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Nacogdoches archives
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The Department of Nacogdoches was a political region including both the settlement and the municipality of Nacogdoches and most of East Texas, which covered the northeastern portion of the state of Coahuila and Texas during Spanish and Mexican rule between 1737 and 1836. The Nacogdoches archives are national, state, and local records from the geographic area and time frame. Official government correspondence, military records, land records, census records, election returns, entrance certificates, oaths and other such items document the lives of area residents through official government actions and give a picture of life on the Texas frontier. A detailed finding aid for the Nacogdoches archives
A note about terminology: on this page and throughout our website, you may see the terms Native American, American Indian, Indian, and Indigenous peoples used interchangeably as terms change over time. |
The Nacogdoches settlement in Northeast Texas, named for the Caddoan "Nacogdoche" Tribe that inhabited the area, once served as the seat for Spanish and Mexican colonial governments in East Texas. Image: Map of Texas outlining departments of Bexar, Brazos, and Nacogdoches in 1835. Map number 2750, State Archives Map Collection, Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. |
The Nacogdoches archives records were microfilmed in 1982-1983, 2003, and 2008 and digitized for ease of use in 2011.
Online
Images digitized from the microfilm are available online from the following sources:
- Texas Digital Archive (TDA). Enter the records
to browse the Nacogdoches archives by record group and reel number, or use the Correspondence and Non-Correspondence filter tables to search by name, location, date, or record group. The results table includes a link to view the digitized images by reel number and then by image number. Download and search the inventory spreadsheet for descriptions of names and places in correspondence. - Ancestry.com database "Nacogdoches, Texas, Spanish and Mexican Government Records, 1729-18" Free access to this collection through Ancestry.com Texas is available to Texas residents. TSLAC provides free on-site access to Ancestry.com at our Austin and Liberty locations. If you are not a Texas resident and do not have a subscription to Ancestry, ask your local library if they have access to Ancestry Library Edition.
Microfilm
The Nacogdoches archives on microfilm are available to view at TSLAC during our public service hours.
You may want to begin with descriptions below of the genealogical records found in the Nacogdoches archives, or use the microfilm listing to find documents, and then contact us with the specific reel numbers you want to see.
If you are unable to visit, your local library may submit a request for you to borrow up to five (5) microfilm reels from this collection. Check with your local public library about ILL services. Find Texas libraries near you using our Find a Library tool.
Entrance Certificates and Certificates of Citizenship, Nacogdoches, 1821-1828, 1835 (microfilm reels 16 and 17)
Entrance Certificates or Certificates of Citizenship were required to provide legal authority to live in Texas. Settlers from other countries or states arriving in the state of Coahuila y Texas had to bring documentation from their previous place of residence certifying the individual was Christian and had ‘moral’ and ‘proper’ conduct. To become a citizen, the settler then had to go in front of city authorities and swear to obey the laws, observe the Christian religion, and provide their name, family members’ names, place of origin, marital status, and employment. After taking the required oath, they were then considered a citizen. The “registers of foreigners” and “oaths of citizenship” found in the Nacogdoches archives include the information listed above and cover the 1820s and the year 1835. Limits placed on Mexican citizenship from 1830-1835 stopped certificate issuance during those years.
Other certificates appear occasionally in the records of the alcaldes (mayors) of towns in Nacogdoches. Records of the alcalde include the following:
Entrance certificate registers give the newcomer’s name, marital status, and the date the certificate was issued. Entrance certificates for the 1820s were not numbered.
Numbered Entrance Certificates from 1835:
- #1-152 cover January through May
- #153-385, May through June
- #386- 498, June through September
- #499-637, also June through September
- #638-822, September through December
Citizenship certificates include the person’s name, age, place immigrating from, marital status, religion, and occupation. Certificates of citizenship issued in the 1820s also give the length of residence in Texas.
Citizenship certificates for 1835 include 45 names not referenced in the entrance certificates.
Censuses (Padrones), 1783-1835 (microfilm reels 22 and 23)
Census records consist of statistical summaries and lists containing information on individuals. For some years, only a statistical summary exists. Beginning in 1828, there is a statistical and full census for each year. In reels 22 and 23, the record types below contain information on individuals with the following column headings:
- Mission rolls (1783-1796): Information varies, but most list Indians who are heads of household and names of other family members.
