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Bernalillo County, New Mexico Genealogy

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Guide to Bernalillo County, New Mexico ancestry, genealogy and family history, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, and military records.

County Facts
County seat: Albuquerque
Organized: September 22, 1846
Parent County(s): Orriginal County
Neighboring Counties
Cibola • Sandoval • Santa Fe • Torrance • Valencia
See County Maps
Courthouse
NewMexicoBernalilloCourthouse.jpg
Location Map
Nm-bernalillo.png

County Information

Description

Bernalillo County was named for one of the early Franciscan friars laboring in the province. Georgraphically the county lies near the center of the State.[1]

County Courthouse

Bernalillo County Courthouse
1 Civic Plaza NW
Albuquerque, NM 87102
Phone: 505.768.4090
Bernalillo County Website

County Clerk has marriage records from 1885, probate records from 1895 and land records from 1888; District Court Clerk has divorce and court records.[2]

Bernalillo County, New Mexico 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[3]
Birth* Marriage Death* Court Land Probate Census
1907 1885 1907 #2 1888 1895 1790
*Statewide registration for births and deaths started in 1907. General compliance by 1930.

Record Loss

There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Boundary Changes

  • Pre 1821 - New Spain controlled land that later would become New Mexico and Arizona. Some records of early settlers may have been sent to an archives in Seville, Spain, or to archives in Mexico City.
  • 1821 - Mexico obtained jurisdiction over the land that later would become New Mexico and Arizona. Some records of this period may have been sent to archives in Mexico City.
  • 1846 - 22 September 1846, Bernalillo County was created based on an old Mexican government partido under the Kearny Code of laws for the occupied Mexican territory.[4][5] Bernalillo county was one of seven original New Mexico counties. This code named after General Stephen W. Kearny
  • 1848 - New Mexico Territory formally became a part of the United States when the Mexican-American War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
  • 1852 - In 9 January 1852, all New Mexico counties were redefined. Bernalillo county was extended west to the California border including land in present day Arizona and Nevada.[6] [7] [8] Residents far from the
  • 1863 - In 29 December 1863, Arizona Territory was created from the western half of New Mexico Territory. Bernalillo county was reduced in size to the portion that was still in New Mexico Territory.[9]
  • 1876 - In 13 Jan 1876, Santa Ana county discontinued, Bernalillo county gained all of its lands and records.[10]
  • 1901 In, 1 Jan 1901, Bernalillo county lost land to the creation of McKinley county. [11]
  • 1903 - In 14 Apr 1903, Bernalillo county lost land to the creation of Sandoval county. [12]
  • 1905 - In 1 Jan 1905, Bernalillo, county lost land to the creation of Torrance county.[13]
  • County seat: Albuquerque[14]
  • New Mexico Individual County Chronologies - Newberry Library list of all boundary changes by county
  • New Mexico Historical Borders - Map at Newberry Library Atlas of Historical County Boundaries; Also at: mapofus.org - animated maps illustrating New Mexico county boundary changes

Populated Places

Bernalillo and other counties in New Mexico Territory in 1852.

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:[15]

Cities
Towns
Villages
Unincorporated communities
American Indian Communities
Census-designated places


History Timeline

Resources

Bible Records

Biographies

Business, Commerce, and Occupations

Cemeteries

Cemeteries of Bernalillo County, New Mexico online and in print
Tombstone Transcriptions Online
Tombstone Transcriptions in Print (Often more complete)
List of Cemeteries in the County
See New Mexico Cemeteries for more information

Census Records

Historical populations
Census Pop. %±
1850 7,751 —
1860 8,769 13.1%
1870 7,591 −13.4%
1880 17,225 126.9%
1890 20,913 21.4%
1900 28,630 36.9%
1910 23,606 −17.5%
1920 29,855 26.5%
1930 45,430 52.2%
1940 69,391 52.7%
1950 145,673 109.9%
1960 262,199 80.0%
1970 315,774 20.4%
1980 419,700 32.9%
1990 480,577 14.5%
2000 556,678 15.8%
2010 662,564 19.0%
Source: "Wikipedia.org".

Federal Census Records
Federal Censuses were taken for New Mexico starting in 1850. For links to Federal census indexes, see New Mexico Census.

State Census Records

Church Records

List of Churches and Church Parishes

Ward and Branch Records of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

  • Albuquerque

Court Records

Directories

Emigration and Immigration

Ethnic, Political, and Religious Groups

Funeral Homes

Genealogies

Guardianship

Land and Property Records

Land and property records can place an ancestor in a particular location, provide economic information, and reveal family relationships. Land records include: deeds, abstracts and indexes, mortgages, leases, grants and land patents.

See New Mexico Land and Property for additional information about early New Mexico land grants. After land was transferred to private ownership, subsequent transactions were usually recorded at the county courthouse and where records are currently housed.

