Sabine Parish, Louisiana Genealogical Records Information

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Sabine Parish History and Information

Sabine Parish Facts

Sabine Parish was created on March 7, 1843 , from Natchitoches Parish and the parish was named in honor of the Sabine River and the so-called Sabine Free State . The Parish seat is Many .

It is borderd by De Soto Parish (north), Natchitoches Parish (east), Vernon Parish (southeast), Newton County, TX (southwest), Sabine County, TX (west), Shelby County, TX (northwest) . Cites, Towns and Communities include Converse, Fisher, Florien, Many, Noble, Pleasant Hill, Zwolle . Sabine Parish was created on March 7, 1843 , from ? and the parish was named in honor of the Sabine River and the so-called Sabine Free State . The Parish seat is ? . It is borderd by De Soto Parish (north), Natchitoches Parish (east), Vernon Parish (southeast), Newton County, TX (southwest), Sabine County, TX (west), Shelby County, TX (northwest) . Cites, Towns and Communities include Converse, Fisher, Florien, Many, Noble, Pleasant Hill, Zwolle . The Official County Website is located at ? . See Extended History for More information. The Official County Website is located at ? . See Extended History for More information.

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Sabine Parish Court Records

See Also Louisiana Land Records, Marriage Records, Court & Probate Records

PLEASE READ!! Please call the clerk's department to confirm hours, mailing address, fees and other specifics before visiting or requesting information because of sometimes changing contact information.

Sabine Parish Clerk of Court has Court Records from 1843 and Land Records from 1843 and Probate Records from 1843 has Marriage Records from 1843 and is located at 400 South Capitol Street, P O Box 419, Many, LA 71449, (318) 256-6223, (318) 256-9037 Fax .
The Clerk of Court for each parish in Louisiana performs the functions of more than one office. As the Recorder, the office of the Clerk of Court receives, files, records and indexes all mortgages, conveyances and all other instruments recorded in the Public Records for the Parish. The Clerk’s Office receives and files all pleadings, such as petitions, answers, motions and other filings in Civil and Probate matters, as well as indictments, bills of information and other filings in Criminal matters. The Clerk’s Office also handles special Juvenile matters and Criminal Neglect cases. Another function of the Clerk’s Office is the issuance of Marriage Licenses and recording their returns after the marriages are performed.

There are a few online databases for Court, Land and Probate Records which include:Louisiana Marriages, 1718-1925, Louisiana Marriages to 1850, Louisiana Marriage Records, 1851-1900, New Orleans, Louisiana Marriage Records Index, 1831-1925, Louisiana Land Records. You may also search the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) which does cover Louisiana and does cover surrounding states. Many pioneers and settelers bought land from the government instead of individuals.

Click Here to Search Louisiana Court, Land, Wills & Financial Records! - Researchers often overlook the importance of court records, probate records, and land records as a source of family history information.

Below is a list of online resources for Sabine Parish Court Records. Email us with websites containing Sabine Parish Court Records by clicking the link below:

Sabine Parish, Louisiana Court Books at Amazon.com

Sabine Parish Vital Records

See Also Research In Tax Records

Tax records are a valuable but little-used source. Almost everything was taxed: household and personal goods, livestock, slaves, and property. Tax lists can be used as a substitute census, to create complete neighborhoods for a neighborhood study, establish relationships, locate land, and so on. Unfortunately, most of these lists no longer exist in Louisiana, but those that are extant are usually found in the tax assessor's office in the Sabine Parish courthouse.

Below is a list of online resources for Sabine Parish Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Sabine Parish Tax Records by clicking the link below:

Sabine Parish, Louisiana Tax Books at Amazon.com

Sabine Parish Genealogical Addresses

See Also Other Louisiana Genealogical Addresses

The Repositories in this section are Archives, Libraries, Museums, Genealogical and Historical Societies. Many County Historical and Genealogical Societies publish magazines and/or news letters on a monthly, quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis. Contacting the local societies should not be over looked. State Archives and Societies are usually much larger and better organized with much larger archived materials than their smaller county cousins but they can be more generalized and over look the smaller details that local societies tend to have. Libraries can also be a good place to look for local information. Some libraries have a genealogy section and may have some resources that are not located at archives or societies. Also, take a special look at any museums in the area. They sometimes have photos and items from years gone by as well as information of a genealogical interest. All these places are vitally important to the family genealogist and must not be passed over.

