Union County, New Mexico Genealogy

United States New Mexico  Union County

Guide to Union County, New Mexico ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, and military records.



County Courthouse
Union County Courthouse 200 Court Street PO Box 430; Clayton, NM 88415 Phone: 505.374.9491 County Clerk has marriage records from 1894, probate, court and land records; District Court Clerk has divorce 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. Starting in 1846 United States forces occupied New Mexico during the.
 * 1848 Land that became Union County formally became a part of the United States when the Mexican-American War ended with ratification of the.

1893-- Union County, New Mexico was created 23 February from Colfax, Mora, and San Miguel counties.

Description
Union County, was created by an act of the territorial legislation in 1893 and was officially recognized on January 1, 1894, when the first slate of elected county officials received their oaths of office. The county is named “Union” because the citizens were united in their desire for the creation of a new county out of three existing New Mexico counties - Colfax, Mora and San Miguel. Union County was subsequently “carved up” by the creation of additional counties, Quay in 1903 and Harding in 1920. At one time, Union County had a population of over 20,000. There were a number of bustling communities such as Amistad, Hayden, Sedan, Pasamonte, Gladstone, Mt Dora, Grenville, Des Moines, Folsom and Dedman (as Capulin was called back then).

Boundary Changes
For animated maps illustrating New Mexico County boundary changes, "Rotating Formation New Mexico County Boundary Maps" (1845-1981) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.
 * Interactive Formation Boundary Map of New Mexico - shows boundary changes for New Mexico Counties
 * New Mexico Historical Boundary Changes - list of all boundary changes by county provided by Newberry Library

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

Town

 * Clayton (county seat)

Villages

 * Des Moines
 * Folsom
 * Grenville

Census-designated place

 * Capulin

Other communities

 * Amistad
 * Gladstone
 * Hayden
 * Mount Dora
 * Sedan
 * Seneca
 * Sofia
 * Stead

List of Union County Place Names
A-E F-L M-R S-Z

Historic or Ghost Towns

 * Airolo
 * Alps
 * Amboy
 * Apache
 * Atencio
 * Barney
 * Beenham
 * Capulin
 * Centerville
 * Codorniz
 * Corrumpa
 * Cuates
 * Dead Man
 * Devoy
 * Dolores
 * Emberson*
 * Emery Gap
 * Exter
 * Frampton
 * Garcia
 * Gem
 * Grande
 * Grandview
 * Gregory
 * Grenville
 * Guy
 * Harrington
 * Hayden
 * Holland
 * Hope
 * Ione
 * Johnson
 * Kephart
 * Kimball
 * Leighton
 * Louis
 * Madison
 * Malpaiz
 * Mansker
 * Miera
 * Moses
 * North Desmoines
 * Otto
 * Patterson
 * Pennington
 * Penrith
 * Pleasant
 * Sampson
 * Santander
 * Sierra Grande
 * Smith
 * Sofia
 * Spring Hill
 * Staunton
 * Stonehaven
 * Tate
 * Telesfora
 * Thomas
 * Towanda
 * Tramperas
 * Travesilla
 * Valley
 * Vance
 * Vargas
 * Veda
 * Wanette
 * Willow
 * Willow Springs

Interactive Map, Town Details Historic Post Offices; All Post Offices List of Place Names A-E, F-L, M-R, S-Z List of Historic Places of Union County, National Register

Towns or Places with Name Changes
The Older name will be listed first and generally followed by the more current name.

1. Capulin = Dedman = Capulin

Neighboring Counties

 * Baca County, Colorado
 * Cimarron County, Oklahoma
 * Colfax
 * Dallam County, Texas
 * Harding
 * Hartley County, Texas
 * Las Animas County, Colorado
 * Quay

Cemeteries

 * New Mexico Cemetery Records
 * AHGP New Mexico Cemetery Transcription & Photo Project
 * New Mexico Cemetery Records, Luna to Valencia
 * New Mexico Cemetery Record Information Online
 * New Mexico Tombstone Transcription Project
 * New Mexico Cemeteries Project
 * New Mexico Vital Record Information: Cemeteries
 * Online New Mexico Death Records and Indexes
 * Cemeteries of New Mexico
 * BillionGraves.com - Provides photos and GPS locations of grave markers.
 * Cyndi's List - Cemeteries &amp; funeral homes
 * Findagrave.com
 * Interment.net
 * Rootsweb
 * UsGenweb.org

