Welcome to Donley County, TXGenWeb

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Donley County Archives

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About Donley County

Donley County, in the eastern Panhandle just east of the Llano Estacado, is bordered on the north by Gray County, on the west by Armstrong County, on the east by Collingsworth County, and on the south by Briscoe and Hall counties.

It was named for Stockton P. Donley, a pioneer lawyer. Clarendon, the county seat, is near the center of the county, seventy miles southeast of Amarillo.

The county occupies 929 square miles of rolling prairie and broken rangeland. Its sandy clay, deep loam, and sandy loam support a variety of native grasses as well as cotton, grain sorghum, wheat, and corn.

The area that is now Donley County was part of the domain of the Plains Apaches until the eighteenth century, when Comanches and Kiowas entered the region. Several Spanish and American explorers came through the area; in 1787 Pedro Vial crossed the county, and in 1788 Santiago Fernández followed Vial's route.

The first group of settlers, Methodists from the New York area, moved into Donley County intending to set up a colony. The colonists were sponsored and led by Lewis Henry Carhart, a young Methodist minister, who purchased 343 sections of the newly formed Donley County and established his colony at the junction of Carrol Creek and the Salt Fork of the Red River.

By 1890, 1,056 people were living in Donley County, and the population increased to 2,756 by 1900. This growth can be attributed to the expansion of ranching, railroading, and, after 1890, farming.

By the 1980s Donley County had become an agricultural center based on both cattle raising and farming, with supplemental income from the college, the lake, and some small distribution companies. The county produces a small amount of natural gas.

The majority of the population lives in towns; local communities include Ashtola, Hedley, Howardwick, and Lelia Lake. Clarendon is the county's largest town and its seat of government, and supports the Saint's Roost Museum.

Search The Donley County Site

To post your Queries, Biographies, Bible Records, Deeds, Obituaries,
Pensions, and Wills, please visit the new Rootsweb Message Board
for Donley County, Texas.

Donley County Message Board

Donley County Resources
Bibliography Biographies Cemeteries Census Records Churches Clarendon College County History County Libraries County Lookups County Postcards Creeks, Lakes, & Rivers Historical Markers Land Abstracts						Landmarks Links Maps The Panhandle of Texas Photographs Postmasters & Post Offices Queries Ranches S. S. Death Index Texas Courthouses Texas Historical Literature Texas Prehistory Towns
Hedley High School, Graduating Class - 1913/14 Donley County Rootsweb Resource Page TXGenWeb Alphabetical Counties List USGenWeb Special Projects World War I Civilian Draft Registration

Obituaries Indexed by town, including Clarendon, Hedley, and Lelia Lake.
Donley County Obituaries - 2003 Source: Amarillo Globe-News

Citizens Cemetery Transcription transcription submitted by Paula Hayworth updates submitted by Billie Shaffer
Citizens Cemetery Tombstone Photos

Donley County Mailing List Surname Project

1880 Census Records for Donley County ~ submitted by Billie Shaffer ~

World War I and World War II
Texas Panhandle Casualties
and Missing in Action

World War I

World War II

Source: Amarillo Globe-News

NARA -- Access to Military Service and Pension Records

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the official repository for records of military personnel who have been discharged from the U.S. Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Coast Guard.

Donley County Birth Records
1926	1927	1928	1929	1930
1931	1932	1933	1934	1935
1936	1937	1938	1939	1940
1941	1942	1943	1944	1945
1946	1947	1948	1949	1950
1951	1952	1953	1954	1955
1956	1957	1958	1959	1960

Donley County Marriage Records
1966	1967	1968	1969	1970

Donley County Death Records
1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975
1976	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987
1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998

Texas Panhandle Ranches
	Ranches.org is home for several Texas panhandle ranches. Included on the site, which is maintained by rancher Jay O'Brien, are biographical sketches, ranch histories, and information about the McLean Feedyard. Ranches included are: The Swamp--O'Brien Ranch, the JA, The Circle, and the Exell Ranch. Biographies include: John G. O'Brien, G.W. O'Brien, Will O'Brien, Exie Eagan O'Brien, James Christopher Paul, and Howard Paul.

Donley County Family Genealogies
Rufus Rankin Reed Family submitted by Anita (Tucker) Poole
Cherry Family submitted by Shelly Kay Eitniear-Cherry
Rampy Family submitted by Donnas Admire
Freeman Family submitted by Billie Harris Shaffer
Harris Family submitted by Billie Harris Shaffer
Risley Family submitted by Billie Harris Shaffer
If you would like to submit your Donley County Family Genealogy for inclusion on the page, please send it as an e-mail attachment to me at TimeTrvlrO@aol.com. Plain text-only (.txt) formatting is preferred. Your genealogy does not have to be exclusive to Donley County, but your family should have been residents of the county for a period of time.

Donley County Mailing List

Topics of genealogical and historical
significance to Donley County are discussed,
as well as queries of local interest.

To subscribe, send the command subscribe
(and nothing else) to
TXDONLEY-L-REQUEST@rootsweb.com.

Neighboring Counties

Donley County

HELLO - WELCOME!

My name is LaRae Halsey-Brooks, and my daughter,
Eireann Brooks, and I are the County Co-Coordinators
for the Donley County TXGenWeb Project.

If you would like to contribute your research findings
or volunteer in another capacity
for the Donley County TXGenWeb Project page,
please let us know.

Thanks!
LaRae & Eireann

If you are interested in sponsoring a county
in the TXGenWeb Project,
or have questions regarding the TXGenWeb Project,
please contact:

TXGenWeb State Coordinator - Shirley Cullum
Asst State Coordinator - Elaine Martin

For more information, you may also visit
the Texas Counties page.

If you like what you've seen here, please cast your vote.
County of the Month
Thank you!

Thank you for your continued contributions
to the Donley County TXGenWeb Project!

Billie Harris Shaffer

Donley County Co-Coordinators:
LaRae Halsey-Brooks & Eireann Brooks

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This page was last updated January 1, 2012.