Below is a list of online resources for Sabine Parish Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Sabine Parish Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:

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Local Louisiana Researchers, Find a local researcher or become a local researcher.
Louisiana State Archives , 3851 Essen Lane, PO Box 94125, Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9125; (225) 922-2012
Louisiana Historical Society, 5801 St. Charles Ave, New Orleans, Louisiana 70115; 504/866-3049, [EMAIL]
Louisiana Genealogical & Historical Society, P.O. Box 82060, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70884-2060-60
National Archives and Records Admin, 501 W Felix Str, Building 1, P.O. 6216, Fort Worth, Texas 76115-3405; archives@ftworth.nara.gov, Fax: 817-334-5511
Louisiana Newspapers & Periodicals Records - Newspapers and periodicals are the diaries of local communities. They are excellent sources of family history details - often recorded nowhere else. Look for obituaries, marriages, legal notices, and more found in our Historical Newspaper Archives.
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Sabine Parish Church & Cemeteries

Click Here to Search Louisiana Obituary Records! - This database is a compilation of obituaries published in U.S. newspapers, collected from various online sources. Obituaries can vary in the amount of information they contain, but many of them are genealogical goldmines, including information such as names, dates, places of birth and death, marriage information, and family relationships.

There are many churches and cemeteries in Sabine Parish. Some transcriptions are online. A great site is the Sabine Parish Tombstone Transcription Project.

Most Catholic church registers are still in the local parish church. Many of them have been translated and published.

The recording of cemetery inscriptions in Louisiana has long been a project of the DAR and numerous genealogical societies. Genealogical publications continually print these inscriptions in their issues.

Below is a list of online resources for Sabine Parish Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Sabine Parish Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:

Family Trees & Genealogy Tidbits

Click Here to Search Louisiana Family Tree Records! - The use of published genealogies, electronic files containing genealogical lineage, and other compiled sources can be of tremendous value to a researcher.

When view family trees online or not, be sure to only take the info at face value and always follow up with your own sources or verify the ones they provide. Below is a list of online resources for Sabine Parish Family Trees, web forums and other family type information . Email us with websites containing Sabine Parish Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:

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Sabine Parish, Louisiana Family Books at Amazon.com

County History

The early American history buff will be fascinated learning about this West Central section of Louisiana, which has been under seven flags. Sabine was one of five parishes created in as many weeks by the Louisiana State Legislature March 7, 1843. It was created from Natchitoches Parish with the Sabine River as the international boundary between the United States and the Province of Texas as the western boundary.

Following the Louisiana Purchase between the U.S. and Spain, Sabine Parish became neutral ground or "No Man's Land" as it was home to outlaws and renegade Indians, having no law or enforcement agencies. The "Neutral Strip" or "Sabine Free State", was a demilitarized zone provided for by the Neutral Ground Treaty between the United States and Spain in 1806. Both nations claimed ownership but neither exercised control. English speaking settlers from the older eastern states began moving into the section during the westward expansion years before the boundary was established. They settled on Spanish grants known as Rio Hondo claims. One of the earliest settlers was Thomas Arthur, who filed a claim for 640 acres on Negreet Creek.

In 1819 Spain abandoned all claims to land east of the Sabine River and the United Stated moved in to establish law and order. Fort Jesup was founded in 1822 by Lieutenant Colonel Zachary Taylor who later became the 12th President of the United States. Taylor's troops managed to establish law and order in this Neutral Ground. Fort Jesup has served as a vital part of Sabine Parish over the years and can be enjoyed by visitors today. It was an important frontier post until the annexation of Texas in 1845 and the focal point of the American expansionist movement.

Great caravans of homeseekers marched over the old highways and many of them settled in present-day Sabine Parish. Small settlements began to make their appearances throughout the parish. In addition to Negreet, other early settlements still in existence today are Toro in the extreme south, site of one of Sabine's first pine pole school houses and Noble in the north, dating back to the 1830's.

The two main highways of the southwest traversed the Neutral Strip and ran about four miles apart in the vicinity of the Town of Many, The San Antonio Trace, El Camino Real, extended from Natchitoches westward directly across Sabine Parish into the state of Texas. Since it was older and better known, a number of farmers and villages settled along it. Phillip Nolan's Trace crossed the Red River above Alexandria and ran through the Kisatchie country to join El Camino Real near the Sabine River crossing.

