Bexar County, Texas Genealogy

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

County Courthouse
Bexar County County Clerk Gerry Rickhoff 100 Dolorosa Suite 104 San Antonio 78205 Phone: 210-335-2216

District Clerk Margaret G. Montemayor 100 Dolorosa San Antonio 78205 Phone: 210-335-2113 Texas Dept of State Health Services maintains a current county clerks list

History
The villa of San Fernando de Bexar was the first municipality in the Spanish province of Texas in 1731. In 1772 the seat of the government of Spanish Texas moved to Bexar. The original county was divided into 128 additional counties.

Parent County
1836--Bexar County was created on 17 March 1836 from Old Mexican Municipality. County seat: San Antonio

From the Texas Handbook: The first Europeans to explore the region came with an expedition in 1691 led by Domingo Terán de los Ríos and Fray Damián Massanet,qqv who evidently reached the San Antonio River near where San Juan Capistrano Mission was later founded. Nearby they found a group of Payayas living on the riverbank. The Indians, as Massanet recorded in his diary, called the place Yanaguana; he, however, renamed the site San Antonio de Padua to celebrate the memorial day of St. Anthony, June 13. The next group of Spanish explorers, an expedition led by two Franciscans,qv fathers Antonio de San Buenaventura y Olivares and Isidro Félix de Espinosa, and a military officer, Pedro de Aguirre,qqv did not reach the area until April 1709. Much impressed by the setting and the availability of water, they noted that the area might make a promising site for future settlement. In 1714 Louis Juchereau de St. Denisqv crossed the region on his way to San Juan Bautista.qv Espinosa again visited the site in 1716 on his way to East Texas with the expedition of Domingo Ramónqv and this time recommended San Pedro Springsqv as a mission site. Near that spot, in May 1718, Martín de Alarcónqv led the expedition that founded San Antonio de Valero Mission and San Antonio de Béxar (or Béjar) Presidio, named for Viceroy Balthasar Manuel de Zúñiga y Guzmán Sotomayor y Sarmiento, second son of the duke of Bexar.

Populated Places
Towns and Cities: Adkins | Alamo Heights | Balcones Heights | Bexar | Castle Hills | China Grove | Converse | Elmendorf | Fair Oaks Ranch | Fort Sam Houston | Helotes | Hill Country Village | Hollywood Park | Kirby | Leon Valley | Live Oak | Losoya | Martinez | Olmos Park | Saint Hedwig | San Antonio | Selma | Shavano Park | Somerset | Southton | Terrell Hills | Universal City | Von Ormy | Wetmore | Wincrest

Neighboring Counties

 * Atascosa
 * Bandera
 * Comal
 * Guadalupe
 * Kendall
 * Medina
 * Wilson

Local Histories
Buckelew The Indian Captive, autobiograpy of Frank Buckelew, you can get copy interlibrary loan thru World Catalog www.worldcat.com 13-year-olds eyewitness account of post Civil War Bexar. It is a whirlwind of guerilla strikes between the main language groups of English, Dutchman [German], Lipan [Eastern Apache], and Kickapoos. Someone will mistake a stranger for a member of an enemy group, kills them, and everyone is dragged into it. Geography is by location along rivers not proximity to settlements.

Maps
Texas Counties Map. Click on the county to go to the Texas Genweb site

Vital Records

 * 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
 * 1966-2005 Marriage and Divorce Indexes www.dshs.state.tx.us/vs/marriagedivorce/mindex.shtm can be downloaded by year in ZIP file format.  This is for the entire state.  It is zip only because of size - 3-5 megs zipped of 140,000 to 166,000 records a year.  The State doesn't have records BEFORE 1966.
 * Birth certificates less than 75-years-old are in Protected Status.  Copies are $22 from the Texas Vital Statistics if you meet the rules.  Go to www.dshs.state.tx.us/vs/reqproc/certified_copy.shtm

Web Sites

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