Tom Green County, Texas Genealogy

Guide to Tom Green County Texas ancestry, family history, and genealogy research page. Birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

County Courthouse
Tom Green County has had five courthouses and two county seats. When the county was first organized, the town of Ben Ficklin was chosen as the county seat and an adobe building was used as a courthouse. A stone courthouse was soon built. After the town was destroyed by a flood in 1882, the county seat was moved to the larger and more centrally located San Angelo, where the third Tom Green Courthouse was completed in 1884. The current courthouse was built in 1928.

Tom Green County Courthouse 124 West Beauregard Avenue San Angelo, Texas 76903-5850 Phone: 325-659-6553 Fax: 325-659-3251 County Clerk has birth and death records from 1903, marriage, probate and court records from 1875 and land records from 1860

County Clerk

124 W. Beauregard San Angelo 76903 Phone: 325-659-6553 Fax: 325-659-3251

District Clerk

112 W. Beauregard San Angelo 76903 Phone: 915-659-6578

History
The original Tom Green County extended to the Pecos River and covered 12,500 square miles. Twelve other counties have been created from this area. The first white settler arrived in 1864. Ben Ficklin was almost washed away in 1882.

Parent County
1874--Tom Green County was created 13 March 1874 from Bexar Land District.
 * County seat: San Angelo

Boundary Changes
1876 -- When Tom Green County was created in 1874, the county had no northern boundary. On 21 August 1876, a northern boundary was created - drawn from the northwest corner of Runnels County to the New Mexico state line and cutting off territory for 54 counties to the north of Tom Green County.

Record Loss
1882 -- Ben Ficklin, then the county seat, was destroyed by flood, the recently-built stone courthouse, however, was one of the few buildings that was still standing. An older adobe building used as the first courthouse was destroyed in the flood.

1886 -- The second floor of the Tom Green County Courthouse caught fire on June 28, 1886, possibly from mice eating matches. The fire started in the office of the Clerk of District Courts. Many of the records in the clerk's office were destroyed.

Places / Localities
Town/city records in the FamilySearch Catalog



Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit Hometown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Neighboring Counties
Coke •  Concho  •  Irion  •  Menard  •  Reagan  •  Runnels  •  Schleicher  •  Sterling

African American

 * 1865-1870 Freedmen's Bureau Field Office Records(images) - FamilySearch
 * Texas African American Griots Project ~ USGenWeb
 * AfriGeneas ~ African Ancestor Genealogy

Cemeteries
Cemetery records often reveal birth, marriage, death, relationship, military, and religious information.

Additional Cemetery Sources


 * Cemetery Books available from the San Angelo Genealogical and Historical Society:
 * Belvedere Memorial Park Cemetery book, 1993, 110 pages including index.
 * Calvary Catholic Cemetery book, 49 pages including an index.
 * Fairmount Cemetery book, 2001, 710 pages including surname index.
 * Texas Historic Cemeteries ~ Partial indexes to historic cemeteries
 * African American Cemeteries Online ~ Partial index/transcriptions of African American cemeteries
 * Texas Escapes Listing of Texas cemeteries with transcriptions and lots of pictures.

Church

 * Texas Christian Church Directory~ ChurchAngel
 * Catholic Parishes in Texas

Local Histories

 * The History of Tom Green County, Texas, 1931 by Julia Grace Bitner.
 * No Country For Dull Men, Excerpts from the San Angelo Standard, 1884-1885, published by the San Angelo Genealogical and Historical Society, 2010. 327 pages including name and subject index, 1880 images of San Angelo, area maps, and 1880 plot maps of San Angelo, Midland and Sherwood, Texas. Available from the San Angelo Genealogical and Historical Society
 * 1890 Records of Tom Green County, Texas, Includes the 1890 tax list (property by residents living outside Tom Green County, unrendered property, railroads), marriages for the year 1890, probate records for the year 1890, plus the 1890 census of servicemen and widows. Published by the San Angelo Genealogical and Historical Society, 1990, 161 pages including index. Available from the San Angelo Genealogical and Historical Society
 * Tom Green County History from the Handbook of Texas Online.
 * Texas Museums ~ List of all museums in Texas ~ Hidden Ancestors

Maps

 * Texas Land Survey Maps for (land patent maps) at HistoryGeo.com ($). Free surname search.
 * 1834-1931 Texas Formation Maps ~ TXGenWeb
 * 1836-1930 Texas Census Maps ~ TXGenWeb
 * Historical Maps ~ From the Republic to the Turn of the Century ~ Hidden Ancestors
 * Texas Counties Map. Click on the county to go to the TXGenWeb site

