Cameron County, Texas Genealogy

United States &gt; Texas &gt; Counties C &gt; Cameron County

History
By 1761 Spanish ranches were established. In 1845 Fort Brown was established and Anglo-Americans came to the area.

Parent County
1848--Cameron County was created 12 February 1848 from Nueces County. County seat: Brownsville

The county was named for Ewen Cameron, (1811?-1843). On July 7, 1842, Cameron took part in the engagement at Lipantitlán against Gen. Antonio Canales. Samuel H. Walker attributed much of the credit for the successful defense of the position to Cameron. At the battle of Mier, "The fearless Cameron, whose company garrisoned the back yard of one of the houses, being charged by an imposing force of the enemy, after emptying his rifles into their lines, beat off the foe until he could reload, with the loose stones in the court." At Pass Suarte, after Fisher and the staff officers had been separated from the command, the Mier prisoners unanimously chose Cameron as their commander. On Saturday, February 19, Cameron and about sixty men were recaptured by Mexicans and subjected with other groups to the Black Bean Episode. Cameron drew a white bean in the lottery, but was shot for a later attempt at escape.

Populated Places
Towns and Cities: | Baytown | Brownsville | Cameron Park | Combes | Harlingen | Indian Lake | La Feria | Laguna Vista | Los Fresnos | Los Indios | Palm Valley | Port Isabel | Primera | Rancho Viejo | Rangerville | Rio Hondo | San Benito | Santa Rosa | South Padre Island |

Neighboring Counties

 * Hidalgo
 * Willacy

Maps
Texas Counties Map. Click on the county to go to the Texas Genweb site

Vital Records

 * Texas Death Index 1964 to 1998 [no images] Name index to Texas Statewide Death Certificates or four million people who have died since 1964.
 * 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

Web Sites

 * TEXAS Genweb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the county.


 * Family History Library Catalog