Texas Genealogical Sources

Many patrons visit the DRT Library seeking genealogical information. Whether you are just beginning to explore your family tree or you are an experienced researcher needing additional information on a particular ancestor, we have many sources about Texas history and families that can assist you in your research. A description of a selection of these materials is included below.

Muster Rolls: Muster rolls are lists of names in a military unit. The library has these lists for the Texas Revolution, the American Revolution, and specific military units. The lists show the date the individual enlisted and his rank. Also, sometimes the lists state how long the individual was enlisted and include remarks such as why someone was discharged or what unit they were transferred to.

U.S. Census: The library has access to an online database of U.S. Census records for the years 1790­ through 1930, although this source does not include data for 1830, 1840, and 1850. The library also has a print version of the U.S. Census taken in Texas in 1850. The information included in the census varies depending on the year it was taken, but most provide the name of the head of household, as well as the name of a wife, if applicable. Some also include children’s names or at least the number of children in a household. Respondents’ places of birth and occupations as well as parents’ places of birth are also sometimes listed.

Land Grants: These documents list men who were given land in return for military service. They include the amount of time served, the amount of land given, and the location of the land. If the man died during service, the records say that his heirs received the land, although the heirs are not listed. The library’s most frequently used book of land grants contains Texas grants from 1835 to 1888.

Tax Rolls: These records contain the names of heads of households by county, the amount of land that they own, and any additional property that they might own (e.g. cattle, carriages, slaves, and other land). The library has Texas tax rolls from 1840 as well as tax rolls for specific counties in other years.

Founders and Patriots of the Republic of Texas: This source lists the names of Daughters of the Republic of Texas as well as their ancestral lineage that they used to gain entry into the organization. Each volume also has an ancestor index. Not all members are listed, as some choose to not be published. This is a great source for finding ancestors if you know that a relative joined the DRT.

DRT Library Welcomes New Cataloging Librarian

The Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library Committee announces with excitement the appointment of Beverly Ewald as cataloging librarian of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library. Mrs. Ewald began in her position on September 22.

Mrs. Ewald, a San Antonio native, holds a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the University of Texas at San Antonio and a master’s degree in library and information science from the University of Texas at Austin. From 1994 to 1998, Mrs. Ewald was the library director at the Nonprofit Resource Center of Texas. For the last decade, she and her husband, Ken, operated two custom picture framing stores in San Antonio and Bulverde. Mrs. Ewald is also an experienced genealogist, and she is interested in Texas and Civil War history.

Review of the Family History Seminar, “Bursting Through Brick Walls”

From left to right, Leslie Stapleton, DRT Library Director; Connie Impelman, Library Committee Chairman; and Lloyd de Witt Bockstruck.

This past Saturday, the DRT Library held its eighth annual Family History Seminar. This year’s speaker was Lloyd de Witt Bockstruck, an award-winning and well-respected librarian, author, lecturer, and genealogist. Mr. Bockstruck has been a librarian at the Dallas Public Library since 1973 and currently serves as the supervisor of its genealogy department. He has also been a faculty member at the Institute of Genealogical and Historical Research at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, since 1974.

Mr. Bockstruck began the seminar by establishing a general framework or approach to genealogical research. He posed four questions to which both novice and experienced genealogists should return as they investigate their family’s history:

• What do I want to find out or prove/document?
• What kind of record would contain that information?
• Where is that record located today?
• How do I access those records?

These questions hint at one of the ideas underlying Mr. Bockstruck’s talk, namely the need for genealogists to think about the connection between an event in the past and how that event is represented in recorded history. He urged seminar participants to use record-generating events in their ancestors’ lives to guide their investigations. While typically family history researchers focus on an ancestor’s birth, marriage, and death, other events such as buying or selling land, attending school, serving in the military, and being involved in court disputes also generate records that contain information about an ancestor’s life.

Mr. Bockstruck answers a question during one of his presentations.

