Genforum
www.genforum.com
This free website is hosted by genealogy.com. Consisting of a
message board, you can find several thousand surnames listed, with
messages by various researchers attached who are willing to share
their information with you. I found out A LOT about my ancestry this way.
COOL SITE!

Dallas Library - Main Branch Downtown
J. Erikson Central Library
1515 Young Street
Dallas, TX 75201
Archives: (214) 670-1435
Genealogy: (214) 670-1424
www.dallaslibrary.org
The library has two floors to serve you - the 7th floor is the Archives
division, with lots of diaries, old maps, photos, and newspapers. The
genealogical center is located on the eighth floor, where you can find
information for almost the entire U.S., plus Germany, Britain, and
Canada.

The Catholic Diocese Archives
1600 Congress Avenue
Austin, TX 78711
(512) 476-4888
Call for visiting information
Prior to Texas independence and eventual statehood, all records
regarding the administration of New Spain were kept by the Missions.
The Catholic Church collected these documents, preserved them in
typed, photostatic copy, and has made them available to the public for
research (the records in Austin are lifted from the originals in San
Antonio).
An historian will find tons of information, including administrative
paperwork on the Missions, real property documentation, military
commissions and orders, descriptions of encounters with Native
Americans, birth and death records of Mexican citizens, and treaties
made between the Spanish, Anglos, and Indians.
Records maintained after Texas independence and statehood pertain
almost exclusively to church matters, as Texans adopted the common
law practice of recording transactions through the government, not the
church.
You need to understand some Spanish to research these records.
However, Carlos Castaneda compiled these records in his eight
volume work, Our Catholic Heritage, which can be researched in the
Diocese Archives. The University of Dallas, a Catholic university,
should have a copy of this work as well.

Gee Library Archives
Texas A&M Commerce
(903) 427-3991
http://multimedia.tamu-commerce.edu/Library/arc.htm
Documents located in this library include county records for Bowie,
Camp, Cass, Franklin, Gregg, Harrison, Hopkins, Hunt, Marion, Morris,
Rains, Smith, Titus, Upshur, Van Zandt, and Wood counties (on
microfilm). The archive also holds oral histories about several topics,
including dairy farming, rural schools, and the progress of Hunt
County, and many of the primary documents concern social and
economic development of NE Texas from the 1820s on. There are also
histories on select NE Texas families.

Catholic Encyclopedia
http://www.newadvent.org
The first Europeans to document the Southwest were catholic - hence,
the catholic library at the Vatican is chock-full of descriptions of the New
World. While this website does not provide any specific familial links,
it's a good starting point, especially if you want to learn more about your
ancestor's culture.

National Archives, Fort Worth
501 W. Felix
Fort Worth, TX
(817) 831-5900
The archives in Fort Worth hold federal district court cases and
documents from federal agencies (such as the Bureau of Indian
Affairs) for the southwest (Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas).
Many of the court documents are invaluable, such as those detailing
the Green Corn Rebellion in the 1920s and the Bonnie and Clyde
harboring trial of 1934.
Libraries and
Websites