Charles, I have read that after the second courthouse fire in 1877, the county had almost re-created the deed records before the third fire in 1886. There have been 3 "courthouse" fires in Hamilton county--although the first in 1863 was in the building rented/leased by the county and used as a courthouse. The second fire in 1877 was the first building constructed to serve as a courthouse. It is my assumption that it was possible to secure copies of deed records from the state-of course, at that time copies were handwritten. There are deeds in Hamilton County preceeding the 1886 fire. I posed the question to Mrs. Virginia Lovell, who has just retired as county clerk (Without a doubt, Mrs. Lovell was the most courteous county clerk in the entire state of Texas for over two decades!) Mrs. Lovell did now know the processes or procedures used to re-create deed records after the 1886 fire. In some accounts of the second fire, I have read that some records were stored in a safe, and also read that possibly although badly scorched some records were salvaged. I have not found anything definitive about the surviving records. I know that the marriage record books were burned; however, there have been numerous early marriage licenses designated as "unclaimed." Some of these preceeded the last fire. Many more early marriages were recorded on a list. Sometimes the information was complete, but frequently it was not. Some have only a year for the date. One even has only the name of the bride. Either these marriage licenses survived the fire, or couples brought in their marriage licenses to be recorded on lists. They were not recorded in the new marriage book. For clarification, I am using the term "Marriage License" to refer to the document purchased by the couple before marriage and on which the minister/official documented the date on which he performed the marriage. Marriage licenses are normally taken to the county clerk by the minister/official to be recorded by the county clerk and then returned to the couple following being recorded in a Marriage Record Book. "Marriage Record" is the information recorded in a Marriage Record Book. After the Feb., 1886, fire it obviously took time to secure new books and to begin recording again. Marriages were not recorded in chronological order. Of course, when the minister/official submitted the marrige license to the county clerk also effects the date the marriage is recorded offiicially. The very first marriage recorded in Hamilton County, TX, Marriage Record Book #1 on page #1 was the marriage of John Potts to Mrs. Audora Smith on 6-1-1886. The next marriage (also on page one) was the marriage of C. T. Hubbard to Miss Idela Crow on 2-21-1886. Elreeta ---------- > From: Charles Blakley <cblakley@flash.net> > To: TXHAMILT-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: Courthouse fire of February, 1886 > Date: Tuesday, January 12, 1999 9:21 AM > > > *The marriage record book in which this marriage was recorded > > burned in the courthouse fire of February, 1886. The marriage was > > written on a list of early marriages following the 1886 fire. > > Do you know, generally, what records were burned in the above fire, and > what records survived? I'm most interested in the marriage and the deed > records. >