Grayson County, Texas Genealogy

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The Grayson County Courthouse &amp; Official Flag

History


The first courthouse was constructed in 1847 and torn down in 1858, the story passed down is that some men were drunk and made a bet on how many eggs were in a goose's nest under the building; so they tore it down to find out!

This old photograph had this statement attched; "I, J.P. Loving, do hereby certify that the above photogrpah is a true picture of the first court house built in the present town of Sherman, Texas, and that it was customary for juries trying cases in said court house to retire to the shade of the old Pecan tree, then standing on the public square to consider their verdict" signed Jesse P. Loving.

The pecan tree he mentioned was used as a bank of sorts. People would hang their saddlebags and other personal property on or under the old pecan tree and they knew everything would be safe on their reurn. Even bags of gold were left there undisturbed. No one is ever known to have violated the sanctity of this 'bank'.

Grayson County is located at the top of Texas and is home to the famed Preston Road. This road was a major pioneer road, crossing the Red River into Texas. Just to the east of the Preston Road was the Shawnee Trail, the first cattle drive road in Texas. This cattle trail crossed the Red River in a natural rock formed cattle shute and herds passed through the Indian Nations in Oklahoma to reach the railheads in Kansas.

The Butterfield Overland Mail route also passed through Grayson county, this land was a vital link for pioneers entering the West.

Above is an Old Bois d' Arc Tree in a field of Indian Blanket Flowers. This area of Texas is a rich land, beautiful with rolling hills, prairie grasses; native pecan, oak, hackberry, elms, black walnut, chinaberry, blackjack, and more, and of course our famous Bois d'arc trees forrest the land.

Bois d'arc trees were a cash crop in the 1800's, used as a windbreak and a living livestock fence, this tree originated in Grayson County and its neighbor to the east, Fannin County, Texas and is one of the few trees left in the world that is prehistoric. It was ironic for the American Soldiers from Texas to have to break through the Bois d'arch hedges of France and Germany in WWI &amp; WWII. Every one of the trees that impeded our tanks and troups, came from 'back home'. This tree is called by many names, hedgeapple, horseapple, Texas orange, Osage Orange, ironwood and other names. It was of course named for its main historical use, 'Wood of the Bow'. Bows made of Bois d'arc wood were found anciently deep in South America. The Natives traded the bows and the wood far and wide.

Grayson County is home to the two Americans' to receive France's highest honor, the French Legion of Honor. Dwight D. Eisenhour, who was born in Denison, Grayson County and Thomas V. Munson, who saved Europe's grape &amp; wine industy by his research and development of using grafts of our Texas native grapevine stock to save them from extinction.

Lake Texoma, one of largest reservoirs in the United States was a project envolving placing a large dam just North of Denison,Texas in the 1940's and is a very popular vacation spot today. It is the home of two wildlife habitats. This lake ended most of the flooding from the Red River.

Grayson County is a beautiful place to live.

Read about early Grayson County, Texas

Read More about Grayson County, Texas

Parent County was Fannin County - Grayson County was formed May 17, 1846

County seat: Sherman



Grayson County Frontier Village in Denison, Texas is a place where Grayson County history is brought to life. It also houses a database of Katy Railroad Workers and has a research center in the museum building. They are glad to help patrons with their genealogical search.

Read More about Frontier Village

Record Loss


1930 Fire--The Third Grayson County courthouse was burned by a mob on May 9, 1930. However ALL of the vital records, land records, and most court records were saved from this fire. The courthouse had records in fire proof rooms and storage areas.

Populated Places
Sherman is the county seat, other towns and communities alphabetically; Bells (formerly called Bailey Junction, Gospel Ridge, Bellsplain and Belvue); Collinsville (previously called Springville and Toadsuck); Denison; Dorchester; Gordonville; Gunter; Howe (first called Summit); Luella; Pottsboro; Sadler, Southmayd; Tioga; Tom Bean; Van Alstyne; Whitesboro (previous names-City of Divide, The Wolfe Path; White Settlement; White Colony);  and Whitewright. Visit My Grayson County Town Page

