Valencia County, New Mexico Genealogy

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



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

 * 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.
 * In 1821 - 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  of laws for the occupied Mexican territory. Code named after General
 * 1848 - Valencia county formally became a part of the United States when the ended in 1848 with the signing of the.



Description
The county seat is Los Lunas. Valencia County was formed January 9, 1852.

Boundary Changes

 * 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
 * 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.  Residents living far from the county seat, probably didn't send many records to the county offices.
 * 24 February 1863 Arizona Territory created from the western half of New Mexico Territory. Valencia County reduced in size to that portion still within New Mexico Territory.
 * 16 March 1903 - VALENCIA county lost land to creation of LEONARD WOOD county (now GUADALUPE county).
 * 1 January 1905 - VALENCIA county lost land to the creation of TORRANCE county.
 * 17 March 1981 Valencia county lost the westernmost four-fifths to the creation of Cibola County, New Mexico.

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. See also Previous Jurisdictions to Land in Arizona for further details.

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

Cities

 * Belen
 * Rio Communities

Towns

 * Peralta

Villages

 * Bosque Farms
 * Los Lunas (county seat)

Census-designated places

 * Casa Colorada
 * Duran
 * El Cerro-Monterey Park
 * Jarales
 * Los Chavez
 * Los Trujillos-Gabaldon
 * Meadow Lake
 * Rio Communities North
 * Tome-Adelino
 * Valencia

Unincorporated communities

 * Bosque
 * Tome-Adelino

Neighboring Counties

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

Cemeteries

 * New Mexico Cemetery Records
 * AHGP New Mexico Cemetery Transcription &amp; 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

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.

Church
LDS Ward and Branch Records

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

Land
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. 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

Maps

 * 1895 map of Valevcia county, New Mexico
 * 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.
 * Valencia county NM Newspapers found at Library of Congress

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

A wiki article describing an online collection is found at:

New Mexico, County Death Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Societies and Libraries
Valencia County Historical Society 104 North First Street Belen 87002

Acoma Pueblo Historical Society PO Box 309 Acoma Pueblo, 87034

Family History Centers

 * Los Lunas New Mexico Family History Center 160 James St Los Lunas NM 87301 United States Location Map

Websites

 * Valencia 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.