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Online Republic of Texas Military Records Printed Republic of Texas Military Records Military Battles and Campaigns Collections of Related Records Texas Genealogy |
| Note: | [Comments within square brackets refer to this online Index to Military Rolls of the Republic of Texas 1835-1845.] |
Online Republic of Texas Military RecordsIndex to Military Rolls of the Republic of Texas 1835-1845. These web pages. Index of surviving muster rolls with location of original and publication, if any. Partial name index, some rolls transcribed. Republic Claims. Database of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Images of claims submitted for payment by the Republic, mainly for military supplies and soldiers' pay. May identify a soldier's captain. Available online as *.pdf files, from: https://www.tsl.state.tx.us/arc/repclaims/index.php Military Service Records. Texas Adjutant General Service Records 1836-1935. Database of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Records of some soldiers, available online as *.pdf files, from: https://www.tsl.state.tx.us/arc/service/index.php "The Service Records Series combines both official service record files from the Adjutant General's Office and alphabetical files created by other agencies which contain records related to an individual's service in a military unit. . . . If an individual is not found in the index, it should not be assumed that they did not serve. They are simply not represented in this particular records series." (TSLAC) Original Military Rolls. Texas Adjutant General's Department, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Finding aid to original rolls. https://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tslac/30072/tsl-30072.html Then, on the left, choose one of a series of rolls:
[Note: After finding an ancestor's name on a roll, a reader's first question usually is, "What did he do?" This Index to Military Rolls uses a slightly different grouping of rolls, working toward arranging the rolls by campaign and date for improved correlation with published histories. Rolls of U.S. Volunteers are merged with Revolution rolls and Campaigns of 1842 rolls. Rolls of Minute Men are merged with Militia rolls.] Printed Republic of Texas Military RecordsLocal libraries may be able to borrow these books through interlibrary loan. Bounty and Donation Land Grants of Texas 1835-1888, Thomas Lloyd Miller, Univ. of Texas Press, Austin, 1967. (Out of print.) Abstracts of military bounty and donation land grants of Texas for service between 1835 and 1888, from records of the Texas General Land Office. The TGLO land abstracts are online at the TGLO (see below), but Miller's statements of military service are not online and may be of interest. [For a list of names only, see Name Index in this site.] Muster Rolls of the Texas Revolution, Daughters of the Republic of Texas, Austin, Texas, partial name index, 318 pp., 29 cm, 1986. Rolls and lists of army, volunteers and militia. [Rolls, lists of men and all-name index included in this site (see Contents).] Defenders of the Republic of Texas: Texas Army Muster Rolls, Receipt Rolls and Other Rolls, 1836-1841, Volume 1. Compiled for the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, Laurel House Press, Austin, index, 319 pp., 28 cm, 1989. [Rolls are listed in this site (see Contents).] The following are available from Ericson Books at: A Guide to Texas Research, Carolyn R. and Joe E. Ericson, Ericson Books, 1995. Includes maps of early counties. Texas Ranger Service Records 1830-1846, Frances Terry Ingmire, Ingmire Publications, index, 171 pp.,1982. Alphabetical list of soldiers' names, from selected muster rolls and pay rolls deemed "Texas Ranger rolls", with commander's name, organization's name, enlistment date, and length of service or discharge date. [Texas State Archives believes there is no meaningful selection of rolls from this period that are uniquely "Texas Rangers". See introduction to militia rolls, this site.] East Texas Militiamen 1838-1839, [Volume 1], Kathryn Hooper Davis, Ericson Books, 1614 Redbud Street, Nacogdoches, Texas 75961, index, 87 pp., 1992. Transcription of muster rolls from Nacogdoches County, Sabine County, and San Augustine County. East Texas Militiamen 1838-1839, Volume 2, Kathryn Hooper Davis, Ericson Books, 1614 Redbud Street, Nacogdoches, Texas 75961, index, 87 pp., 1992. Transcription of muster rolls from Fannin County, Houston County, Nacogdoches County, Red River County, San Augustine County, and Shelby County. Index includes 62 names of individuals who served as witnesses for soldiers when they received their pay.