Valencia County, New Mexico Genealogy

United States New Mexico  Valencia County



County Courthouse
Valencia County Courthouse 444 Luna Ave; PO Box 1119 Los Lunas, NM 87031-1119 Phone: 505.866.2073 County Clerk has marriage records from 1865 and probate records from 1900; District Court Clerk has divorce and court records.

Parent County

 * Up until 1821 - New Spain controlled land that later would become New Mexico and Arizona. Some records of early settlers may have been sent to an archives in Seville, Spain, or to archives in Mexico City.
 * From 1821 until 1846 - Mexico had jurisdiction over the land that later would become New Mexico and Arizona. Some records of this period may have been sent to archives in Mexico City.
 * 22 September 1846 - Valencia County was created based on an old Mexican government partido  as one of seven original New Mexico counties under General 's  of laws for the occupied Mexican territory. It formally became a part of the United States when the ended in 1848 with the signing of the.



Boundary Changes

 * 9 January 1852 - All New Mexico counties were redefined. Valencia county was extended west to the California border including land in present day Arizona and Nevada.  There is a small chance that a few records from 1846 to 1963 in what is now Arizona may  have been sent to courthouses in their respective New Mexico counties.
 * 29 December 1863 Arizona's three judicial districts were established by the Arizona Territory Organic Act  from the western half of New Mexico Territory. All previous counties were dissolved, and eventually four new counties were created in the new Arizona Territory.
 * 19 June 1981 Valencia county lost the westernmost four-fifths to the creation of Cibola county.

Neighboring Counties

 * Bernalillo, New Mexico
 * Cibola, New Mexico
 * Socorro, New Mexico
 * Torrance, New Mexico

Church
LDS Ward and Branch Records

Bluewater and Ramah Wards were originally within Valencia county. But in 1894, Ramah was placed in the new county of McKinley. Then in 1981, Bluewater was placed in the new county of Cibola.

Land
Land Records are located at the County Clerks Office of Valencia County NM

Most of the land in New Mexico was originally obtained from the US federal government by a patent. These General Land Office Records are searchable online and most have free images of patents to download. The minimum information needed for a search is the state where the land is located and the name of the person receiving the patent. Surveys and Land Status Records can also be searched here.

Newspapers
Valencia county NM Newspapers found at Library of Congress

Vital Records
A wiki article describing an online collection is found at:

New Mexico, County Death Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
 * Los Lunas New Mexico Family History Center
 * Los Lunas, New Mexico

Web Sites

 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.