Callahan County, Texas Genealogy

United States

Texas

Callahan County

Guide to Callahan 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: Baird Organized: 03 Jul 1877 Parent County(s): Bexar Land District, Travis Land District, Bosque and Coryell Neighboring Counties Brown • Coleman • Eastland • Shackelford • Taylor • Jones • Stephens See County Maps Courthouse Location Map

County Information

Description

The county was named for James Hughes Callahan, an American soldier in the Texas Revolution. The county is located in the central area of the state.

County Courthouse

Callahan County Courthouse
1257 FM 2047
Baird, Texas 79504
Phone: 325-854-5815
Callahan County Website

County Clerk has birth and death records from 1903, marriage, probate, and land records from 1877.
District Clerk has divorce and court records.

Callahan 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	1877	1903	1879	1877	1877	1829
*Statewide registration for births and deaths began in 1903. General compliance by the 1930s.

Record Loss

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

Boundary Changes

Parent County(s): Created from Bexar Land District, Travis Land District, Bosque and Coryell counties on 01 February 1858. County Seat: Baird 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
Baird (county seat)	Clyde
Towns
Cross Plains	Putnam
Unincorporated communities
Cottonwood	Eula	Oplin
Ghost towns
Belle Plain	Callahan City	Dudley

Resources

Cemeteries

Cemeteries of Callahan County, Texas online and in print
Tombstone Transcriptions Online	Find a Grave Callahan TX GenWeb TX Gravestones TX Tombstone Transcription Project BillionGraves Cemeteries of TX USGenWeb Archives
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.		%±
1880	3,453		—
1890	5,457		58.0%
1900	8,768		60.7%
1910	12,973		48.0%
1920	11,844		−8.7%
1930	12,785		7.9%
1940	11,568		−9.5%
1950	9,087		−21.4%
1960	7,929		−12.7%
1970	8,205		3.5%
1980	10,992		34.0%
1990	11,859		7.9%
2000	12,905		8.8%
2010	13,544		5.0%
Source: "Wikipedia.org".

• 1850-1930 USGenWeb Census Project Texas

Church Records

• See Texas Church Records for more information.

• Christian Church Directory for Texas at ChurchFinder
• Catholic Parishes in Texas

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 Americans

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

Funeral Homes

Bailey-Howard Funeral Home in Clyde Higginbotham Funeral Home in Cross Plains Parker-Jacobs Funeral Home in Baird

Land and Property Records

• See Texas Land and Property for more information.

• Callahan County General Index of Deeds at Texas State Library
• Texas Land Grants Database Search from the Texas General Land Office
• Full-Text Search - Land Records at FamilySearch - index & images; dates, records, and places vary; How to Search

Local Histories

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

• See Texas Local Histories for more information.

• Early Days in Callahan County, 1966, by Brutus Clay Christman.
• I Remember Callahan, 1986 Callahan County Historical Commission.
  Order from: Georgia Yawn, Chairman
  100 West 4th Street, Suite 100
  Baird, Texas 79504
  Name index to I Remember Callahan from the Callahan County Homepage.
• Belle Plain, Texas: The Ghost Town in Callahan, 1972 by Thomas Robert Havins
• Cottonwood's My Home: Recipes, Memories, History, 2007, Cottonwood Historical Association. Also, Supplement to Cottonwood's My Home, and Cottonwood's My Home: Vol. 2. Cottonwood History, Family Histories, Recipes, Old Photographs.
• Cross Plains Remembered : Photos, Memories & A Little Bit of Everything Else, 2011, Cross Plains Remembered, Volume 2, 2012 and Cross Plains Remembered, Volume 3, 2012 by the Barbarian Festival Committee. 352 pages each. Available at the Cross Plains Library.
• Footsteps of Approaching Thousands, a History of the Early Days of Cross Plains, 2011 by Ann Beeler. Available from the Cross Plains Library.
  
• Crossties to Callahan: The Family of Alfred Dayton Williams, 1981, by J. D. Williams.
  
