Hays County, Texas Genealogy

United States

Texas

Hays County

Guide to Hays County Texas ancestry, family history, and genealogy research page. Birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Hays County, Texas
Map
Location in the state of Texas
Location of Texas in the U.S.
Facts
Founded	March 1, 1848
County Seat	San Marcos
Courthouse
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County Information

Description

The county was named for John Coffee Hays. The County is located in the central area of the state.

County Courthouse

Hays County Courthouse
137 N Guadalupe Street
San Marcos, TX 78666
Phone: 512.393.7330

County Clerk has probate records from 1839, birth records
from 1865, marriage, court, and land records from 1848
and military records from 1919; District Clerk has divorce
records from 1897

County Clerk

712 S. Stagecoach Trail Ste 2008
San Marcos 78666
Phone: 512-393-7330
Fax: 512-393-7337

District Clerk

712 S. Stagecoach Trail Ste 2008 Ste2211
San Marcos 78666
Phone: 512-393-7660
Fax: 512-393-7674

Hays County, Texas Record Dates

Known Beginning Dates for Major County Records
Birth*	Marriage	Death*	Court	Land	Probate	Census
1865	1848	1903	1848	1848	1839	1829
Statewide registration for births and deaths began in 1903. General compliance by the 1930s.

History

1808, 1835, 1847, 1849--The first Anglo-American arrived around 1835, the first church was organized in 1847 and the first school was organized in 1849. A Spanish settlement was in the area from 1808 to 1812. Mexican land grants date as early as 1831.

Parent County

1848--Hays County was created 1 March 1848 from Travis County.

• County seat: San Marcos

Record Loss

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

Places / Localities

Town/city records in the FamilySearch Catalog

• Driftwood
• Goforth
• Kyle
• San Marcos
• Wimberley

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
Austin‡ Buda Dripping Springs Hays	Kyle Mountain City Niederwald‡ San Marcos‡ (county seat)	Uhland‡ Wimberley Woodcreek
Villages
Bear Creek
Census-designated places
Driftwood
Ghost towns
Goforth

‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

Neighboring Counties

Blanco  • Caldwell  • Comal  • Guadalupe  • Travis

Resources

African American

• 1865-1870 Freedmen's Bureau Field Office Records(images) - FamilySearch
  
• African American Griots ~ USGenWeb
• AfriGeneas ~ African Ancestored Genealogy
• Texas African American Genealogy ~ Access Genealogy

Cemeteries

Tombstone Transcriptions Online	Tombstone Transcriptions in Print	List of Cemeteries in the county
FindAGrave	Family History Library	FindAGrave
Linkpendium	WorldCat	Tombstone Project
BillionGraves (name)		Cemeteries of TX
GenWeb Archives		Texas Cemeteries
BillionGraves		TX Gravestones
TXGenWeb		Epodunk
Names in Stone		Interment
See Texas Cemeteries for more information.

Additional Cemetery Sources

• African American Cemeteries Online ~ Partial index/transcriptions of African American cemeteries
• Cemetery Junction  ~  Links to cemetery transcriptions

Census

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1850	387		—
1860	2,126		449.4%
1870	4,088		92.3%
1880	7,555		84.8%
1890	11,352		50.3%
1900	14,142		24.6%
1910	15,518		9.7%
1920	15,920		2.6%
1930	14,915		−6.3%
1940	15,349		2.9%
1950	17,840		16.2%
1960	19,934		11.7%
1970	27,642		38.7%
1980	40,594		46.9%
1990	65,614		61.6%
2000	97,589		48.7%
2010	157,127		61.0%

• 1850 Federal Census ~ USGenWeb Archives Project
• 1860 Federal Census ~ USGenWeb Archives Project
• 1880 Federal Census ~ USGenWeb Archives Project

Church

• Texas Christian Church Directory ~ ChurchAngel
• Catholic Parishes in Texas

Land

After land was transferred to private ownership, subsequent transactions, including deeds and mortgages, have been recorded by the county. You can obtain copies of these land records by writing to the county clerk at the county courthouse. For more information, see Texas Land and Property.

