Williamson County Library Resources

I have learned from being here in Williamson County, TX to do research there is a learning curve to finding what you are looking for. In my few trips to the Taylor, Georgetown, and Round Rock libraries, here is some info that will hopefully help you if you come to Williamson County to do research in person. It has been trial and error with me, so hopefully this info will help you save some precious time.

http://www.ci.taylor.tx.us/index.aspx?nid=25

Taylor, TX Library-- has some scrapbooks, city directories and a few other things that can only be found in the Taylor Library. If you ancestors lived in Taylor, and you have extra time on the agenda, it is a place to go. You might just get lucky. I have been twice now, and have been a bit disappointed, but on the other hand found something I would have not found any where else. The main problem in Taylor is nothing is indexed. The library does house microfilmed copies of the Taylor Press, but it is not the best source due to being hard to read and not being indexed. Normally when I get to the Taylor Library, it has been in the afternoon and I am only able to spend a few hours. However, I have found the cattle and horse brands listed earlier in my blog. That was cool!

http://library.georgetown.org/

Georgetown, TX Library---Now, I do have to admit I LOVE going to the Georgetown Library. They are limited on resources, but there are two things there I cannot find anywhere else. The first thing would be the Williamson County Sun. I did not know about this paper until Mr. Love (my second reason for loving the Georgetown Library) told me about it. Mr. Love is a cute little guy who is a walking encyclopedia of Williamson County. You can give him a surname, and if they were prominent in the county, he can tell you about them. He talks about “continuity” of a family, which I find quite intriguing

I have aunts who are much older than me and talk about their growing up years and how close they all were. But in asking about my MOORE line, they never met any of them. I also sense that when my Great Grandparents died, and the children became of age, they all went their separate ways. There were seven children, and two of the seven I have found no substantial records of. I have few pictures of some of the siblings as adults, and John never seems to be mentioned again. Bell, is mentioned sparsely in a letter from his sister to his brother. Grady it seems died at an early age, and Lee died in the 60’s. Jack, I have no clue where he went or is today. My MOORE family for the most part is a huge mystery in my life. There is just no “continuity” or closeness in the family, and it seems to go back from generation to generation.

But as mentioned above, the Williamson County Sun has provided some details. My great grandmother’s obituary in the Williamson County Sun dated April 12, 1894 simply stated, “Mrs. Minerva Moore, widow of an old settler from this county is dead.” Got to love those old obituaries! So the Williamson County Sun is informational, if you have a date to search. As I gather dates for my family, I will search the Williamson County Sun. It is a fascinating paper as it encompasses all of Williamson County and has been in publication for over 100 years. The drawback for all of you—currently it is only available as far as I know in the Georgetown Library.

http://www.roundrocktexas.gov/library/

Round Rock, TX Library – It was decided many years ago that the Round Rock library would house the Williamson County genealogical records. They have a small section on Williamson County records, such as Marriage records, cemetery records etc., but there is a descent amount of information available for the state of Texas and many of the counties. Again, there are a few odd things there I have found most helpful. One was a book titled “Taylor and its Neighbors” that had some interesting information and pictures in it. There is also the Pioneer Settlers information IF it has been submitted by a descendant. To become part of the Williamson County Pioneer sector, you must prove your ancestor was in the county before December 31, 1880. There is a cost of $10 in which you get a pioneer certificate and your ancestor listed in the Williamson County Pioneers.

So those are pretty much our choices for library resources here in Williamson County. As I said earlier depending on what I am looking for, is which library I will head for. Of course, there are other resources I will list as time goes on, of cool things (I think anyways!) I have found in my research. Have you seen the map of Williamson County that lists the land plots NAMED!! Very cool!!!

Don’t forget to sign up as a follower of TexasMooreHistory, then you will know when I update my blog! Again Happy Hunting, and if you have ancestors in Williamson County, Texas please tell me about them!!!