The title of this year’s symposium was “Bursting Through Brick Walls,” and Mr. Bockstruck’s four presentations focused on illegitimacy; substitutes for birth and death records; pitfalls commonly encountered by genealogists; and onomatology, or the study of names. Individually and collectively, these talks offered guidance to participants on how to solve problems that might derail further genealogical investigation or prevent continued progress.

Mr. Bockstruck described many types of archival records that may contain information of importance to family history researchers. These include records of schools and universities, churches, and courts as well as newspapers, wills and probate documents, letters, and diaries. Records of federal, state, and local governments also contain a wealth of information for genealogists, who can utilize, for example, records pertaining to adoption, military service, voting, land transactions, coroners’ investigations, and each branch of government.

Seminar participants await the beginning of Mr. Bockstruck's presentation.

Once a genealogist has located and accessed a record, he or she then faces the challenge of interpreting its content. To successfully accomplish this, Mr. Bockstruck argued, a genealogist needs to become familiar with the time and place in which his or her ancestor lived, i.e. the historical context in which the original records were created. Specifically, Mr. Bockstruck emphasized how interpreting legal circumstances and word usage in older documents from a twenty-first-century perspective can result in a genealogist drawing incorrect conclusions from a record and spending a significant amount of time pursuing irrelevant lines of inquiry. Thus, Mr. Bockstruck urged participants to familiarize themselves with the customs that were known to and practiced by people living in the past.

Many thanks to Mr. Bockstruck for providing such thought-provoking information and to the participants who attended this year’s Family History Seminar.

Galveston Hurricane of 1900

Hurricane Ike, the storm that traveled over East Texas this past week, drew mentions to the catastrophic hurricane that Galveston suffered through on September 8, 1900. Due to a lack of early warnings, the storm caused an estimated 6,000 to 8,000 casualties and destroyed one-third of the city. To read a more detailed account of the hurricane from the Handbook of Texas Online, click here. The library has numerous secondary sources about the 1900 storm, including some accounts published within a year of the hurricane. The following pictures are from the library’s photograph collection:

The intersection of Avenue O and 19th Street in Galveston. (SC94.054)

This photo shows a school house that was carried 600 feet by the water. (SC94.053)

Click here for a full citation of the documents and images included in this entry.

Diez y Seis de Septiembre

Diez y Seis de Septiembre (September 16) commemorates Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla’s Grito de Dolores (“Cry of Dolores”), a speech he made on that date in 1810 demanding Mexican independence from Spanish rulers and calling for mestizos and indigenous persons to rise up against Spanish oppression.

First page of a commission to Jose Maria Larios, dated January 25, 1814.

The complex causes of Mexico’s war for independence long predate the rallying cry of Hildago y Costilla, and Mexican forces waged war against Spanish troops for almost a decade before the Spanish crown recognized Mexico’s independence on September 27, 1821. Still, Diez y Seis de Septiembre has been celebrated as Mexico’s national Independence Day each year since 1825, the same year the date was first commemorated in San Antonio.

Diez y Seis is one of two national holidays, or fiestas patrias, celebrated by Mexican Americans; the other is Cinco de Mayo (May 5), which honors General Ignacio Zaragoza’s defeat of French forces at Puebla, Mexico, in 1862.

The sizable DRT 9 Documents Collection at the DRT Library contains a wealth of materials dating from 1519 to 1979. Included in this collection are many Spanish-language records that document the period when Texas was a province of New Spain and Mexican history in the early nineteenth century. As stated in the finding aid for this collection, DRT 9 was “formed to gather manuscript material received by the DRT Library prior to the implementation of current descriptive and cataloging practices.” Documents are arranged alphabetically by the author or creator, although there are some exceptions to this rule. Currently, the finding aid for this collection is not available online, and geographic, organizational, and personal names from the collection are not searchable through the library’s online catalog. However, a paper copy of the finding aid is available to researchers who visit the Library, and remote users can contact Caitlin Donnelly, archivist, at cdonnelly@drtl.org to learn more about the DRT 9 collection.

