Deciphering Deed Indexes

Tuesday, April 11th, 2023 in research. No Comments

If you have the basics of deed research down, you have a general idea of how to use deed indexes to find property records (if you don’t, visit our post here.) Did you know that deed indexes give references to records other than deeds? If you look at the column labeled “Nature of Instrument” in […]


Early District Court Civil & Criminal Minutes

Friday, February 10th, 2023 in Announcements, collection highlights, criminal records, District Clerk, research, Uncategorized. No Comments

Travis County District Civil Courts have original jurisdiction in all divorce cases, cases involving title to land, election contest cases, and civil matters in which the amount of money or damages involved is $200 or more. Travis County Criminal District Courts preside over felony cases. Court minutes are the record of courtroom proceedings, such as the […]


Travis County Naturalization Records

Wednesday, March 9th, 2022 in collection highlights, County Clerk, District Clerk, genealogy, people, Portal to Texas History, research. No Comments

Naturalization is the process by which an alien becomes an American citizen. Prior to 1906, immigrants could file for naturalization in any court at the local, county, state or federal level. In Travis County, naturalization records can be found in the records of the District and County Courts and date from 1887-1906. In 1906, the […]


Vital Statistics Records

Wednesday, September 1st, 2021 in County Clerk, genealogy, Portal to Texas History, research. 12 Comments

What are vital statistics records? Vital statistics records are those that record the important events in human life, such as births, deaths, marriages, and divorces. Vital statistics records are valuable sources of information when researching your family history. These are the various types of records in Travis County and where to locate them. Marriage Records […]


Convict Labor Records

Monday, August 31st, 2020 in collection highlights, history of Travis County, Portal to Texas History, research. No Comments

Convict leasing was a system of penal labor in which prisoner labor was leased to private parties. The practice began in Texas and other southern states shortly after the Civil War, when officials realized they had a large population of prisoners to care for and very little money.  Leasing the inmates to private individuals appeared to offer […]


Records of the Travis County Poor Farm

Wednesday, July 29th, 2020 in collection highlights, explore Travis County, history of Travis County, Portal to Texas History, research. 1 Comment

In a series of posts, we will be highlighting some of Travis County’s lesser known records and the unique information they contain. Travis County Poor Farm Record: 1890-1900 (1 volume). Ledger includes an inventory of property belonging to the Travis County Poor Farm; list of paupers; list of hands hired; list of county convicts sent […]


The 1918 Influenza Outbreak

Monday, April 6th, 2020 in history of Travis County, news, research. No Comments

During the fall of 1918 and the winter of 1919, an epidemic of influenza affected much of the civilized world. An estimated twenty-five million Americans experienced what became known as the Spanish flu; an estimated 550,000 died from the disease. More U.S. soldiers died from the 1918 flu than were killed in battle during the […]


This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Error: No feed found.

Please go to the Instagram Feed settings page to create a feed.