Texas, County Tax Rolls - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Texas

What is in the Collection?
The collection consists of a selective index to tax rolls for 231 of 254 Texas counties for the years 1837 to 1910.

The years indexed include the first year for each county included prior to 1845, as well as 1845, 1855, 1865, 1875, 1885, 1890, 1895, and 1905. The index for this collection is 13% complete. Additional records will be added as they are completed.


 * Since these tax rolls are spaced between Federal censuses, they provide a valuable tool for finding information not found in the censuses. They are even more important as a tool for 1890s as we have very few census records for that time period.

There may be gaps of several years in the tax records of some counties. Ellis County, 1886, Images 114, 116, 118, 120, 122, 124, 126, 128, 130, 132, 134 are cut off on the left side. As a result the beginning of the surnames are missing. This problem is present in both the online images and the microfilm copies.

A part of this collection is being indexed in FamilySearch Indexing as a Partner Project with the Texas State Genealogical Society. Governments created tax records that vary in content according to the purpose of the assessment. Most are based on personal property, real estate, and income. Taxes were collected to raise money for a variety of purposes. The tax assessments were made to determine how much money each property owner must pay. Tax records are usually reliable as they are kept by the county clerk who recorded the event at or very near the time it occurred.

What Can these Records Tell Me?
Information in Texas tax records usually include:


 * Name of owner
 * Assessment number
 * Original grantee
 * Number of acres of land
 * Value
 * Town plot description
 * Name of city or town
 * Kind, number, and value of livestock
 * Kind, quantity, and value of farm commodities
 * Amount of state taxes
 * Amount of county taxes

Image Visibility
Whenever possible, FamilySearch makes images available for all users. However, ultimate rights to view images on our website are granted by the record custodians. Images in this collection are available for viewing if you are a registered FamilySearch user. You can register for a free FamilySearch account here.

For additional information about image restrictions, please see the Restrictions for Viewing Images in FamilySearch Historical Record Collections page.

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know:
 * The name of your ancestor.
 * The county where your ancestor lived.

Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information in the list to what you already know about your ancestor to determine if it is the correct or person. You may need to compare several persons in the list before you find your ancestor.

Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page.

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page then: ⇒Select the "County/Precinct" ⇒Select the "Year range"

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

What Do I Do Next?
Whenever possible, view the original records to verify the information and to find additional information that might not be reported. These pieces of information can lead you to additional records and family members.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use the information to find other records such as birth, christening, marriage, census, land and death records.
 * Use the information to find additional family members. Witnesses or bondsmen were usually relatives.
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.
 * Church Records often were kept years before government records were required and are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

I Can’t Find Who I’m Looking for, What Now?

 * Try viewing the original record to see if there were errors in the transcription of the name, age, residence, etc. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * Collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you identify possible relations that can be verified by records.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby locality in an area search.
 * Standard spelling of names typically did not exist during the periods our ancestors lived in. Try variations of your ancestor’s name while searching the index or browsing through images.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Search the indexes and records of Texas, United States Genealogy.
 * Search in the Texas Archives and Libraries.

Known Issues with This Collection
For a full list of all known issues associated with this collection see the attached Wiki article. If you encounter additional problems, please email them to [mailto:support@familysearch.org support@familysearch.org]. Please include the full path to the link and a description of the problem in your e-mail. Your assistance will help ensure that future reworks will be considered.

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection citation: Record citation (or citation for the index entry):

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