Bowie County, Texas Genealogy

United States &gt; Texas &gt; Counties B &gt; Bowie County

Quick Dates
Bowie County's civil records start the following years:

County Courthouse
Bowie County has had five county seats: DeKalb, a temporary county seat 1840-1841; Boston 1841-1887, Texarkana 1887-1889; Old Boston, 1889-1985; and New Boston, 1895-present

Bowie County Courthouse - Vital Records P.O. Box 248 New Boston, TX 75570-0248 (903) 628-2571

Bowie County Clerk P.O. Box 248 New Boston, TX 75570 (903) 628-6700

Bowie County Government Website Includes addresses for each individual county department.

Parent County
1840--Bowie County was created 17 December 1840 from Red River County. County seat: New Boston

The county was named for James Bowie, who died at the Alamo, (1796-1836). James Bowie was born near Terrapin Creek (now Spring Creek) where it crosses Bowie's Mill Road (Turnertown Road), nine miles northwest of Franklin, Logan County (now Simpson County), Kentucky, probably on April 10, 1796. He was the son of Reason (or Rezin) and Elve Ap-Catesby Jones (or Johns) Bowie.

Record Loss
1889--The Bowie County Courthouse at Texarkana burned on 21 Jan 1889. Almost all the records were destroyed.

1989--The Old Bowie County Courthouse at Old Boston, built in 1891, burned on 12 Aug 1989. The courthouse was abandoned, as a new courthouse had opened at New Boston in 1985. No records were lost.

Populated Places
Towns and Cities: De Kalb | Hooks | Leary | Maud | Nash | New Boston | Red Lick | Red Water | Spring Hill | Texarkana | Wake Village | Wards Village.

The City of Texarkana is located in two states. In the middle of the city is a street called State Line Road which separates the city between Bowie County, Texas and Miller County, Arkansas. Texarkana is the county seat for Miller County, Arkansas, and a marriage license purchased in Miller County, Arkansas is not valid in the State of Texas.

Neighboring Counties

 * Cass
 * Little River County, Arkansas
 * McCurtain County, Oklahoma
 * Miller County, Arkansas
 * Morris
 * Red River

Cemeteries

 * Bowie County TXGenWeb Cemetery Index
 * USGenWeb Bowie County Tombstone Transcription Project
 * Bowie County TXGenWeb Funeral Home Records
 * Red Bayou Cemetery and History Bowie County Texas, 1998, available from the New Boston Genealogical Society.
 * Hubbell Chapel Cemetery, 2001, available by the New Boston Genealogical Society.
 * Cemetery Books, available from the New Boston Genealogical Society, include: Ringwood Cemetery &amp; Associated Cemeteries; Wards Creek Cemetery, Church &amp; School Records; Woodman Cemetery (DeKalb); Sand Hill Cemetery; Old Union Cemetery; Read Hill Cemetery and Associated Cemeteries (Brooks, Glass Hill, Godley, Prairie &amp; Shipp); Red Bayou Cemetery; College Hill Cemetery; New Boston Cemetery, Hughes-Kinght, Magnolia and Pulaski Cemeteries; Old Salem, Old Liberty Hill, New Liberty Hill, Malta, Woodstock and Old Wimberly Cemeteries.
 * Bowie County Tombstone Transcriptions - Texas Tombstone Transcription Project USGenWeb
 * Index of Cemetery Transcriptions ~  USGenWeb Project
 * Dalby Springs Cemetery (including photos) ~  Texas Escapes
 * Texarkana-Rose Hill Cemetery ~  Texas Escapes

Census

 * 1850 Census for Bowie County census images from archive.org; index from USGenWeb archives.
 * 1860 Census for Bowie County census images from archive.org; index from USGenWeb archives. Another index
 * 1870 Census for Bowie County census images from archive.org; index from USGenWeb archives.
 * 1880 Census for Bowie County census images from archive.org; index from USGenWeb archives.
 * 1900 Census for Bowie County census images from archive.org.
 * 1910 Census for Bowie County census images from archive.org. Bowie county split on two microfilm reels: reel 1, reel 2
 * 1920 Census for Bowie County census images from archive.org.
 * 1930 Census for Bowie County census images from archive.org.

