WELCOME
Welcome to the new website of the Sons of the Republic of Texas Corsicana Chapter 31.
The Corsicana Chapter was chartered about 1980, and went inactive in the 1980-90’s.
In 2026 a new effort began to reactivate the chapter.
In June 2024 Dr. Jeffery Owen, a professor of History at Tyler Junior College visited Corsicana on exploratory expedition to see the feasibility of reactivating the chapter. He visited with the directors of Pioneer Village and Corsicana Public Library and other local genealogical enthusiasts gathering information on past and prospective SRT member candidates.
Dr. Owen was and currently is the SRT District Representative for the Northeast District. As such he is the liaison between chapters in his region and the National SRT organization.
In May 2026 Mic Barnette, a Life member of SRT residing in Corsicana chose to take on the challenge of the reactivation of the chapter. Mic has worked as library associate in the Genealogy Department of the Dallas Public Library for nearly twenty years. The Lloyd DeWitt Bockstruck Collection at the Dallas Library is one of the top ten Genealogy libraries in the United States and has a huge collection of historical and genealogical material useful to potential SRT members.
When prospective members for the Corsicana chapter, any SRT chapter or any heritage/lineage society needs help they may wish to contact or visit Mic at the Dallas Library mic.barnette@dallaslibrary.org
If one does not wish to travel to Dallas for research the Corsicana Public Library is a really good alternate. Dana Stubbs is the librarian in charge. She is very helpful and knowledgeable about Navarro County and surrounding area history. The collection at the Corsicana Public Library is very in-depth assuming your SRT families lived in the area or in Texas in general.
ABOUT The Sons of the Republic of Texas
The Sons of the Republic of Texas is a multi-race hereditary/lineage based patriotic society. We are proud to welcome all men regardless of color or race. Applicants must be over the age of 21 and descend directly from an ancestor (male or female) who resided in the what was the Republic of Texas and what became the State of Texas on February 19, 1846, the date Texas became a State.
There is a subgroup of the society reserved for males under the age of 18. When a Junior member of the SRT attain the age of 18 they can apply to elevate their membership to Regular membership. Since they were already accepted as a Junior member it is not necessary for them to resubmit their genealogical paperwork. It was already established when they became a Junior member. This is a great way to proactively establish membership for one’s male children when applying for their own membership later in life when they choose to join.
SRT has a sister society, the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, which is separate organization but with nearly exact goals and membership rules for women. Currently there is no active DRT chapter in Corsicana but you can find out more at their website https://drtinfo.org/Members/Members/Home.aspx. Should the area eligible ladies wish to reactive their own chapter our SRT members would be elated to help.
Interested in joining the SRT Corsicana Chapter 31 ?
If you are a current member of SRT or interested in joining as a new member please contact:
Mic Barnette mbarnette33@gmail.com or Mic@micbarnette.com
When several men have expressed interest in activating the chapter we’ll plan a get-together somewhere in Corsicana to meet, socialize and make plans how to proceed.
How Do I Apply For Membership
- If you are currently a member of the Sons of the Republic of Texas you can request to be transferred to our chapter or become a dual chapter member.
- If you are currently a member of the Sons of the Republic of Texas and wish to remain with your current chapter and also become a member of the Corsicana Chapter 31 you may do so. You would be considered a Dual SRT chapter member. There would be no charge for your first chapter membership, however, there would be a Dual chapter membership fee.
- If you were a member of the Sons of the Republic of Texas in the past and your membership expired and you wish to activate and update your status to current you would pay a reactivation fee and a fee for the current year.
- If are applying as a totally new member you will have to complete the application process. The process is not difficult but it is time consuming.
- You will need to complete, sign and have the notarized sworn oath statement that everything in your application is true and correct
- You will need a copy (it is not necessary for documents to be certified) your own birth certificate
- If you are married you will need your marriage certificate
- If you are divorced you’ll need your proof of the divorce
- If you have children you will need the birth certificate of each child. This aids your child should or whenever they wish to become a SRT member or Junior member
- You will need a birth, marriage and death (if appropriate) record of each father or mother in each generation between yourself and your qualifying ancestor. SRT requires at least one document showing a genealogical connection of the qualifying ancestor in one generation to the next.
- Should you not be able to locate a document which is missing, lost, destroyed or never created you will have to locate a record that does give the missing information such as a census, military, probate, bible, court or other record. If you encounter this problem check with Mic or another SRT member.
- You will be required to complete the application and cite the pertinent document you located rendering the required information. There is a place on the application for this notating.
- You will have to find three SRT members in good standing to sign and recommend your membership application. Don’t worry, our chapter members will be more than happy to recommend and sign your application.
- The chapter historian will forward you application to the SRT headquarters where three national officers will sign.
- After all the above steps the national office will issue you your Membership Certificate which will be awarded to you at one of the chapter meetings or mailed to you
- At this point you will be a proud SRT member!
- The chapter historian will check your application to be sure your application is complete and accurate
- Here is a link listing all chapters of SRT, their home cities and their District Representatives https://www.srttexas.org/membership.html
- Should you wish to see a list of all qualifying ancestors of current and past SRT members through July 2026, just click on the following link https://www.srttexas.org/membership.html . There also a link on the same page to order information on those ancestors. Here is a link to qualified ancestors in the DRT database up to 2017 https://drtinfo.org/Members/Members/Explore%20Your%20Roots/001DRT-Approved-Ancestors.aspx
- Here is a link to the National SRT website where you will find the membership requirements for the SRT https://www.srttexas.org/membership.html and the online application form and guide to help you complete the application https://www.srttexas.org/membership.html :
Here is a link to the application guidelines: https://www.srttexas.org/ws/media-library/3ed228f4014dc92172885d46babb222f/srt-app-guide-pdf-2026.pdf
Does SRT or DRT Allow Use of DNA With My Application?
