Galveston County, Texas Genealogy

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

County Courthouse
Galveston County Courthouse 722 Moody Galveston, TX 77550 Phone: 409.766.2210

County Clerk has birth and death records, Clerk has birth and death records 1903 -1910 and 1941-1951, marriage, probate and land records from 1838 and court records from 1875

County Clerk

P.O. Box 17253 Galveston 77552 Phone:409-766-2200

District Clerk

P.O. Box 17250 Galveston 77552 Phone: 409-766-2292

History
Galveston Island was the temporary seat of government of the Republic of Texas during the Texas Revolution.

Parent County
1838--Galveston County was created 15 May 1838 from Brazoria and Liberty Counties.
 * County seat: Galveston

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

Record Loss
Galveston is a very low-lying area in Texas, the county seat being largely on an island, and thus it is vulnerable to weather disasters, mainly being hurricanes, and occasionally, tornadoes.

In September 1900, Galveston suffered what is to this day the worst United States hurricane disaster in terms of loss of life. That storm, known as the Galveston Hurricane, killed over 6,000 people. The hurricane also for all practical purposes swept the island clean, although some structures did survive.

Therefore, unless the record or a duplicate copy or other item that recorded the same data was moved to an inland area prior to September 1900, it is likely the record was destroyed in the hurricane. One should check in nearby counties for any such replications of any records from the Galveston area prior to 1900, such as neighboring counties, regional offices of churches, and other similar repositories, for records from this county. Galveston county courthouse records were spared from destruction as they were kept in a vault that did survive.

Since 1900, a seawall was built along the outward facing shore, and subsequent hurricanes, including Ike in 2008, did somewhat less damage as the seawall for the most part has kept the storm surge produced by any hurricane from over-washing the island by and large. In fact, one can drive along the seawall itself which will give any visitor an idea of just how serious the 1900 disaster really was.

Places / Localities
Town/city records in the FamilySearch Catalog



Populated Places
Cities

Bayou Vista | Clear Lake Shores | Dickinson | Friendswood | Galveston | Hitchcock | Jamaica Beach | Kemah | La Marque | League City | Santa Fe | Texas City

Villages

Tiki Island

Census-designated Places

Bacliff | Bolivar Peninsula | San Leon

Unincorporated areas

Algoa | Bayview | Crystal Beach | Gilchrist | High Island | Port Bolivar

Neighboring Counties
Brazoria •  Chambers  •  Harris

African American

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

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

Additional Cemetery Sources


 * African American Cemeteries Online ~ Partial index/transcriptions of African American cemeteries
 * Cemetery Junction ~  Links to cemetery transcriptions

Census

 * 1850 Federal Census ~ USGenWeb Archives Project
 * 1900 Federal Census ~ USGenWeb Archives Project

Church

 * Texas Christian Church Directory~ ChurchAngel
 * Catholic Parishes in Texas

Lutheran


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

Land

 * Original Land Owners Of Texas ~  Galveston County  ~  TXGenWeb
 * Lot and Block Book of Texas City, Galveston County, 1902-1911: showing names of property owners, dimensions, lot numbers, block numbers, and street number of each block. Read the book online at the Portal to Texas History.

Local Histories

 * The Early History of Galveston, 1916, by Joseph O. Dyer. Read the book online at archive.org. Read the book online at The Portal to Texas History.
 * The Port of Galveston and the State of Texas, 1890, by Andrew Morrison. Read the book online at archive.org.
 * The Complete Story of the Galveston Horror, c1900 by John Coulter. Read the book online at archive.org.
 * Texas Museums ~  List of all museums in Texas  ~  Hidden Ancestors

Maps



 * Historical Maps ~  From the Republic to the Turn of the Century  ~  Hidden Ancestors
 * Texas Counties Map. Click on the county to go to the Texas TXGenWeb site.