Church

 * Churches in Bowie TX - ChurchAngel.com
 * Churches in Texarkana TX
 * Texarkana TX Churches

Family Histories/Surnames

 * New Boston Genealogy Society Family History Index ~  Bowie County TXGenWeb
 * Family Group Sheets ~  Bowie County TXGenWeb
 * Surnames  ~  Bowie County TXGenWeb
 * Biographies  ~  Bowie County TXGenWeb

Local Histories
First Settlers of Bowie and Cass Counties Texas By: Gifford White Published June 1, 1983 by Ericson Books

Daughter of Destiny: Memoirs of a Bowie County, Texas Farm Girl By: Carlene M. Howell Published April 1995 by Tab Books

Bowie County, Tx Index to Probate Records; 1883 - 1940 97 Pages Compiled by WPA Workers

Texarkana Pioneer Families By: Nancy Jennings

The Texarkana Story 1873-1948 By: Lucille Holland

Texarkana a Pictorial History By: William D Leet Published - 1982

Bowie County Texas Historical Handbook By: Bowie County Historical Commission Published - 1976

Texarkana Centennial, Historical Program - 1873-1973 By: Nancy Jennings Watts &amp; Mary Lou Stuart Phillips Published - 1973

History of Texarkana and Bowie and Miller Counties. By: Chandler, Barbara O. - 1939.

Maps

 * Bowie County TXGenWeb Maps of Bowie County
 * Texas Counties Map. Click on the county to go to the Texas Genweb site
 * Bowie County is the most northeastern county in the State of Texas

Military

 * Vietnam Wall List for Bowie County - Bowie County TXGenWeb
 * Confederate Indigent Families List - Bowie County TXGenWeb
 * Confederate Pension Applications- Bowie County TXGenWeb
 * Dependents Support Act List of Dependents -  Bowie County TXGenWeb

Newspapers

 * Newspapers of Bowie County Old and New -  Bowie County TXGenWeb
 * Texarkana Gazette
 * Articles from Bowie County Newspapers -  Bowie County TXGenWeb

Probate
Index to Probate Cases 1883 to 1940 -  Bowie County TXGenWeb

Taxation

 * Bowie County 1846 Tax List from the USGenWeb archives
 * Bowie County Poll Tax List 1903 from the USGenWeb archives
 * Bowie County Poll Tax List 1904 from the USGenWeb archives
 * Bowie County Poll Tax Listing, 1903-1904, 74 pages, gives name, age, race, occupation and number of years resident in TX and in the county. Available from the New Boston Genealogical Society.
 * Automobile Registration in Bowie County, 1907-1917, available from the New Boston Genealogical Society.

Vital Records

 * Bates Rolf Funeral Home Index and Bowden Funeral Home Records from the USGenWeb archives.
 * Bowie County, Texas Marriages, 1888-1930, 7 volumes, available from the New Boston Genealogical Society
 * 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
Research Libraries for Bowie County TX  -  Bowie County TXGenWeb


 * Family History Center for Texarkana, New Boston Texas 3701 Moores Ln, Texarkana Hours: Tuesday 4pm-7pm; Wednesday 10am-1pm; Thursday 6pm-9pm; Saturday 10am-1pm (closed 5th Saturday) Closed the last two weeks of December. 903-831-5225
 * Texarkana USA Genealogy Society P.O. Box 2323 Texarkana, TX 75504-2323
 * The New Boston Genealogical Society P.O. Box 104 New Boston, Texas, 75570. The NBGS is located at the New Boston Public Library.
 * Red River County Genealogical Society P.O. Box 516 Clarksville, TX 75426

Web Sites

 * Bowie County TXGenWeb.
 * TEXAS GenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the county.
 * Family History Library Catalog