Milam County, Texas

The Texas County Records Inventory Project, headquartered at North Texas State University, Denton, is a county-by-county survey of all the records of county government located in county courthouses and other storage facilities. The project is conducted in cooperation with Texas colleges and universities, county officials, and the Texas State Library. County historical groups, civic organizations, and other interested citizens often aid in the inventory process. The Project is assisted by an Executive Board comprised of outstanding Texans from across the State.

County records inventories are of value for research and for records preservation and management. The published inventories are of immediate benefit to researchers. Documentation as to types, nature, and quantity of records enables researchers to locate material hitherto unknown and unused in the archives of county courthouses. At the time inventories provide information concerning valuable historical records for the Regional Historical Resource Depository ( RHRD ) program mandated by the Texas Legislature in 1971. These data also provide a basis for informed decisions concerning records management for county officials. Records retention and disposal schedules will be of great benefit to local governmental official in exerting control over the overwhelming amount of records multiplying daily in courthouses across the State. Thus, the Texas County Records Inventory Project provides a multiplicity of important services to the citizens of the State of Texas.

The inventory of the Milam County courthouse records was begun in the summer of 1978 by Charles Alan Jones, under the direction of Dr. Stewart Smith of the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. The recheck and verification phases of the inventory were completed by Project staff members in March, 1980.

It is hoped that the resulting volume, listing more than 550 record titles, will be of use to county officials in establishing a sound records management program and will aid lay and professional researchers in locating and utilizing for scholarly purposes the records contained in the county archives.

For their assistance in making this inventory possible I would like to thank the following officials: County Judge Phillip N. Smith and former County Judge O. B. Hardin, County Clerk Wayne B. Wieser, Treasurer Charles J. Maddox, Sheriff Leroy Broadus, County Attorney J. B. Henderson, Jr., Auditor John C. Andres, and Justice of the Peace Precinct 1 Jess Brock. I would also like to extend my thanks to the staffs of various offices for their cooperation and to Patricia Epperson, Office Manager, Central Texas Manpower Consortium, for securing Mr. Jones' employment through the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act Program.

The Milam County Records are conveniently stored at the courthouse complex in Cameron. The three-story courthouse houses the majority of the governmental offices. The offices of the County Judge, County Clerk, and Justice of the Peace are located on the first floor, while the District Clerk and County Attorney are located on the second floor. The County Treasurer's and Auditor's offices are located on the third floor. The Tax Assessor-Collector's office is located in an annex building across from the courthouse. The Sheriff's office is located in the county jail facility.

The majority of the records for each office are housed in their respective offices and storage facilities. Additional non-current records for the District Clerk, Justices of the Peace, County Treasurer, Auditor, County Attorney, Sheriff, and County Clerk are maintained in a third floor central storage area.

This inventory of county courthouse records represents an exhaustive listing and description of all records now contained in the various offices and storage facilities of the county.

All record entries are divided according to the office having jurisdiction and thereunder by topic. Records generally considered to be of special historical value or interest are listed first in each office subdivision. Records designated as permanent are so noted with a letter P at the end of each entry. Indexes to permanent records are automatically designated as permanent.

Headings indicate the current and previous titles of each record. Slight variations in series titles are not considered noteworthy; however, important differences in series titles are always noted. In current and previous titles punctuation or wording has not been changed unless absolutely necessary for clarity. On untitled volumes or files, descriptive titles enclosed in parentheses are provided. If a volume or file has been mistitled, an explanatory title pertaining to the actual contents is added following the actual title and enclosed in parentheses. Following the title, the heading indicates the dates of inclusion for the record and the volume(shown by the number or quantity for bound volumes, unbound documents, boxes, permafiles, narrow file drawers, and filing cabinet drawers). Dates left open-ended indicate that the record is a continuing one.

The entry for each title briefly describes the nature of that particular record, how it is arranged, and whether it is indexed. For records of special historical value, the entries contain additional details on content. In all cases, the current or most recent description for the various records is used unless otherwise noted in the record entry, and the arrangement is deleted for volumes or files with only one entry recorded therein. Self-indexed record volumes are noted as being indexed in file. Volumes indexed separately are cross-referenced to the appropriate index volume. For the purpose of this inventory, only pure indexes are cross-referenced. A volume that merely references another record will not be noted as an index.

Restricted records are closed to the public by law. For these descriptions, the inventory taker has used a blank standard printed form, noting the types of general information contained in these records. Condition of all records in the inventory is good unless otherwise indicated. In cases where there is a cross-reference to another entry, the title of the entry referred to is shown in capitals with the entry number in parentheses.

We must say a special thank you to David Ray Galbreath of Frankston, Texas and Dan Scott of Natalia, Texas, for typing the above for use on the Milam County TXGenWeb site.