Texas Cemetery Records
This entry was originally written by Wendy Bebout Elliott, Ph.D. FUGA for Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources.
Many cemetery records have been collected and transcribed. The largest is the numerous volumes compiled by the DAR (see page 8). A two'volume work is available for Peters' Colonists and descendants. The DAR collection, also microfilmed, is available at the Texas State Library and through the FHL.
Some Texas county historical and genealogical societies have published local cemetery and funeral home records. These are normally available for purchase through the respective society. Two references can help determine which cemeteries have been recorded: Kim Parsons, A Reference to Texas Cemetery Records (Humble, Tex.: the author, 1988), arranged by county; and Sharry Crofford-Gould, Texas Cemetery Inscriptions: A Source Index (San Antonio, Tex.: Limited Editions, 1977).
For general information, see Terry G. Jordan, Texas Graveyards: A Cultural Legacy (Austin, Tex.: University of Texas Press, 1984) for a scholarly look at the state's burying practices over time.
A three-volume set of cemetery records by Janet R. Schooley, The Digger's Index (Newell, Iowa: Bireline Publishing, 1984'1988, 1998) is an alphabetical listing of old, abandoned, vandalized or still in use cemeteries. It includes various volumes with Texas counties included as follows: Vol. 1. Counties of Tioga, Bradford, Wyoming, Sullivan, Columbia, Luzerne, and Monroe in Pennsylvania; counties of Tioga and Broome in New York'vol. 2. Counties of Bradford, Columbia, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Lycoming, Snyder, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Wayne, and Wyoming in Pennsylvania; Connecticut cemeteries; Sussex County, New Jersey cemetery; Delaware Cemetery in Pike County, Pennsylvania; Harris Cemetery in Caldwell County, Texas; Church cemetery in Delaware County, New York; Lyne Cemetery in Logan County, Kentucky'vol. 3. Counties of Bradford, Columbia, Cumberland, Luzerne, Susquehanna, Tioga, Wyoming, and York; Delaware Cemetery in Washington Township, New Jersey; Presbytery [history] of Luzerne County; Church record (pastors, members, marriages) of Noxen-Stull Church in Wyoming Co.; Membership list of Union Baptist Church, Union Township, Luzerne County.
Two examples of recently released publications include:
- Preston, Donald, comp. Funeral List. 2 vols. Texarkana: Texarkana USA Genealogical Society, 1995'56. Contains 2,047 burials in the Texarkana area with names listed in alphabetical order.
- Vickery, Adele W. Cemeteries of East Texas. Weatherford, Tex.: Parker County Genealogical Society, 1999.
Online access to cemetery records includes www.idreamof.com/cemetery/tx/a-e.html.
Many online cemetery transcriptions can be located here: Texas Cemetery Records