Online Land Records

Local Histories

Maps and Gazetteers

Bernalillo CountySandoval CountySanta Fe CountyCibola CountyTorrance CountyValencia CountyNM BERNALILLO.jpg
Click a neighboring county
for more resources

Migration

Military Records

Revolutionary War

Civil War

World War I

World War II

Naturalization and Citizenship

Newspapers

New Mexico Newspapers Online


Obituaries

Other Records

Periodicals

Probate Records

Since statehood in 1912, probate matters have been under the jurisdiction of probate courts in each county. Records of guardianship and adoption have usually been transferred to the district courts. In 1953 the district courts were given concurrent jurisdiction with the probate court over all probate matters in each county.

See the wiki page New Mexico Probate Records for information about how to find earlier probate records.

The FamilySearch Library does not have copies of the New Mexico county probate records. They are available at each county courthouse. You can obtain copies by contacting the county clerk.

Content: Probate Records may give the decedent's date of death, names of his or her spouse, children, parents, siblings, in-laws, neighbors, associates, relatives, and their place of residence.

Record types: Wills, estates, guardianships, naturalizations, marriage, and adoption.

Online Probate Records

School Records

Social Security Records

Tax Records

New Mexico tax records complement land records and can be used to supplement the years between censuses. There may be gaps of several years in the tax records of some counties. For more information, see the Wiki page New Mexico Taxation.

Vital Records

Vital Records consist of births, adoptions, marriages, divorces, and deaths recorded on registers, certificates, and documents. See the Wiki page, New Mexico Vital Records, for additional information about the vital records in New Mexico.

Marriage records - are at the County Clerk's office

Divorce records - are at the office of the County Clerk of Court

Birth and death records - are at the New Mexico Vital Records and Health Statistics Office which has records since 1920 and delayed records since 1880.

See also How to order New Mexico Vital Records or download an application for New Mexico Birth or Death Certificate to mail.

Birth

Marriage

Death

Divorce

Research Facilities

Archives

Listed below are archives in Bernalillo County. For state-wide archival repositories, see New Mexico Archives and Libraries.

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

Libraries

Listed below are libraries in Bernalillo County. For state-wide library facilities, see New Mexico Archives and Libraries.

Zimmerman Library
MSC05 3020
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131
Website

Museums

Societies

Listed below are societies in Bernalillo County. For state-wide genealogical societies, see New Mexico Societies.

Albuquerque Genealogical Society
501 Copper Ave NW
PO Box 25512
Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87125-0512
Phone:e 505-256-7752
Email:info@abqgen.org
Website
Facebook

Albuquerque Historical Society
PO Box 20568
Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87125
Email: info@albuqhistsoc.org
Website
Facebook

Websites

Research Guides

References

  1. ↑ http://genealogytrails.com/newmex/bernalillo/history.html accessed 09/29/2016
  2. ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), New Mexico.At various libraries (WorldCat); FS Library Book 973 D27e 2002.
  3. ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Bernalillo County, New Mexico. Page 472 At various libraries (WorldCat); FS Library Book 973 D27e 2002; Alice Eichholz, ed. Ancestry’s Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources, Third ed. (Provo, Utah: Ancestry, 2004), 470.
  4. ↑ "Courts and Judicial Powers, Sec. 5” Kearny Code: Laws for the Government of the Territory of New Mexico, September 22, 1846 (Santa Fe, N. Mex.: S. W. Kearny, 1846), 47. Digital online edition.
  5. ↑ Kearny's Code 1846, "Courts and Judicial Powers,” secs. 5-7/p. 49; Abel, Map #2; Coan, 252; Williams, 108-109
  6. ↑ N.M. Terr. Laws 1851, 1st assy., 2d sess. /p. 291
  7. ↑ William Thorndale, and William Dollarhide, Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Censuses, 1790-1920 (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1987), 26. At various libraries (WorldCat); FS Library Book 973 X2th.
  8. ↑ Original Counties of New Mexico Territory (map) at https://web.archive.org/web/20150629223153/https://www.nmgs.org/Graphics/nmcoun-orig.jpg (accessed 9 August 2011).
  9. ↑ U.S. Stat., vol. 12, pp. 664-665; Van Zandt, 165
  10. ↑ N.M. Terr. Laws 1875-1876, 22d assy., ch. 8/pp. 38-40
  11. ↑ N.M. Terr. Laws 1899, 33d assy., ch. 19/pp. 43-45
  12. ↑ N.M. Terr. Laws 1903, 35th assy., ch. 27/pp. 37-43
  13. ↑ N.M. Terr. Laws 1903, 35th assy., ch. 70/pp. 132-134
  14. ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), New Mexico.At various libraries (WorldCat); FS Library Book 973 D27e 2002.
  15. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Bernalillo County, New Mexico," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernalillo_County,_New_Mexico, accessed 24 January 2019.
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