Gray County, Texas Genealogy
Guide to Gray County Texas ancestry, family history, and genealogy research page. Birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.
| Gray County, Texas | |||||||||
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 Location in the state of Texas, United States Genealogy | |||||||||
 Location of Texas in the U.S. | |||||||||
| Facts | |||||||||
| Founded | 21 August, 1876 | ||||||||
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| County Seat | Pampa | ||||||||
| Courthouse | |||||||||
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| Address | Gray County Courthouse 200 N Russell Street PO Box 1902 Pampa, TX 79066 | ||||||||
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County Information[edit | edit source]
Description[edit | edit source]
The county was named for Peter W. Gray, a Confederate lawyer, and soldier in the American Civil War. The County is located in the northwest area of the state.[1]
County Courthouse[edit | edit source]
Gray County Courthouse
205 N Russell Street
Pampa, TX 79065
Phone: 806-669-8007
County Clerk has birth records from 1903,marriage, death, probate, death, probate and court records from 1902, burial records from 1930, land records from 1887 and military discharge records from 1919; District Clk has divorce records[2]
County Clerk
P.O. Box 1902
Pampa 79066
Phone: 806-669-8004
Fax: 806-669-8054
Website: Gray County Clerk
District Clerk
P.O. Box 1139
Pampa 79066
Phone: 806-669-8010
Website: Gray County District Clerk
Gray County has had two courthouses. The first one, built-in 1902, in Lefors, was used as a private residence;[3] after Pampa became the county seat in 1928. The current Gray County courthouse, a four-story Texas Renaissance-style building, was built in 1928. It was restored in 2003 and is a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark. A courthouse annex was built in 1959. It was destroyed by a tornado in 1970 and rebuilt. [4]
Gray County, Texas Record Dates[edit | edit source]
| Birth* | Marriage | Death* | Court | Land | Probate | Census |
| 1903 | 1902 | 1902 | 1902 | 1887 | 1902 | 1829 |
History[edit | edit source]
Parent County[edit | edit source]
1876-- Gray County was created 21 August 1876 from Bexar Land District. The county was organized in 1902 with Lefors as the county seat. In 1928, the county seat was moved to Pampa. [6][7]
- County seat: 1902-Lefors
- County seat: 1928-Pampa
Boundary Changes[edit | edit source]
Record Loss[edit | edit source]
1970--Gray County Courthouse Annex destroyed by tornado.
Places / Localities[edit | edit source]
Town/city records in the FamilySearch Catalog
Populated Places[edit | edit source]
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:[8]
| Cities | ||
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| Towns | ||
| Unincorporated communities | ||
Neighboring Counties[edit | edit source]
Armstrong • Carson • Collingsworth • Donley • Hemphill • Hutchinson • Roberts • Wheeler
Resources[edit | edit source]
Cemeteries[edit | edit source]
Cemetery records often reveal birth, marriage, death, relationship, military, and religious information.
| 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 | FamilySearch Places | |
| Names in Stone | ||
| See Texas Cemeteries for more information. | ||
Census[edit | edit source]
| Historical populations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1880 | 56 | ||
| 1890 | 203 | 262.5% | |
| 1900 | 480 | 136.5% | |
| 1910 | 3,405 | 609.4% | |
| 1920 | 4,663 | 36.9% | |
| 1930 | 22,090 | 373.7% | |
| 1940 | 23,911 | 8.2% | |
| 1950 | 24,728 | 3.4% | |
| 1960 | 31,535 | 27.5% | |
| 1970 | 26,949 | −14.5% | |
| 1980 | 26,386 | −2.1% | |
| 1990 | 23,967 | −9.2% | |
| 2000 | 22,744 | −5.1% | |
| 2010 | 22,535 | −0.9% | |
| Source: "Wikipedia.org". | |||
Church[edit | edit source]
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.
List of Churches and Church Parishes
Court[edit | edit source]
Land[edit | edit source]
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.
Local Histories[edit | edit source]
Local histories are available for Gray 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.
- Gray County Bicentennial Observance, 1776–1976: Souvenir Program
- For the Reason We Climb Mountains - Gray County, 1902–1982, 1982 by Elleta Nolte.
- Gray County Heritage, 1985, by Gray County History Book Committee.
- Gray County History from the Handbook of Texas Online.
Maps[edit | edit source]
for more resources
- Texas Counties Map. TXGenWeb site.
- FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places
Military[edit | edit source]
- 1838 - 1900 Texas Muster Roll Index Cards at Ancestry.com — index and images $
Mexican-American-War[edit | edit source]
- 1845 - 1848 - US American Volunteer Soldiers Mexican War at Ancestry.com — index $
Civil War[edit | edit source]
- 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
World War I[edit | edit source]
- 1917 - 1920 - Texas, World War I Records, 1917-1920 at FamilySearch — index and images
Newspapers[edit | edit source]
Additional newspapers abstracts can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Gray County, Texas Genealogy newspapers in online catalogs like:
- TX Newspaper Abstracts (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).
