CROSBY
COUNTY - OFFICE
OF THE COUNTY CLERK
BIRTH AND DEATH RECORD, 1928-1933 (Each volume was individually indexed.)
Reel 2047271
1928-1933 Vol. 1 (Birth)
BIRTH RECORD, 1903-1937 (Each volume was individually indexed.)
Reel 2047271
Reel 20472721903-1917 Vol. 1
1917-1928 Vol. 2
1918-1937 (no number designation, no index);
1929-1933 Vol. 3
1933-1937 Vol. 4
BIRTH RECORD, CURRENT AND DELAYED, 1937-1946
(Each volume was individually indexed.)
(Dates listed are file dates, actual event dates are ca. 1873-1946.)
Reel 2047272
1937-1941 Vol. 5
1941-1942 Vol. 6
Reel 2047273
1942-1944 Vol. 7
1942-1944 Vol. 8
1944-1946 Vol. 9
1944-1945 Vol. 10 (to page 320)
DEATH RECORD, 1903-1971 (Each volume was individually indexed.)
Reel 2047275
1940-1958 Vol. 4
1954-1970 Vol. 5
1970-1971 Vol. 6 (to page 68A)
MARRIAGE RECORD, 1886-1933
Reel 2047276
1886-1945 Vol. 1 Index
1945-1953 Vol. 2 Index
1886-1920 Vol. 1
1920-1933 Vol. 2
Reel 2047277
1933-1945 Vol. 3
1945-1954 Vol. 4
OFFICE OF THE JUSTICE OF THE PEACE, PRECINCT #2
MARRIAGE RECORD, 1931-1939
(These records may not be in the indexes.)
Reel 2047276
1931-1939 (no volume designation, no index)
#761. Matador Land and Cattle Company
Records, 1880-1960
350,000 leaves
Records are divided into five series that encompass the activities
of the home office in Dundee, Scotland (1881-1952), the American offices
in Denver (1880-1954), Trinidad, Colorado (1890-1926), the headquarters
of the Matador (1880-1961), and Alamositas (1899-1953). The collection
includes financial and legal material, land records, payrolls, herd books,
range diaries, Board of Director´s minutes, correspondence between the
Dundee, Scotland office and American offices and ranches, and correspondence
among the British investors. Correspondence between the managers and division
superintendents include: Murdo Mackenzie, Alexander Mackay, Alfred Markham
Britton, Henry Harrison Campbell, William Sommerville, Arthur B. Ligertwood,
John MacBain, J.M. Jackson, John Mackenzie, Maurice J. Reilly, Lewis F.
Robertson and John V. Stevens. Also included is Murdo Mackenzie´s correspondence
from Brazil when he served as manager of the Brazil Land, Cattle, and Packing
Company from 1912 to 1917. Established in 1879 by Alfred Markham Britton,
Henry Harrison Campbell, and associates, the ranch covered one and a half
million acres in Motley, Cottle, Floyd, and Dickens counties of Texas.
In 1882 the founders sold their cattle and range rights to a syndicate
based in Dundee, Scotland. Additional acreage was leased in south central
Kansas, the Texas Panhandle, Canada, South Dakota, and Montana, and by
1933, the Matador´s Texas holdings totaled nearly 900,000 acres. With rare
exceptions, during periods of drought, substantial dividends were paid
annually. Company stocks increased from an original $ .70 to $23.70 per
share in 1951, when the stockholders sold their shares to Lazard Brothers
and Company. Principals in the ranches´ operations included manager Murdo
Mackenzie, and the company secretary in Scotland, Alexander Mackay.
792. McLaughlin, J. Edd
Papers, 1920-1971
361 leaves
Includes correspondence, printed materials, and scrapbook material
dealing with the career of J. Edd McLaughlin. The collection bulks (1937-1945)
with newspapers dealing with World War II. A banker and civic leader, McLaughlin
was born in 1894 in Childress, Texas; his family moved to Crosby County
in 1905. He attended West Texas State Teachers College in Canyon, Texas,
and Brantley-Draughton Business College in Fort Worth. Along with his father
and brother, McLaughlin founded two private banks in Crosby County in 1912.
