Taylor County, Texas Genealogy

Guide to Taylor 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 Edward Taylor, George Taylor, and James Taylor, three brothers who died at the Battle of the Alamo. The County is located in the central area of the state.

County Courthouse
Taylor County Courthouse 300 Oak Street Abilene, TX 79602 Phone: 325-674-1202 County Clerk has marriage, probate and land records

County Clerk

300 Oak St. Ste. 100 Abilene 79602 Phone: 325-674-1205 Fax: 325-674-1279

District Clerk

300 Oak St. Ste. 400 Abilene 79602 Phone: 325-674-1316 Fax: 325-674-1307

Taylor County has had two county seats: Buffalo Gap 1878-1883 and Abilene 1883-present.

Parent County
1858--Taylor County was created 1 February 1858 from Bexar and Travis Counties.
 * County seat: Abilene

Boundary Changes
See an interactive map of Taylor County boundary 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
Callahan •  Coleman  •  Fisher  •  Jones  •  Nolan  •  Runnels  •  Shackelford

African American

 * 1865 - 1870 - FamilySearch (images) - How to Use this Collection

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

Additional Cemetery Sources


 * Abilene City Cemetery (City of Abilene Cemetery, Municipal Cemetery) Cemetery Database. Also includes: I. O. O. F. Cemetery, Masonic Cemetery, Cedar Hill Cemetery, Cedar Hill Flats Cemetery. Search by space or occupant.
 * Texas Historic Cemeteries
 * Texas Escapes Listing of Texas cemeteries with transcriptions and pictures.

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

Local Histories

 * A History of Rural Taylor County, 1980, by Juanita Daniel Zachry.
 * Taylor County, Texas History from the Handbook of Texas Online

Maps

 * Texas Land Survey Maps for (land patent maps) at HistoryGeo.com ($). Free surname search.
 * 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
 * Taylor County CSA Pensions ~ USGenWeb Archives
 * Civil War Soldiers and Sailors
 * Confederate Indigent Families List
 * Terrys Texas Rangers, 8th Texas Calvary

World War I

 * 1917 - 1920 at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers

 * Newspaperarchive.com ($) has Abilene newspapers from the early 1900's that covered local news on residents from Taylor County.
 * Wikipedia has a list of online newspaper archives for Texas.
 * Abilene Reporter News
 * The Merkel Mail 912 North 1st Street Merkel, TX 79536 Phone: 325-928-5712
 * 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 including interactive search function

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)

Taxation

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

Birth
Online Birth Indexes and Records


 * 1903 - 1935 - FamilySearch (images and index) - How to Use this Collection
 * 1903 - 1997 - FamilySearch (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 $
 * 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 - FamilySearch - FamilySearch record collection - How to Use this Collection
 * 1966-2016 Texas Marriages and Divorces at MyHeritage ($) — index

Death

 * 1890-1976 - FamilySearch 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 - 2000 - FamilySearch (index) - How to Use this Collection
 * 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

 * 1968-2010 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * USGenWeb Census Project
 * 1966-2016 Texas Marriages and Divorces at MyHeritage ($) — index

Societies and Libraries
Scarborough Library of Genealogy History and Biography of South and Southwest c/o McMurray College Library McMurray Station, Abilene, TX 79605 Website

Taylor Heritage Society PO Box 385 Taylor 76574 Website

Abilene Public Library 202 Cedar St Abilene, TX 79601 Telephone Number: 325-676-6328 Website

Merkel Public Library 100 Kent St Merkel, TX 79536 Telephone Number: 325-928-5054 Website

Society Hill ~ Links and addresses to Texas genealogical and historical societies

FamilySearch Centers

 * Abilene Texas FamilySearch Center
 * Big Spring Texas FamilySearch Center
 * Mineral Wells Texas FamilySearch Center
 * Snyder Texas FamilySearch Center
 * Stephenville Texas FamilySearch Center


 * Brownwood Texas Genealogical Library - an affiliate library
 * Comanche Public Library - an affiliate library
 * Cross Plains Public Library - an affiliate library
 * Dublin Public Library - an affiliate library

Websites

 * Taylor County TXGenWeb
 * Taylor County Archives ~  USGenWeb Archives Project
 * 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.