- Do a Gray County, Texas Genealogy Place-name search for these and other records in the FamilySearch Catalog (For instructions see FamilySearch Catalog Places Search).
Online Newspapers
- Texas Digital Newspaper Program at The Portal to Texas History
Probate[edit | edit source]
Probate records of Texas, United States Genealogy 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 Indexes and Records
- 1800–1990 Texas Probate Records at FamilySearch — images
- 1800–2000 Texas Wills and Probate Records at Ancestry.com — index and images $
Taxation[edit | edit source]
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 1846-1910 at findmypast ($) — index and images
Vital Records[edit | edit source]
Vital Records consist of births, adoptions, marriages, divorces, and deaths recorded on registers, certificates, and documents.
Certified birth and death certificates or birth and death verifications can be ordered online or by mail at the Texas Vital Records State Department of Health. Copies can also be obtained from the County Clerk's office of the county where the event occurred and are often less expensive.
Marriages records can be obtained from the county the marriage occurred. Only marriage verifications can be obtained from the Texas Vital Records State Department of Health.
See Texas Vital Records for more information about Vital records in Texas.
Birth[edit | edit source]
Online Birth Indexes and Records
- 1840 - 1981 Texas Births and Christenings, 1840-1981 — index - How to Use this Collection
- 1903 - 1935 Texas Birth Certificates, 1903-1935 (images and index) - How to Use this Collection
- 1903 - 1997 Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997 (index only) - How to Use this Collection
- 1926-1995 Texas Births, 1926 - 1995 at MyHeritage ($) — index
Marriage[edit | edit source]
Online Marriage Indexes and Records
- 1802-2010 Texas, United States Marriages at Findmypast — index $
- 1814-1909 and 1966-2011 Texas Marriage Collection at Ancestry.com — index $
- 1837 - 1965 - Texas, County Marriage Records, 1837-1965 — index and images - How to Use this Collection
- 1837 - 1973 - Texas, Marriages, 1837-1973 — index - How to Use this Collection
- 1837 - 1977 - Texas, County Marriage Index, 1837-1977 — index - How to Use this Collection
- 1837-1977 Texas Select County Marriage Index at Ancestry.com — index $
- 1966 - 2010 Texas Marriages, 1966-2010 - FamilySearch record collection - How to Use this Collection
- 1966-2016 Texas Marriages and Divorces at MyHeritage ($) — index
Death[edit | edit source]
Online Death Indexes and Records
- 1890-1976 Texas Death Records 1890 – 1976 with images - How to Use this Collection 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 — index - How to Use this Collection
- 1903-1982 Texas Death Certificates at Ancestry.com — index and images $
- 1964 - 1998 Texas Death Index, 1964-1998 (no images) - How to Use this Collection Name index to Texas Statewide Death Certificates or four million people who have died since 1964.
- 1977 - 1986 Texas Deaths, 1977-1986 — index - How to Use this Collection
Divorce[edit | edit source]
- 1968-2005 Texas Divorce Records (index) ~ Hidden Ancestors
- 1968 - 2010 Texas Divorce Index 1968-2010 — index - How to Use this Collection
- 1968-2011 Texas Divorces at Ancestry.com — index $
- 1966-2016 Texas Marriages and Divorces at MyHeritage ($) — index
Societies and Libraries[edit | edit source]
Pampa Genealogical and Historical Society
430 North Summer Street
Pampa, TX 79065
Website
Gray County Genealogical Society
Harley Madison
2735 Cherokee
Pampa, TX 79065
806-669-6294
Facebook
Family History Centers
[edit | edit source]
Family History Center and Affiliate Library Locator map - search for local Family History Centers or Affiliate Libraries
- Family History 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 family history center.
Local Centers and Affiliate Libraries
Websites[edit | edit source]
- Gray County Texas TXGenWeb
- TXGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history.
- FamilySearch Catalog The catalog is genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) This catalog is different than the indexed Historical Records.
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Gray County, Texas," in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray_County,_Texas. accessed 08/09/2019
- ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Gray County, Texas. Page 664 At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 2002.
- ↑ TexasEscapes.com http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasPanhandleTowns/LeforsTexas/LeforsTx.htm
- ↑ HistoricTexas.net: Gray County http://www3.historictexas.net/gray-county-texas
- ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Gray County, Texas . Page 658-677 At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 2002; Alice Eichholz, ed. Ancestry’s Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources, Third ed. (Provo, Utah: Ancestry, 2004), 655-665.
- ↑ The Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America,10th ed. (Draper, UT:Everton Publishers, 2002).
- ↑ Handbook of Texas Online: Gray County http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcg08
- ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Gray County, Texas," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray_County,_Texas, accessed 18 April 2019.