Report of Morelos's victory, May 3, 1812.

The following Spanish-language materials document Mexico’s ten-year war for independence from Spain.

Mexico. Ejercito [Military]

Commission to Jose Maria Larios dated January 25, 1814; document issued by General Jose Maria Morelos ordering Larios to recruit for the insurgent forces.

New Spain. Viceroy (1810-1813: Venegas)

Correspondence, Mexico City, dated 1811-1813; folder includes letters sent and received by Viceroy Francisco Javier Venegas regarding a plot against him, the use of informers, and the activities of insurgents.

New Spain. Viceroy (1813-1816: Calleja del Rey)

Disability discharge of Vicente Espejo, Mexico City, dated July 19, 1813.

New Spain. Viceroy (1813-1816: Calleja del Rey)

Disability discharge of Rafael Garcia, Mexico City, dated July 20, 1815.

New Spain. Viceroy (1813-1816: Calleja del Rey)

Promotion of Epitacio Sanchez, Mexico City, dated April 17, 1816.

New Spain. Viceroy (1816-1821: Apodaca)

Printed document transmitting royal decree specifying penalties for dissent, dated September 18, 1820.

New Spain. Viceroy (1816-1821: Apodaca)

Disability discharge of Domingo Caba, Mexico City, dated February 21, 1818.

New Spain. Viceroy (1816-1821: Apodaca)

Promotion of Epitacio Sanchez, Mexico City, dated October 13, 1818.

Ximenes, Ygnacio

Announcement of victory of Jose Maria Morelos over Spanish troops, Tenango, dated May 3, 1812.

Click here for a full citation of the documents and images included in this entry.

JFK at the Alamo

On this day 48 years ago, September 12, 1960, Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kennedy, his running mate Lyndon B. Johnson, and Senator Ralph Yarborough stopped at the Alamo during Kennedy’s campaign. Less than two months later he defeated Republican candidate Richard Nixon. Kennedy later visited San Antonio as president on November 21, 1963, the day before his assassination in Dallas. Thesephotos are part of the library’s Octavia West collection.

John F. Kennedy signs the guest register in the Alamo. To the left is his sister Patricia Lawford and to the right the DRT hostess. (SC03.007)

From left, Senators Ralph Yarborough, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon Johnson in the Shrine. (SC03.008)

Click here for a full citation of the documents and images included in this entry.

September is Tejano Heritage Month

This month has been designated Tejano Heritage Month by Governor Rick Perry. According to the website of Texas Tejano.com, the organization sponsoring the festivities, the goal of the month-long commemoration is to “elevate and celebrate the lives and legacies of Tejanos” and to educate Texans about Tejanos’ contributions to the state’s history and culture.

Many Tejanos, or Texans of Mexican or Spanish descent, played an important role in supporting the Texas Revolution. Tejanos were also present at the Alamo in 1836, as seven men in Juan N. Seguin’s unit entered the garrison on February 23; remained after William B. Travis sent their commander to Goliad with a message requesting reinforcements; and were among the Alamo defenders killed in the March 6 attack. These men were Juan Abamillo, Juan A. Badillo, Gregorio Esparza, Antonio Fuentes, Damacio Jiménez (Ximenes or Jimenes), Toribio Losoya, and Andrés Nava. Scholars have identified two other Tejanos, José María Guerrero and Carlos Espalier, who are also known to have died defending the Alamo.

The DRT Library contains several primary sources relating to Tejano Alamo defenders. For example, the John W. Smith collection (COL 917) contains the papers of a prominent San Antonio businessman and politician. Smith also managed several persons’ estates, including that of Toribio Losoya. The documents regarding Losoya’s estate include a statement by Erasmo Seguin, Judge of the Probate Court of Bexar County, dated February 6, 1838 appointing Smith administrator “of all and singular the goods and chattels, rights, and credits of the said Torribio Lasoya [sic] deceased.” In other words, Smith was empowered to pay debts Losoya owed others and collect debts owed to him. A second document in this file contains the “field notes of a survey of an [sic] league of land” that includes measurements of boundaries, notations of landmarks, and a small map of Losoya’s Texas property.

