American Civil War

Link to online order or .pdf NATF 86 form to order photocopies of military records,

Search for soldiers, sailors, cemeteries, etc.

Closest regional National Archives office. Includes address, maps, research guides, etc.

Provides the names, county of residence, and pension number for some 54,634 approved, rejected, and home pensions issued by the Texas government between 1899 and 1975. Does not include actual files.

Under Organization, select Confederate States Army (204 names) or Texas State Troops (483 names). Includes images of files.

Hill College's Historical Research Center owns the Compiled Service Records for both federal and Confederate soldiers, and will do searches and make copies for $30 total. Good Confederate research center but note very restricted hours of operation.

The Genealogy Department has service records for Maryland, Tennessee, and Texas troops, and pension records for Texas. The link is to their Guide to Research.

Subscription database (all access $79.95 per year or $11.95 per month) that includes, among many other things, federal pensions index, all Confederate soldiers service records, some Union service records (in progress), USCT records, Confederate amnesty papers, the Confederate Citizens File, Union Citizens file, and papers of the Southern Claims Commission. A steal at twice the price!

Searchable 1860 and 1870 population census, among others. Now includes slave (1850 and 1860), agriculture, products of industry, and mortality census. Full images of handwritten pages. UT-Tyler only although most public libraries in Texas can provide access through Texshare.

Lists only, searchable by name or county. Linda Mearse has transcribed the actual records in her book, Confederate Indigent Families Lists of Texas 1863-1865, which is available at Tyler Public Library in the Local History room, 3rd floor.

Tyler Public Library has the 1860 Population, Slave, Products of Industry, and Social Statistics census for Smith and some other counties, on microfilm, in the Local History Room on the 3rd floor. Agriculture census has been transcribed.

County courthouses will include deed, probate, marriage, divorce, civil and criminal court records, and county commissioners court minutes listing slave patrol members, road crews, indigent families, court members, and contract holders. Smith County records are intact, Gregg is divided between Upshur and Rusk. Check particular locations for post-war fires, etc.

Subscription database (all access $79.95 per year or monthly for $11.95) that includes, among many other things, Confederate Citizens and Business File, Confederate Amnesty Papers, Southern Claims Commissions Files, Union Citizens Files (in progress). The problem with this and other genealogical source is that they are almost entirely indexed by name, not place or subject. I have "annotated" probably most of the Texas records for place--town or county and state.

Provost marshals functioned as military police, arresting federal deserters, federal soldiers accused of civil crimes, Confederate spies, and disloyal civilians in federally held areas. Click on the link to go to a description of how to access these records through both Familysearch.org and the National Archives. Full image on Familysearch, but it is browse by name only.

Genealogical search site for the Latter Day Saints (Mormons). Subscription. Tyler Public Library has a computer with full access in its Local History Room on the 3rd floor, but they are not able to offer access from home.

Great for print resources for East Texas, plus they have free access to Ancestry.com at one computer. Open M-Th 10-7, Friday 10-6, Saturday 10-5. This room closed on Sunday. Located at 201 S. College , downtown Tyler.