micbarnette.com

SRT Corsicana Chapter

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 a 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 we would like to proceed.   

How Do I Apply For Membership?

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. If you 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.
    1. You will need to complete, sign and have the notarized sworn oath statement that everything in your application is true and correct
    1. You will need a copy (it is not necessary for documents to be certified) of your own birth certificate
    1. If you are married you will need your marriage certificate
    1. If you are divorced you’ll need your proof of the divorce
    1. 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
    1. 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.
    1. 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.
    1. 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.
    1. 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.
    1. The chapter historian will forward you application to the SRT headquarters where three national officers will sign.
    1. 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
    1. 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

Following is a link to the application  guidelines: https://www.srttexas.org/ws/media-library/3ed228f4014dc92172885d46babb222f/srt-app-guide-pdf-2026.pdf

Following is a link to the actual SRT Application. Actually the link will take you to the Membership Requirements page. Scroll down the page and click on the Application icon. Clicking on that icon will create a new “download” application icon whicch will appear on the top right of your page. Click on that icon and an editable pdf form will open in a new page. Good Luck! If you need help do not hestitate to contact Mic or another member. https://www.srttexas.org/membership/

Following is a link to the SRT Constitution abd By-Laws https://www.srttexas.org/constitution-/-bylaws-2/

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. https://micbarnette.com/?p=498

Are There Online Resources To Help Me With My Application?

Yes, visit our Online Resources Link at: https://www.srttexas.org/membership/

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 headed by Dana Stubbs. They are in the same building but in a dedicated genealogy room from the main library collection.

They have a large collection of family vertical files to help candidates.

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 and sign 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-Weds 10-5 pm Thurs 9-4 pm    Fri Closed

Saturdays (1st, 3rd, 4th ) 10-3 pm ,  (2nd Saturday Closed) Sunday- Closed

Corsicana Public Library website:  https://www.cityofcorsicana.com/331/Genealogy-Department

Researching outside Corsicana

If you live outside Corsicana, toward Waco, you may wish to visit the Waco McClennan Library headed by Bill Buckner located in the West Waco Library at 5301 Bosque Blvd in Waco. The library has a large veritcal file collection of family group sheets.

Their phone number is 254 750 5945

Their hours are : Mon: 10 am – 8 pm, Tue: Closed, Wed – Sat: 10 am – 6 pm. Sun: Closed

If you live towards the north of Corsicana towards Dallas, 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. The collection is considered to be one of the top ten genealogical collections in all of the United States.

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. There is a second member of the staff who is a member of SRT and be a second signature on your application.

The Dallas Public Library, the Waco and Corsicana Public Library each 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 and Waco are affiliate partners of the 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) https://Familysearch.org

Note: To use FamilySearch, it is FREE, but 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 millions 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. A link to their website can be found in the “link” section below.

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 all 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 an 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.

Helpful Website Links

About the Sons of the Republic of Texas https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/sons-of-the-republic-of-texas

Sons of the Republic of Texas Website https://www.srttexas.org/

Sons of the Republic of Texas Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/SRTTexas/

Texas State Archives and Library

Researching Republic of Texas Ancestors Introduction https://www.tsl.texas.gov/node/70298

Texas Genealogy Resources Page https://www.tsl.texas.gov/arc/genfirst

Texas 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) Texas Military Service Records https://txarchives.org/tslac/finding_aids/30007.xml

Other Texas Links

 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

Texas General Land Office

Texas General Land Office  Surname Search Database Index  https://www.glo.texas.gov/archives-heritage/search-our-collections/surname-index

Texas General Land Office-Land Grant Search Database https://www.glo.texas.gov/archives-heritage/search-our-collections/land-grant-search

Texas General Land Office Forms and Handouts https://www.glo.texas.gov/resources/archives-heritage-forms-and-handouts

More Links

          Handbook of Texas Online   https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook

          Find a Grave https://findagrave.com  Note: on my computer this site comes up super small. You may have to adjust your computer to see it properly

Cyndislist https://Cyndislist.com Note:  this database has links to nearly all websites anywhere on the Internet arranged by subject

There are a multitude of websites of interest to genealogists and historians. Ill try to add more when I have a few -months