Texas Secretary of State, Voters registration lists, 1867-1869
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The purpose of the 1867-1869 voters' registration was to prepare lists of qualified voters within each county. The commanding officer in each military district was required to compile such a listing for each county in their district, which would be used to determine all who would be eligible to vote for any proposed Constitutional Convention in the state.
This was a result of legislation passed by Congress on March 23, 1867. The text of this legislation can be found in the Statutes at Large in volume 15, page 2 (15 Stat 2).
The registrant had to take an oath stating that he was not disqualified by law from voting. Those ineligible included Confederate veterans with a rank of major or above; any person who had previously taken an oath as a member of Congress, as an officer of the United States, as a member of any state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the Constitution of the United States, and who later engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or gave aid or comfort to the enemies thereof, and whose "disability" had not been removed by a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress.
Local military authorities often interpreted this prohibition to include anyone who held any type of office or who in any way benefited from either Confederate state or federal government patronage, thereby preventing a number of otherwise eligible citizens from voting.
The 1867 Voter Registration includes names of voters who registered in the period between 1867 and 1869. A few entries date from 1870, but these occur infrequently. The voters' names within each county are listed in the order in which the person registered.
The register entry may include the following information:
- Name
- Place of residence
- Precinct
- Length of residence (in state, in county, in precinct)
- Native country or state
- If naturalized, how, when, and where
- General Remarks — black voters are indicated in the remarks column as "colored" or "col."
Ledger entries are grouped by county, and the names are listed chronologically in the order individuals presented themselves for registration.
These are unique lists. This group of ledgers contains the State Archives's only comprehensive listing of eligible voters in the state. Routine voter registration is a county function, and such registration lists may be found at the county level.
Voter Registration List for Hill County, page 236, Texas Secretary of State, Voter registration lists. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
The Voters' Registration of 1867 has been digitized and is available online from Ancestry.com and Ancestry Library Edition. If you or your local library has access to one of these resources, you may search, view, and print entries from that site. The title of the database containing these records is Texas, Voter Registration Lists, 1867-1869. Free access to Ancestry.com Texas is available to Texas residents.
Our staff recommend using the Ancestry database described above, which is fully indexed and allows name searches. Researchers may still be interested in two published indexes to this collection:
- An Index to the 1867 Voters' Registration of Texas, compiled by Donaly E. Brice and John C. Barron, was published on CD-Rom in 2000.
- A published index specific to Bexar County is also available. 1867-1869 Registration of Voters, Bexar County, Texas, compiled by Jean Halden Walker, was published in the 1970's by Daughters of the American Revolution, Alamo Chapter.
Interlibrary loan. If you're unable to visit us in person, your local library may submit an interlibrary loan (ILL) request on your behalf to borrow these titles. Ask your local library for more details about the ILL program. Find Texas libraries near you using our Find a Library tool.
The original volumes have been microfilmed, and may be accessed on-site in our Reference reading room. A listing of the counties found on each microfilm reel can be found below. Please note that counties are not arranged in a strict alphabetical order. Should you wish to request the film through the interlibrary loan program, please contact your local library for assistance.
976.4 V941 REEL 01:
Anderson, Angelina, Atascosa, Austin, Bandera, Bastrop, Bee, Bell
976.4 V941 REEL 02:
Bexar, Blanco, Bosque, Bowie, Brazoria, Brazos, Brown, Burleson, Burnet, Caldwell, Calhoun, Cameron
976.4 V941 REEL 03:
Chambers, Cherokee, Collin, Colorado, Comal, Comanche, Cooke, Coryell, Dallas, Davis (pgs. 312-339)
Note: for Cass County, see Davis County
976.4 V941 REEL 04:
Davis (pgs. 312-351), Denton, DeWitt, Ellis, El Paso, Falls, Erath, Fannin, Fayette
976.4 V941 REEL 05:
Fort Bend, Freestone, Galveston, Gillespie, Goliad, Gonzales, Grayson
976.4 V941 REEL 06:
Grimes, Guadalupe, Hamilton, Hardin, Harris, Harrison
976.4 V941 REEL 07:
Hays, Henderson, Hidalgo, Hill, Hood, Hopkins, Houston, Hunt, Jack (page 393 marked "Jack County and Young"), Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Johnson, Karnes, Kaufman, Kerr
976.4 V941 REEL 08:
Kendall, Kinney, Lamar, Lampasas, Lavaca, Leon, Liberty, Limestone, Live Oak, Llano, Madison, Marion, Mason, Matagorda
976.4 V941 REEL 09:
Maverick, McLennan, Medina, Milam, Montague, Montgomery, Nacogdoches, Newton, Navarro, Nueces, Orange, Duval, Palo Pinto, Panola, Parker
976.4 V941 REEL 10:
Polk, Refugio, Red River, Robertson, Rusk, Sabine, San Augustine, San Patricio, San Saba, Shelby
976.4 V941 REEL 11:
Smith, Starr, Trinity, Tyler, Tarrant, Titus, Travis, Upshur, Van Zandt
976.4 V941 REEL 12:
Victoria, Walker, Washington, Webb, Wharton, Williamson, Wilson, Wise, Wood, Zapata
Although we are unable to provide photocopies of records from this collection, patrons are welcome to print or save images from the microfilm or Ancestry.com.