Small Communities and Archaic Place Names
Ambrose, Basin Springs, Bethel, Blackmon Chapel; Blanks Community; Bliss; Cannon; Carpenters Bluff; Cedar Mills; Center; Choctaw; Desert; Devoignes; Dixie; Dripping Springs; Elmont; Ellsworth; Enterprise; Farmington; Fink; Friendship; Gage; Georgetown; Hackberry; Hagerman; Hayhurst; Highway; Ida; Jamison (Jameson); Kentuckytown; Knollwood; Locust;Macomb; Mantua; Marilee; Nance Prairie; Needle Ridge (Christian Chapel Community); Norton; Oak Grove; Oxford Community; Pilot Grove; Pink Hill; Plainview; Preston; Quillen; Red Branch; Red River City; Rock Creek; Rose Hill; Sanborn; Sandusky; Sedalia (also called Yakima); Smith Oaks; South Gale; Sperry; Warner Junction; Washita Bend; Waterloo; Whitemound; Whiterock; ; and Woodlake (also called Tanyard Springs). I'm sure I'll find more!

Neighboring Counties

 * Bryan County, Oklahoma
 * Collin
 * Cooke
 * Denton
 * Fannin
 * Love County, Oklahoma
 * Marshall County, Oklahoma

Resources

 * Grayson County,Texas ~ TXGenWeb- maps, biographical and historical data, cemeteries, obituaries, articles and all kinds of useful information.
 * Grayson County, Texas - Official County Website
 * Online books about Grayson County, Texas
 * The Handbook of Texas Online - Searchable
 * Biographical Souvenir of Texas - 1889

Cemeteries


Grayson County's beautiful rolling green hills hold more than 200 cemeteries.


 * There are more than 200 cemeteries in Grayson County,Texas. I have been working for more than 13 years on collecting - cemetery data, tombstone photographs and new info being added every week.
 * I have made a Google Map of Grayson County Cemeteries.

Churches

 * Grayson County Churches, Photographs, Historical Markers, Links Books ~ onlne!
 * Many Grayson County Books are online and complete!

Schools

 * Grayson County School Page
 * Austin College is in Grayson County!

Historical Markers

 * Grayson County Historical Markers
 * Offical State of Texas Historical Marker Atlas ~ Search form.

Railroads

 * Railroads were very important to Grayson County !

Court

 * All About Grayson County Offical Records.
 * Offical Grayson County Clerk's Genealogy Page.

Land

 * Land Records are kept in the Grayson County Clerk's Office.
 * Very early records made during the Republic of Texas are found in Fannin County's Courthouse and in the Texas State Archives.

Local Histories

 * A history of Grayson County, Texas / Mattie Davis Lucas (Mrs. W. H. Lucas) and Mita Holsapple Hall (Mrs. H. E. Hall) 1936
 * An Illustated History of Grayson County, Texas, by Graham Landrum, 1960- Included in this book is a pioneer index that covers people from the 1830's to 1870.
 * History of Grayson County, Texas ( 2 Vols 1979 &amp; 1981) by Grayson County Frontier Village
 * Ancestors and Decendants of Grayson County, Texas - by the Grayson County Genealogical Society 1980
 * Black Friday ~ May 15, 1896 ~ The Sherman Cyclone
 * Online Books about Grayson County and Grayson County people.

Maps of Grayson County

 * Texas Counties Map. Click on the county to go to the Texas Genweb site
 * Maps of Grayson County &amp; Texas

Military

 * Grayson County Military history is a proud one.Useful links and information.
 * Perrin Air Force Base was located in Grayson County. View various webpages about it, in the link listed for military history above.
 * Historical Research Center - Hillsboro, Tx., has one of the worlds best Confederate Research &amp; Civil War collections.

Newspapers

 * All about Grayson County, Newspapers

Probate

 * All Probate records, insanity hearings and guardianship records are found in theCounty Clerk's Office. Email the clerk's office for details about the record you are requesting.

Taxation

 * Tax Rolls are available through interlibrary loan and also through any FHC near you 1846-1910.
 * Tax records are kept in the County Clerks Office with more recent records in the Tax Assessors Office.
 * City of Denison (Land) Tax records are being placed online. this is an ongoing project by the Denison, Texas Genealogical Society's Online Document Project

Vital Records

 * 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.
 * Tips and advice on Grayson County, Texas Records
 * County Clerks Office

Societies and Libraries

 * Denison, Texas Genealogical Society
 * Martha Jefferson Randolph Chapter NSDAR
 * Grayson County Genealogical Society information can be found through the Sherman Public LIbrary.

Web Sites

 * Grayson County,Texas ~ TXGenWeb web site. Has maps, biographical and historical data, online books, cemeteries, obituaries, articles and all kinds of useful information.


 * Family History Library Catalog