Search by Name Amistad Cemetery, Antioch Cemetery, Brown Cemetery, Burchard Cemetery, Capulin Cemetery, Centerville Cemetery, Clayton Cemetery, Clayton Memorial Cemetery, Corrumpa Cemetery, Creeds Chapel Cemetery, Dempsey Cemetery, Des Moines Catholic Cemetery, Des Moines Cemetery, Drew Cemetery, Fairmount Cemetery, Fairview Cemetery, Folsom Catholic Cemetery, Folsom Cemetery, Garcia Plaza Cemetery, Giles Cemetery, Gladstone Cemetery, God's Acre Cemetery, Grandview Cemetery, Grenville Cemetery, Hardesty Cross L Ranch Cemetery, Hayden Cemetery, Hereford Park Ranch Cemetery, Independent Order of Oddfellows Cemetery, Knollwood Cemetery, La Morada Cemetery, Maplewood Cemetery, Martinez Cemetery, Moses Cemetery, Newkirk Family Cemetery, Obar Cemetery, Ojo Bonito Cemetery, Ojo del Pinaveta Cemetery, Old Clayton Cemetery, Otto Cemetery, Padilla Cemetery, Pedernal Cemetery, Perschbacher Ranch Cemetery, Pleasant Hill Cemetery, Puertocito Cemetery, Rinker Cemetery, Rivera Cemetery, Sanchez Cemetery, Sedan Cemetery, Shaha Cemetery, Sofia Cemetery, St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery, Thomas Cemetery, Wanette Cemetery, YL Bar Ranch Cemetery.

Search by location Amistad, Capulin, Centerville, Clayton, Des Moines, Folsom, Gladstone, Grenville, Hayden, McNees Crossing, Miera, Obar, Pennington, Sofia, Thomas.

State Census Records

 * 1885 New Mexico Territorial Census 1885 at Ancestry (free)
 * Late 1800s 1800s Arizona and New Mexico Territories Census, Late 1800s ($)

Federal Census Records
Federal Censuses were taken for New Mexico starting in 1850. For links to Federal census indexes, see New Mexico Census.

Land
Online Land Records
 * Land Patent Search - index to federal patents and homesteads on the Bureau of Land Management website, some images available
 * 1796 - 1907 - U.S. General Land Office Records, 1796-1907 at Ancestry - index, info taken from Bureau of Land Management website
 * 1861 - 1936 - U.S. Homestead Records 1861-1936 at Ancestry.com - ($), index and images

List of Settlers, 1880
1. Upper and Lower Dry Cimarron, click here

Online information about Pioneers and Settlers listed by surname

1. A-E  2. F-L 3. M-R  4. S-Z

Maps

 * Interactive Formation Boundary Map of New Mexico - shows boundary changes for New Mexico Counties
 * NMGenWeb - historical maps

Revolutionary War

 * 1775 - 1783 - at FamilySearch - images only
 * For more nationwide Revolutionary War databases, see US Military Online Genealogy Records.

Civil War

 * 1861 - 1865 - at FamilySearch
 * For more nationwide Civil War databases, see US Military Online Genealogy Records.

World War I

 * 1917 - 1919 - New Mexico, World War I Records, 1917-1919 at Ancestry ($)
 * For more natiowide World War I databases, see US Military OnlineGenealogy Records.''

World War II

 * 1941 - 1945 - World War II Records, 1941-1945 State Summary of War Casualties from World War II for Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Personnel from: New Mexico
 * 1941 - 1945 - World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing Army and Army Air Forces Personnel from: New Mexico
 * 1941 - 1945 - New Mexico, World War II Records, 1941-1945 at Ancestry ($)
 * For more nationwide World War II databases, see US Military Online Genealogy.

Newspapers

 * New Mexico Online Historical Newspapers - identifies historical archived and digitized newspapers available online on both free and pay-to-access websites.

Probate
Online Probate Records


 * 1801 – 1993 New Mexico Wills and Probate Records 1801-1993 at Ancestry.com — index and images $

Births

 * 1726 – 1918 at FamilySearch

Deaths

 * 1788 – 1798; 1838 – 1955 at FamilySearch
 * 1889 - 1945 at FamilySearch

Marriages

 * 1727 - 1900 New Mexico Marriages 1727-1900 at Ancestry ($)
 * 1751 - 1918 at FamilySearch

Societies and Libraries
Folsom Historical Society Main Street Folsom, New Mexico, 88419

Herzstein Memorial Museum 22 South Second Clayton, New Mexico, 88415 Telephone: 505-375-2977

Websites

 * Union County, NM History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * New Mexico Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * New Mexico Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.