Bexar County, Texas Genealogy

United States Texas  Counties B  Bexar County

County Courthouse
Bexar County Courthouse County Clerk - Gerry Rickhoff 100 Dolorosa, Suite 104 San Antonio, TX 78205 Phone: 210-335-2216

Bexar County Clerk's website

District Clerk - Margaret G. Montemayor 100 Dolorosa San Antonio, TX 78205 Phone: 210-335-2113

History
The villa of San Fernando de Bexar was the first municipality in the Spanish province of Texas in 1731. In 1772 the seat of the government of Spanish Texas moved to Bexar. The original county was divided into 128 additional counties.

From the Handbook of Texas Online: The first Europeans to explore the region came with an expedition in 1691 led by Domingo Terán de los Ríos and Fray Damián Massanet, who evidently reached the San Antonio River near where San Juan Capistrano Mission was later founded. Nearby they found a group of Payayas living on the riverbank. The Indians, as Massanet recorded in his diary, called the place Yanaguana; he, however, renamed the site San Antonio de Padua to celebrate the memorial day of St. Anthony, June 13. The next group of Spanish explorers, an expedition led by two Franciscans, fathers Antonio de San Buenaventura y Olivares and Isidro Félix de Espinosa, and a military officer, Pedro de Aguirre, did not reach the area until April 1709. Much impressed by the setting and the availability of water, they noted that the area might make a promising site for future settlement. In 1714 Louis Juchereau de St. Denis crossed the region on his way to San Juan Bautista. Espinosa again visited the site in 1716 on his way to East Texas with the expedition of Domingo Ramón and this time recommended San Pedro Springs as a mission site. Near that spot, in May 1718, Martín de Alarcón led the expedition that founded San Antonio de Valero Mission and San Antonio de Béxar (or Béjar) Presidio, named for Viceroy Balthasar Manuel de Zúñiga y Guzmán Sotomayor y Sarmiento, second son of the duke of Bexar.

Parent County
1836--Bexar County was created on 17 March 1836 from Old Mexican Municipality. County seat: San Antonio

Record Loss
1892 -- Bexar County Courthouse was damaged during a large fire in downtown San Antonio on 25 February 1892. No records were lost. The offices of the San Antonio Democrat Newspaper were destroyed during the fire.

Populated Places
Towns and Cities:  | Alamo Heights | Balcones Heights | | Castle Hills | China Grove | Converse |  | Fair Oaks Ranch |  |  |  | Hollywood Park | Kirby | Leon Valley | Live Oak |  |  | Olmos Park |  |  |  | Shavano Park |  |  | Terrell Hills | Universal City |  |  | Wincrest

Neighboring Counties

 * Atascosa
 * Bandera
 * Comal
 * Guadalupe
 * Kendall
 * Medina
 * Wilson

Resources

 * Local Bexar County Resouces ~ Bexar County TXGenWeb

Cemeteries

 * Cemeteries of Bexar County ~ Listings of cemeteries &amp; partial transcriptions ~ Bexar County TXGenWeb
 * Tombstone Transcription Project ~ Partial transcription of cemetery tombstones ~ USGenWeb
 * Texas Historic Cemeteries ~ Partial indexes to historic cemeteries
 * African American Cemeteries Online ~ Partial index/transcriptions of African American cemeteries
 * Cemetery Junction ~  Links to cemetery transcriptions

Churches

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

Local Histories

 * |Texas Museums List of all museums in Texas ~ Hidden Ancestors
 * History of the Alamo in Bexar County ~ Bexar County TXGenWeb
 * Historical Markers of Bexar County ~ Bexar County TXGenWeb

Maps

 * 1889 &amp;1909 Maps of Bexar County ~ Bexar County 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 Texas Genweb site

Military

 * Military Records of Bexar County ~ Bexar County TXGenWeb
 * 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

Obituaries

 * Obituaries of Bexar County, Texas ~ Partial Listing of Obituaries from Bexar County ~ Bexar County, 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

 * Search Tax, Criminal, Land and Wills Records ~  Ancestry.com  (subscription)

Vital Records

 * Records of Bexar County, Texas ~ Bexar County TXGenWeb
 * Texas Death Index 1964 to 1998 [no images] Name index to Texas Statewide Death Certificates or four million people who have died since 1964.
 * 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 Marriage Records 1966 - 2005  ~  Hidden Ancestors
 * Texas Divorce Records 1968 - 2005   ~  Hidden Ancestors
 * USGenWeb Census Project ~ Texas 1850 - 1930

Societies and Libraries
Leon Valley Public Library 6425 Evers Rd Leon Valley, TX 78238 Phone: (210) 684-0720 Website

San Antonio Public Library 600 Soledad St San Antonio, TX 78205 Phone: (210) 207-2500 Website

Universal City Public Library 100 Northview Dr Universal City, TX 78148 Phone: (210) 659-7048 Website

Converse Public Library 601 S Seguin Rd Converse, TX 78109 Phone: (210) 659-4160 Website

FAMILY HISTORY CENTERS

San Antonio Texas North 2103 St Cloud Rd San Antonio, Bexar, Texas, United States Phone: 210-737-0110 Hours: M,W-Th 10am-2pm; W 6pm-9pm; Sat (2nd) 10am-2pm. Closed: For major US holidays Attention: Please call 210-737-0110 during center hours San Antonio Texas West 6240 UTSA Blvd San Antonio, Bexar, Texas, United States Phone: 210-691-0594 Hours: M 9am - 12pm, W 6:30pm-9pm, Thur 9am-12pm,&amp; 6:30pm-9pm, F 9am-12pm Closed: Nov 22-26, 2010, Dec 22-31, 2010

Web Sites

 * Bexar County TXGenWeb
 * TXGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the county.
 * Hidden Ancestors Information on Texas genealogy research as well as genealogy research in general.
 * Cyndi's List ~ Texas
 * Cyndi's List ~ Texas