Other materials about Tejano Alamo defenders Carlos Espalier, Gregorio Esparza, Antonio Fuentes, Toribio Losoya, and Andrés Nava can be found in the James B. Lefler Research Papers (COL 1127). Lefler was a historical researcher and Pennsylvania resident, and his collection contains copies of documents he gathered at other repositories, particularly the Texas General Land Office. As stated in the inventory to this collection, the documents concern “the grants awarded the heirs of the men for their service to Texas, and include certificates, surveys, patents, and documents submitted in support of land claims.” A complete inventory of the materials in this collection is available at the DRT Library.

1898 Democratic State Convention

In conjunction with the recently-held Democratic and Republican National Conventions, this week’s entry highlights a ribbon from the 1898 state convention of the Texas Democratic Party. The ribbon is part of the library’s Albert Sidney Burleson collection (DOC 6883), and presumably he wore it as a delegate at the convention. Burleson, a native of San Marcos, enjoyed a lengthy political career in Texas before representing the state in the U.S. Congress (1899-1913) and serving as postmaster general under President Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921). For more information about Burleson, see the Handbook of Texas History Online.

The Texas Democratic Party continues to hold a state convention each even-numbered year. According to the organization’s website, the purpose of the convention is to elect state party leaders, adopt a platform, and announce nominations for state offices. Moreover, in years in which a presidential election is held, delegates at the convention also “elect Delegates and Alternates to the Party’s National Convention; elect the Party’s official nominees from Texas for the Democratic National Committee…; and select the official slate of Presidential Electors.”

Members of the Democratic Party who attended the 1898 convention in Galveston nominated Joseph Draper Sayers to run for governor. Sayers had previously served as a member of the Texas legislature, as a United States Congressman, and as lieutenant governor. He served a second gubernatorial term before Democrat Samuel Willis Tucker Lanham was elected to the position in 1903. For more information about Sayers, see the Handbook of Texas History Online.

Several primary and secondary sources at the DRT Library detail the history of politics in Texas, specifically the histories of the Democratic and Republican parties in the state. Some of the library’s holdings include:

Adams, Frank Carter. Texas Democracy: A Centennial History of Politics and Personalities of the Democratic Party, 1836-1936. Austin, Texas: Democratic Historical Association, 1937.

Casdorph, Paul D. A History of the Republican Party in Texas, 1865-1965. Austin, Texas: Pemberton Press, 1965.

Moneyhon, Carl H. Republicanism in Reconstruction Texas. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press, 1980.

Morehead, Richard. 50 Years in Texas Politics: From Roosevelt to Reagan – From the Fergusons to Clements. Burnet, Texas: Eakin Press, 1982.

Texas Centennial of Statehood Commission. A Century of Texas Governors and Capitols: Republic and State. Austin, Texas: Press of Von Boeckmann-Jones, 1943.

These and other materials can be located using our online catalog and read on-site at the DRT Library; for those readers not residing in San Antonio, check whether a local public or academic library has the item or can request it using interlibrary loan services.

Click here for a full citation of the documents and images included in this entry.

New Additions to the Collection

Here is a sample of some titles that the library added to its collection last month:

• The Sword Was Their Passport: A History of American Filibustering in the Mexican Revolution by Harris G. Warren.
• Photography on the South Texas Frontier: Images From the Witte Museum Collection by Bruce M. Shackelford.
• Martha Mary Overstreet, M.D. by Mary E. Penson (historical fiction for young adults).
• Proceedings of the Thirty-Third Annual Meeting of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, April 22-23, 1924 (Mrs. Clara Driscoll Sevier is listed as First Vice President).