Austin County, Texas Genealogy

United States

Texas

Austin County

Guide to Austin County, Texas ancestry, genealogy and family history, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Texas Online Genealogy Records

County Facts County seat: Bellville Organized: March 17, 1836 Parent County(s): original county Neighboring Counties Colorado • Fayette • Fort Bend • Waller • Washington • Wharton See County Maps Courthouse Location Map

County Information

Description

The county was named for Stephen F. Austin, who facilitated the Anglo-American colonization of Texas and is known as the "Father of Texas". The county is located in the southeast area of the state.

County Courthouse

Austin County Courthouse
1 E Main St
Bellville, TX 77418
Phone: 979-965-5911
Austin County Website

County Clerk has birth and death records from 1903, marriage, land and probate records from early 1800’s, cemetery, court, military discharge and naturalization records.
Discharge Court has divorce records

Austin County, Texas Record Dates

Information for this chart was taken from various sources, often containing conflicting dates. This information should be taken as a guide and should be verified by contacting the county and/or the state government agency.

Known Beginning Dates for Government County Records
Birth*	Marriage	Death*	Court	Land	Probate	Census
1903	1824	1903	1824	1826	1827	1829
*Statewide registration for births and deaths began in 1903. General compliance by the 1930s.

Record Loss

1960The Austin County Courthouse, built in 1888, was destroyed by fire on April 5, 1960. Courthouse records were saved. For suggestions about research in places that suffered historic record losses, see: Burned Counties. By Michael John Neill at 24-7 Family History Circle. When the Records are Gone. By Arlene Eakle at Arlene Eakle's Tennessee Blog. Burned Counties Research in the FamilySearch Research Wiki. List of counties in the United States with Record Loss

Boundary Changes

Parent County(s): Created as San Felipe de Austin, from Old Mexican Municipality on 12 Feb 1828. County Seat: Bellville Texas Individual County Chronologies - Newberry Library list of all boundary changes by county Texas Historical Borders - Map at Newberry Library Atlas of Historical County Boundaries; Also at: mapofus.org - animated maps illustrating Texas county boundary changes

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:

Cities
Bellville (county seat) Brazos Country	Industry Sealy	Wallis
Towns
San Felipe
Unincorporated communities
Bleiblerville Burleigh Cat Spring Frydek	Kenney Nelsonville New Ulm Peters	Phillipsburg‡ Shelby Welcome
Ghost towns
Rexville	Sempronius

‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

Resources

Cemeteries

Cemeteries of Austin County, Texas online and in print
Tombstone Transcriptions Online	Find a Grave TX Gravestones TX Tombstone Transcription Project BillionGraves Cemeteries of TX USGenWeb Archives TXGenWeb
Tombstone Transcriptions in Print (Often more complete)	FamilySearch Library WorldCat
List of Cemeteries in the County	Find a Grave FamilySearch Places
See Texas Cemeteries for more information.

Census Records

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1850	3,841		—
1860	10,139		164.0%
1870	15,087		48.8%
1880	14,429		−4.4%
1890	17,859		23.8%
1900	20,676		15.8%
1910	17,699		−14.4%
1920	18,874		6.6%
1930	18,860		−0.1%
1940	17,384		−7.8%
1950	14,663		−15.7%
1960	13,777		−6.0%
1970	13,831		0.4%
1980	17,726		28.2%
1990	19,832		11.9%
2000	23,590		18.9%
2010	28,417		20.5%
Source: "Wikipedia.org".

Church Records

• See Texas Church Records for more information.

• Austin County, Texas Churches at Austin County, TXGenWeb
• Early Church Records of Austin County at Austin TX GenWeb partial record listing.
• Christian Church Directory for Texas at ChurchFinder
• Catholic Parishes in Texas

Lutheran

• Records of Trinity Lutheran Church, New Ulm, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).
• 1781-1969 U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Church Records, 1781-1969 at Ancestry — index & images, ($)

List of Churches and Church Parishes

• FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places
  

Directories

• 1970-2024 United States, Residence Database, 1970-2024 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index, coverage may vary

Ethnic, Political, and Religious Groups

African American

• 1865-1870 Texas, Freedmen's Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1870 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Images only
• Texas African American Griots at USGenWeb

Funeral Homes

Austin County Funeral Home, LLC in Bellville

Land and Property Records

• See Texas Land and Property for more information.

Online Land Indexes and Records

• Full-Text Search - Land Records at FamilySearch - index & images; dates, records, and places vary; How to Search

Local Histories

Local histories are available for Austin County and may include biographies, church, school and government history, and military information.

• See Texas Local Histories for more information.

• Austin County History
• Pioneers of Austin County at Austin County TXGenWeb
• Austin County History
• Texas Indexes (about 20 counties) at EveryNameIndex.com — Select the county

Maps and Gazetteers

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• Texas Land Survey Maps for Austin County (land patent maps) at HistoryGeo.com ($). Free surname search.
• Texas Counties Map. Click on the county to go to the TXGenWeb site
• FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Military Records

• 1916-1990 Texas, Various Counties, Military Discharge Records, 1916-1990 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images

Texas Revolution

• 1835 - 1845 Index to the Military Rolls of the Republic of Texas 1835-1845 at Texas State Historical Association

Mexican-American War

• 1845-1848 US American Volunteer Soldiers Mexican War 1845-1848 at Ancestry — index ($)

Civil War

• 1861-1865 Texas, Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images at partner site
• 1861-1865 Texas, Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers, 1861-1865 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images at partner site
• Confederate Pension Applications at Texas State Library and Archives Commission
• 1838-1900 Texas Muster Roll Index Cards 1838-1900 at Ancestry — index & images ($)

World War I

• 1917-1920 Texas, World War I Records, 1917-1920 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images