Currently SRT nor DRT does not.
Please view the following link on this website addressing the use of DNA with other lineage/heritage- based organizations.
Are There Online Resources To Help Me With My Application?
Yes, visit our Online Resources Link at:
As a rule some of the best documents providing evidence of residence and relationships between people of connecting generations are land, tax, census, court, probate, bible.
There are a multitude of helpful online resources depending what you need.
Researching in Corsicana
The city of Corsicana has a wonderful small yet compact Genealogy research room with a genealogically helpful staff. They are in the same building but in a separate room from the main library collection.
Currently no one on the library staff is a member of SRT. Hopefully that will change in the future. Mic Barnette, one of the organizers of the Corsicana Chapter 31 lives in Corsicana and is available by appointment via email or in person to meet with potential applicants to review applications or discuss application problems.
The library is located at 100 N. 12th St. Corsicana, TX 75110
Their telephone number is 903-654-4810. Fax 903-654-4814
Their Hours are:
Mon-Tues 9 -7, Weds – Fri 9- 5, Sat 9- 3, closed Sunday
Corsicana Public Library website: https://www.cityofcorsicana.com/331/Genealogy-Department
Researching outside Corsicana
If you live outside Corsicana, particularly toward the north, you may wish to visit the Dallas Public Library, 8th Floor, 1515 Young Street in Downtown Dallas where Mic Barnette one of the organizers of the SRT Corsicana Chapter 31 has worked for 20 years.
Mic is quite familiar with the records, databases and sources potential SRT applicants researching at the library would need. Plus, initially he will be the primary person reviewing and first person signing completed applications. Be sure to make an appointment to be sure Mic will be working when you wish to visit.
The Dallas Public Library and the Corsicana Public Library both have Ancestry Library edition, the public version of Ancestry.com. Your tree on Ancestry and similar websites is not valid for SRT membership but the documents you locate there are essential as evidence for documentation for your SRT application.
Dallas is an affiliate Family Search library which allows one to access documents that may be blocked on personal Family Search accounts. Dallas also has Heritage Quest and Fold3 both of which have a lot of records other sites do not have.
Here are some of the webpages describing resources at Dallas Public Library. If you live in or near Corsicana try the Corsicana library first and save gas.
Dallas Public Library Genealogy Department https://www.dallaslibrary.org/research/genealogy
Dallas Public Library Genealogy Databases -all databases available at the library https://www.dallaslibrary.org/research/genealogy
Dallas Public Library Dallas and Texas History https://www.dallaslibrary.org/research/dallas-texas-history
Dallas Public Library Catalogue https://catalog.dallaslibrary.org/polaris/
FamilySearch (Mormon Library) Familysearch.org
Note: To use FamilySearch you will have to create a FamilySearch FREE account. To do so, you will need an email account and create a password. You will then be able to search the FamilySearch databases for free from any computer using your free account. Some databases will restrict access due to copyright or other issues. In most cases you can access those blocked records at any Family History Center or Affiliate Library. Dallas Public Library Genealogy Department is an Affiliate Library.
Texas Databases
Following are a few links to databases. There are many more. For expediency I am including some and will have to come back and add more.
The Texas State Land Office has digitized land patents
Dallas Public Library had the printed Family Maps series showing patents in all published versions of Texas Land Patents as well as for other states.
Tax records exist for Texas 1836-1910 on microfilm and some are digitized online at Ancestry, Family Search and Texas State Archives.
Census records 1790-1950 are on microfilm at Ancestry, My Heritage and Family Search. The very first US census for Texas is 1850. It is also the first US census to list the name age and birthplace of everyone in the household. Dallas also has a printed three volume set of Spanish and Mexican censuses from 1787 Through 1836 listing residents of Texas during the Spanish and Mexican eras of Texas.
There is what is called an 1867 Voters List of Qualified Voters which is a Reconstruction Record. This list names men (only) over the age of 21, White or Black, registering to vote for a new Texas state constitution in the Fall of that year.
The list recorded men’s name, age, county of residence and length of residence in the state, county and precinct, nativity (birth place). If they were naturalized, the state, county and court in which they were naturalized is given.
Dallas has a every-name multi-volume printed series of indexes for the 1867 Voters list as well as microfilm version. Ancestry, the Texas State Library and possibly Family Search have this record online but somewhat difficult to locate online.
Texas State Archives and Library
Genealogy Resources Page https://www.tsl.texas.gov/arc/genfirst
Finding Aids https://txarchives.org/tslac/finding_aids/30109.xml
Republic of Texas Claims https://www.tsl.texas.gov/arc/republicclaims
TARO (Texas Archival Records Online Finding aids) Military Service Records https://txarchives.org/tslac/finding_aids/30007.xml
Portal of Texas History https://texashistory.unt.edu/about/portal/
Tour https://texashistory.unt.edu/tour/
The Portal website is massive and has various databases including documents, books, newspapers, city directories, genealogical periodicals and a host of other resources useful for Texas genealogical and historical research. It also includes newspapers for Oklahoma
Drt links
Index to Military Rolls of The Republic of Texas 1835-1846
San Jacinto Battleground Museum -Library
Texas Beyond History – The Virtual Museum of Texas’ Cultural Heritage
Texas General Land Office – Land Grant Search