Ellis County, Texas Genealogy

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

Texas Online Genealogy Records

Description
The county was named for Richard Ellis, president of the convention that produced the Texas Declaration of Independence. The County is located in the east-central area of the state.

County Courthouse
Ellis County Courthouse 115 W Franklin Waxahachie, TX 75165 Phone: 972.923.5070 County Clerk has birth, marriage, death, land, probate, Military and court records

County Clerk

P.O. Box 250 Waxahachie 75168 Phone: 972-825-5070

District Clerk

109 S. Jackson Waxahachie 75165 Phone: 972-825-5091

The County Courthouse is located in Waxahachie.

History
1843--The first settlement was in 1843.

Parent County
1849--Ellis County was created 20 December 1849 from Navarro County.
 * County seat: Waxahachie

The Texas State legislature officially established Ellis County on December 20,1849. The county was named for Richard Ellis, president of the Texas Constitutional Convention of 1836.

Record Loss
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

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:

‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

Neighboring Counties
Dallas •  Henderson  •  Hill  •  Johnson  •  Kaufman  •  Navarro  •  Tarrant

African American

 * 1865 - 1870 (images) - How to Use this Collection

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


 * African American Cemeteries Online ~ Partial index/transcriptions of African American cemeteries

Church
List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * Texas Christian Church Directory~ ChurchAngel
 * Catholic Parishes in Texas
 * FamilySearch Places

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1906-1989 — index and images

Local Histories

 * History of Ellis County, Texas, 1972.
 * Memorial and Biographical History of Ellis County, 1892 (reprinted as Ellis County History, Fort Worth: Historical Publishers, 1972). Read the book online from The Portal To Texas History.
 * Ellis County History from the Handbook of Texas Online.

Maps

 * Texas Land Survey Maps for (land patent maps) at HistoryGeo.com ($). Free surname search.
 * Texas Counties Map. Click on the county to go to the TXGenWeb site.
 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Military

 * 1838 - 1900 Texas Muster Roll Index Cards at Ancestry — index and images $
 * 1919-1941 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images

Mexican-American War

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

Civil War
Online Records
 * 1861 - 1865 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1861 - 1865 at FamilySearch — index
 * Confederate Pension Applications ~ Texas State Library and Archives Commission
 * 'Confederate P.O.W.'s: soldiers &amp; sailors who died in federal prisons &amp; military hospitals in the North.' (Salt Lake City, Utah: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1976),.

World War I

 * 1917 - 1920 at FamilySearch — index and images


 * The Texas spirit of '17: a pictorial and biographical record of the gallant and courageous men from Ellis County who served in the Great War, 1919. Book that details the World War I military service of the citizens of Ellis County, including photographs and biographies. Read the book online at the Portal To Texas History.

Newspapers

 * w3newspapers -  Texas Newspaper Index with links
 * Newslink -  Texas Newspaper List (sorted by publication frequency)
 * The Olden Times  -   Historic Texas News Online
 * Texas Digital Newspaper Program at The Portal to Texas History

Obituaries

 * USGenWeb Archives Obituary Project ~  Texas
 * Afrigeneas ~ African American death notices, obituaries and funeral programs compiled by users from current newspapers and historical sources
 * Obituary Daily Times ~ Citations to over 15,000,000 obituaries (Ancestry)

Probate
Online Probate Indexes and 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)

Social Security Records

 * 1935-2014 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
 * 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry ($) — index, click here for more information.
 * 1936-2007 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index

Taxation

 * 1846-1910 Texas, County Tax Rolls 1846-1910 at Findmypast ($) — index and images



Birth
Online Birth Indexes and Records


 * 1903 - 1935 (images and index) - How to Use this Collection
 * 1903 - 1997 (index only) - How to Use this Collection
 * 1926-1995 Texas Births, 1926 - 1995 at MyHeritage ($) — index

Marriage

 * 1802-2010 Texas, United States Marriages at Findmypast — index $
 * 1814-1909 and 1966-2011 Texas Marriage Collection at Ancestry — index $
 * 1837 - 1965 — index and images - How to Use this Collection
 * 1837 - 1973 — index - How to Use this Collection
 * 1837 - 1977 — index - How to Use this Collection
 * 1837-1977 Texas Select County Marriage Index at Ancestry — index $
 * 1850-1954 Texas, U.S., Select County Marriage Records at Ancestry.com — index & images ($)
 * 1966 - 2010 - FamilySearch record collection - How to Use this Collection
 * 1966-2016 Texas Marriages and Divorces at MyHeritage ($) — index

Death

 * 1890-1976 with images - How to Use this Collection 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.
 * 1903 - 1973 — index - How to Use this Collection
 * 1903-1982 Texas Death Certificates at Ancestry — index and images $
 * 1903 - 2000 (index) - How to Use this Collection
 * 1964 - 1998 (no images) - How to Use this Collection - Name index to Texas Statewide Death Certificates or four million people who have died since 1964.
 * 1977 - 1986 — index - How to Use this Collection

Divorce

 * 1968 - 2010 — index - How to Use this Collection
 * 1968-2011 Texas Divorces at Ancestry — index $
 * 1966-2016 Texas Marriages and Divorces at MyHeritage ($) — index


 * 1850-1930 USGenWeb Census Project Texas 1850 - 1930

Societies and Libraries
Grand Prairie Genealogical Society PO Box 532026 Grand Prairie, TX 75053 website

Ellis County Genealogical Society PO Box 479 Waxahachie 75165 website

Ennis Public Library 501 W Ennis Ave Ennis, TX 75119 Telephone Number: 972-875-5360 Website

Ferris Public Library 514 S Mabel St Ferris, TX 75125 Telephone Number: 972-544-3696 Website

Ah Meadows Library 923 S 9th St Midlothian, TX 76065 Telephone Number: 972-775-3417 Website

Nicholas P Sims Library Lyceum 515 W Main St Waxahachie, TX 75165 Telephone Number: 972-937-2671 Website

Red Oak Public Library 200 Lakeview Pkwy Red Oak, TX 75154 Telephone Number: 469-218-1230 Website

FamilySearch Centers

 * Athens Texas FamilySearch Center
 * Burleson Texas FamilySearch Center
 * Cleburne Texas FamilySearch Center
 * Corsicana Texas FamilySearch Center
 * Dallas Texas FamilySearch Center


 * Dallas Public Library - an affiliate library
 * Ennis Public Library - an affiliate library
 * Fort Worth Public Library - an affiliate library
 * Kaufman County Library - an affiliate library
 * Lancaster Veterans Memorial Library - an affiliate library

Websites

 * TXGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the county.
 * USGenWeb Texas Archives Vital statistics, maps, obituaries, Bible records, tombstone transcriptions and many other records.