Bowie County, Texas Genealogy

United States Texas Counties B  Bowie County

Guide to Bowie County Texas genealogy and family history, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

County Courthouse
County Clerk has birth, marriage, death, probate, land and miltiary records, school census; Clerk District Court has divorce and court records

Quick Dates
Bowie County's civil records start the following years:

Boundary Changes
For animated maps illustrating Texas County boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Texas County Boundary Maps" (1834-1931) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Record Loss
1889--The Bowie County Courthouse at Texarkana burned on 21 Jan 1889. Almost all the records were destroyed.

1989--The Old Bowie County Courthouse at Old Boston, built in 1891, burned on 12 Aug 1989. The courthouse was abandoned, as a new courthouse had opened at New Boston in 1985. No records were lost.

Places/Localities
Town/city records in the FamilySearch Catalog



Populated Places
Towns and Cities: De Kalb | Hooks | Leary | Maud | Nash | New Boston | Red Lick | Red Water | Spring Hill | Texarkana | Wake Village | Wards Village.

The City of Texarkana is located in two states. In the middle of the city is a street called State Line Road which separates the city between Bowie County, Texas and Miller County, Arkansas. Texarkana is the county seat for Miller County, Arkansas, and a marriage license purchased in Miller County, Arkansas is not valid in the State of Texas.

Neighboring Counties
Cass •  Little River County, Arkansas  •  McCurtain County, Oklahoma  •  Miller County, Arkansas  •  Morris  •  Red River

African American

 * Freedmen's Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1870(images) - FamilySearch

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

County cemetery collections


 * Cemetery Index from the Bowie County TXGenWeb site
 * Bowie County Cemeteries from the Tombstone Transcription Project
 * Bowie County Funeral Home Records from the Bowie County TXGenWeb site
 * Bowie County Index of Cemetery Transcriptions from the USGenWeb Project
 * Red Bayou Cemetery and History Bowie County Texas, 1998, available from the New Boston Genealogical Society.
 * Hubbell Chapel Cemetery, 2001, available by the New Boston Genealogical Society.
 * Cemetery Books, available from the New Boston Genealogical Society, include: Ringwood Cemetery &amp; Associated Cemeteries; Wards Creek Cemetery, Church &amp; School Records; Woodman Cemetery (DeKalb); Sand Hill Cemetery; Old Union Cemetery; Read Hill Cemetery and Associated Cemeteries (Brooks, Glass Hill, Godley, Prairie &amp; Shipp); Red Bayou Cemetery; College Hill Cemetery; New Boston Cemetery, Hughes-Kinght, Magnolia and Pulaski Cemeteries; Old Salem, Old Liberty Hill, New Liberty Hill, Malta, Woodstock and Old Wimberly Cemeteries.
 * Dalby Springs Cemetery (including photos) ~  Texas Escapes
 * Texarkana-Rose Hill Cemetery ~  Texas Escapes
 * Redwater Cemetery, Maud BillionGraves. Over 1,000 headstone photographs and transcriptions of those.

Census

 * 1850 Census for Bowie County census images from archive.org; index from USGenWeb archives.
 * 1860 Census for Bowie County census images from archive.org; index from USGenWeb archives. Another index
 * 1870 Census for Bowie County census images from archive.org; index from USGenWeb archives.
 * 1880 Census for Bowie County census images from archive.org; index from USGenWeb archives.
 * 1900 Census for Bowie County census images from archive.org.
 * 1910 Census for Bowie County census images from archive.org. Bowie county split on two microfilm reels: reel 1, reel 2
 * 1920 Census for Bowie County census images from archive.org.
 * 1930 Census for Bowie County census images from archive.org.

Church

 * Churches in Bowie TX - ChurchAngel.com
 * Churches in Texarkana TX
 * Texarkana TX Churches

Family Histories/Surnames

 * New Boston Genealogy Society Family History Index ~  Bowie County TXGenWeb
 * Family Group Sheets ~  Bowie County TXGenWeb
 * Surnames  ~  Bowie County TXGenWeb
 * Biographies  ~  Bowie County TXGenWeb

Local Histories

 * First Settlers of Bowie and Cass Counties Texas, By: Gifford White, Published June 1, 1983 by Ericson Books
 * Daughter of Destiny: Memoirs of a Bowie County, Texas Farm Girl, By: Carlene M. Howell, Published April 1995 by Tab Books
 * Bowie County, Tx Index to Probate Records; 1883-1940, 97 Pages,Compiled by WPA Workers
 * Texarkana Pioneer Families, By: Nancy Jennings
 * The Texarkana Story 1873-1948, By: Lucille Holland
 * Texarkana a Pictorial History, By: William D Leet, Published 1982
 * Bowie County Texas Historical Handbook, By: Bowie County Historical Commission, Published 1976
 * Texarkana Centennial, Historical Program - 1873-1973, By: Nancy Jennings Watts &amp; Mary Lou Stuart Phillips, Published 1973
 * History of Texarkana and Bowie and Miller Counties, By: Chandler, Barbara O., 1939.

