Texas, Matagorda County, School Census Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Texas Matagorda County

What is in the Collection?
The collection consists of school census records for Matagorda County, Texas for the years 1923 to 1946. The records are arranged by race, "colored" and "white", and then alphabetically by surname.

The listing of school-aged children is a common practice throughout the United States. The records are usually compiled on a yearly basis. School records helped local governments determine funding needs for individual schools. The information is usually reliable although the ages are sometimes off by a year and legal guardians may be confused with parents.

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
School Census Records may include the following information:


 * Name of county, town and school district
 * Surname and Christian name of child
 * Child's date of birth, age and gender
 * Names of parents or guardians
 * Parents' residence or post office address

Image Visibility
Whenever possible, FamilySearch makes images available for all users. However, ultimate rights to view images on our website are granted by the record custodians. Images in this collection are available for viewing if you are a registered FamilySearch user. You can register for a free FamilySearch account here.

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How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know:
 * The name of the child.
 * The approximate years the child attended school.
 * The names of the child's parents.

Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information in the list to what you already know about your ancestor to determine if it is the correct person. You may need to compare several persons in the list before you find your ancestor.

Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page.

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page then select the "Year, Race, Surname Range".

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

What Do I Do Next?
Whenever possible, view the original records to verify the information and to find additional information that might not be reported. These pieces of information can lead you to additional records and family members.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use the age to calculate a birth date and to find other records such as birth, christening, census, land and death records.
 * Use the information to find additional family members. Witnesses or bondsmen were usually relatives.
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.
 * Church Records often were kept years before government records were required and are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

I Can’t Find Who I’m Looking for, What Now?

 * Try viewing the original record to see if there were errors in the transcription of the name, age, residence, etc. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * Collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you identify possible relations that can be verified by records.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby locality in an area search.
 * Standard spelling of names typically did not exist during the periods our ancestors lived in. Try variations of your ancestor’s name while searching the index or browsing through images.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Search the indexes and records of Texas, United States Genealogy.
 * Search in the Texas Archives and Libraries.

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection Citation:

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