Dallas County, Texas Genealogy

United States Texas Counties D Dallas County
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County Courthouse

History

Dallas County, Texas is located in northeastern Texas and includes the city of Dallas and a number of other smaller communities. It was founded in the mid-1800s, and has been known for its fashion, ranching and farming marketplaces.

Parent County

1846--Dallas County was created 30 March 1846 from Robertson and Nacogdoches Counties. County seat: Dallas

Record Loss

1880--Courthouse interior destroyed by fire. Courthouse was rebuilt adding a third story to the building.

1890--Courthouse destroyed by fire on 7 February 1890.  All records were saved except those of the 44th District Court.

Places/Localities

Populated Places

Addison, Arcadia Park, Audelia, Balch Springs, Bethard, Bethel, Bobwyn, Bouchard, Buckingham, Carrollton, Cedar Hill, Cedarview, Centerville, Cockrell Hill, Cole, Combine, Coppell, Dallas, Dalrock, De Soto, Duncanville, Eagle Ford, Estelle, Farmers Branch, Field Circle Interchange, Florence Hill, Fruitdale, Garland, Gifford, Glen Heights, Grand Prairie, Grapevine, Gribble, Highland Park, Hutchins, Irving, Kenwood, Kingswood, Kleberg, Lakeland Heights, Lakeview, Lancaster, Lawson, Ledbetter Hills, Lewisville, Liberty Grove, Meaders, Mesquite, Naaman, New Hope, Oak Cliff, Oldham, Ovilla, Patrick, Pleasant Grove, Pleasant Run, Pleasant Valley, Prestonwood, Rawlins, Red Bird Addition, Reinhardt, Richardson, River Oaks, Rose Hill, Rowlett, Rylie, Sachse, Sargent, Seagoville, Shady Grove, Shamrock, Shiloh, Sowers, Sunnyvale, Trinity Mills, Tripp, University Park, Urbandale, Village, Westwood Park, White Rock, Wilmer, Woodland Hills, Wylie, Zacha Junction

