to the time of the Civil War.