He served as chairman of the Board of Security State Bank and Trust Company
in Ralls, Texas. He also served on the Board of Regents at Texas Tech University
(1961-1967) and as a director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Texas.
McLaughlin was active in the Boy Scouts of America, Panhandle Plains Historical
Society, Ralls Chamber of Commerce, Rotary International, and served as
president of Rotary International (1960-1961). He died in 1979.
807. Methodist Churches in Crosby County, Texas
Collection, 1876- 1984
1 microfilm reel (95 ft.) : negative
Contains histories of the Methodist churches in Crosby County, including
those at Estacado, Emma, Cone, Crosbyton, Lorenzo, Ralls and Robertson.
The Methodist Church came to Crosby County in 1888, with the founding of
the Estacado Southern Methodist congregation. Other Methodist churches
at Cone, Emma, Crosbyton and Lorenzo soon followed.
829. Modern Woodmen of America. Camp No. 13742 (Crosbyton, Texas)
Records, 1909-1911
97 leaves
Contains a logbook containing minutes of meetings, membership lists,
and dues collections pertaining to the Modern Woodmen of America organization
in Crosbyton, Texas. A fraternal benefit life insurance society organized
in Illinois in 1883 and incorporated in 1884, the Crosbyton Camp No. 13742
of Crosbyton, Texas, was organized February 13, 1909.
853. Murphy, John Joseph (Pat)
Papers, 1881-1955
14,761 leaves
Includes personal and business correspondence, the papers of J. J.
Murphy Lumber Co.--mainly letters received (alphabetized), and photographs
of family members, lumberyards, and friends. Also contains miscellaneous
materials including Christmas cards, invitations, membership cards, canceled
checks, magazines, newspaper clippings, invoices, tax correspondence, Chamber
of Commerce correspondence, deeds and other legal papers. A Texas lumber
merchant, Murphy was born in 1879 in Gainesville, Texas. In 1909, after
working as a traveling salesman for Waples Painters in Lindsey, Oklahoma,
Murphy opened a lumberyard on Chestnut Street in Lubbock, Texas. He moved
the business to Crosbyton in 1912 and added lumberyards in Lorenzo and
Idalou. Murphy lost most of his business during the Depression and, in
1930, returned to Lubbock, where he continued to sell lumber and eventually
cleared all debts by the time of his death in 1957.
856. Murray, John W.
Papers, 1810-1982
4 microfilm reels : negative
Bulks with material documenting the genealogy of the J.W. Murray family
and the Wheeler, Lockwood, and Hamby families. Includes correspondence,
scrapbook material, photographs, and miscellaneous material. A Crosby County,
Texas, pioneer, Murray was the first publisher of the Crosby County News.
918. Pearce, William Martin
Papers, 1904-1959
2,247 leaves
The collection contains correspondence, nineteen pastor´s books, printed
material, legal material, and scrapbook material. The bulk of the material
pertains to Pearce´s activities as a minister and his relationship with
the Methodist Church. Also includes a diary relating to a Mediterranean
cruise and tour of Palestine in 1926, and material concerning family history.
Pearce was a Methodist minister for the Northwest Texas Conference of the
Methodist Church from 1914-1953. He served in Bovina, Crosbyton, Dalhart,
Abilene, Vernon, and Pampa, Texas. He also presided as elder of the Amarillo
district and Lubbock district, and as district superintendent of the Vernon
district.
943. Powell, I. R.
Papers, 1873-1924
1,055 leaves
Bulks with legal documents including warranty and quit claim deeds
dating from the 1870s, and with patents to large tracts of land in Crosby,
Dickens, and Floyd counties. Includes correspondence, financial material,
and legal material pertaining to land developments in West Texas. Also
contains correspondence regarding cattle sales, cattle count, and brands
from 1915-1918. Manager of the Z-L Ranch in Crosby County, Texas, from
1918-1919, Powell was also associated with the Half-Circle S Ranch and
Crosbyton Cattle Company. These ranches all occupied land originally patented
to the Kentucky Cattle Raising Company of Louisville, later owned by A.W.