[p. 38] The Texas Navy, Linda Ericson Devereaux, Ericson Books, 1614 Redbud Street, Nacogdoches, Texas 75961, index, 143 pp., 1983. Brief history of the Texas Navy, names of officers 1835-1842 (from secondary sources), names from Military Service Records (above), and some muster rolls by ship. [Texas State Library and Archives Commission has been unable to locate the original muster rolls transcribed in this book.] Military Battles and CampaignsThe Alamo, 1836. Website includes the traditional list of Alamo defenders with links to their biographies in The Handbook of Texas On-Line. The Goliad Campaign, 1836. Notes From an Unfinished Study of Fannin and His Men, Harbert Davenport, 1936. Story of the Goliad campaign and massacre, biographical sketches of the men. Online 2002 with Davenport's 1939 publication "The Men of Goliad" and index, at the Texas State Historical Association: https://supsites.tshaonline.org/fannin/ The Battle of San Jacinto, 1836. Web site of the San Jacinto Museum of History. Online biographies of the soldiers (incomplete). (Printed name list: "The Honor Roll of the Battle of San Jacinto", from the San Jacinto Museum of History, 3800 Park Road 1836, La Porte, Texas 77571.) https://www.sanjacinto-museum.org/Herzstein_Library/Veteran_Biographies/ After San Jacinto: The Texas-Mexican Frontier, 1836-1841, Joseph Milton Nance, University of Texas Press, Austin, index, 1963. (Out of print.) Appendix with 9 muster rolls from 1839-1841. Online this site at: https://supsites.tshaonline.org/nance/ [The rolls and lists of men are indexed in this site as Militia Rolls, from Transcription T7 (see Contents).] Attack and Counterattack: The Texas-Mexican Frontier, 1842, Joseph Milton Nance, University of Texas Press, Austin, index, 1964. (Out of print.) Appendix with 45 muster rolls from 1842. [The rolls and lists of men are indexed in this site as Campaigns of 1842, from Transcription T8 (see Contents).] The Mier Expedition, 1842-1844. [Transcription of original lists and muster rolls of the Mier Expedition, with chronology and map, this site.] Texian Expedition Against Mier, Gen. Thomas J. Green, ed. by Sam W. Haynes, W. Thomas Taylor, Austin, 13 illus., index, biblio., notes, 325 pp., 1993. https://www.smu.edu/swcenter/tjgreen/tjg_home.htm Dare-Devils All: The Texan Mier Expedition, 1842-1844, Joseph M. Nance, edited by Archie P. McDonald, Eakin Press, Austin, Texas, illus., photos, index, 608 pp., 1998. Story of the ill-fated expedition, appendix with summary of men. Dare-Devils All, Volume II: Biographical Data on Selected Members of the Mier Expedition, Joseph M. Nance, Edited by Archie P. McDonald, Eakin Press, Austin, Texas, index, 182 pp., 2000. The War with Mexico 1846-1848. Web site of Descendants of Mexican War Veterans. Includes U.S. Battle Casualty lists. Search function, no index. Collections of Related RecordsLand Records. It is often said the history of Texas is written in the history of the land. An impoverished Republic bartered land for military service and supplies and for new homesteaders to build the population. Texas is unique in having a complete record of the original owners of the land, a record archived in the Texas General Land Office (TGLO) in Austin. Records of subsequent owners of the land are held in county archives, some of which have suffered loss by fire and flood over the years. Ancestors who were the first owners ("Original Grantee" or "Patentee") of Texas land will have records at the TGLO. Abstracts (summaries) of the land parcels are online at: https://www.glo.state.tx.us/archives/landgrant.html One can enter just a surname to search the whole state. Men who obtained land with bounty or donation warrants from military service will show a District Class including the words "Bounty" (land grant awarded for enlistment) or "Donation" (land grant awarded by the Texas Legislature after important battles). Links at the site explain how to get photocopies of the complete records, which may include the names of heirs. The Land Office plans to have the complete records online in the future. The TGLO will make genealogy name searches upon written application ($10/name for summary of any records and estimated cost of photocopies): https://www.glo.state.tx.us/archives/service.html The TGLO has large county maps for sale (Original Land Grant Surveys), which show the outlines of all the original grants so an ancestor's land can be located exactly. These maps are somewhat difficult to find in their new map database at: https://www.glo.state.tx.us/archives/mapscol.html Instead, select "Ordering Information" to get the telephone number and ask for "the most current blue-line Original Land Grant Survey map" of the county. They should be $15-$20 each. Almost all of the county maps are available privately as scanned images. Download the sample images to evaluate your ability to display and search them. See: https://pages.sbcglobal.net/mike_in_katy/Tolo_Maps/Tolo_Maps.htm Historical Maps. In addition to the above original land grant maps, the Texas General Land Office has a collection of historical maps for sale, some of which have online images. See: https://www.glo.state.tx.us/archives/mapscol.html then select "Map Collection Searchable Catalog" and "Display only maps with images". The Texas State Library and Archives Commission also has a collection of historical maps, some of which are large, readable images for free downloading. See: