Autauga County Alabama Genealogy

Autauga County Alabama Genealogy is being developed as a genealogical and historical resource for your personal use. It contains information and records for Autauga County Alabama ancestry, family history, and genealogy. Specifically, it provides sources for birth records, death records, marriage records, census records, tax records, court records, and military records. It also provides some historical details about different times and people in Autauga County Alabama history.

Created by the legislature, November 30, 1818. Autauga County was formed from Montgomery County; by act of December 13, 1820, the boundaries in the north and northwest, were enlarged; and January 12, 1827, the line between Autauga and Shelby Counties was more definitely fixed. In 1868 part of its territory was taken to establish the new counties of Chilton (first Baker) and Elmore on the north and east. It was named for Autauga Creek, a bold stream running through the county. The creek received its designation from the Indian village of that name, situated below the point where the creek runs into the Alabama River. Its area is 584 square miles, or 373,760 acres.

The act creating the county provided that for the time being court should be held “at Jackson’s mill, on the Autauga Creek,” but, for the want of necessary buildings, might “adjourn to such other place contiguous thereto as may seem most proper.” The legislature, November 22, 1819, named Robert Gaston, Zachariah Pope, Alsey Pollard. Alexander R. Hutchinson, and Zaccheus Powell, as commissioners to “fix on a site for the public buildings” in the county, and to contract for and superintend the building of “a suitable courthouse, jail, and pillory.” They were paid the modest sum of $15 each for their services. The town of Washington was chosen. It was located on the Alabama River at the mouth of Autauga Creek, and on the site of the Indian village of Atagi. It was one of the first settled portions of the county. The first houses were erected in 1817. For about 15 years it held a position of importance in the political, social and business life of the county.

Because of the location of Washington in the extreme southern part of the county, there was much dissatisfaction, and the legislature, December 28, 1827, authorized a vote to be taken at the general election in August, 1828, “for the purpose of ascertaining the wishes of the citizens of said county, with regard to the removal of the seat of justice from its present location, to or near the center of said county.” The sheriff was directed to certify the result to each of the members of the legislature from the county, but what the vote was is not available. Possibly it was in favor of retaining Washington as the county seat. However, on December 2, 1830, the legislature appointed John Essel, John Hunt, Francis Baker, Enoch Islands and Henley Brown as commissioners to select a seat of justice, having due regard “to cen-trality, population, health and general convenience.”

The commissioners selected a site near the center of the county, which was called Kingston. The place was without other advantages than its central location, and a Wetumpka editor denominated it the “Great Sahara.” During its existence as the county seat it had only a limited population.

The legislature removed the county seat to Prattville, December 12, 1868, and Kingston became a deserted village. It is no longer a post office, and maps designate the site as Old Kingston. About two miles away the name is preserved as a station on the Mobile & Ohio Railroad.

Townships of Autauga County Alabama

Cities

Millbrook
Prattville (county seat)

Towns

Autaugaville

Villages

Billingsley

Unincorporated Communities

Bethel Grove
Bonita
Booth
Browntown
Dosterville
Evergreen
Forester
Fremont
Haynes
Hunting Ridge
Independence
Joffre
Jones
Kingston
Langford MH Park
Live Oaks
Melmar
Milton

Mount Sinai
Mulberry
New Prospect
Oak Grove
Peace
Poseys Crossroads
Pyron
Statesville
Stoney Point
Vida
Vida Junction
Vine Hill
Wadsworth
Washington Hill
Whispering Pines
White City
White Water
Winslow

Census-designated places

Marbury
Pine Level

Ghost towns

Washington

Autauga County Towns in 1850

Chestnut
Coosada
Fanning
Hester
Huddleston
Independence
Kingston

Milton
Mulberry
Pine Flat
Prattville
Vernon
Washington
Wetumpka

Autauga County Towns in 1860

Autaugaville
Chestnut Creek
Independence
Kingston
Milton

Mulberry
Pine Flat
Prattville
Robinson Springs
Wetumpka

Biographies of Autauga County Alabama

Cemeteries of Autauga County Alabama

Cemeteries are one of the most likely places people will search when looking for ancestors. Many of the old cemeteries only have records left as the cemetery itself went so many years without care and the stones were used for other purposes, like leveling a building!!

