Census Records | Governmental Records | Military Records | Passenger Lists
Family Histories | Periodicals | Maps & Gazetteers | CD-ROMs | Notable Items

The Genealogy Collection of the San Antonio Public Library is housed on the sixth floor of the Central Library in the Texana/Genealogy Department.

The Genealogy Collection has a multitude of resources available for you to research. What follows is only a guide to the types of materials you might consult. All materials in the Collection must remain in the Texana/Genealogy Department and may not be checked out.

CENSUS RECORDS

The Texana/Genealogy Department has a complete collection of the United States census population schedules from 1790-1930. Also available are complete slave schedules and the 1890 Union veterans schedules. Many census indices are available in various formats: book, fiche, cd-rom. Soundex is available for Texas (1880, 1900-1920) and Oklahoma (1900-1910) only.

GOVERNMENTAL RECORDS

Records from governmental agencies are major sources of information in doing family research. The Department has many state and county histories, as well as abstracts of records such as wills, deeds, marriages, court records, etc. Examples of other record groups available are

• Territorial Papers of the United States
• American State Papers (film)
• Papers of the Continental Congress (film)
• Selected Class 5 files, British Colonial Record Office (film)
• Pennsylvania Archives
• Journals of the Congress of the Confederate States of America (fiche)

MILITARY RECORDS

While military records generally contain little information of specific genealogical value, they are valuable sources for locating an individual and placing him within an historical context. For membership in several lineage societies they are essential. For these reasons and others the Department has an extensive collection of military records, such as

• Indices for service records from the American Revolution through the Spanish American War (book and film)
• Register of enlistments in the United States Army, 1798-1914 (film)
• Hessian documents of the American Revolution (fiche)
• Early American orderly books, 1748-1817 (film)
• "Civil War Unit Histories" (complete microfiche collection from University Publications of America)
• Numerous pension indices (book)
• Compiled service records for the American Revolution (film)
• Compiled service records for Texas units, Mexican War and Civil War (film)

PASSENGER LISTS

The Texana/Genealogy Department has many passenger lists and indices. Here are some examples.

• Filby’s Passenger and Immigration Lists Index
• Germans to America
• Italians to America
• Migration from the Russian Empire
• All available passenger lists and indices into Galveston (film, 1896-1951)
• Passenger lists for New Orleans 1813-1866, 1820-1875 (film)
• [Irish] Famine Immigrants, 1846-1851
• Dutch Immigrants, 1820-1880

FAMILY HISTORIES

Many family histories are to be found in the collection, which have been donated. They are arranged by the primary family name. Other family names listed in the title may be found using the library’s on-line catalogue.

PERIODICALS

The Department receives over 425 current titles and several family newsletters. It maintains numerous defunct titles. Format (paper, fiche, microfilm) varies.

Various indices are also available-PERSI, PGAI, and Jacobus’.

MAPS AND GAZETTEERS

Only a limited number of flat maps are available. However, there are many map books, atlases, and gazetteers.

CD-ROMS

These are limited in number but include items not available elsewhere in the collection, such as

• Ancestry File and I.G.I. (from the Latter Day Saints)
• Various census indices
• 1881 British census
• American Genealogical-Biographical Index

NOTABLE ITEMS

The following are a selection of book and film titles that don’t necessarily fit into the above categories but are of special note.

• Draper Manuscript Collection (film)
• Records of ante-bellum southern plantations from the Revolution through the Civil War (selected sets) (film)
• Roster of Confederate Soldiers
• Roster of Union Soldiers
• South Carolina Archives Index (film)
• Army Register (an almost complete set, to 1972)
• Five Civilized Tribes Enrollment Cards (film)
• Arkansas Death Index, 1914-1948
• The American Slave (WPA narratives)
• Spanish Archives of New Mexico (II) (film)

Updated: 09/23/2005