Sabine County Records

Collection

Identifier: RHRD-6

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Sabine County Records consists of three collections. The County Court Records (1875-1966) consist of original probate case files and other records on microfilm. Historical information can be gleaned from land deeds, marriage records, probate minutes and dockets, and survey records.

The District Court Records (1879-1987) are case files and ledger books recording the outcomes for civil cases, criminal cases or divorce cases. Of particular interest to historians, genealogists and other researchers will be the thousands of civil and criminal case files (81 banker's boxes).

The Tax Assessor/Collector's Records (1837-1993) are the most voluminous sub-set of the Sabine County Records. There are tax rolls, delinquent tax rolls, school tax records, assessor's abstract records, poll tax, voter registration and exemption records, property assessment books, monthly tax statements, and other various records. These materials can be found on microfilm, in banker's and oversize boxes, and as books and ledgers. The most numerous item in this collection are 472 poll tax receipts books from an array of county precincts. The most useful items in this collection are likely the two reels of microfilm, which document Sabine County's 1837-1910 tax rolls.

Dates

Creation: 1837-1993
Event: 7/17/2013 County Court records transferred to the ETRC
Event: 7/19/2013 Tax Assessor records transferred to the ETRC
Event: 8/13/2013 District Court records transferred to the ETRC
Event: 2/5/2014 District Court records transferred to the ETRC
Event: 3/12/2015 District Court records transferred to the ETRC
Event: 5/31/2019 District Court records transferred to the ETRC
Event: 12/15/2021 District Court records transferred to the ETRC
Event: 6/10/2022 County Court records transferred to the ETRC

Conditions Governing Access

Open for research.

Biographical or Historical Information

Sabine County, situated on the Sabine River, is bounded by Shelby County on the north, Newton County on the south, and San Augustine County on the west. Spanish explorers traveled through the area as early as the mid-16th century, but colonial politics delayed Spanish and Anglo settlement in Sabine County until the 1790s. In 1824, the Sabine District was organized from Mexico's Department of Nacogdoches. The district then became a municipality in 1835 and a county in 1837. Until 1858, the county seat was in Milam and not its current location of Hemphill.

The Sabine County Courthouse burned in 1875 along with the majority of its early county records. A second fire in 1909 may have destroyed additional materials.

Extent

408.00 Cubic Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

This collection is described in 124 banker's boxes, 22 oversize boxes, 750 books and ledgers, and 9 reels of microfilm. These records are organized into 3 subordinate collections, 14 series and 23 sub-series.

County Court Records Collection (4 series, 30 banker's boxes, 3 books, 7 reels of microfilm)

District Court Records Collection (4 series, 6 sub-series, 91 banker's boxes, 45 ledgers)

Tax Assessor/Collector's Records (6 series, 15 sub-series, 3 banker's boxes, 22 oversize boxes, 705 books and ledgers, and 2 reels of microfilm).