Neighboring Counties

• Collin
• Denton
• Ellis
• Kaufman
• Rockwall
• Tarrant

Resources

Cemeteries

Anderson Family Cemetery | Antioch Cemetery | Balch Springs Cemetery | Bear Creek Cemetery | Beatty Family Cemetery | Beeman Memorial Cemetery | Bennett Family Cemetery (inside Laurel Oaks Cemetery) | Big "A" Cemetery Find a Grave |  Big "A" Cemetery BillionGraves | Big Springs Cemetery US Genweb | Big Springs Cemeetery BillionGraves [  | Blewett Cemetery | Bowens Cemetery | Brickyard Community Cemetery | Brookhaven Cemetery | Calvary Cemetery | Calvary Hill Cemetery | Cameron Cemetery | Cartwright Cemetery | Caruth Pioneer Cemetery | Abraham Carver Cemetery | Albert Carver Family Cemetery | Carver Memorial Park | T. Carver Cemetery | Catholic Cemetery | Catlett Cemetery | Cedarlawn Memorial Park | Chapman Cemetery | Chenault Family Cemetery | Coats Cemetery | Cochran Chapel Cemetery | Cockrell Cemetery | Collins-Chenault Cemetery | Confederate Cemetery, | Cottonwood Cemetery | Coventry Cemetery |Cox Cemetery | Crawford's Tornado Graveyard | Crow Family Cemetery | Crown Hill Memorial Park | Cumby/Webster/Bailey Family Cemetery | Curtis Family Cemetery | Dallas City Cemetery / City Paupers' Cemetery A-L, M-Z  | Daniel Cemetery | DeSoto Cemetery | Dowdy Ferry Road Cemetery | Edgewood Cemetery | Elam Family Cemetery | Emanu-El Cemetery | Farmers Branch/Keenan Cemetery | Ferris Cemetery | Fields Cemetery | Fish Trap Cemetery / La Reunion Cemetery | Five Mile Cemetery (Ledbetter & allied families) | Five Mile Cemetery | Florence Family Cemetery | Floyd Pioneer Cemetery | Floyd-Taylor Family Cemetery | Forest Lawn Cemetery | Freedman's Memorial Park Cemetery | Frost Cemetery | Fuget Cemetery | Garland Cemetery | Garland Memorial Cemetery | Garland Cemetery (Masonic Section) | Garvin Memorial Cemetery | Glen Oak Memorial Cemetery | Glenn Family Cemetery | Glover Cemetery | Grand Prairie Memorial Gardens and Mausoleum| Gravel Slough Cemetery | Greenwood Cemetery | Grove Hill Memorial Park | Haley Memorial Cemetery  | Harrington Cemetery | Haught Cemetery | Heath Family Cemetery | Hebrew Cemetery | Holy Redeemer Catholic Cemetery | Homecoming Cemetery | Honey Springs Cemetery | Horton Cemetery | Housley Cemetery | Hustead Cemetery | Hutchins Memorial Cemetery | IOOF Cemetery | Jones-McShan Cemetery | Jordan/Hight Cemetery | Kinnard Family Cemetery | Kleberg Cemetery | Knights of Pythias Cemetery | La Reunion Cemetery / Fish Trap Cemetery | Lagow Cemetery | Laudermilk/Axe Cemetery | Laurel Land Memorial Park | Laurel Oaks Memorial Park | Ledbetter Family Cemetery | Lee Cemetery | Letot Cemetery | Lisbon Cemetery | Little Bethel Memorial Park | Long Creek Cemetery | Loving Family Cemetery | Lumley Cemetery | Lyons Cemetery | Marsh Cemetery | McCree Cemetery (Rootsweb) McCree Cemetery (BillionGraves) | McKinney Family Cemetery | Merrell Cemetery | Merrifield Cemetery | Mesquite City Cemetery | Miller Cemetery | Mills Cemetery | Mobley Cemetery | Mooneyham-Sparkman Family Cemetery | Motley Cemetery | Mount Auburn Cemetery | Mount Calvary Cemetery | Myers Family Cemetery | New Hope Cemetery | Northhaven Park Cemetery | Oak Cliff Cemetery | Oak Grove Memorial Park | Old Letot Cemetery | Old Oak Cliff Cemetery | Oakland Cemetery (Findagrave) | Oakland Cemetery (BillionGraves) | Overton Family Cemetery | Parrish Cemetery | Patrick-Pruitt Cemetery | Pioneer Park Cemetery | Pleasant Mound Cemetery | Pleasant Valley Cemetery | Porter Cemetery | Potter Cemetery | Pruitt Cemetery | Ramsey Cemetery, Rawlins Cemetery,Restland_Memorial_Park, Rhodes Cemetery | Riley Cemetery A-H, I-Z | Roselawn Memorial Gardens | Rowlett Cemetery | Sachse Cemetery Cemeteries of Texas | Sachse Cemetery BillionGraves | Sacred Heart Cemetery | Saint Joseph's Cemetery, Samuell/Crawford Memorial Park | Scott Family Cemetery | Shady Grove Cemetery | Shearith Israel Cemetery | Slapfoot Cemetery | Smith Cemetery | Snyder-Kennedy Family Cemetery | Sowers Cemetery | Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park | Southland Cemetery | Stadden Cemetery | Tarver Family Cemetery | Temple Emanu-El Cemetery | Tennessee Cemetery | Tompkins Family Cemetery | Trees Cemetery | Trinity Cemetery | Vincent Cemetery | Webb Chapel Cemetery | Wentworth Family Cemetery | Western Heights Cemetery | Wheatland Cemetery | White Rock Garden of Memories Cemetery | Woodland Cemetery 

Link to Map to Dallas County Cemeteries

Church

LDS Ward and Branch Records

• Dallas

Court

Dallas County was organized in 1846.The first court established for civil matters was the 14th District Court. Additional courts have been established: 14th, 44th, 68th, 95th, 101st, 116th, 134th, 160th, 162nd, 191st, 192nd, 193rd, and 298th.  Records for the first five civil courts have been microfilmed

• 14th District Court Record: Minute Book A (1846-1855)

Directories

Fold3.com ($) has Dallas City Directories 1878-1923 (8 yrs. missing) available online.

Land Records

Land records have been microfilmed and are only available on the second floor of the Records Building, 501 Main Street in downtown Dallas.

The following land records are available in the Genealogy Section of the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library.

• Dallas County Deeds – 1846–1899, Grantor and Grantee Index -  112 rolls microfilm
  
• Texas General Land Office – Abstracts of all original land titles comprising Texas land titles to Aug 31, 1845 - 8 rolls microfilm and 76 microfiche
• Abstracts of original titles of record in the General Land Office, Texas General Land Office ( 333.3 T355A)
• "A Cross File of Grantors and Grantees of Town Property of Dallas 1846–1856," abstracted in the DGS publication The Quarterly (March 1966)
  
  

Local Histories

• History of Dallas County, Texas: From 1837 to 1887, 1887, by John Henry Brown.  Digitized book online at archive.org.
  