The parish was created at a time when America had entered upon a new era of progress. A government survey in 1831 laid out the Sabine area in townships and sections and this, together with the clearing of the Red River "raft" by Henry Miller Shreve opened the Red River to steamboat traffic and gave impetus to the colonization of the area. Steamboats began to ply other rivers and their whistles were heard regularly on the Sabine. Popular landings were Columbus, Pendleton, and Carter's Ferry. About three miles south of Pendleton was the large and flourishing river port of Sabine Town. The influx of settlers reached its zenith just prior to the War Between the States.

During the Civil War, Sabine Parish sent five companies to Virginia and was the scene of the last major engagement on Louisiana soil. The latter was fought April 9, 1864, at old Pleasant Hill and along the Sabine-DeSoto Parish line. The battle took place the following day after the Confederate victory at Mansfield. The action forced the withdrawal of Federal troops along the Shreveport-Natchitoches road, which cut across the northeast section of the parish.

These clashes were regarded as vitally important. Although, they did not affect the ultimate outcome of the war, they frustrated the attempt by Union forces to capture Shreveport and split Texas from the rest of the Confederacy.

Following the war the steamboat gave way to the railroad. The Texas-Pacific was completed in 1882 between Shreveport and New Orleans Realizing how important a railroad was to a town, Pleasant Hill moved itself out of DeSoto Parish to the railroad which was two miles away in Sabine Parish. The construction of the Kansas City Southern Railroad through the parish in 1896 led to the founding of the towns of Converse, Zwolle, Fisher and Florien.

The area was mainly agriculture until the railroads brought lumbermen, who set up sawmills to convert the trees that blanketed the state into lumber to satisfy a worldwide demand for longleaf virgin pine. Three decades later the forest acres were barren and a great many sawmills, including Gandy and Peason moved out. Reforestation was innovated in the early 1940's and pulp and paper mills bought the thinnings. The payoff was the development of Southern Pine plywood and the opening of Vancouver Plywood, Inc., the first plywood mill in the state, in Florien.

Reforestation lagniappe was the creation of Hodges Gardens in the 1950s, which opened a brand new industry. That was tourism, which was augmented with the completion of Toledo Bend Reservoir in 1968.

The largest military maneuvers ever held in the United States were staged in and around Sabine Parish in May 1940. This Army Maneuvers in the Sabine River area brought the possibility of war very close as 40,000 officers and men of the Blue Army defended the Sabine River from 30,000 invading Red troops. Soldiers from 33 states took part in the games, which covered 10,000 square miles of cutover pinelands, hills, rivers, and valleys between Alexandria and Nacogdoches, Texas.

Commanding officers and staff members passing through the area comprised a virtual "who's who" in the military. These included Lt. General Ben Lear, Colonel Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lt. General Walter Krueger, General George S. Patton, Jr., and Major J. L. Benedict.

Following the discovery of oil in 1928, crude oil and natural gas joined timber as leading natural resources until about 1934 when oil experienced a natural decline. Oil was not a major economic factor again until new reserves were brought in near Many in the 1950s.

The "Free State of Sabine" may not be as free as it once was, but it's a lot more prosperous. Its 1,008 square miles contain some of the finest timber in the world. In addition, Sabine Parish is rich in other natural resources.

Many - The Parish Seat

The town of Many is the parish seat and the principle town of Sabine Parish. Dubbed the "land of Green Gold" the town was named for a commandant of Fort Jesup. The town was settled by a group of Belgians in 1937 and became the parish seat six years later. Act 46 creating the parish specified that the seat of government should be named Many in honor of Colonel James B. Many, beloved commandant of Fort Jesup. Many was located on El Camino Real. The act also specified that the seat of government should be located "within three miles of the center of the parish".

El Camino Real, the King's Highway, runs down the main street of Many and crosses into Texas over the pendleton Bridge.

Many was originally a rural town with its main purpose being to serve as a relatively large area of farms and small businesses with governmental and commercial facilities. This situation has changed due to massive Toledo Bend Lake, Hodges Gardens, festivals, and other tourist attractions. The area has become a haven for retirees and Many has flourished as a consequence.

John Baldwin has been called the "Father of Many". He operated a tavern on El Camino Real at a junction with some minor roads where the parish seat was located; was a commissioner over the sale of town lots; was the first postmaster; and served also as the parish treasurer. In those days mail arrived weekly, brought from Natchitoches by stagecoach or horseback rider, weekly dispatches carried the mail and news further west into Texas.

Colonel John B. Many commanded the strongest garrison in Louisiana. In November, 1823, that was four companies of the 7th Infantry, but by 1825 the strength of Cantonment Jesup was cut down to three companies, but this was surpassed in strength only by the garrison at New Orleans.

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