Franklin County, Texas Genealogy
Guide to Franklin County Texas ancestry, family history, and genealogy research page. Birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.
| Franklin County, Texas | |||||||||
| Map | |||||||||
 Location in the state of Texas | |||||||||
 Location of Texas in the U.S. | |||||||||
| Facts | |||||||||
| Founded | 6 March, 1875 | ||||||||
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| County Seat | Mount Vernon | ||||||||
| Courthouse | |||||||||
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| Address | Franklin County Courthouse PO Box 68 Mount Vernon, TX 75457 | ||||||||
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Contents
County Information[edit | edit source]
Description[edit | edit source]
The county was named for Judge Benjamin C. Franklin, the first appointed justice in the Republic of Texas. The County is located in the northeast area of the state.[1]
County Courthouse[edit | edit source]
Franklin County Courthouse
PO Box 68
Mount Vernon, TX 75457
Phone: 903.537.4252
County Clerk has divorce, records from 1884,
birth and death records from 1903, marriage
and probate records from 1875 and land records
from 1846[2]
County Clerk
200 N. Kaufman
Mt. Vernon 75457
Phone: 903-537-2342(Ext: 2)
District Clerk
P.O. Box 750
Mt. Vernon 75457
Phone: 903-537-8337
Franklin County, Texas Record Dates[edit | edit source]
| Birth* | Marriage | Death* | Court | Land | Probate | Census |
| 1903 | 1875 | 1903 | 1875 | 1846 | 1875 | 1829 |
History[edit | edit source]
1836--The first settlers arrived in 1836.
Parent County[edit | edit source]
1875--Franklin County was created 6 March 1875 from Titus County.
- County seat: Mount Vernon [4]
Boundary Changes[edit | edit source]
See an interactive map of Franklin County border changes.
Record Loss[edit | edit source]
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.
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:[5]
| Cities | ||
| Towns | ||
|
||
| Unincorporated communities | ||
‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties
Neighboring Counties[edit | edit source]
Camp • Delta • Hopkins • Lamar • Red River • Titus • Wood
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 | Interment | |
| Names in Stone | ||
| See Texas Cemeteries for more information. | ||
Census[edit | edit source]
| Historical populations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1880 | 5,280 | ||
| 1890 | 6,481 | 22.7% | |
| 1900 | 8,674 | 33.8% | |
| 1910 | 9,331 | 7.6% | |
| 1920 | 9,304 | −0.3% | |
| 1930 | 8,494 | −8.7% | |
| 1940 | 8,378 | −1.4% | |
| 1950 | 6,257 | −25.3% | |
| 1960 | 5,101 | −18.5% | |
| 1970 | 5,291 | 3.7% | |
| 1980 | 6,893 | 30.3% | |
| 1990 | 7,802 | 13.2% | |
| 2000 | 9,458 | 21.2% | |
| 2010 | 10,605 | 12.1% | |
| 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 Franklin 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.
Maps[edit | edit source]
for more resources
Texas Counties Map. Click on the county to go to the TXGenWeb site.
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 Franklin County, Texas Genealogy newspapers in online catalogs like:
- TX Newspaper Abstracts (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).
- Census Diggins 1830-1930
- Do a Franklin County, Texas Genealogy Place-name search for these and other records in the FamilySearch Catalog (For instructions see FamilySearch Catalog Place-name Search).
- Wikipedia has a list of online newspaper archives for Texas.
- Newspaperarchive.com ($) has historical newspapers available on-line. Their database has The Paris News from 1925 that may include residents from Franklin County.
Probate[edit | edit source]
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
- 1800–1990 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 ($) — index and images
Vital Records[edit | edit source]
Birth[edit | edit source]
Online Birth Indexes and Records
- 1840-1981 Texas, Births and Christenings - FamilySearch
- 1903-1935 Texas, Birth Certificates (images and index) - FamilySearch
- 1903-1997 Texas Birth Index (index) - FamilySearch
- 1926-1995 Texas Births, 1926 - 1995 at MyHeritage ($) — 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 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 at Ancestry.com — index $
- 1966-2010 Texas, Marriages - FamilySearch record collection
- 1966-2016 Texas Marriages and Divorces at MyHeritage ($) — index
Death[edit | edit source]
Online Death Indexes and Records
- 1890-1976 Texas Death Records [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.
- 1903-1973 Texas Deaths and Burials (index) - FamilySearch
- 1903-1982 Texas Death Certificates at Ancestry.com — index and images $
- 1964-1998 Texas Death Index Texas, Death Index, 1964-1998 - FamilySearch Historical Records Name index to Texas Statewide Death Certificates or four million people who have died since 1964.
- 1977-1986 Texas Deaths at FamilySearch.org — index
Divorce[edit | edit source]
- 1968-2010 Texas Divorce Index at FamilySearch.org — index
- 1968-2011 Texas Divorces at Ancestry.com — index $
- 1966-2016 Texas Marriages and Divorces at MyHeritage ($) — index
Societies and Libraries[edit | edit source]
Franklin County Genealogical Society
PO Box 1563
110 E. Main St.
Mt. Vernon, Texas 75457
Telephone Number: 903-537-3931
website
Family History Centers[edit | edit source]
Websites[edit | edit source]
- TXGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the county
- USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Franklin County, Texas," in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_County,_Texas. accessed 08/09/2019
- ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Franklin County, Texas. Page 664 At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 2002.
- ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Franklin 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).
- ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Franklin County, Texas," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_County,_Texas, accessed 9 April 2019.
