Bosque County Deed Indexes

This page provides various links to Deed Indexes available online with helpful instructions on how to use them. To use the indexes, it is useful to know some terminology first:

Direct Index - This is an alphabetical listing of the Grantor's name. In general, each line gives the Grantor's name followed by the Grantee's name, the kind of instrument (deed, release, etc.), the deed book volume, and the deed book page number.

Reverse Index or Indirect Index - This is an alphabetical listing of the Grantee's name. In general, each line gives the Grantee's name followed by the Grantor's name, the kind of instrument (deed, release, etc.), the deed book volume, and the deed book page number.

General Index - This is an alphabetical listing of both Grantor and Grantee names. This type of index was used in the earliest years (1847-1871). In the first half of the pages, the listings are alphabetical by Grantor's name. In the second half of pages, the listings are alphabetical by Grantee's name. This index not only gives the kind of deed, the deed book volume, and the deed book page number, but it also provides additional information such as date of deed, purchase price, acreage, and date of recording.

Alphabetical Order - Alphabetical order does not mean strictly alphabetical order. Depending on the index, each index is separated into sections according to the first letter of the last name (A, B, C, etc.) or sometimes the first two or three letters of the last name (AA-ABA, ABB, ABD-E, etc.). Within each section, the names are alphabetically random, so you might have to read the entire section to find a name. Also, sometimes a letter's section gets filled up and the names continue on blank pages at the end of the volume. If you get to the end of a letter section without finding who you are looking for, make sure you check to see if there is a note at the end of the section referring you to a page at the end of the volume.

Date order - Indexes are separated into different book volumes by date ranges. When one volume gets filled up, another volume is started. Sometimes, different volumes can span the same years if one letter's section fills up prematurely and is not continued at the end of the volume. Also, it is very important to understand that the deeds and the index entries are based on the date the deed was recorded, not the date the deed was executed. Recording often occurs days or weeks after a deed is executed and can occasionally occur decades after the deed was executed.

iDoc Historical Indexes (1847-1997) - These are images of the original handwritten index pages from 1847 through 1997. Viewing these indexes on iDoc is free although iDoc charges to see the actual deed record. To use these indexes, click on the link above. When the page appears, click on "Land Records". You will be presented with three choices (Direct Index to Deeds, General Index to Deeds, and Reverse Index to Deeds). Make your selection, and you will be presented with more choices about the volume (date range) you want to view. Make your selection, and another series of choices by letter will appear. Select the letter you want to browse and the pages will appear. You can then scroll through the pages or use the navigation at the top of the page. There are a few quirks about the historical indexes that you should understand. The General Index to Deeds indexes deed books E through J including dates from 1847 to 1871. Each letter includes both the direct and reverse index. On iDoc, only the Direct Index to Deeds includes Vol. 1 which is the patents. The volumes 1880 and 1892 in the Direct Index to Deeds and the Reverse Index to Deed Books are actually Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, and they share some significant overlap in years.
Go to the iDoc Historical Indexes

iDoc Searchable Index (1984-present) - This is a digitally searchable database of more current deeds. Searching on iDoc is free although iDoc charges to see the actual deed record. The search page is fairly self-expanatory. You will generally be filling in only the Party Name and possibly a date range under the Record Date or the type of instrument under Instrument Type.
Go to the iDoc Searchable Index