Naturalization and Citizenship

• 1906-1989 Texas Naturalization Records, 1906-1989 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images

Newspapers

• Sealy News, serving Sealy and Austin County.
• Daily Texan
• Texas Digital Newspaper Program at The Portal to Texas History
• 1800s-Current Texas, U.S., Newspapers.com™ Stories and Events Index, 1800's-Current at Ancestry — index & images ($)

Obituaries

• 1966-1978 Pete E Etlinger Funeral Home of Bellville Notices 1966 - 1978 at Complete Index at Austin County, TXGenWeb
• Obituaries of Austin County, Texas Partial listing of obituaries published in Austin County, Texas at Austin County, TXGenWeb
• USGenWeb Archives Obituary Project at Texas
• Obituary Daily Times at Citations to over 15,000,000 obituaries including interactive search function

Probate Records

Probate records of Texas counties were kept by the probate clerk, usually in "probate minutes."

• See Texas Probate Records for more information.

• 1800-2000 Texas Wills and Probate Records 1800-2000 at Ancestry — index & images ($)
• 1903-1935 Texas Birth Certificates, 1903-1935 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images
• Full-Text Search - Wills and Probate Records at FamilySearch - index & images; dates, records, and places vary; How to Search

Social Security Records

• 1935-2014 United States Social Security Death Index at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
• 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry ($) — index click here for more information.
• 1936-2007 United States, Social Security Numerical Identification Files (NUMIDENT), 1936-2007 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index

Tax Records

• See Texas Taxation for more information.

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

Vital Records

Vital Records of births, adoptions, marriages, divorces, and deaths were recorded on registers, certificates, and documents. Copies can be obtained from the County Clerk's office, or order certified copies online or by mail at the Texas Vital Records State Department of Health. See Texas Vital Records for more information.

Birth

• 1840-1981 Texas Births and Christenings, 1840-1981 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index
• 1903-1935 Texas Birth Certificates, 1903-1935 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images
• 1903-1997 Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index; Key to Texas County Codes; Also at: Ancestry ($)
• 1926-1995 Texas Births, 1926-1995 at MyHeritage — index ($)

Marriage

• 1802-2010 Texas, United States Marriages at Findmypast — index ($)
• 1814-1909 and 1966 - 2011 Texas Marriage Collection 1814-1909 and 1966-2011 at Ancestry — index ($)
• 1824-1920 Early Marriages of Austin County, Texas 1824-1920 Complete Index Austin County, TXGenWeb
• 1837-1965 Texas Marriages, 1837-1965 at MyHeritage — index & images ($)
• 1837-1965 Texas, County Marriage Records, 1837-1965 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images
• 1837-1973 Texas Marriages, 1837-1973 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index
• 1837-1977 Texas, County Marriage Index, 1837-1977 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images
• 1837-1977 Texas Select County Marriage Index 1837-1977 at Ancestry — index ($)
• 1966-2010 Texas Marriages, 1966-2010 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index
• 1966-2016 Texas Marriages and Divorces at MyHeritage — index ($)

Death

• 1903-1973 Texas Deaths and Burials, 1903-1973 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index
• 1903-1982 Texas Death Certificates 1903-1982 at Ancestry — index & images ($)
• 1903-2000 Texas Death Index, 1903-2000 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index
• 1964-1998 Texas Death Index, 1964-1998 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index
• 1977-1986 Texas Deaths, 1977-1986 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images

Divorce

• 1850-1930 USGenWeb Census Project — Texas 1850 - 1930
• 1968-2010 Texas Divorce Index, 1968-2010 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index
• 1968-2011 Texas Divorces 1968-2011 at Ancestry — index ($)
• 1966-2016 Texas Marriages and Divorces at MyHeritage — index ($)

Research Facilities

FamilySearch Centers

FamilySearch Center and Affiliate Library Locator map - search for local FamilySearch Centers or Affiliate Libraries

• FamilySearch Centers provide one-on-one assistance, free access to center-only databases, and to premium genealogical websites.
• FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries have access to most center-only databases, but may not always have full services normally provided by a FamilySearch center.
  

Local Centers and Affiliate Libraries

• Bear Creek Texas FamilySearch Center
• Bear Creek Texas West FamilySearch Center
• Katy Texas FamilySearch Center
• Houston Texas FamilySearch Center
• Houston Public Library Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research - an affiliate library
• Nesbitt Memorial Library - an affiliate library

Libraries

Bellville Public Library
12 W Palm St
Bellville, TX 77418
Phone: 979-865-3731
Website

Virgil and Josephine Gordon Memorial Library
917 N Circle Dr
Sealy, TX 77474
Phone: 979-885-7469
Website

Societies

The Bellville Historical Society
Concordia Hall, 953 S. Tesch Street
PO Box 67
Bellville, Texas 77418
Email address:BellvilleHistoricalSociety.com
Website

Genealogical Society
PO Box 1507
Austin 78767-1507
Website

Websites

• Austin TXGenWeb part of TXGenWeb project
• USGenWeb Archives Project. Name indexes and other information.
• Cyndi's List Austin

• FamilySearch Catalog – The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records.

This table contains the dates the local or state government began recording in the county or county equivalent. Use substitute records for earlier dates. If you believe there is an error, email us at wikisupport@familysearch.org.

County boundary maps are currently unavailable. Download information instead.

This website requires a paid subscription for full access. Some subscription websites are available for free at your local FamilySearch Center or Affiliate Library.

To access available information, first log into FamilySearch.

Users should verify which locations and dates are included in this collection.

“Current” indicates records are available as recently as privacy laws allow. This date can change from year to year. To determine the exact dates available, contact the respective organization/repository.

FamilySearch affiliate libraries may have access to center-only databases, but do not always have all services normally provided by a FamilySearch center.