https://www.tsl.state.tx.us/arc/index.html and select Go to..."Map Collection search". For example, No. 0131 is a useful map of Mexico in the 1840s, an 1847 map documenting battles of the Mexican War with the United States, based on Gen. Arista's map. Biographies. The Texas State Library and Archives has a "million card" index of names in Texas history. An email request can get a search and photocopies: https://www.tsl.state.tx.us/arc/archmail.html The Handbook of Texas Online, The Texas State Historical Association. An encyclopedia of Texas history, geography, and culture: https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/ Papers Concerning Robertson's Colony in Texas, Volume I, 1788-1822, The Texas Association, comp. and ed. by Malcolm D. McLean, index, 1974. The colony bridged the Brazos River in central Texas. https://lonestar.texas.net/~mdmclean/rc_papers_vol_1/contents.htm The Sons of DeWitt Colony Texas. History of the DeWitt Colony region in the period 1700-1846, now parts of Caldwell, Comal, DeWitt, Fayette, Gonzales, Guadalupe, Hays, Jackson, Lavaca, Victoria and Wilson Counties of Texas. Includes biographies and narratives of some veterans of the Texas Revolution. https://www.tamu.edu/ccbn/dewitt/dewitt.htm Texas GenealogyMost families whose ancestors were in Texas before and during the Republic years (1835-1845) have stories of family members being in the great battles of the Revolution or serving in ranger companies along the borders. Indeed, just about every able-bodied man at that time was called upon to protect Texas in some manner and may have surviving records of his service. It's not too hard to find Republic records of men with your surname, but it is much more difficult to show you are a direct descendant. The following are some suggestions for making that connection. Documenting Family Memories. As most genealogists recommend, the single most important task is to document your family's history as remembered by the oldest living members. In addition to saving interesting stories, you need to know what were ancestor's full names, where they lived, when they lived there and how they were related. Sometimes a single remembered word can separate the records of your ancestor from the records of others of the same surname, especially if you have a common surname. Sometimes a family Bible will have survived, with ancestors' birth and death dates. One of the best ways to document interviews with older family members is with a tape recorder, so no information is lost. One can later transcribe the recordings. Some people are self-conscious about a microphone, but most soon forget a tape recorder is running. Reminiscence proceeds in an erratic fashion so it's best not to try to control the discussion except for getting the above Who, Where and When included. Often an uninteresting story will trigger a vital memory, if the interviewer is patient. The interviewer can wait for a lull in the discussion to return to an earlier subject. For recording the interviews, standard 60-minute cassettes are the most robust (90-minute cassettes use thinner tape). Micro-cassettes have lower quality audio and thinner tape that may not stand up to the transcription process. Each recorded tape should immediately be labeled with subject's name, your name, interview location and date. The technically-inclined might then digitize the audio recordings into a personal computer and find a sound-editing program that replays brief segments for the transcription process. When and Where Ancestors Lived. Search the U.S. Census, first for your parents, then your grandparents and so on back in time. Start a notebook to save all the census data and any other facts and where you got them. (Nothing is more discouraging than later questioning a fact and not knowing where you obtained it.) The goal is to find your soldier-ancestor's family with your known ancestors listed as children. Large libraries usually have microfilms of the U.S. Census (or can borrow them) and printed indexes to the Census by head-of-household surname and different-surname living at the residence (which is sometimes a widowed relative or orphan). The Mormon Family History Centers have an immense archive of microfilmed national, state and county records available to them on loan from Salt Lake City for a small fee. Non-Mormons are welcome to use their facilities. Census records are starting to appear on the Internet or on CD, but coverage will be spotty for years to come. Free Texas records can be found at: https://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txgenweb/ Check the county web pages as well as the Archive web pages or search for a surname (which can result in hundreds of responses for common surnames).
The original counties were subdivided, some several times, during
the early years. This means an ancestor who originally lived in
southern Red River County found his land in the new Titus County
in 1846. His early records would be in the Red River County
courthouse, then in the Titus County courthouse starting in mid-1846. |