  • Cemeteries of Autauga County, Alabama Film # 008508077, Item 2 (images 213-776)
    Microreproduction of original published: Prattville, Ala. : Autauga Genealogical Society, 1989. 553 p. Names arranged by surname and also in cemetery where found. For complete explanation of contents contained herein see introduction at front of book.
  • Alabama cemetery records
    Copied by members of the L.D.S. Church in Alabama.

Hosted at USGenWeb Archives:

Hosted at Tracking Your Alabama Roots

Census and Tax Records for Autauga County Alabama

Census records provide the information needed for you to trace your ancestors as they moved from one place to another. By carefully looking at the neighbors you can often find other family members living close together, this is called FAN Research, and can be used to break down stubborn brick walls in your ancestry. A census search is one of the most important things you will do in your family research.

1830 Autauga County, Alabama Census

1840 Autauga County, Alabama Census

1850 Autauga County, Alabama Census

1860 Autauga County, Alabama Census

1865-1867 Alabama Tax Lists

1870 Autauga County, Alabama Census

1880 Autauga County, Alabama Census

1890 Autauga County, Alabama Census

1900 Autauga County, Alabama Census

1910 Autauga County, Alabama Census

1920 Autauga County, Alabama Census

1930 Autauga County, Alabama Census

1940 Autauga County, Alabama Census

1950 Autauga County, Alabama Census

Church Records for Autauga County Alabama

Church records and the information they provide vary significantly depending on the denomination and the record keeper. They may contain information about members of the congregation, such as age, date of baptism, christening, or birth; marriage information and maiden names; and death date.

Court Records for Autauga County Alabama

Autauga County Alabama Orphan Court Records

Autauga County Alabama Chancery Court Records

According to Black’s Law Dictionary, a chancery cause is a case of equity where “Justice is administered according to fairness as contrasted with the strictly formulated rules of common law.” In layman’s terms, a chancery case was one that could not be readily decided by existing written laws. A judge, not a jury, determines the outcome of the case. These types of court documents are useful when researching genealogical information and land or estate divisions and may contain correspondence, lists of heirs, or vital statistics, among other items. Cases in chancery often address estate and business disputes, debt, the resolution of land disputes, and divorce.

A chancery case began with the bill of complaint, explaining the background of the action, followed by an answer from the parties being sued. Court appointed commissioners decided a fair and equitable settlement of the case based on the evidence presented and reported their findings to the court. The court’s decision or final decree was the last step in the proceedings of a chancery case. Cases in chancery could be heard in any court.

Autauga County Alabama Probate Records

Probate records are used to legally dispose of a person’s estate after his or her death. The probate process transfers the legal responsibility for payment of taxes, care and custody of dependent family members, liquidation of debts, and transfer of property title. The transfer is to an executor or executrix if the deceased had made a will, to an administrator or administratrix if the deceased had not made a will, or to a guardian or conservator if the deceased had heirs under the age of twenty-one or if heirs were incompetent due to disease or disability. Most probate records were created on a county level, though many were later sent to the Archives. The contents of probate records vary greatly depending on the prevailing law and the personality of the record keeper. The death date, residence, and other facts that were current at the time of the probate proceeding are quite reliable, though there is still a chance of misinformation. The records may omit the names of deceased family members and those who have previously received an inheritance, or the spouse mentioned may not be the parent of the children mentioned.

Probate Records may give the decedent’s date of death, names of his or her spouse, children, parents, siblings, in-laws, neighbors, associates, relatives, and their places of residence.

In Autauga County Alabama the Judge of Probate holds the probate, land and military records.

The county courthouse can be a treasure trove of information. You can find almost any legal document on your ancestor registered there. Most of the Vital Records records from county courthouse’s have now been transferred to the state and are in one central place.

Miscellaneous Autauga County Alabama Court Records

Ethnic Records of Autauga County Alabama

Autauga County Alabama Black Genealogy

Genealogical resources for descendants of black ancestors who resided in Autauga County Alabama. These records are specific to black research, and lean heavily to pre 1900 research.