Military

 * 1838 - 1900 - Texas Muster Roll Index Cards 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 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
 * Confederate Indigent Families ~ USGenWeb Archives Project
 * 1864 Muster List, Easley's ~ USGenWeb Archives Project

Civil War Battles
The following Civil War battles were fought in Galveston County:


 * October 4, 1862 = Galveston I
 * January 1, 1863 = Galveston II


 * Map showing Civil War battles in Texas.

World War I

 * 1917 - 1920 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers

 * Home Town News -  Texas Newspaper Index with links
 * Newslink -  Texas Newspaper List (sorted by publication frequency)
 * The Olden Times  -   Historic Texas News Online
 * Newspaperarchive.com ($) has historical newspapers available on-line. Their database has Galveston newspapers from the early 1800's that covered local news on Galveston County residents as well as residents from surrounding counties.

Obituaries

 * Galveston County Obituaries~ TXGenWeb
 * Obituary Resources ~ Links to research and locate obituaries ~ Hidden Ancestors
 * 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 Project ~ Hidden Ancestors
 * 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 (images and index) - FamilySearch
 * 1903-1997 Texas Birth Index (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 at Ancestry.com — index $
 * 1837-1973 Texas, Marriages - FamilySearch record collection
 * 1837-1977 Texas County Marriage Records - FamilySearch. Index to a variety of marriage records (registers, licenses, intentions to marry, etc.) from select counties in Texas.
 * 1837-1977 Texas Select County Marriage Index at Ancestry.com — index $
 * 1966-2005 Texas Marriage Records - Hidden Ancestors
 * 1966-2010 Texas, Marriages - FamilySearch record collection

Death

 * 1890-1976 Texas Death Records [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 Texas Deaths and Burials (index) - FamilySearch
 * 1903-1982 Texas Death Certificates at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1903-2000 Texas, Death Index, 1903-2000 (index) - FamilySearch
 * 1964-1998 Texas Death Index [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 ~ Hidden Ancestors
 * 1968-2010 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1968-2011 Texas Divorces at Ancestry.com — index $


 * 1850-1930 USGenWeb Census Project Texas

Societies and Libraries
East End Historical Association PO Box 2424 Galveston, TX 77550 Website

Galveston County Genealogical Society PO Box 1141 Galveston 77550 Website

Dickinson Public Library 1837 Hwy 517 E Dickinson, TX 77539 Telephone Number: 281-534-3812

Friendswood Public Library 416 S Friendswood Dr Friendswood, TX 77546 Telephone Number: 281-482-7135 Website

Rosenberg Library 2310 Sealy Ave Galveston, TX 77550 Telephone Number: 409-763-8854 Website

Genevieve Miller Hitchcock Public Library 8005 Barry Ave Hitchcock, TX 77563 Telephone Number: 409-986-7814 Website

La Marque Public Library 1011 Bayou Rd La Marque, TX 77568 Telephone Number: 409-938-9270 Website

Helen Hall Library 100 W Walker St League City, TX 77573 Telephone Number: (81-554-1111 Website

Mae S Bruce Library 13302 6th St Santa Fe, TX 77510 Telephone Number: 409-925-5540 Website

Moore Memorial Public Library 1701 9th Ave N Texas City, TX 77590 Telephone Number: 409-643-5970 Website

Family History Centers

 * Friendswood Texas Family History Center

505 Deseret Dr Friendswood, Galveston, Texas, United States Phone: 281-996-9346 Hours: T 10am-2pm &amp; 6pm-9pm; Th 10am-2pm; F 11am-3pm; Sat (2nd) 11am-3pm. Closed: Thanksgiving week, two weeks at christmas


 * Galveston Texas Family History Center

3300 77th St Galveston, Galveston, Texas, United States Phone: 409-744-7938 Hours: T, Sat by appt; W 7pm-9pm


 * League City Texas Family History Center

4655 S Shore Blvd League City, Galveston, Texas, United States Phone: 281-535-3034 Hours: T-Th 7pm-9pm; Sat 10am-12pm


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

Websites

 * Galveston County Archives ~  USGenWeb Archives Project
 * Galveston 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.