Bexar County, Texas Genealogy

United States Texas  Counties B  Bexar County

County Courthouse
Bexar County Courthouse County Clerk - Gerry Rickhoff 100 Dolorosa, Suite 104 San Antonio, TX 78205 Phone: 210-335-2216

Bexar County Clerk's website

Register and log in to search digital archives 1837-1963 HISTORICAL RECORDS at this County Clerk website: https://gov.propertyinfo.com/tx-bexar/Default.aspx

District Clerk - Margaret G. Montemayor 100 Dolorosa San Antonio, TX 78205 Phone: 210-335-2113

History
The villa of San Fernando de Bexar was the first municipality in the Spanish province of Texas in 1731. In 1772 the seat of the government of Spanish Texas moved to Bexar. The original county was divided into 128 additional counties.

From the Handbook of Texas Online: The first Europeans to explore the region came with an expedition in 1691 led by Domingo Terán de los Ríos and Fray Damián Massanet, who evidently reached the San Antonio River near where San Juan Capistrano Mission was later founded. Nearby they found a group of Payayas living on the riverbank. The Indians, as Massanet recorded in his diary, called the place Yanaguana; he, however, renamed the site San Antonio de Padua to celebrate the memorial day of St. Anthony, June 13. The next group of Spanish explorers, an expedition led by two Franciscans, fathers Antonio de San Buenaventura y Olivares and Isidro Félix de Espinosa, and a military officer, Pedro de Aguirre, did not reach the area until April 1709. Much impressed by the setting and the availability of water, they noted that the area might make a promising site for future settlement. In 1714 Louis Juchereau de St. Denis crossed the region on his way to San Juan Bautista. Espinosa again visited the site in 1716 on his way to East Texas with the expedition of Domingo Ramón and this time recommended San Pedro Springs as a mission site. Near that spot, in May 1718, Martín de Alarcón led the expedition that founded San Antonio de Valero Mission and San Antonio de Béxar (or Béjar) Presidio, named for Viceroy Balthasar Manuel de Zúñiga y Guzmán Sotomayor y Sarmiento, second son of the duke of Bexar.

Parent County
1836--Bexar County was created on 17 March 1836 from Old Mexican Municipality. County seat: San Antonio

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

Record Loss
1892 -- Bexar County Courthouse was damaged during a large fire in downtown San Antonio on 25 February 1892. No records were lost. The offices of the San Antonio Democrat Newspaper were destroyed during the fire.

Populated Places
Towns and Cities:  | Alamo Heights | Balcones Heights | | Castle Hills | China Grove | Converse |  | Fair Oaks Ranch |  |  |  | Hollywood Park | Kirby | Leon Valley | Live Oak |  |  | Olmos Park |  |  |  | Shavano Park |  |  | Terrell Hills | Universal City |  |  | Wincrest

Neighboring Counties

 * Atascosa
 * Bandera
 * Comal
 * Guadalupe
 * Kendall
 * Medina
 * Wilson

Resources

 * Local Bexar County Resouces ~ Bexar County TXGenWeb

Cemeteries

 * Cemeteries of Bexar County ~ Listings of cemeteries &amp; partial transcriptions ~ Bexar County TXGenWeb
 * Tombstone Transcription Project ~ Partial transcription of cemetery tombstones ~ USGenWeb
 * Texas Historic Cemeteries ~ Partial indexes to historic cemeteries
 * African American Cemeteries Online ~ Partial index/transcriptions of African American cemeteries
 * Cemetery Junction ~  Links to cemetery transcriptions

Census

 * USGenWeb Census Project ~ Texas 1850 - 1930

Churches

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

Local Histories

 * |Texas Museums List of all museums in Texas ~ Hidden Ancestors
 * History of the Alamo in Bexar County ~ Bexar County TXGenWeb
 * Historical Markers of Bexar County ~ Bexar County TXGenWeb

Maps

 * 1889 &amp;1909 Maps of Bexar County ~ Bexar County TXGenWeb
 * 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 Genweb site

Military

 * Military Records of Bexar County ~ Bexar County TXGenWeb
 * 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

Newspapers

 * Wikipedia has a list of online newspaper archives for Texas.
 * Newspaperarchive.com ($) has historical newspapers available on-line. Their database has San Antonio newspapers from the late 1800's that covered local news on Bexar County residents.

Obituaries

 * Obituaries of Bexar County, Texas ~ Partial Listing of Obituaries from Bexar County ~ Bexar County, 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

 * Search Tax, Criminal, Land and Wills Records ~  Ancestry.com  (subscription)

Vital Records

 * Records of Bexar County, Texas ~ Bexar County TXGenWeb

Marriages

 * Texas Marriage Records 1966 - 2005  ~  Hidden Ancestors
 * Texas Divorce Records 1968 - 2005   ~  Hidden Ancestors

Deaths

 * (FamilySearch) - The name index was created by FamilySearch and is tied to images of the Texas death certificates. Few certificates are available prior to 1903 and in many counties prior to 1910. Fold3.com also has Texas Deaths, 1890-1976 ($) available online.


 * (FamilySearch) - Index to Texas statewide death certificates covering 4 million deaths since 1964.

Public Libraries
Leon Valley Public Library 6425 Evers Rd Leon Valley, TX 78238 Phone: (210) 684-0720 Website

San Antonio Public Library 600 Soledad St San Antonio, TX 78205 Phone: (210) 207-2500 Website

Universal City Public Library 100 Northview Dr Universal City, TX 78148 Phone: (210) 659-7048 Website

Converse Public Library 601 S Seguin Rd Converse, TX 78109 Phone: (210) 659-4160 Website

Societies

 * Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library P.O. Box 1401 300 Alamo Plaza San Antonio, Texas 78295-1401 Telephone: (210) 225-1071 Materials are in closed stacks.

Family History Centers

 * [[Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
 * San Antonio Texas Family History Center
 * San Antonio Texas East Family History Center
 * San Antonio Texas North Family History Center
 * San Antonio Texas West Family History Center
 * Stone Oak Texas Family History Center (San Antonio)

Web Sites

 * Bexar County TXGenWeb
 * TXGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the county.
 * Hidden Ancestors Information on Texas genealogy research as well as genealogy research in general.
 * Cyndi's List ~ Texas
 * Cyndi's List ~ Texas