  • Alabama African American Records
  • Alabama, Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1872
    The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands (often called the Freedmen’s Bureau) was created in 1865 at the end of the American Civil War to supervise relief efforts including education, health care, food and clothing, refugee camps, legalization of marriages, employment, labor contracts, and securing back pay, bounty payments and pensions. These records include letters and endorsements sent and received, account books, applications for rations, applications for relief, court records, labor contracts, registers of bounty claimants, registers of complaints, registers of contracts, registers of disbursements, registers of freedmen issued rations, registers of patients, reports, rosters of officers and employees, special and general orders and circulars received, special orders and circulars issued, records relating to claims, court trials, property restoration, and homesteads. This collection corresponds with NARA microfilm publication M1900, Records of the Field Offices for the State of Alabama, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1872.
  • United States, Freedmen’s Branch Records, 1872-1878
    The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands (often called the Freedmen’s Bureau) was created in 1865 at the end of the American Civil War to supervise relief efforts including education, health care, food and clothing, refugee camps, legalization of marriages, employment, labor contracts, and securing back pay, bounty payments and pensions. These records include letters and endorsements sent and received, account books, applications for rations, applications for relief, court records, labor contracts, registers of bounty claimants, registers of complaints, registers of contracts, registers of disbursements, registers of freedmen issued rations, registers of patients, reports, rosters of officers and employees, special and general orders and circulars received, special orders and circulars issued, records relating to claims, court trials, property restoration, and homesteads. This collection corresponds with NARA microfilm publication M2029, The records of the Freedmen’s Branch in the Office of the Adjutant General are part of Records of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands.
  • 1850 Free Persons of Color, Autauga County, Alabama
  • 1860 Free Persons of Color, Autauga County, Alabama

Autauga County Alabama Native American

Genealogy of Autauga County Alabama

History of Autauga County Alabama

Masonic Lodge Records

Voting registers

Alabama Voting Registers for 1867

Registration book of voters, 1908-1918
Microreproduction of originals housed in the Autauga County Courthouse in Prattville, Alabama. Some pages wanting, some years missing.

Lists of People from Autauga County Alabama

Land Records for Autauga County Alabama

Land and property records can place an ancestor in a particular location, provide economic information, and reveal family relationships. Land records include: deeds, abstracts and indexes, mortgages, leases, grants and land patents. Land records began in 1868, and the Probate Judge for Some County Alabama has these records.

In Autauga County Alabama the Judge of Probate holds the land records.

Maps of Autauga County Alabama

1884 Map of Autauga County Alabama
Cutout showing Autauga County from the Map of the state of Alabama : to accompany Ross A. Smith’s Alabama State gazetteer and business directory, 1884-85

Alabama Maps is an ongoing project of the Cartographic Research Laboratory, which operates under the auspices of the College of Arts and Sciences at The University of Alabama. The Historical Map Archive is a digitized collection of selected map holdings from the University of Alabama Map Library, the W. S. Hoole Special Collections Library, the Rucker Agee Collection of the Birmingham Public Library, the Geological Survey of Alabama, and the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

Military Records of Autauga County Alabama

In Autauga County Alabama the Judge of Probate holds the military records.

War of 1812

Civil War

World War 1

World War 2

Korean War

  • Alabama Soldiers in the Korean War, 1950-1952 $
    Staff members from the Alabama Department of Archives and History (ADAH) created these index cards to documenting the military service of Alabamians during the Korean War. According to the ADAH, staffers extracted details from “clippings, brochures, reference correspondence, photocopies and typescripts of original documents, and various printed materials in the ADAH collections.”
  • Korean War Casualty List
    The National Archives and Records Administration prepared these Korean War casualty lists by creating extracts from the military casualty data files in the Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense (Record Group 330). The lists are based on the “home of record – state” data provided by the serviceman or woman upon last entrance into military service. “Home of record” does not necessarily refer to the place of birth, residence of next of kin, place of longest residence, or other common uses of the term “hometown.

