Texas Land Records

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See Also Researching in Land Records

Texas land records were created under various governmental jurisdictions in the course of including Spain, Mexico, and both the Republic and State of Texas. Eleven land districts, each encompassing a number of counties, were established in 1836 under the Republic of Texas, and a central General Land Office was organized at Austin. The first district office was located near the Red River. The others were at San Augustine, Liberty, Nacogdoches, Matagorda, Washington-on-the Brazos, Cameron, Bastrop, Gonzales, San Antonio, and Victoria. A system of land districts continued when Texas became a state with previous grants being acknowledged. Nearly 150,000,000 acres of state public land in Texas were disposed of after 1836. Texas is not a federal public land state, consequently, there are no federal government original land records. Texas' General Land Office continues to maintain its own archives and records division, housing all early land grants including those dated in the 1700s and original grants issued by both republic and state governments. Indexes to the original land records are maintained by the General Land Office, Stephen F. Austin State Office Building, Room 800, 1700 North Congress Avenue, Austin, TX 78701-1495 (512-463-5277). Correspondence requests for index entries for an individual name with arrival date and county is a service provided for a minimum fee, with normal response time about two weeks. Among the various types of original grants were:

Headright grants - Issued to encourage immigration but were not awarded to black or native Americans. Organized in several classes, these headright grants were issued between 1836 and 1842 to individuals and families who settled in Texas.

  • Class 1 are Spanish or Mexican grants issued to settlers whose arrival was before 2 March 1836. Land allotted was one league and one labor per family or one-third league for unmarried men.
  • Class Headright 2 grants were given to those who arrived after 2 March 1836 and before 1 October 1837. They received 1,280 acres per family or half that for unmarried men with a requirement of three years residence.
  • Class 3 grants for headrights are dated from 2 October 1837 to 1 January 1840, with the same acreage allotments as Class 2 Grants.
  • Class headrights 4 grants were issued between 1 January 1840 and 1 January 1842; acreage given was equal to that of the Class 2 and Class 3 grants. Those awarded equivalent to Class 3 Headrights included colonists in Peters, Mercer, Castro, and Fisher-Miller colonies.

Pre-emption (squatter) grants - Issued between 22 January 1845 and 1854 for no more than 320 acres. Minimum requirement was residence on a particular parcel for three consecutive years after 22 January 1845. After 1854 the acreage limit was 160 for married men and for single men half that after 1870. The last pre-emption grant was issued in 1898.

Bounty grants - Issued from 1837 through 1888 for various acreage in payment for military service to the Republic. The number of acres granted varies as several legislatures modified requirements. Participants in any battle qualified. Later donation lands were awarded to widows and surviving (as of 1881) veterans. Eligibility was limited to one grant. Scrip, a means of awarding or selling public land, was granted disabled Confederate veterans, railroads, canals, roads, mills, and factories.

Contracted granted. Both the Republic and State of Texas contracted with various individuals to establish colonies in Texas and receive payment in land. Large grants were made directly to contractors, although individual grants of 640 acres were also given to heads of families and 320 acres to single men.

Miller's work, cited below, gives a complete account of the acquisition and disposition of public land in Texas to 1970. Fraudulent claims and legislation enacted to address these problems are discussed in Miller's volume.

A series of The First Settlers in [County], Texas volumes were compiled by Gifford E. White. These entries were copied from originals in the General Land Office and often include maps. Most were published by Ingmire Publications, St. Louis, Missouri, between 1981-84. A few were published elsewhere. The state land office has microfilmed copies of federal land sales to individuals up through the 1900s. Only original sales are maintained by state; all other subsequent sales are under county jurisdiction. See Also:

Once land was initially granted, all succeeding land transactions fall under the jurisdiction of the county in which the land is located at the time each record is created. County boundaries have changed over time as have county names.By law, all deeds are indexed by grantor and by grantee. Transcribed deeds from parent counties may be maintained in separate volumes. County land transactions, including deeds and mortgages, are located at the respective county clerk's office.

Century farm records for those families who worked the same land for 100 years or more are available on microfilm at Department of Agriculture, “Century of Agriculture Program,” P. O. Box 12847, Austin, TX 78711

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