Washington County, Texas Genealogy

Guide to Washington 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 George Washington. The County is located in the southeast area of the state.

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 (images) - How to Use this Collection

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 ($).

List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * Records of Salem Lutheran Church, Brenham, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).
 * FamilySearch Places

Land

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

Local Histories

 * Austin Colony Pioneers: Including History of Bastrop, Fayette, Grimes, Montgomery and Washington Counties, Texas. 1949. By Worth S. Ray. Austin, Texas : n.p. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library;.
 * History of Brenham and Washington County. 1915. By May Amanda (Mrs. R. E.) Pennington. Houston, Texas : Standard Printing & Lithographing Company. Online at: Internet Archive, Ancestry ($);.
 * History of Washington County. 1949. By Charles F. Schmidt. San Antonio, Tex.: Naylor Co. Online at: Ancestry ($);.
 * A brief Washington County history at Texas State Historical Association
 * History of the Jews in Brenham at Wikipedia

Maps

 * Texas Land Survey Maps for (land patent maps) at HistoryGeo.com ($). Free surname search.
 * 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
 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Military

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

Mexican-American War

 * 1845 - 1848 US American Volunteer Soldiers Mexican War 1845-1848 at Ancestry — 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:
 * w3newspapers Texas Newspaper Index with links
 * NewslinkTexas 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 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)

Taxation

 * 1846-1910 Texas, County Tax Rolls 1846-1910 at Findmypast ($) — index and images

Birth
Online Birth Indexes and Records
 * 1903-1991 (index) - FamilySearch
 * 1903 - 1935 (images and index) - How to Use this Collection
 * 1903 - 1997 (index only) - How to Use this Collection
 * 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 $
 * 1836-1965 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. 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 — index - How to Use this Collection
 * 1903-1982 Texas Death Certificates 1903-1982 at Ancestry — index and images $
 * 1903 - 2000 (index) - How to Use this Collection
 * 1964 - 1998 (no images) - How to Use this Collection Name index to Texas Statewide Death Certificates or four million people who have died since 1964.
 * 1977 - 1986 — index - How to Use this Collection

Divorce

 * 1968 - 2010 — index - How to Use this Collection
 * 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
Nancy Carol Roberts Memorial Library 100 Martin Luther King Jr Pkwy Brenham, TX 77833 Telephone Number: 979-337-7201 Website

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

FamilySearch Centers

 * Bastrop Texas FamilySearch Center
 * College Station Texas FamilySearch Center
 * Rockdale Texas FamilySearch Center


 * Carnegie History Center - an affiliate library
 * Franklin County Genealogical Society - an affiliate library
 * Hopkins County Genealogical Society Research Library - an affiliate library
 * Texas Czech Heritage and Cultural Center - an affiliate library
 * Westbank Community Library District - Laura Bush Community - an affiliate library

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.