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United States Texas Counties C Caldwell County

Guide to Caldwell County Texas genealogy. Birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

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Caldwell County, Texas
Map
Location of Texas in the U.S.
Facts
Founded	March 6, 1848
County Seat	Lockhart
Courthouse
Address	Caldwell County Courthouse 110 S Main Street Lockhart, TX 78644 Phone: 512.398.1804 Caldwell County Website

County Courthouse

County Clerk has birth and death records from 1903,
marriage and land records from 1848 and court records;
District Clerk has divorce records^[1]

This is the third courthouse built on this site. The cornerstone was laid on August 15, 1893 and the building was completed on March 19, 1894. Built by the architectural firm of Martin, Byrnes and Johnston, the structure features mansard roofs and a high central tower with a four way Seth Thomas clock. The three-story edifice is built of Muldoon limestone with red Pecos sandstone trim. Although originally equiped with electricity, the courthouse had no indoor plumbing. Broom closets were later converted into restrooms. It is said that when the first water bill was received, the county judge was so shocked at the charges that he padlocked the restrooms. After a ten year effort involving hundreds of people in the county, a complete historic restoration was completed in the spring of 2000.

History

The first settlers received land grants from the Mexican government between 1831 and 1835.

Parent County

1848--Caldwell County was created 6 March 1848 from Gonzales and Bastrop Counties. County seat: Lockhart ^[2]

Boundary Changes

Record Loss

Places / Localities

Populated Places

Towns and Cities: | Lockhart | Luling | Lytton Springs | Martindale | Prairie Lea | San Marcos |

Neighboring Counties

• Bastrop
• Fayette
• Gonzales
• Guadalupe
• Hays
• Travis

Resources

Cemeteries

Cemetery records often reveal birth, marriage, death, relationship, military, and religious information.

Additional Cemetery Sources

• Caldwell County Cemeteries from the Caldwell County TXGenWeb site
• Plum Creek Cemetery, Luling BillionGraves
• FindAGrave - Cemeteries in Caldwell County
• Caldwell County Cemeteries  -  USGenWeb Tombstone Transcription Project

Census

• 1850 Federal Census - USGenWeb Archives Project

Church

Church records and the information they provide vary significantly depending on the denomination and the record keeper. They may contain information about members of the congregation, such as age, date of baptism, christening, or birth; marriage information and maiden names; and death/burial date and place. For general information about Texas denominations, view the Texas Church Records wiki page.

• Kyle United Methodist Church  (512) 268-2331
• First Lockhart Baptist Church  (512) 398-5297
• St. Anthony's Catholic Church  (512) 268-5311
• First Christian Church  (512) 398-3129
• St. Paul's United Church of Christ  (512) 398-3745
• First Baptist Church  (512) 268-3511
• Grace Evangelical Church  (512) 398-6490

Court

Huntsville Penetentiary Convict Ledger 1849-1899  -  USGenWeb Archives Project

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 Family History Library Catalog lists microfilm copies of deeds, trust deeds, and mortgages of many counties.

Original Land Owners of Texas  -  USGenWeb Archives Project

Local Histories

Plum Creek Almanac Index -  USGenWeb Archives Project

Maps

• Texas Land Survey Maps for Caldwell County, Texas (land patent maps) at HistoryGeo.com ($). Free surname search.

Texas Counties Map. Click on the county to go to the TXGenWeb site

Military

Newspapers

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

• WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).
• Do a Caldwell County, Texas Place-name search for these and other records in the Family History Library Catalog (For instructions see FHL Catalog Place-name Search).

Lockhart Post-Register

Probate

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.

Index to Probate Book A  -  USGenWeb Archives Project

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.

Texas County Tax Rolls, 1846-1910 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

See Texas Vital Records for more information about Vital records in Texas. Vital Records consist of births, adoptions, marriages, divorces, and deaths recorded on registers, certificates, and documents. United States Vital Records has additional research guidance on researching and using vital records.

A copy or an extract of most original records can be purchased from the Texas Vital Records State Department of Health or the County Clerk's office of the county where the event occurred.

• Caldwell County Birth Records from the Caldwell County TXGenWeb site
• Caldwell County Marriages 1848-2001 from the Caldwell County TXGenWeb site
• Texas Death Index 1964 to 1998 [no images] Name index to Texas Statewide Death Certificates or four million people who have died since 1964.
• 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

Societies and Libraries

Web Sites

• Caldwell County TXGenWeb site
• TXGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county.
• Family History Library Catalog
• USGenWeb Archives Project - transcriptions

References

1. ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Caldwell County, Texas. Page 660 At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 2002.
2. ↑ The Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America,10th ed. (Draper, UT:Everton Publishers, 2002).

• This page was last modified on 25 April 2013, at 00:57.
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