- Census and Report of Foreigners (18th Century): Name, residence or nationality, age, marital status, names, ages, and sex of other family members.
- Ranch Censuses (1797-1826): Family names, family information, and listing of "goods" (broken down by numbers and types of cattle, horses, sheep, etc.)
- One list of persons married by a judge (1826-1828).
- Padron or Full Census (1828 and following): Name, marital status, occupation, religion, age, and family member names or number of family members.
- Lists of Foreigners (19th century): Name, country entered from, profession, passport, passport number, and issuing date, date of "presentation," and where residing.
Elections (Eleciones), 1823-1835 (microfilm reels 23 and 24)
| Election returns are the summary of an election’s voting records and ballots cast. Returns include the names of persons who voted in the election and the names of persons voted for. The records generally list candidates by number of votes received from most votes to least votes or group the candidate names by letter of the alphabet. An example for the E’s is shown here. | Ciudadanos Estevan Austin Erasmo Seguin Eugenio Flores Encarnacion Vasques Eligio Gortari | Votos 26 11 9 1 1 |
Military Reviews, 1773-1830s (microfilm reel 24)
Military reviews are unit lists that include names arranged in descending rank and note reasons for absence from muster (when troops are called to gather). Later records include military diaries, which list the unit operations from day to day and provide more detailed information.
Other Series
To locate citizenship documentation in other record series, search the Non-Correspondence filter tables on the TDA with title/description keywords such as "conduct," "character," and "foreign."
Download the inventory spreadsheet to search for possible references to the citizenship of another person in correspondence between two individuals.
Reels 1-26 were filmed in the early 1980s. Reels 27 and 28 contain unrelated Spanish-language records from other sources that had been erroneously identified and filed with the Nacogdoches archives.
Researchers are encouraged to download an inventory spreadsheet for reel numbers 1-26 to search, sort, and filter the metadata describing correspondence and documents included on the reels. You can view the inventory table for reels 1-28 below.
| FILM 976.4182 N1192 REEL #01 | Royal and Federal Decrees 1826-05-23 to 1835-03-03 General Correspondence: Royal and Federal 1756-05-29 to 1830-12-07 |
| FILM 976.4182 N1192 REEL #02 | General Correspondence: Royal and Federal 1830-06-16 to 1835-08-03 Commandante General/Provincias Internas 1791-04-18 to 1806-12-12 (Chihuahua) 1807-08-07 to 1821-03-13 (Chihuahua/Monterrey) 1821-03-29 to 1835-10-13 (Monterrey) Residencias 1736-07-08 to 1738-07-5 |
| FILM 976.4182 N1192 REEL #03 | Residencias 1736-07-08 to 1738-07-5 (Cont.); 1747-1748; 1751-01 thru 1751-10 Governor of the Province of Texas 1749-05-12 to 1821 |
| FILM 976.4182 N1192 REEL #04 | Governor of Coahuila y Texas 1825-01-08 to 1834-07-18 |
| FILM 976.4182 N1192 REEL #05 | Governor of Coahuila y Texas 1834-07-24 to 1835-09-12 Decrees of Coahuila y Texas 1825-04-04 to 1835-05-19 |
| FILM 976.4182 N1192 REEL #06 | Decrees-Coahuila y Texas 1829-04-30 to 1835-05-21 (Cont.) General Correspondence/Coahuila y Texas 1823-06-23 to 1835-08-19 Jefe Politico (Bexar) 1823-10-07 to 1826-02-15 |
| FILM 976.4182 N1192 REEL #07 | Jefe Politico (Bexar) 1825-09-20 to 1829-01-21 |
| FILM 976.4182 N1192 REEL #08 | Jefe Politico (Bexar) 1829-01-22 to 1831-02-16 |
| FILM 976.4182 N1192 REEL #09 | Jefe Politico (Bexar) 1831-02-17 to 1835-10-14 |