Vietnam War

  • Vietnam War Casualty List
    The National Archives and Records Administration prepared these Vietnam War casualty lists by creating extracts from the military casualty data files in the Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense (Record Group 330). The lists are based on the “home of record – state” data provided by the serviceman or woman upon last entrance into military service. “Home of record” does not necessarily refer to the place of birth, residence of next of kin, place of longest residence, or other common uses of the term “hometown.”

Naturalization Records for Autauga County Alabama

The act and procedure of becoming a citizen of a country is called naturalization. In the U.S., naturalization is a judicial procedure that flows from Congressional legislation. However, from the time the first naturalization act was passed in 1790 until 1906, there were no uniform standards. As a consequence, before September 1906, various federal, state, county, and local courts generated a wide variety of citizenship records that are stored in sundry courts, archives, warehouses, libraries, and private collections. After 1906 the vast majority of naturalizations took place in federal courts.

Newspapers in Autauga County Alabama

Newspapers provide a gold mine of information of people, movements, and lives of people who live in the area at the given time of these papers.

Vital Records for Autauga County Alabama

Vital records, as their name suggests, are connected with central life events: birth, marriage, and death. Maintained by civil authorities, they are prime sources of genealogical information; but, unfortunately, official vital records are available only for relatively recent periods. These records, despite their recent creation in the United States, are critically important in genealogical research, often supplying details on family members well back into the nineteenth century. [1]The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy, by Loretto Szucs and Sandra Luebking.

Bible Records

Birth Records

The registration of births on the county level began in 1881; however, state-level registration of deaths in Alabama did not begin until 01 January 1908.

Death Records

The registration of deaths on the county level began in 1881; however, state-level registration of deaths in Alabama did not begin until 01 January 1908.

You can access the Social Security Index below for recent deaths (post 1962) and utilize the cemetery listings available at this site for records of gravestones. Also, try the probate and estate listings on the court records page. It may be possible that they left a will that was later probated.

  • Autauga County Death Index 1908-1912. Batch B541608
  • Social Security Index (post 1962 deaths)
  • Federal death records of Alabama, 1860 : Autauga, Baldwin, Barbour, Bibb, Blount and Butler Counties
    Typescript transcription of the 1860 Mortality Census.
  • Alabama, Deaths and Burials Index, 1881-1974 $.
    Volunteers extracted the details in this index from microfilmed copies of church, civil, family, and other records of Alabama deaths and burials. There are over 15,000 records recorded for people who died or were buried in Autauga County Alabama.
  • Alabama, Deaths, 1908-1974
    Name index to death certificates from the state of Alabama, 1908-1974. The index includes name of the deceased, county of death, date of death, and the state certificate number (volume and page).
  • Alabama Deaths and Burials, 1881-1952
    Name index to death and burial records from the state of Alabama. Microfilm copies of these records are available at the Family History Library and Family History Centers.
  • Alabama Deaths, 1908-59 $
    This database is an index of deaths recorded by the state of Alabama from 1908 to 1959. The index includes name of the deceased, county of death, date of death, and the state certificate number (volume and page). This database will prove useful to those seeking Alabama ancestors.
  • Alabama, Marriages, Deaths, Wills, Court, and Other Records, 1784-1920 $
    This database contains images of index cards created to document holdings at the Alabama Department of Archives and History (ADAH) by name and subject. The cards include references to births, marriages, deaths and burials, wills, court records, and, according to the ADAH’s description, “occupation, land ownership, sureties, registered voters, petitions, interments, plaintiffs and defendants, and other pertinent biographical and family information.”
  • Alabama Death Record of State Convicts, 1843-1951 $
    Death records for Alabama state convicts who died while either a prisoner in custody or on parole are in this database. The records are ordered chronologically and in the 1908–1951 records chronologically and then alphabetically.

Marriage Records

Divorce Records

Though divorce decrees were tried in county chancery court until 1865, the state legislature had the exclusive right to finalize all divorce decrees. These early decrees are thus a part of the legislative record and are published in the Senate and House Journals. Clerk Circuit Court has divorce records.

References

References
↑1The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy, by Loretto Szucs and Sandra Luebking.

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