Mason County, Texas Genealogy

United States

Texas

Mason County

Guide to Mason County Texas ancestry, family history, and genealogy research page. Birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Mason County, Texas
Map
Location in the state of Texas
Location of Texas in the U.S.
Facts
Founded	22 January, 1858
County Seat	Mason
Courthouse
Address	Mason County Courthouse PO Box 702 Mason, TX 76856
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County Information

County Courthouse

Mason County Courthouse
PO Box 702
Mason, TX 76856
Phone: 915.347.5253

County Clerk has birth, death and burial records from 1903,
marriage, divorce, probate and court records from 1877
and land records from 1850

County and District Clerk

P.O. Box 702
Mason 78656
Phone: 915-347-5253

Mason County has had three courthouses.  The first one built in 1875, burned in 1877. The second courthouse was built in 1878. The current courthouse was built in 1909.

Mason County, Texas Record Dates

Beginning Dates for Major County Records
Birth	Marriage	Death	Census	Land	Probate
1903	1877		1860	1877	1877

History

1846--Settlement of the county began about 1846.

Parent County

1858--Mason County was created 22 January 1858 from Gillespie County and Bexar Land District.

• County seat: Mason

Record Loss

1877 -- The first Mason County Courthouse burned on 22 January 1877 during the Mason County HooDoo War.  

Places / Localities

Town/city records in the FamilySearch Catalog

• Hilda
• Mason

Populated Places

Art | Fredonia | Hedwigs Hill |Katemcy | Loyal Valley | Mason | Pontotoc

Neighboring Counties

Gillespie  • Kimble  • Llano  • McCulloch  • Menard  • San Saba

Resources

Cemeteries

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		Epodunk
Names in Stone
See Texas Cemeteries for more information.

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.

Lutheran

• Records of St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Mason County, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

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 FamilySearch Catalog lists microfilm copies of deeds, trust deeds, and mortgages of many counties.

Local Histories

Local histories are available for Mason 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.

• Mason County Historical Book, 1976, by the Mason County Historical Commission.
• Mason and Mason County: A History, 1966, revised, 1980, by Stella Gipson Polk.
  
• Mason County History from the Handbook of Texas Online.

Maps

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• Texas Land Survey Maps for Mason County, Texas Genealogy (land patent maps) at HistoryGeo.com ($). Free surname search.
• Texas Counties Map. Click on the county to go to the Texas Genweb site

Military

• 1838 - 1900 - Texas Muster Roll Index Cards at Ancestry.com — index and images $

Mexican-American War

• 1845 - 1848 - US American Volunteer Soldiers Mexican War at Ancestry.com — index $

Civil War

• 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

• 1917 - 1920 - Texas, World War I Records, 1917-1920 at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers

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

TX Newspaper Abstracts (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).

• Census Diggins 1830-1930
• Do a Mason County, Texas Genealogy Place-name search for these and other records in the FamilySearch Catalog (For instructions see FamilySearch Catalog Place-name Search).

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.

Online Probate Records

• 1800 – 2000 Texas Wills and Probate Records 1800-2000 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
• 1800 – 1990 Texas Probate Records 1800-1990 at FamilySearch — images

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.

1846-1910 Texas County Tax Rolls 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

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. You can also order them online through a third party company.

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

Online Birth Indexes and Records

• 1840 - 1981 Texas, Births and Christenings, 1840-1981 - FamilySearch
• 1903 - 1935 Texas, Birth Certificates, 1903-1935 (images and index) - FamilySearch
• 1903 - 1997 Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997 (index) - FamilySearch

Marriage

Online Marriage Indexes and Records

• 1802 - 2010 - Texas, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
• 1814 - 1909 and 1966 - 2011 Texas Marriage Collection 1814-1909 and 1966-2011 at Ancestry.com — index $
• 1837 - 1965 Texas, County Marriage Records, 1837-1965 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1837 - 1973 Texas, Marriages, 1837-1973 at FamilySearch — index
• 1837 - 1977 Texas, County Marriage Index, 1837-1977 at FamilySearch — index
• 1837 - 1977 Texas Select County Marriage Index 1837-1977 at Ancestry.com — index $
• 1966 - 2010 Texas, Marriages, 1966-2010 FamilySearch record collection

Death

Online Death Indexes and Records'

• 1890 - 1976 Texas Death Records 1890 – 1976 [with images]
• 1903 - 1973 Texas Deaths and Burials 1903-1973 at FamilySearch.org — index
• 1903 - 1982 Texas Death Certificates 1903-1982 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
• 1964 - 1998 Texas Death Index 1964 to 1998 [[Texas, Death Index, 1964-1998
• 1977 - 1986 Texas Deaths 1977-1986 at FamilySearch.org — index

Divorce

• 1968 - 2005 Texas Divorce Records 1968 - 2005 (index) Hidden Ancestors
• 1968 -2010 Texas Divorce Index 1968-2010 at FamilySearch.org — index
• 1968 - 2011 Texas Divorces 1968-2011 at Ancestry.com — index $

Societies and Libraries

Mason County Historical Commission
PO Box 524
Mason, Texas 76856
website

Mason County Library
410 Post Hill
Mason, Texas 76856
Telephone Number: 325-347-5446
Fax: 325-347-6562
website

Mason County Museum
210 Bryan (Northeast corner of Moody and Bryan)
Mason, Texas 76856
information
Hours: Thurs-Sat, 10 am-noon and 1-4 pm. Closed January & February.

Museum on the Square
130 Fort McKavett (north side of the square)
Mason, Texas 76856
website
Hours: Thurs-Sat, 10:00 am-4:00 pm

Family History Centers

Family history centers provide one-on-one assistance and free access to premium genealogical websites. In addition, many centers have free how-to genealogy classes. See family history center for more information. Search the online FHC directory for a nearby family history center.

Websites

• Mason County TXGenWeb
• TXGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the county
• FamilySearch Catalog — The catalog is genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) This catalog is different than the indexed Historical Records.