Washington County, Texas Genealogy

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

County Courthouse
Washington County Courthouse 100 East Main Street Brenham, Texas 77384 Phone: 409-277-6200

County Clerk has birth and death records from 1903 marriage records from 1833, probate and land records District Clerk has divorce records

County Clerk

100 E. Main; Ste 102 Brenham 77833 Phone: 979-277-6216

District Clerk

100 E. Main; Ste 304 Brenham 77833 Phone: 979-277-6200

History
1830-1844-- The town of Washington-on-the Brazos was founded in 1830. The creation of Brazos, Burleson and Lee counties led to the relocation of the county seat to Brenham in 1844. The land that became Washington County was part of Stephen F. Austin's Colony.

Parent County
1836--Washington County was created 17 March 1836 from a Texas Municipality.
 * County seat: Brenham

Boundary Changes
See an interactive map of Washington County border changes.

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
Austin •  Brazos  •  Burleson  •  Fayette  •  Grimes  •  Lee  •  Waller

African American

 * 1865-1870 Freedmen's Bureau Field Office Records(images) - FamilySearch

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

Additional Cemetery Sources
 * Texas Historic Cemeteries ~ Preservation Tex,as, historic cemeteries
 * African American Cemeteries Online ~ Partial index/transcriptions of African American cemeteries
 * Texas Escapes Listing of Texas cemeteries with transcriptions and lots of pictures.

Census

 * 1850 Federal Census ~ transcription ~ USGenWeb Archives Project
 * 1860 Federal Census ~ transcription ~ USGenWeb Archives Project

Church

 * Washington County Church Information ~  Listing of churches in the area
 * Texas Christian Church Directory~ ChurchAngel

Catholic

 * Catholic Parishes in Texas

Lutheran

 * Martin Lutheran Church, Carmine -Records of Martin Lutheran Church, Carmine, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).*:


 * Phillipsburg - Records of the American Lutheran Church, Phillipsburg, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).


 * St. Matthew's Lutheran Church, Brenham - Records of St. Matthew's Lutheran Church, Brenham, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).


 * Records of Salem Lutheran Church, Brenham, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Land

 * Record Book of Conditional Land Grants for Washington County, 1841, from the Portal to Texas History.

Local Histories

 * History of Brenham and Washington County, 1915 by Mrs. R. E. Pennington. Digitized book online
 * History of Washington County, 1949 by Charles F. Schmidt
 * The Blazing Story of Washington County, 1950 by W. O. Dietrich
 * Historic Homes of Washington County, 1971 by Betty Cantrell Plummer
 * Brenham, Texas, 1844-1958, by Robert A. Hasskarl, Jr.
 * A History of Brenham, 1933 by Eula Richardson Hasskarl
 * Blue Bell ice cream: a century at the little creamery in Brenham, Texas, 1907-2007, by Dorothy McLeod MacInerney information
 * Washington County History from the Handbook of Texas Online
 * History of the Jews in Brenham from wikipedia.org

Maps

 * Texas Land Survey Maps for (land patent maps) at HistoryGeo.com ($). Free surname search.
 * 1873 Brenham Panoramic Map from the Amon Carter Museum
 * 1881 Brenham Panoramic Map from the Amon Carter Museum
 * 1895 Washington County US Atlas
 * 1920 Washington County Landowners Map from Historic Map Works
 * 1940 Washington County General Highway Map
 * 1961 Washington County General Highway Map

Military

 * 1838 - 1900 - Texas Muster Roll Index Cards 1838-1900 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 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

Mexican-American War

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

Civil War

 * 1861 - 1865 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1861 - 1865 - at FamilySearch — index
 * Confederate Pension Applications ~ Texas State Library and Archives Commission

World War I

 * 1917 - 1920 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers

 * The Portal to Texas History includes a Texas Newspaper collection here:
 * Home Town News Texas Newspaper Index with links
 * NewslinkTexas Newspaper List (sorted by publication frequency)
 * The Olden Times Historic Texas News Online

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 Depot ~ Texas Newspaper Citations
 * Obituary Daily Times ~ Citations to over 15,000,000 obituaries including interactive search function

Probate
Online Probate 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)

Birth
Online Birth Indexes and Records


 * 1903-1935 Texas, Birth Certificates, 1903-1935 (images and index) - FamilySearch
 * 1903-1997 Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997 (index)- FamilySearch

Marriage
Online Marriage Indexes and Records


 * 1802-2010 Texas, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
 * 1814-1909 and 1966-2011 Texas Marriage Collection 1814-1909 and 1966-2011 at Ancestry.com — index $
 * 1837-1965 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1837-1973 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1837-1977 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1837-1977 Texas Select County Marriage Index 1837-1977 at Ancestry.com — index $
 * 1966-2010 Texas, Marriages, 1966-2010  -  FamilySearch record collection

Death
Online Death Indexes and Records


 * 1890-1976 Texas Death Records 1890 – 1976 [with images] Name index and images of statewide death certificates, 1890-1976. The name index has been created by Family Search and is tied to images of the Texas death certificates. Few certificates are available prior to 1903.
 * 1903-1973 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1903-1982 Texas Death Certificates 1903-1982 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1903-2000 'Texas, Death Index, 1903-2000' (index) - FamilySearch
 * 1964-1998 Texas Death Index 1964 to 1998 [no images] Name index to Texas Statewide Death Certificates or four million people who have died since 1964.
 * 1977-1986 at FamilySearch.org — index

Divorce

 * 1968-2005 Texas Divorce Records 1968 - 2005  (index) - Hidden Ancestors
 * 1968-2010 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1968-2011 Texas Divorces 1968-2011 at Ancestry.com — index $
 * 1850-1930 USGenWeb Census Project Texas 1850 - 1930

Societies and Libraries
Nancy Carol Roberts Memorial Library 100 Martin Luther King Jr Pkwy Brenham, TX 77833 Telephone Number: 979-337-7201

Washington County Genealogical Society 211 South Day St., Suite 105 Brenham, TX 77833


 * www.bluebonnetgenealogy.org

Websites

 * Washington County Archives Project - USGenWeb
 * Washington County TXGenWeb
 * 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.
 * — The catalog is genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) This catalog is different than the indexed Historical Records.