Baylor County, Texas Genealogical Records Information

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Baylor County History and Information

Baylor County Facts

Baylor County was created in 1858 and formed from Fannin County. Baylor County was named for Henry Weidner Baylor, a surgeon in the Texas Rangers during the Mexican-American War. The County Seat is Seymour. The Official County website is located at http://ntxga.com/Baylor.html. The Baylor County courthouse was constructed of brick and concrete in Contemporary style in 1968. Pierce, Norris & Pace designed it and the structure was built at a cost of $350,000.

Areas adjacent to Baylor County are Wilbarger County (north), Archer County (east), Throckmorton County (south), Knox County (west), Foard County (northwest)

See also Extended History for more historical details.

Baylor County, Texas History Books at Amazon.com
Family History Library - The largest collection of free family history, family tree and genealogy records in the world.

There are free downloadable and printable forms to help with your research. These include U.S. Census Extraction Forms, U.K. Census Extraction Forms, Research Calendar, Ancestral Chart, Research Extract, Correspondence Record , Family Group Sheet , Source Summary Form.

Baylor County Court Records

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.

Baylor County Clerk has Court Records from 1881, Land Records from 1879, Probate Records from 1879, Marriage Records from 1879 and Birth/Death Records from 1903 is located at P.O. Box 689, Seymour, TX 76380-0689; (817) 888-3322 .
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.

There are a few online databases for Court, Land and Probate Records which include: Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997, Texas Deaths, 1964-98, Texas Marriage Collection, 1814-1909 & 1966-2002, and Texas Divorce Index, 1968-2002. You may also search the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) which does cover Texas. Many pioneers and settelers bought land from the government instead of individuals.

Click Here to Search Texas Court, Land, Wills & Financial Records! - Researchers often overlook the importance of court records, probate records, and land records as a source of family history information.

Below is a list of online resources for Baylor County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Baylor County Court Records by clicking the link below:

Baylor County, Texas Court Books at Amazon.com
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.

Baylor County Vital Records

See Also Research In Tax Records

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 Baylor County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Baylor County Tax Records by clicking the link below:

Baylor County, Texas Tax Books at Amazon.com

Baylor County Genealogical Addresses

See Also Other Texas Genealogical Addresses

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 Baylor County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Baylor County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:

Baylor County Historical Society, P.O. Box 689, Seymour 76380
Local Texas Researchers, Find a local researcher or become a local researcher.
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 Genealogical Society, 2505 Beluche Drive, Galveston 77551
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.
Texas Genealogical Society Books at Amazon.com

Baylor County Church & Cemeteries

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.

There are many churches and cemeteries in Baylor County. Some transcriptions are online. A great site is the Baylor County Tombstone Transcription Project.

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 Baylor County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Baylor County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:

Family Trees & Genealogy Tidbits

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 Baylor County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Baylor County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:

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Sites on USGenweb: [ Baylor County ] [ Texas ] [ Main Page ]
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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.
Genealogical Document Search and Retrieval Service
Baylor County, Texas Family Books at Amazon.com

County History

Baylor County , in North Central Texas, is bounded on the south by Throckmorton County, on the east by Archer County, on the north by Wilbarger County, and on the west by Knox and Foard counties.

Before it was settled, the area that is now Baylor County lay within the range of the Wanderers, a nomadic Comanche band, who relied upon buffalo for food, clothing, shelter, tools, and ornaments. In 1848 special Indian agent Robert S. Neighbors found 250 Comanche, fifty Tonkawa, and ten Wichita lodges on Lewis Creek at the site of present-day Seymour. When the first surveys were made in the area in 1853 the Indians were still using it as a major hunting ground for buffalo, a fact that made settlement nearly impossible. This continued until the final defeat of the Comanches in 1874 by the United States Army and their removal to a reservation in Indian territory. Baylor County was separated from Fannin County in 1858 and named for Henry W. Baylor, a surgeon in a regiment of Texas Rangers during the Mexican War. The county was attached to Jack County for administrative and judicial purposes.

The first settlement was at Round Timber, nineteen miles southeast of the site of present Seymour. Tradition holds that the first settler was Col. C. C. Mills, who may have been at Round Timber during the Civil War and was certainly there by 1870. He was driven out by Indian raids, but returned by 1875 to join J. W. Stevens, who had arrived a year earlier.

This was the era of free-grass ranches, a time in which farmers and ranchers sometimes violently contested for land. Settlers from Oregon, led by Col. J. R. McClain, moved to the site of Seymour in 1876, for example, but were driven off when cowboys ran cattle over their corn. In 1879 the Millett brothers–Eugene C., Alonzo, and Hiram–came from Guadalupe County to begin ranching in Baylor County. They ran a tough outfit and used their armed cowhands to intimidate would-be settlers and the citizens of newly founded Seymour. Violence and contention plagued the county during the first years of settlement. Baylor County's first two county attorneys were forced to resign, and in June 1879 county judge E. R. Morris was shot and killed by saloon keeper Will Taylor. Later the Texas Rangers gradually brought peace.

Baylor County was formally organized in 1879 with Seymour as county seat. That same year both Seymour and Round Timber were assigned the county's first post offices. By 1880, fifty farms and ranches encompassing 13,506 acres had been established in the county, supporting a population of 708 people; more than 13,506 cattle were counted in the county that year. Baylor County's first newspaper was the Cresset, which began publishing in 1880 and lasted for several years. It was followed by the Seymour Scimeter, which failed in 1886. Early settlers were tested by a drought and severe winters in 1886 and 1887, but these hard times were followed by seasons of bumper wheat crops, which led to a settlement boom. By 1890 there were 169 farms and ranches in the county, and the population had climbed to 2,595.

In 1890 county residents raised $50,000 to insure the completion of the Wichita Valley Railway, which linked Seymour to Wichita Falls, fifty-two miles to the east. By 1892, the Texas Gazetteer reported that Seymour was a thriving town, with two newspapers (the Monitor and the News), the First National Bank, two physicians, and a dentist. The town also had three hotels and was home to a number of lawyers, storekeepers, shoemakers, saddlers, and county officials who served its population of 1,900. In 1895 another newspaper, the Baylor County Banner, printed its first edition; it was still being published in the 1990s. By 1900 the county had 327 farms and the population had grown to 3,052. Ranching was still a crucial component of the local economy, and the number of cattle in Baylor County had increased to almost 45,000. But crop farming was quickly rising in importance as more and more farmers moved to the area to grow wheat, oats, corn, and, increasingly, cotton.

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