Records that survive
These are the record series from Nacogdoches County that were microfilmed for the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC), with the office that kept each and the earliest and latest years filmed. A span can include gaps. Not every county, or every record in a county, was filmed.
Marriages, births and deaths
- Marriage Contracts · County Surveyor1824–1838
- Marriage Record · County Clerk1837–1918
Deeds and land
- Land Transfers · County Surveyor1820–1830
- Miscellaneous Records · County Surveyor1820–1830
- Slaves, Record of Sales of · County Surveyor1820–1830
- Deeds of Sale · County Surveyor1826–1838
- Land Contracts · County Surveyor1826–1836
- Powers of Attorney · County Surveyor1826–1836
- Deed Record · County Clerk1835–1887
- Land Given to Soldiers, Record of · County Surveyor1836–1837
- Deeds Board of Land Commissioners · County Surveyor1837–1838
- Survey Record · County Surveyor1838–1941
- International & Great Northern Railroad Surveys, Field Notes · County Surveyor1876–1882
- Confederate Land Certificates, Applications for · County Surveyor1881–1882
Wills and estates
- (Probate) Administration Bonds · County Clerk1838–1895
- Probate Minutes · County Clerk1838–1917
- (Probate) Petitions and Orders · County Clerk1842–1875
- (Probate) Partition Record · County Clerk1843–1893
- (Probate) Will Record · County Clerk1845–1903
Tax records
- Tax Rolls · Tax Assessor-Collector1837–1910
See every reel at the Texas State Library
Source: Texas State Library and Archives Commission, County Records on Microfilm. Texas began statewide registration of births and deaths in 1903, though many went unrecorded until the 1920s.
Where to find the records
- Nacogdoches County official website
Hours, addresses and phone numbers for the county clerk, the district clerk and the Texas General Land Office, and any online record search the county offers.
- The county clerk
Deeds, marriage licenses and probate records (wills and estates), plus copies of births and deaths for many counties.
- The district clerk
District court cases, including divorces, and in many counties naturalizations.
- The Texas General Land Office
In Austin: the original files for nearly all land granted from the public domain, from Spanish and Mexican grants through the Republic and the state, since Texas kept its public land.
- Texas State Library: Nacogdoches County records on microfilmfree
Every filmed series with its reel numbers. The film can be used in Austin or borrowed through interlibrary loan at many libraries.
- Texas General Land Office: Search Our Collectionsfree
The Land Grant Database and surname index: search original Texas land grants by name and county.
- FamilySearch Catalogfree
Search by place for "Texas, Nacogdoches" to find filmed and digitized records, many viewable free online with a FamilySearch account.
Offices change their hours and access rules; call before you visit.
Boundaries and parent counties
Formed from: A Mexican municipality, made one of the Republic of Texas's original counties in 1836
Later formed partly from Nacogdoches County: Anderson County, Cherokee County, Dallas County, Fannin County, Hopkins County, Houston County, Hunt County, Liberty County, Red River County, Robertson County, Rusk County, San Augustine County, Shelby County, Smith County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1826, search the parent county. The Atlas of Historical County Boundaries shows each boundary change.
Research tip
Texas land was granted by the state, not the federal government, so an ancestor who received land directly from the government will usually have a file at the General Land Office as well as deeds in the county.