Cameron County, Texas Genealogy

Guide to Cameron 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 Captain Ewen Cameron, a soldier during the Texas Revolution and in the ill-fated Mier Expedition. The County is located in the south-central area of the state.

County Courthouse
County Clerk has birth, death and military records from 1848, marriage records from 1800, land records from 1845, probate records from 1850 and court records from 1964

County Clerk

P.O. Box 2178 964 E. Harrison St. Brownsville 78520 Phone: 956-544-0815

District Clerk

974 East Harrison St. Brownsville 78520 Phone: 956-544-0848

Cameron County Website

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

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:

Resources

 * Cameron County Resources~Cameron County, TXGenWeb"

Neighboring Counties
Hidalgo •  Willacy

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


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

Census

 * 1850 - 1930 USGenWeb Census Project ~ Texas 1850 - 1930

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

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

 * Cameron County Military Resources ~ Cameron County, TXGenWeb


 * Cameron County, Texas Military

Mexican-American War

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

Civil War
Online Records
 * 1861 - 1865 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1861 - 1865 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1838 - 1900 Texas Muster Roll Index Cards 1838-1900 at Ancestry — index and images $

Civil War Battle
The following Civil War battle was fought in Cameron County.
 * May 12-13, 1865 - Palmito Ranch, also known as Palmito Hill.
 * Battles of the American Civil War maps - filter by state or by battle name.

World War I

 * 1917 - 1920 at FamilySearch — index and images

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 1800-2000 at Ancestry.com — index and images $


 * Search Tax, Criminal, Land and Wills Records Ancestry.com (subscription)
 * Texas Land Title Abstracts ~ 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


 * 1840 - 1981 — index - How to Use this Collection
 * 1903 - 1935 (images and index) - How to Use this Collection
 * 1903 - 1997 (index only) - How to Use this Collection
 * 1926 - 1995 Birth Records of Cameron County 1926-1995 from the USGenWeb archives
 * 1926-1995 Texas Births, 1926 - 1995 at MyHeritage ($) — index

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 — index $
 * 1823-1965 Texas, U.S., Select County Marriage Records at Ancestry.com — index & images ($)
 * 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 1837-1977 at Ancestry — index $
 * 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
 * 1903 - 1973 — index - How to Use this Collection
 * 1903 - 1982 Texas Death Certificates 1903-1982 at Ancestry — index and images $
 * 1964 - 1998 (no images) - How to Use this Collection
 * 1968 - 2011 Texas Divorces 1968-2011 at Ancestry — index $
 * 1977 - 1986 — index - How to Use this Collection

Divorce

 * 1966-2016 Texas Marriages and Divorces at MyHeritage ($) — index
 * 1968 - 2001 Divorce Records of Cameron County 1968-2001 from the USGenWeb archives
 * 1968 - 2011 Texas Divorces 1968-2011 at Ancestry — index $

Societies and Libraries
Caprock Public Library 104 N 1st St Quitaque, TX 79255 Phone: (806) 455-1225 Cameron County Genealogy Trails

FamilySearch Centers

 * Brownsville Texas FamilySearch Center
 * Harlingen Texas FamilySearch Center
 * Hidalgo Texas FamilySearch Center
 * Matamoros Mexico FamilySearch Center
 * McAllen Texas West FamilySearch Center
 * Mission Texas FamilySearch Center
 * Reynosa Mexico FamilySearch Center
 * Tamaulipas México Río Bravo FamilySearch Center
 * Weslaco/Mercedes Texas FamilySearch Center

Websites

 * Cameron County TXGenWeb
 * TXGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the county.
 * The catalog is genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) This catalog is different than the indexed Historical Records.