Karnes County, Texas Genealogy

Guide to Karnes 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 Henry Karnes, a soldier in the Texas Revolution. The County is located in the south-central area of the state.

County Courthouse
Karnes County Courthouse 101 N Panna Maria Street Karnes City, TX 78118 Phone: 830.780.3938 County Clerk has birth, death and court records from 1900, marriage records from 1875, probate records from 1870 and land records from 1854; District Clerk has divorce records from 1858

County Clerk

101 N. Panna Maria St. Karnes City 78118 Phone: 830-780-3938 Fax: 830-780-4576

District Clerk

County Courthouse Karnes City 78118 Phone: 830-780-3227

Parent County
1854--Karnes County was created 4 Febrary 1854 from Bexar, De Witt, Goliad, and San Patricio Counties.
 * County seat: Karnes City

Record Loss
1865--Courthouse and most records of the county clerk were destroyed by fire in July 1865.

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:

Neighboring Counties
Atascosa •  Bee  •  De Witt  •  Goliad  •  Gonzales  •  Live Oak  •  Wilson

African American

 * 1865-1870 Freedmen's Bureau Field Office Records(images) - FamilySearch
 * African American Griots ~ USGenWeb
 * AfriGeneas ~ African Ancestored Genealogy
 * Texas African American Genealogy ~ Access Genealogy

Cemeteries
Additional Cemetery Sources


 * African American Cemeteries Online ~ Partial index/transcriptions of African American cemeteries
 * Texas Escapes Listing of Texas cemeteries with transcriptions and lots of pictures.

Census

 * 1880 Karnes County Census (Polish areas) ~ USGenWeb Archives Project

Church
List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * Texas Christian Church Directory~ ChurchAngel
 * Catholic Parishes in Texas
 * FamilySearch Places

Land

 * Land Survey Abstract Indices of the Original Land Owners of Texas ~  TXGenWeb

Local Histories

 * Karnes County Biographies ~  TXGenWeb

Maps

 * 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

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

Mexican-American War

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

Civil War

 * 1861 - 1865 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1861 - 1865 at FamilySearch — index
 * Confederate Pension Applications ~ Texas State Library and Archives Commission
 * Karnes County Military Records ~ TXGenWeb
 * 1890 Union Soldiers from Karnes County ~ UsGenWeb Archives Project
 * Civil War Pension Applications ~ USGenWeb Archives Project
 * Confederate Indigent Families ~ USGenWeb Archives Project

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

 * Karnes County Obituaries ~ USGenWeb Archives Project
 * Karnes County Obituaries~ TXGenWeb
 * 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 including interactive search function

Probate
Online Probate Indexes and 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)

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


 * 1903-1935 Texas, Birth Certificates, 1903-1935 (images and index) - FamilySearch
 * 1903-1997 Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997 (index) - FamilySearch
 * 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 $
 * 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 — index $
 * 1966-2010 at FamilySearch
 * 1966-2016 Texas Marriages and Divorces at MyHeritage ($) — index

Death

 * 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 FamilySearch 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 — index and images $
 * 1903-2000Texas, Death Index, 1903-2000 (index) - FamilySearch
 * 1964-1998 Texas, Death Index, 1964-1998 - FamilySearch Historical Records Name index to Texas Statewide Death Certificates or four million people who have died since 1964.
 * 1977-1986 at FamilySearch.org — index

Divorce

 * 1968-2010 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1968-2011 Texas Divorces 1968-2011 at Ancestry — index $


 * 1850-1930 USGenWeb Census Project Texas 1850 - 1930
 * 1966-2016 Texas Marriages and Divorces at MyHeritage ($) — index

Societies and Libraries
Karnes County Historical Society and Museum PO Box 162 Karnes City, TX 78118 Telephone Number: 830-780-3210 Website

South Texas Genealogical Society, Inc. PO Box 754 Beeville, TX 78104-0754 Website

Kenedy Public Library 303 W Main St Kenedy, TX 78119 Telephone Number: 830-583-3313 Website

Falls City Public Library 206 N Irvin Falls City, TX 78113 Telephone Number: 830-254-3361 Facebook

Karnes City Public Library 302 S Panna Maria Ave Karnes City, TX 78118 Telephone Number: 830-780-2539 Website

Runge Public Library 311 N Helena St Runge, TX 78151 Telephone Number: 830-239-4192 Facebook

FamilySearch Centers

 * Beeville Texas FamilySearch Center
 * San Antonio Texas East FamilySearch Center
 * San Antonio Texas FamilySearch Center
 * Victoria Texas FamilySearch Center
 * Yorktown Kenedy Texas FamilySearch Center


 * Leon Valley Public Library - an affiliate library
 * San Antonio Genealogical and Historical Society - an affiliate library

Websites

 * Karnes County Archives ~  USGenWeb Archives Project
 * Karnes 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.