Spears · Texas · 1867 voter registration

Spears in the 1867 Texas voter registration: 14 freedmen

14 freedmen named Spears registered to vote in Texas between 1867 and 1870. Most registered in Galveston County (3), Gonzales County (3) and Collin County (2). The birthplaces they reported most often were Alabama, Georgia and Kentucky. The earliest of them reached Texas about 1841.

Map of Texas counties in 1870 with the counties where the Spearses registered highlighted
Counties where freedmen named Spears registered, on the 1870 county map
14
Freedmen
8
Counties
Alabama
Largest birthplace
1841
Earliest arrival
1860s
Fullest decade

Where the Spearses registered

Texas counties where the Spearses registered
CountyFreedmen%
Galveston County321%
Gonzales County321%
Collin County214%
Wharton County214%
Anderson County17%
Angelina County17%
Brazos County17%
Walker County17%

Where the Spearses were born

Birthplaces the Spearses reported
BirthplaceFreedmen%
Alabama120%
Georgia120%
Kentucky120%
Mississippi120%
Missouri120%

When the Spearses reached Texas

Reported arrival decades for the Spearses
DecadeFreedmen
1840s
1
1850s
6
1860s
7

Every Spears in the register

The Spearses in the register, 1 to 14 of 14
NameCountyBirthplaceReached Texas
Aaron SpearsBrazos County1859
Abraham SpearsAnderson CountyGeorgia1851
Abraham SpearsGonzales County1857
Andrew SpearsCollin CountyKentucky1861
Austin SpearsWalker CountyMississippi1841
Edmund SpearsGonzales County1858
Frank SpearsWharton County1866
Gilbert SpearsGalveston County1862
Henry SpearsGalveston County
Hiram SpearsCollin CountyMissouri1861
Lewis SpearsGalveston County1858
Nelson SpearsWharton County1866
Rufus SpearsGonzales County1859
Thomas SpearsAngelina CountyAlabama1861

Spears genealogy in Texas

How do I find an ancestor named Spears in Texas?

Start with the county: this is African American genealogy from the register itself. Galveston County holds 3 of the 14, Gonzales County 3. Open a name to read the original handwritten register page and the names written around it. Names were written in more than one form, so try the sound of the name as well as its letters.

Where did the Spearses in Texas come from?

They reported Alabama (1), Georgia (1) and Kentucky (1) as their birthplaces most often. These are the answers the men themselves gave a board of registrars between 1867 and 1870.

Which Texas counties had the most freedmen named Spears?

Galveston County (3), Gonzales County (3), Collin County (2). In all, 14 registered across 8 Texas counties between 1867 and 1870.

Sources

Figures come from the 1867 to 1870 Texas voter registration held by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Registrars wrote each name as they heard it, so Spears appears in the register in more than one form. About Enslaved Texas.

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