Brewster County, Texas Genealogy

United States

Texas

Brewster County

Guide to Brewster 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: Alpine Organized: February 22, 1887 Parent County(s): Presidio Neighboring Counties Jeff Davis • Pecos • Presidio • Terrell • Chihuahua (Mexico) • Coahuila (Mexico) See County Maps Courthouse Location Map

County Information

Description

The county was named for Colonel Henry Percy Brewster, a Secretary of War for the Republic of Texas. The county is located in the southwest area of the state.

County Courthouse

Brewster County Courthouse
203 N 7th St
Alpine, Tx 79830
Phone: 432-837-6200
Brewster County Website

County Clerk has birth, probate, military, and court records from 1900, marriage records from 1887, death records from 1903 and land records from 1800.
District Court has divorce records.

Brewster 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
1900	1887	1903	1900	1800	1900	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 Presidio county on Feb 2, 1887. County Seat: Alpine Interactive Map of Texas County Formation History (1790-1897) - animated maps illustrating Texas county boundary changes Brewster County, Texas Historical Boundary Changes - list of all boundary changes by county provided by Newberry Library

Populated Places

For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit Home Town Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Cities
Alpine (county seat)
Unincorporated communities
Altuda Arick Village Boquillas Haymond Hovey	Lajitas Lenox Panther Junction Rooneys Place Rosenfeld	Tesnus Titley Toronto Warwick
Census-designated places
Marathon	Study Butte	Terlingua
Ghost towns
Castolon Glenn Springs Haymond	Hovey McKinney Springs San Vicente	* Toronto

Resources

Cemeteries

Cemeteries of Brewster County, Texas online and in print
Tombstone Transcriptions Online	Find a Grave Brewster TX GenWeb TX Gravestones Photo Project TX Tombstone Transcription Project BillionGraves Cemeteries of TX Brewster USGWArchives
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

• 1850-1930 USGenWeb Census Project — Texas 1850 - 1930

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1890	710		—
1900	2,356		231.8%
1910	5,220		121.6%
1920	4,822		−7.6%
1930	6,624		37.4%
1940	6,478		−2.2%
1950	7,309		12.8%
1960	6,434		−12.0%
1970	7,780		20.9%
1980	7,573		−2.7%
1990	8,681		14.6%
2000	8,866		2.1%
2010	9,232		4.1%
Source: "Wikipedia.org".

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
  

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

Land and Property Records

• See Texas Land and Property for more information.

Local Histories

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

• See Texas Local Histories for more information.

• Mirages, Mysteries and Reality: Brewster County, Texas, the Big Bend of the Rio Grande, 1972, by Clifford B. Casey.
• A Most Singular Country: A History of Occupation in the Big Bend, 1990, by Arthur R. Gomez.
  
• Brewster County History from the Handbook of Texas Online.
  
• Texas Indexes (about 20 counties) at EveryNameIndex.com — Select the county

Maps and Gazetteers

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• 1920 Brewster County Texas General Land Office map, online from The Portal to Texas History
• 1939 Brewster County Texas General Land Office map, online from The Portal to Texas History
• FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Military Records

Mexican-American War

• 1845-1848 US American Volunteer Soldiers Mexican War 1845-1848 at Ancestry ($) — index

Civil War

• 1838-1900 Texas Muster Roll Index Cards 1838-1900 at Ancestry ($) — index and images
• 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

• Confederate Pension Applications at Texas State Library and Archives Commission

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

• Alpine Avalanche Newspaper, serving Big Bend and the Davis Mountains since 1891
• w3newspapers - Texas Newspaper Index with links
• Newslink - Texas Newspaper List (sorted by publication frequency)
• The Olden Times - Historic Texas News Online
• Texas Digital Newspaper Program at The Portal to Texas History

Obituaries

• USGenWeb Archives Obituary Project at Texas
• Obituary Daily Times at Citations to over 15,000,000 obituaries at Ancestry.com

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 ($)
• Texas Land Title Abstracts at Ancestry ($)
• 1800-2000 Texas Wills and Probate Records 1800-2000 at Ancestry ($) — index and images

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

Death

• 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 and 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

Odessa Texas FamilySearch Center

Societies

Big Bend Genealogical Society
PO Box 1251
300 John Rd W
Alpine, TX 75830-2032
Website

Brewster County Historical Commission
PO Box 1620
Alpine, TX 79831

Websites

• Brewster TX GenWeb part of TXGenWeb
• USGWArchives Texas Counties
• 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.

This table contains the dates the local or state government began recording in the county or county equivalent. Use substitute records for earlier dates. If you believe there is an error, email us at wikisupport@familysearch.org.

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