Husdon and then Frank Cross.
951. Ralls Study Club (Texas)
Records, 1961-1970
151 leaves
Consists of yearbooks and other printed material concerning the Study
Club of Ralls, Texas. Bulks (1961-1970) with yearbooks. Organized in 1918
and federated in 1942, the club was established to promote literary culture
and community interests, and to cooperate with other philanthropic organizations.
967. Religious Music
Collection, 1877-1952
5,488 leaves
Includes bound hymnals, choral music, and religious sheet music. The
collection originated from old hymnals and sheet music from the First Baptist
and First Methodist Churches in Ralls, Texas. Other materials, some of
which date back to the late 19th century, have been added to create a collection
of religious music.
983. Rio Blanco Heritage Foundation (Crosbyton, Texas)
Records, 1985-1988
119 leaves
Contains a scrapbook relating to the activities of the Rio Blanco Heritage
Foundation. The foundation was established at Crosbyton, Texas, in 1985,
to finance the annual summer production of the outdoor play, "God´s Country,"
which depicts the area's early settlement.
1028. Sanders, Venoy
Papers, 1846-1980
3,919 leaves
Includes scrapbook material, a literary production, correspondence,
printed material, memorabilia, photographs, yearbooks, and newsclippings.
Bulks with material collected by Sanders on various aspects of Texas history.
Sanders was a pioneer West Texas farm wife. She married C. E. Sanders and
resided in Lynn and Crosby counties. The couple experienced changes in
the agribusiness from ranching to dryland farming to irrigated farming.
She was active in the Texas State Historical Commission, the old settlers'
organization, and in the Ralls, Texas, Study Group.
1080. Smith House Family Restaurant (Crosbyton, Texas)
Records, 1907-1976
2 microfilm reels : negative
Consists of financial documents, hotel registers, and miscellaneous
material. The Smith House was built for Mr. and Mrs. J. Frank Smith by
Dave Weller. The main building was completed in 1921, while the east and
west wings were completed later. The 32 room hotel and restaurant was the
scene of many community activities, banquets and dances. The building was
restored by the Bassett family in 1982.
1104. Spikes, Joseph Jefferson M.
Papers, 1899-1902
Ledgers: 1691 leaves
Includes several hand-written ledgers consisting of daily records of
purchases made in Spikes' store from August 5 to October 18, 1899, and
from January 1 to February 24, 1902. A cowboy, farmer, sheep raiser, freighter,
businessman, and bank vice-president, Spikes settled on the Llano Estacado
in 1897 and was a cowboy on the IOA Ranch. He farmed in Crosby County from
1907-1950.
1105. Spikes, Nellie Witt
Papers, 1930-1957
763 leaves
Contains newsclippings about rural life and Spikes' column, "As A Farm
Woman Thinks." A West Texas pioneer and author, Nellie was born in 1888
in Weatherford, Texas, and moved to Crosby County, Texas, in 1892 with
her family. She married farmer J. J. Spikes in 1906, and wrote a newspaper
column, "As A Farm Woman Thinks," which appeared in several area newspapers.
She also co-authored A History of Crosby County with her sister-in-law,
Temple Ann Ellis. Nellie Spikes died in 1977 in Ralls, Texas.
1133. Strother Family
Papers, 1888-1954
63 leaves
Includes correspondence, financial and legal material, and newsclippings
pertaining to the family's involvement in ranching and horse breeding.
Also includes a notebook describing horse sales and local brands. Originally
from Missouri, Loyd Tillman Strother married Almeda Frances Bradford December
10, 1890, in Buffalo Gap, Texas. The Strothers owned and lived on lands
in Taylor, Crosby, and Floyd counties (Texas), and were involved in ranching
and the horse trade.