| FILM 976.4182 N1192 REEL #10 | Jefe Politico (Bexar) 1834-04-01 to 1834-05-22 General Correspondence/Department of Texas 1737 to 1835-01-29 Comandante Principal 1825-03-15 to 1835-07-07 Alcalde (Nacogdoches) 1823-10-13 to 1826-01-30 |
| FILM 976.4182 N1192 REEL #11 | Alcalde (Nacogdoches) 1826-02-08 to 1831-10-11 |
| FILM 976.4182 N1192 REEL #12 | Alcalde (Nacogdoches) 1832-03-08 to 1836-02-13 |
| FILM 976.4182 N1192 REEL #13 | Alcalde (Nacogdoches) 1836-02-15 to undated Juez Primario (Nacogdoches) 1815-09-11 to 1830-04-06 |
| FILM 976.4182 N1192 REEL #14 | Juez Primario (Nacogdoches) 1830-04-28 to 1831-03-06 Jefe Politico 1834-08-12 to 1835-11-28 Proceedings/Ayuntamiento (Nacogdoches) 1826-02-14 to 1829-08-01 |
| FILM 976.4182 N1192 REEL #15 | Proceedings/Ayuntamiento (Nacogdoches) 1829-09-12 to 1836-02-19 Processos Legales 1826-09-26 to 1829-06-08 |
| FILM 976.4182 N1192 REEL #16 | Processos Legales 1829-07 to 1836-03-13 Citizenship: Foreigners Settled in Nacogdoches 1824-07-20 to 1827-07-20 Citizenship: Certificates 1827-12-25 to 1835-1836 Citizenship: Oaths of Admission 1836-02/03 to 1835-01/05 |
| FILM 976.4182 N1192 REEL #17 | Citizenship: Oaths of Admission 1835-01/05 to1835-12 General Correspondence (Municipality/Nacogdoches) 1758-02/04 to 1826-07-22 |
| FILM 976.4182 N1192 REEL #18 | General Correspondence (Municipality/Nacogdoches) 1826-07-26 to 1831-06-07 |
| FILM 976.4182 N1192 REEL #19 | General Correspondence (Municipality/Nacogdoches) 1830-11-26 to 1836-09-08 |
| FILM 976.4182 N1192 REEL #20 | General Correspondence (Municipality/Nacogdoches) 1836-09-08 to undated [1835, 1836] Comandante de la Frontera 1827-05-04 to 1835-10-05 Subordinate Archives/Ayish Bayou 1815-06-08 to 1824-11-24 |
| FILM 976.4182 N1192 REEL #21 | Subordinate Archives/Ayish Bayou 1825-02-08 to 1833-04-19 Subordinate Archives/San Agustin 1834-01-05 to 1835-10-02 Subordinate Archives/Various 1835 to undated Subordinate Archives/Liberty 1831-02-28 to 1835-07-08 Subordinate Archives/Sabine 1820-09-20 to 1835-07-03 Subordinate Archives/Neches 1824-06-14 to 1835-05-23 Subordinate Archives/Anahuac 1832-06-01 to 1835-04-07 Accounts 1827-12-13 to 1835 Attached Archives/San Felipe-Gen correspondence 1823-10-20 to 1831-05-02 |
| FILM 976.4182 N1192 REEL #22 | Attached Archives/San Felipe 1831-05-14 to 1835-08-23 Padrones-Coahuila y Texas 1783-12-31 to 1831-12-31 |
| FILM 976.4182 N1192 REEL #23 | Padrones-Coahuila y Texas 1831-12-31 to 1835; undated-Tenehaw District Eleciones-Coahuila y Texas 1810-06-06 to 1832-12-16 |
| FILM 976.4182 N1192 REEL #24 | Eleciones-Coahuila y Texas 1834-12-15 to 1835-02-08 Jefe Politico 1828-1831 Revistas Militares 1773-07-14 to 1836-04-23 General Correspondence/Coahuila y Texas 1772-1778 to 1823-12-10 |
| FILM 976.4182 N1192 REEL #25 | General Correspondence/Coahuila y Texas 1824-01-21 to undated Alcalde's Court 1826-06-30 to 1830-08-08 |
| FILM 976.4182 N1192 REEL #26 | Alcalde's Court 1832-03-23 to undated Bexar Archives 1774-04-05 to 1818-09-26 |
| FILM 976.4182 N1192 REEL #27 Original documents filed in the Texas General Land Office. | Book containing correspondence between the Political Chief of the Department of Nacogdoches and the Secretary of State of Coahuila y Texas, Aug. 1834 to Aug. 1835 Book containing the correspondence between the said Political Chief and the Alcalde and Ayuntamiento of the Villa of Nacogdoches, Aug. 1834 to Nov. 1835 Book containing the Miscellaneous Correspondence of said Political Chief, Sept. 1834 to Oct. 1835 |
