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Welcome to Texas Genealogy Trails!
*Volunteers dedicated to putting free data online.*
This County Website is available for adoption.
If interested in joining our group, view our
Volunteer Information Page and
contact Kim.
[Basic webpage design knowledge and a desire to transcribe data is
required]
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In July 1846 Smith County was marked off from the Nacogdoches
District and named for Gen. James Smith, a hero of the Texas
Revolution and a prominent military figure in the Republic of Texas.
Tyler was designated as the county seat and has remained so. The
county commissioners' court was elected and met for the first time
before the end of the year. |
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In 1867 Tyler became the headquarters of a subdistrict of the
Freedmen's Bureau, and the bureau's agents, occasionally supported
by small military garrisons, attempted to secure voting rights, fair
labor contracts, and educational opportunities for the blacks of
Smith County and its environs. Race relations rapidly deteriorated
as the white citizens resisted these initiatives. |
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The bureau closed in 1869, but racial tensions continued to disrupt
the county. Late in 1871 the trial of several whites accused of
violence against blacks resulted in a gunfight in the streets of
Tyler between white citizens and black state policemen that left two
whites dead and several black policemen wounded. Three years later
Jack Johnson, a black man accused of murder, was lynched by whites. |
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Cities and
towns
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Arp |
Owentown |
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Bascom |
Red Springs |
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Bullard (partially in Cherokee County) |
Starrville |
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Flint |
Swan |
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Gresham |
Tyler |
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Hideaway |
Troup (partially in Cherokee County) |
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Lindale |
Whitehouse |
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New Chapel Hill |
Winona |
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Noonday |
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ONLINE DATA |
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Mockingbird
State Bird
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