Partners in Conservation — the Austin Genealogical Society and the Texas General Land Office
Note: This post was originally published on July 6, 2017.
The General Land Office Archives is home to a growing collection of 36 million documents, maps, and sketches that detail the history of the public lands of Texas dating back to the era of Spanish rule. This priceless collection is protected and preserved by state-of-the-art facilities and the best modern archival practices, funded by a budget allocated by the state Legislature. What this budget does not include, however, is money for conservation — that is, the stabilization and repair of an item in order to maintain its informational value.[1] To help bridge this financial gap, the GLO relies on the entrepreneurial efforts of the Save Texas History Program working in conjunction with generous donations from outside organizations, including the Austin Genealogical Society, to ensure the long-term survival of some of the GLO’s most fragile documents.
The Austin Genealogical Society (AGS) has been a reliable partner in this cause, including group visits to the Archives, participating in the Save Texas History Symposium, and a $1,000 donation in 2016 to fund the conservation of the Austin City Lots and Outlots Records. This year, they have doubled down on their efforts with a $2,000 donation to continue this important conservation work. The GLO, through the Save Texas History Program, will match this contribution, bringing the total funds up to $4,000 this year for the Austin City Lots and Outlots Records.
Anne Mamiya, president of the AGS, sees the donation as an investment in the future of Austin-based research:
“The Austin Genealogical Society is pleased to partner with the Texas General Land Office through the Save Texas History program to contribute towards the conservation of the Austin City Lots and Outlots Records. These types of records are aligned with our mission for their genealogical value as well as the geographical focus of the collection. We are grateful for programs such as this to help conserve these documents for the future.”
“The heart of the Save Texas History program is collaborating with both public and private enterprise to ensure our collections last forever so that we can share them with more Texans. We truly appreciate the Austin Genealogical Society partnering with us to make sure that the Austin City Lots and Outlots Records are conserved for the future,” said Mark Lambert, Deputy Director of the General Land Office Archives and Records. “The Austin Genealogical Society is a valuable partner in helping us save Texas history.”
The Austin City Lots and Outlots Records lay a vital foundation for the historical study of Texas’s capital city. The collection contains 18 boxes of sales certificates and two bound index volumes. The sales certificates were issued by the Comptroller and indicate receipt of payment for Austin city lots and outlots, and authorize the General Land Office to issue patents to the purchasers. The slimmer bound volume is a surname index to the City of Austin Register of lots and outlots sold. Additional names were added in blue ink in 1957. The Register itself lists city lots and outlots, when the land was patented and by whom. The Register is arranged by block, then lot number, while the surname index is arranged alphabetically.
These records have been digitized and can be searched online in the land grant database by typing “Austin City Lots” into the Class field. Some names of early Texans are quite recognizable, like famous Austinite and Archives War participant Angelina Eberly, who purchased Lots 1, 2, and 3 in Block 71, and none other than Sam Houston, who purchased Lot 5 in Block 46.
Conserving these documents will work towards the shared goal of the GLO and the AGS to ensure that the Austin City Lots and Outlots Records will be available for generations of future researchers.
About the Austin Genealogical Society
The Austin Genealogical Society (AGS) is organized and operated as a non-profit, tax-exempt 501(c)3 corporation. The mission of AGS is to promote an interest in genealogy; investigate, collect, record, publish and deposit in libraries, archives, and digital or electronic repositories the genealogical and historical materials of Texas, with particular focus on items pertaining to the City of Austin and/or Travis County; educate its members and the general public in the use of historical and genealogical reference materials; and support genealogical libraries, archival collections, and access to and preservation of records that will benefit the research efforts of the Society. To learn more, visit www.austintxgensoc.org.
[1] To learn more about preservation, conservation, and restoration, click here.