• The Hills of Home, 1949 by John Berry. Story of the author's growing up in Clyde, Texas.
• Nubbin Ridge: My Boyhood on a Texas Farm, 1960 by Lewis Nordyke. Story of Nordyke's growing up in the Cottonwood/Turkey Creek area in the 1910s-1920s.
• Texas Indexes (about 20 counties) at EveryNameIndex.com — Select the county

Maps and Gazetteers

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• 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

• Cross Plains Veterans Memorial website Listing of all of the 3000+ veterans from Cross Plains and the surrounding area, from Civil War through Afghanistan, whose names are on the memorial. Photographs of the stone tablets, photographs, obituaries and information on of many of the veterans.

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
• 1835-1836 Texas Muster Rolls and Military Records for 1835 1836 Complete List at TXGenWeb
• 1838-1900 Texas Muster Roll Index Cards 1838-1900 at Ancestry — index & images ($)
• Confederate Pension Applications at Texas State Library and Archives Commission

Regiments. Civil War service men in Callahan County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (part of a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are companies that were specifically formed in this county:

• 6th Regiment, Missouri Infantry (Union), Company E

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

• Back Issues of the Cross Plains Review, 1911-1975, and the Baird-Callahan County Star, 1888-1935, are available for viewing on microfilm at the Cross Plains Library.
• Newspaperarchive.com ($) has historical newspapers available on-line. Their database has digitized Abilene newspapers that may include residents from Callahan County.
• Texas Digital Newspaper Program at The Portal to Texas History
• Wikipedia has a list of online newspaper archives for Texas.
• 1800s-Current Texas, U.S., Newspapers.com™ Stories and Events Index, 1800's-Current at Ancestry — index & images ($)

Obituaries

• USGenWeb Archives Obituary Project at Texas

• Obituary Daily Times at Citations to over 15,000,000 obituaries (Ancestry)

Probate Records

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

• See Texas Probate Records for more information.

• 1800-1990 Texas Probate Records, 1800-1990 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Images only
• Search Tax, Criminal, Land and Wills Records at Ancestry ($)
• 1800-2000 Texas Wills and Probate Records 1800-2000 at Ancestry — index & images ($)
• Texas Land Title Abstracts at Ancestry ($)
• 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 ($)
• 1814-2011 Texas Marriage Collection 1814-1909 and 1966-2011 at Ancestry — index ($)v
• 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 ($)
• 1877-1965 Callahan County Marriages Index 1877-1965 from the Callahan County Homepage
• 1966-2010 Texas Marriages, 1966-2010 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection Index
• 1966-2016 Texas Marriages and Divorces at MyHeritage — index ($)

Death

• 1890-1976 Texas Deaths, 1890-1976 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images
• 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

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

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

• Abilene Texas FamilySearch Center
• Cross Plains Public Library - an affiliate library

Libraries

Clyde Public Library
121 Oak St.
Clyde, TX 75910
325-893-5315
Website

Cottonwood Historical Association
P. O. Box 704
Cross Plains, TX 76443
Website

County Public Library and Pioneer Museum
Courthouse, 100 W 4th B1
Baird, TX 79504-5305
325-854-1718
Website

Cross Plains Public Library and Genealogy Society
149 N Main St.
P.O. Box 333
Cross Plains, TX 76443
254-725-7722
Website

Museums

County Public Library and Pioneer Museum
Courthouse, 100 W 4th B1
Baird, TX 79504-5305
Phone: 325-854-1718
Website

Societies

Cottonwood Historical Association
P. O. Box 704
Cross Plains, TX 76443
Website

Cross Plains Public Library and Genealogy Society
149 N Main St.
P.O. Box 333
Cross Plains, TX 76443
Phone: 254-725-7722
Website

Websites

• Callahan County, TXGenWeb part of TX GenWeb
• Callahan County Homepage
• USGWArchive Texas Counties
• Frontier Times Magazine
• Historic Texas
• 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.