| FILM 976.4182 N1192 REEL #28 Two boxes of miscellaneous correspondence and printed material dated 1827-1835 were not filmed during original processing; filming was completed by the Clayton Library Friends in 2003. | Box 49 folder 1 1835-07-22 to 1838-06-30 folder 2 1828-09-29 to 1836-05-17 folder 3 1820-10-09 to 1835-05-19 folder 4 1829-03-20 to 1829-12-21 folder 5 1830-03-11 to 1830-04-25 folder 6 1831-01-13 to 1831-10-06 folder 7 1832-07-03 to 1832-08-19 folder 8 1833-05-20 to 1833-11-26 folder 9 1835-04-08 to 1835-05-18 Box 50 folder 1 undated [1835] folder 2 1830-02-26 to 1833-01-29 folder 3 1835-03-26 to 1836-12-14 folder 4 1836-06-18 to 1836-10-26 folder 5 1835-04-29 to 1836-06-28 folder 6 1827-01-07 to 1832-07-27 |
Staff are unable to search this collection for you or make copies from the microfilm. Patrons are welcome to print or save images found on microfilm or online. The TSLAC Reference Reading Room offers microfilm viewers with printing capabilities and USB ports for downloading images to a personal flash drive.
We can certify copies printed on-site from the microfilm or posted online. Certifications state that the printed documents are a true and correct copy from the TSLAC collection. See our fee schedule for pricing information.
Original materials from the Nacogdoches archives are not pulled for research purposes unless the microfilm copy is illegible.
TSLAC holds published indexes and transcriptions of the Nacogdoches archives. These materials are available in the Austin Reference Reading Room during our public service hours.
Nacogdoches archives: copied from originals in the Texas State Library is a printed index of 89 volumes organized by date. This transcription includes many English-language subject headings, but few translations. The series was supplemented with Spanish-language documents from other collections as well as Nacogdoches documents from the Bexar archives.
Robert Bruce Blake produced several volumes of Nacogdoches archives documents with transcriptions, indexes, and translations. Some include Nacogdoches censuses connected with censuses listed in Marion Day Mullins’ book The first census of Texas. A list of Blake’s transcripts of the Nacogdoches archives is available on request.
Spanish entrance certificates are translated and indexed in Nacogdoches archives : Index to 1835 entrance certificates and citizenship applications compiled by Nancy Krause, and Certificates of Entrance Relative to Admission to Settle in Texas Under Colonization Laws.
Betty Fagan Burr's Nacogdoches Archives 1835 Entrance Certificates extracts the genealogical information from the Certificates of Entrance translations and provides a name index of colonists and witnesses that appear in the volume.
Other titles related to the Nacogdoches archives are listed in the TSLAC library catalog. Some items may be available through ILL. For questions about these materials, please contact our reference staff.
TSLAC holds Nacogdoches County records starting in 1820 on microfilm, some of which are available online as part of the County Records on Microfilm collection, and may be contemporary to documents in the Nacogdoches archives.
Our Mexican American Genealogy Research guide focuses on TSLAC Mexican American genealogy and research materials and points to other nearby and online resources.
The finding aids below describe additional documents from the Spanish province of Texas and the Mexican state of Coahuila y Texas:
- Laredo Archives transcripts and microfilm
- Bexar Archives Original Manuscripts and Printed Material, 1717-1836 (at the Briscoe Center for American History)
In addition to the Nacogdoches archives transcripts, Blake also produced a 93-volume series of transcribed material referred to as the Robert Bruce (R. B.) Blake Collection, or the "Blake transcripts." The collection is available online with a free FamilySearch account.