The FamilySearch Catalog lists microfilm copies of deeds, trust deeds, and mortgages of many counties.

• Original Land Owners of Texas  ~  USGenWeb Archives Project

Local Histories

Local histories are available for Hays County, Texas Genealogy. County histories may include biographies, church, school and government history, and military information. For more information about local histories, see the wiki page section Texas Local Histories.

• Texas Museums  ~  List of all museums in Texas  ~  Hidden Ancestors

Maps

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• Historical Maps  ~  From the Republic to the Turn of the Century  ~  Hidden Ancestors
• Texas Counties Map. Click on the county to go to the TXGenWeb site.

Military

• 1838 - 1900 - Texas Muster Roll Index Cards at Ancestry.com — index and images $
• Military Resources~ Links to research Civil War to Operation Enduring Freedom Hidden Ancestors
• Fallen Heroes ~ Partial Index of casualties from Civil War to Operation Enduring Freedom ~ Hidden Ancestors
• Honoring Our Veterans ~ Partial index of veterans from Civil War to Operation Enduring Freedom ~ Hidden Ancestors

Mexican-American War

• 1845 - 1848 - US American Volunteer Soldiers Mexican War at Ancestry.com — index $

Civil War

• 1861 - 1865 - Texas, Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865 at FamilySearch — index
• 1861 - 1865 - Texas, Civil War Records of Union Soldiers, 1861-1865 at FamilySearch — index
• Confederate Pension Applications ~ Texas State Library and Archives Commission
• Confederate Pension Applications Index ~ USGenWeb Archives Project
• Confederate Indigent Families ~ USGenWeb Archives Project

World War I

• 1917 - 1920 - Texas, World War I Records, 1917-1920 at FamilySearch — index and images

Korean War

• Korean War Casualties ~ USGenWeb Archives Project

Newspapers

Additional newspapers abstracts can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Hays County, Texas Genealogy newspapers in online catalogs like:

TX Newspaper Abstracts (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).

• Census Diggins 1830-1930
• Do a Hays County, Texas Genealogy Place-name search for these and other records in the FamilySearch Catalog (For instructions see FamilySearch Catalog Place-name Search).

• Home Town News  -  Texas Newspaper Index with links
• Newslink  -  Texas Newspaper List (sorted by publication frequency)
• The Olden Times   -   Historic Texas News Online

Obituaries

• Obituary Resources ~ Links to research and locate obituaries ~  Hidden Ancestors
• USGenWeb Archives Obituary Project  ~  Texas
• Afrigeneas ~ African American death notices, obituaries and funeral programs compiled by users from current newspapers and historical sources
• Obituary Depot  ~  Texas Newspaper Citations
• Obituary Project ~ Hidden Ancestors
• Obituary Daily Times  ~  Citations to over 15,000,000 obituaries

Probate records of Texas have been kept by the probate clerk in each county courthouse. You can obtain copies of the records from the clerk's office. In most counties, all information pertaining to a probate case is recorded in the "probate minutes."

Content: Probate Records may give the decedent's date of death, names of his or her spouse, children, parents, siblings, in-laws, neighbors, associates, relatives, and their places of residence.

Record types: Wills, estates, guardianships, naturalizations, marriage, adoption, and birth and death records.

See the Wiki page Texas Probate Records for information about how to use probate records.

Online Probate Records

• 1800 – 1990 Texas Probate Records at FamilySearch — images
• 1800 – 2000 Texas Wills and Probate Records at Ancestry.com — index and images $
• Search Tax, Criminal, Land and Wills Records ~ Ancestry.com (subscription)

Taxation

Texas tax records complement land records and can be used in place of censuses or to supplement the years between censuses. Because only persons who owned taxable property were listed, many residents were not included in tax lists. There may also be gaps of several years in the tax records of some counties. For more information, see the wiki page Texas Taxation.

1846-1910 Texas County Tax Rolls lists FHL films with county tax lists. The lists vary by county and year. Most records are between the years of 1846 - 1910.