Military

 * 1838 - 1900 - Texas Muster Roll Index Cards 1838-1900 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * Military Resources ~ Links to research Civil War to Operation Enduring Freedom ~ Hidden Ancestors
 * Fallen Heroes ~ Partial Index of casualties from Civil War to Operation Enduring Freedom ~ Hidden Ancestors
 * Honoring Our Veterans ~ Partial index of veterans from Civil War to Operation Enduring Freedom ~ Hidden Ancestors
 * Camps and Forts of Tom Green County ~ TXGenWeb

Mexican-American War

 * 1845 - 1848 - US American Volunteer Soldiers Mexican War 1845-1848 at Ancestry.com — index $

Civil War

 * 1861 - 1865 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1861 - 1865 - at FamilySearch — index
 * Confederate Pension Applications ~ Texas State Library and Archives Commission

World War I

 * 1917 - 1920 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers

 * San Angelo Standard Times
 * Christoval Observer
 * San Angelo Enterprise
 * Home Town News - Texas Newspaper Index with links
 * Newslink - Texas Newspaper List (sorted by publication frequency)
 * The Olden Times - Historic Texas News Online

Obituaries

 * Tom Green County Obituaries ~ TXGenWeb
 * Obituary Resources ~ Links to research and locate obituaries ~ Hidden Ancestors
 * USGenWeb Archives Obituary Project ~ Texas
 * Afrigeneas ~ African American death notices, obituaries and funeral programs compiled by users from current newspapers and historical sources
 * Obituary Depot ~ Texas Newspaper Citations
 * Obituary Project ~ Hidden Ancestors
 * Obituary Daily Times ~ Citations to over 15,000,000 obituaries including interactive search function

Probate
Online Probate Records


 * 1800 – 1990 at FamilySearch — images
 * 1800 – 2000 Texas Wills and Probate Records at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * Search Tax, Criminal, Land and Wills Records ~ Ancestry.com (subscription)

Birth
Online Birth Indexes and Records


 * 1903-1935 Texas, Birth Certificates, 1903-1935 (images and index) - FamilySearch
 * 1903-1997 Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997 (index)- FamilySearch

Marriage
Online Marriage Indexes and Records


 * 1802-2010 - Texas, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
 * 1837-1965 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1837-1973 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1837-1977 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1837-1977 Texas Select County Marriage Index 1837-1977 at Ancestry.com — index $
 * 1966-2005 Texas Marriage Records 1966 - 2005 ~ Hidden Ancestors
 * 1966-2010 Texas, Marriages, 1966-2010  ~  FamilySearch record collection

Death
Online Death Indexes and Records


 * 1890-1976 Texas Death Records 1890 – 1976 [with images] Name index and images of statewide death certificates, 1890-1976. The name index has been created by Family Search and is tied to images of the Texas death certificates. Few certificates are available prior to 1903.
 * 1903-1973 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1903-1982 Texas Death Certificates 1903-1982 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1903-2000 Texas, Death Index, 1903-2000 (index) - FamilySearch
 * 1964-1998 Texas Death Index 1964 to 1998 [no images] Name index to Texas Statewide Death Certificates or four million people who have died since 1964.
 * 1977-1986 at FamilySearch.org — index

Divorce

 * 1968-2005 Texas Divorce Records 1968 - 2005 Hidden Ancestors
 * 1968-2010 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1968-2011 Texas Divorces 1968-2011 at Ancestry.com — index $
 * 1850-1930 USGenWeb Census Project Texas 1850 - 1930

Societies
San Angelo Genealogical and Historical Society PO Box 3453 San Angelo, TX 76902-3453 website

Tom Green County Historical Society PO Box 5602 San Angelo, TX 76903 website


 * Society Hill ~ Links and addresses to Texas genealogical and historical societies

Libraries

 * Tom Green County Library System 113 W Beauregard Ave San Angelo, TX 76903 Telephone Number: 325-655-7321 Website

Family History Centers

 * San Angelo Texas Family History Center

Websites

 * Tom Green County ~ TXGenWeb
 * Tom Green County Archives~ TXGenWeb Archives
 * TXGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county.
 * USGenWeb Texas Archives Vital statistics, maps, obituaries, Bible records, tombstone transcriptions and many other records.
 * — The catalog is genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) This catalog is different than the indexed Historical Records.