• Memorial and Biographical History of Dallas County, Texas, published 1892, online at The Portal To Texas History. Digitized book online at archive.org:  Volume 1  Volume 2

Maps

• Dallas County Maps from Texas General Land Office
• Texas Counties Map. Click on the county to go to the TXGenWeb site.

Newspapers

• The Dallas Morning News
• Genealogy Bank  -  Read years of old copies of the Dallas Morning News online (subscription service).

Probate

Probate packets have been indexed from 1846 - 1906.  The index and packets are available through the Family History Library and Family History Centers, with films beginning with 1266753.

Taxation

Dallas County Tax Rolls, 1846-1896 are available through the Family History Library and Family History Centers on films 2282008-2282009 and 2282160-2282163.  Dallas County Tax Lists from 1846 are also available online at www.FamilySearch.org.  Some of the documents are difficult to read due to dark documents and faded ink.

Vital Records

Marriages

• Dallas County Marriage Record Alphabetical Index, 1846 - 1963, is available on microfilm in the Genealogy Section of the Dallas Public Library.
• Marriage Book O is available on the Dallas Genealogical Society Web site.
  
• Application for Copy of Marriage Record.  Copies of marriage records can be obtained from the County Clerk's office. Instructions, plus the form to use, are on the County's web site, but not easily located.  Click on this title link and scroll down to the bottom of the page.

Divorces

• Texas divorces were originally handled by the Texas Congress from 1837 to 1841.  District courts began to handle divorces in 1841.  Abstracts of the 14th District Court (Dallas County) Minute Book A are available on the Dallas Genealogical Society Web site.
  
• Dallas County District Court Civil Case Papers have been microfilmed. They are available on the 7th floor Texas/Dallas History Dept. of the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library, through interlibrary loan from the Texas State Library and Archives or through a local Family History Center. These are in order by case number, but there is an index. Check the TSL information for a description.
  
• Texas Divorce Index, 1968-2002 available online from Ancestry.com ($).  The Dallas Public Library has a library account to Ancestry.com which may be searched for free in the 8th floor Genealogy Department of the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library. The Dallas Public Library also has the divorce index on microfiche.
• Divorces, Dallas County, TX, 1846–1905, abstracted by Jim Monaghan (929.37642 M734D), is also available at the Dallas Public Library.
  
  

Deaths

• Texas Deaths, 1890-1976 (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.
• Texas Death Index, 1964-1998 (FamilySearch) - Index to Texas statewide death certificates covering 4 million deaths since 1964.
• Dallas County Mortality Schedules for 1850, 1860 and 1870 are available on the Dallas Genealogical Society Website.
  

Societies and Libraries

• Dallas Genealogical Society
• Dallas Historical Society
• Dallas Jewish Historical Society
• Dallas County Pioneer Association
• Bridwell Library at Southern Methodist University
• Dallas Public Library, Genealogy Section
• Dallas Public Library, Texas/Dallas History
• The Lancaster Genealogical Society
• Grand Prairie Genealogical Society The Grand Prairie Genealogical Society covers parts of the City in two counties. About 2/3 of Grand Prairie are in Dallas County with the remaining 1/3 in Tarrant County. However, this is based on modern boundaries. Before WW II (when Grand Prairie boomed due to, among other things, moving a major avaition plant from Connecticut to Texas) all of Grand Prairie was in Dallas County. As far as I know, GP is not one of the cities in Dallas County that was allowed to record its own vital events. 

Family History Centers

• Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
  
• Dallas Texas Family History Center (Duncanville)
  
• Dallas Texas East Family History Center
  
• Lewisville Texas Family History Center
• Richardson Texas Family History Center

Web Sites

• USGenWeb  - Dallas, Texas
  
• US GenWeb Archives
• Jim Wheat's Dallas County, Texas Archives
• Family History Library Catalog

References

Red Book: American State, County, and Town Records, Third Edition (Edited by Alice Eichhotz, Provo, Utah: Ancestry, 2004)

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

DGS stands for Digital Genealogical Society also known as an Image Group Number. Each set of digital images is assigned a DGS number for identification purposes.