Vital Records

Vital Records consist of births, adoptions, marriages, divorces, and deaths recorded on registers, certificates, and documents.

Certified birth and death certificates or birth and death verifications can be ordered online or by mail at the Texas Vital Records State Department of Health. Copies can also be obtained from the County Clerk's office of the county where the event occurred and are often less expensive. You can also order them online through a third party company.

Marriages records can be obtained from the county the marriage occurred. Only marriage verifications can be obtained from the Texas Vital Records State Department of Health.

See Texas Vital Records for more information about Vital records in Texas.

Birth

Online Birth Indexes and Records

• 1903-1935 Texas, Birth Certificates, 1903-1935 (images and index) - FamilySearch
• 1903-1997 Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997 (index) - FamilySearch

Marriage

Online Marriage Indexes and Records

• 1802-2010 Texas, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
• 1814-1909 and 1966-2011 Texas Marriage Collection 1814-1909 and 1966-2011 at Ancestry.com — index $
• 1837-1965 Texas, County Marriage Records, 1837-1965 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1837-1973 Texas, Marriages, 1837-1973 at FamilySearch — index
• 1837-1977 Texas, County Marriage Index, 1837-1977 at FamilySearch — index
• 1837-1977 Texas Select County Marriage Index 1837-1977 at Ancestry.com — index $
• 1966-2005 Texas Marriage Records 1966-2005 - Hidden Ancestors
• 1966-2010 Texas, Marriages, 1966-2010 - FamilySearch record collection

Death

Online Death Indexes and Records

• 1890-1976 Texas Death Records 1890 – 1976 [with images] Name index and images of statewide death certificates, 1890-1976. The name index has been created by FamilySearch and is tied to images of the Texas death certificates. Few certificates are available prior to 1903.
• 1903-1973 Texas Deaths and Burials 1903-1973 at FamilySearch.org — index
• 1903-1982 Texas Death Certificates 1903-1982 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
• 1903-2000 Texas, Death Index, 1903-2000 (index) - FamilySearch.
• 1964-1998 Texas Death Index 1964 to 1998 [no images] Name index to Texas Statewide Death Certificates or four million people who have died since 1964.
• 1977-1986 Texas Deaths 1977-1986 at FamilySearch.org — index

Divorce

• 1968-2005 Texas Divorce Records 1968&-2005 - Hidden Ancestors
• 1968-2010 Texas Divorce Index 1968-2010 at FamilySearch.org — index
• 1968-2011 Texas Divorces 1968-2011 at Ancestry.com — index $

• 1850-1930 USGenWeb Census Project Texas  1850-1930

Societies and Libraries

Hays County Gen. Society
PO Box 503
San Marcos 78666

Kyle Community Library
409 W Blanco St
Kyle, TX 78640
Telephone Number: 512-268-7411
Website

San Marcos Public Library
625 E Hopkins St
San Marcos, TX 78666
Telephone Number: 512-393-8200
Website

Buda Public Library
303 N Main St
Buda, TX 78610
Telephone Number: 512-295-5899
Website

Dripping Springs Community Library
501 Sportsplex Dr
Dripping Springs, TX 78620
Telephone Number: 512-858-7825
Website

Wimberley Village Library
400 Fm 2325
Wimberley, TX 78676
Telephone Number: 512-847-2188
Website

Family History Centers

Family History Centers provide one-on-one assistance and free access to premium genealogical websites. In addition, many centers have free how-to genealogy classes.

• For current information about a center near you, go to the Family History Center Map

• San Marcos Texas Family History Center

• Society Hill  ~  Links and addresses to Texas genealogical and historical societies

Websites

• Hays County Archives  ~  USGenWeb Archives Project
• Hays County  ~  TXGenWeb
• TXGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the county.
• USGenWeb Texas Archives Vital statistics, maps, obituaries, Bible records, tombstone transcriptions and many other records.
• FamilySearch Catalog The catalog is genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) This catalog is different than the indexed Historical Records.