Maps



 * Maps of Bowie County from the Bowie County TXGenWeb site
 * Texas Counties Map. Click on the county to go to the TXGenWeb site
 * Map of 1897 Bowie County, Texas with numerous small settlements. (My Genealogy Hound)
 * Bowie County is the most northeastern county in the State of Texas

Military

 * Vietnam Wall List for Bowie County - Bowie County TXGenWeb
 * Confederate Indigent Families List - Bowie County TXGenWeb
 * Confederate Pension Applications- Bowie County TXGenWeb
 * Dependents Support Act List of Dependents -  Bowie County TXGenWeb
 * Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865 - FamilySearch
 * Texas, Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers, 1861-1865 - FamilySearch

Newspapers

 * Newspapers of Bowie County Old and New -  Bowie County TXGenWeb
 * Texarkana Gazette
 * Articles from Bowie County Newspapers -  Bowie County TXGenWeb

Probate

 * Index to Probate Cases 1883 to 1940 -  Bowie County TXGenWeb
 * Texas, Probate Records, 1800-1990 (images) - FamilySearch

Taxation

 * Bowie County 1846 Tax List from the USGenWeb archives
 * Bowie County Poll Tax List 1903 from the USGenWeb archives
 * Bowie County Poll Tax List 1904 from the USGenWeb archives
 * Bowie County Poll Tax Listing, 1903-1904, 74 pages, gives name, age, race, occupation and number of years resident in TX and in the county. Available from the New Boston Genealogical Society.
 * Automobile Registration in Bowie County, 1907-1917, available from the New Boston Genealogical Society.

Birth
Online Birth Indexes and Records


 * Texas, Birth Certificates, 1903-1935 (images and index) - FamilySearch
 * Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997 (index)- FamilySearch
 * 1840 - 1981 at FamilySearch.org — index

Original Birth Records on Microfilm

Marriage
Online Marriage Indexes and Records


 * Texas Marriage Records 1966 - 2005  ~  Hidden Ancestors
 * Texas County Marriage Records, 1837-1977 - FamilySearch. Index to a variety of marriage records (registers, licenses, intentions to marry, etc.) from select counties in Texas.
 * Texas, Marriages, 1837-1973  ~  FamilySearch record collection
 * Texas, Marriages, 1966-2010  ~  FamilySearch record collection
 * Bowie County, Texas Marriages, 1888-1930, 7 volumes, available from the New Boston Genealogical Society

Original Marriage Records on Microfilm

Death
Online Death Indexes and Records


 * Texas Death Records 1890 – 1976 [with images] Name index and images of statewide death certificates, 1890-1976. The name index has been created by FamilySearch and is tied to images of the Texas death certificates. Few certificates are available prior to 1903
 * Texas, Death Index, 1903-2000 (index) - FamilySearch
 * Texas Death Index 1964 to 1998 [no images] Name index to Texas Statewide Death Certificates or four million people who have died since 1964.
 * Bates Rolf Funeral Home Index and Bowden Funeral Home Records from the USGenWeb archives.
 * Texas Deaths and Burials 1903 - 1973 (index)  -  FamilySearch
 * 1977 - 1986 at FamilySearch.org — index

Original Death Records on Microfilm

Divorce

 * 1968-2010 at FamilySearch.org — index

Societies and Libraries
See also a List of Texas Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical &amp; Genealogical Societies


 * Research Libraries for Bowie County TX  -  Bowie County TXGenWeb

Family History Centers

 * Texarkana-New Boston Texas Family History Center


 * Texarkana USA Genealogy Society P.O. Box 2323 Texarkana, TX 75504-2323
 * The New Boston Genealogical Society P.O. Box 104 New Boston, Texas, 75570. The NBGS is located at the New Boston Public Library.
 * Red River County Genealogical Society P.O. Box 516 Clarksville, TX 75426

Web Sites

 * Bowie County, TX History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Texas Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * Texas Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * Bowie County TXGenWeb site
 * TXGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the county.
 * FamilySearch Catalog
 * Cyndi's List - List of resources for state and county