Chilton County Alabama Genealogy

Chilton County Alabama Genealogy is being developed as a genealogical and historical resource for your personal use. It contains information and records for Chilton 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 in Chilton County Alabama history.

Created by the legislature. December 30, 1868. Chilton’s territory was taken from Autauga. Bibb, Perry and Shelby Counties. Its area is 729 square miles or 466,560 acres.

When first established it was given the name Baker, for Alfred Baker, a citizen of the Autauga section of the county. On December 17, 1871. it was changed to the present name, in honor of Judge William Parrish Chilton, chief justice of the supreme court, and later a member of the provisional and regular Congress of the Confederacy from the Montgomery District.

Locations in Chilton County Alabama

Cities

  • Clanton (county seat)
  • Jemison
  • Calera

Towns

  • Maplesville
  • Thorsby

Unincorporated Communities

Adams
Bessie
Campbell
Center Hill
Collins Chapel
Cooper
Dixie
Enterprise
Fairview
Falakto
Gap of the Mountain
Highland
Hubbard
Isabella
Jumbo
Kalona
Kincheon
Lomax
Mars Hill
Midway

Mineral Springs
Minooka
Mountain Creek
Mulberry
New Convert
Oak Grove
Ocampo
Parnell
Pleasant Grove
Pletcher
Pools Crossroads
Poseys Crossroads
Riderville
Rocky Mount
Samaria
Stanton
Union Grove
Verbena
Wessington

Biographies of Chilton County Alabama

Biographical sketches provided by the Chilton County Historical Society and Archives, Inc.

Chilton County and her people: a brief history $

Cemeteries of Chilton 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!!

Cemetery records provided by the Chilton County Historical Society and Archives, Inc.

Cemetery records provided by Chilton County, USGenWeb Archives Project

Cemetery records provided by Bruce and Glenn’s Cemetery Page

Cemetery records provided by Tracking Your Roots

Find a Grave Chilton Cemeteries

Census and Tax Records for Chilton County Alabama

Census records provide the information needed for you to trace your ancestors as they moved from one place to another. My carefully looking at the neighbors you can often find other family members living close together. A census search is one of the most important things you will do in your family research.

Chilton County was formed in 1868 as Baker County. It was renamed in 1874 as Chilton County. The 1870 census then appears as Baker County.

1870 Baker County, Alabama Census

1880 Chilton County, Alabama Census

1890 Chilton County, Alabama Census

1900 Chilton County, Alabama Census

1910 Chilton County, Alabama Census

1920 Chilton County, Alabama Census

1930 Chilton County, Alabama Census

1940 Chilton County, Alabama Census

Church Records for Chilton 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.

  • First Baptist Church, Pastors & Officers, 1872-1983
  • A history of Mulberry Baptist Church, 1818-1968
    The minutes of this church which cover the first thirty-five years of its life are missing, and as far as is known, do not now exist. In order to compensate for this loss, in some small measure, this narrator is here presenting an account of this period, based upon the original minutes of the Cahawba Association as they relate to Mulberry Baptist Church. In addition to these records, many glimpses of the early families of this community are presented to show its probable membership. These family glimpses are the result of several years of intensive research. Even so, many mistakes may occur. The minutes of the church, beginning with the year of 1853, do exist; are well preserved, and well kept. From this date the history is based upon these minutes, plus some relative comments and family pictures. This church was established before Alabama was created as a State. Thousands of people have come under its influence. This short history is the result of part of the efforts of the present membership to consecrate anew the founding of the church, and to restore to memory many of its leaders during its one hundred-fifty years of life.
  • Baptist churches in Alabama, 1847-1969
    Microfilm of originals in the Alabama Department of Archives and History in Montgomery, Alabama. With a complete history of Mississippi Baptists from the earliest times
    • Chilton Baptist Church (Chilton) 1904
    • Clarksville Baptist Church, (Chilton), 1895
    • Liberty Hill Baptist Church (Thorsby), 1958
    • Maple Springs, (Clanton) 1891-1908
    • New Cedar Baptist Church (Clanton)1901
    • Thorsby Baptist Church (Thorsby), 1901

Court Records for Chilton County Alabama

Chilton County, when it was known by the name of Baker County, had a destructive courthouse fire in 1870, two years after the county was created.

  • 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.”

Chilton 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.

Public access to probate records is available in the Probate Judge’s office.

Ethnic Records of Chilton County Alabama

Chilton County Alabama Black Genealogy

Genealogical resources for descendants of black ancestors who resided in Chilton 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.

Aboriginal History of Chilton County Alabama

The county lay within the domain of the Upper Creeks. On De Crenay’s map of 1734, the town of Pacana-tache, correctly spelled P’akana Talahassi, is placed on the west side of Coosa River and apparently on the south side of Walnut Creek, nearly opposite the mouth of Pakana Tala-hassi Creek in Coosa County. In latter times, the town moved across the river and settled on that creek, spelled Puc-cun-tal-lau-has-see, by Col. Benjamin Hawkins. Chipped implements and other evidences of aboriginal residence are to be found in some sections of the county. Along Mulberry Creek and the larger streams are a few unidentified village sites. In sec. 16 T. 21. N., R. 16 E., near the Old Repito “Gold mine” at Varna, are several mounds. One and a half miles southwest of Thorsby, near Little Mulberry Creek is a large mound. Stone heaps are found in T. 2 3 N., R 14 E., three and a half miles northeast of Jemison station on the Louisville & Nashville R. R.

Genealogy of Chilton County Alabama

  • Alabama, Surname Files Expanded, 1702–1981 $
    Staff members at the Alabama Department of Archives and History (ADAH) started compiling these records on Alabamians in 1901. They include a variety of items and record types arranged by surname: newspaper clippings, obituaries, local and family histories, donated family research and records, extracts from censuses, research requests made to the archives, and other items.

History of Chilton County Alabama

The act of establishment for Chilton County named Reuben Powell, Anderson Baker, William Vines, E. Ward and John Pernell as commissioners to hold an election to locate a county seat. No date is named, but they were required to advertise the election at least 20 days. The commissioners were authorized and required to contract for the building of a suitable courthouse and jail, and a county tax was authorized to be levied by the county commissioners to pay therefor. The governor was required to appoint all officers.

At the election held as required, a point on the Louisville and Nashville R. R. was chosen to which the name Clanton was given in honor of Brig. Gen. James Holt Clanton, prominent in the political life of the state.

The first officers were Mordecai Robertson, probate judge, and Thomas H. Williams, sheriff, both commissioned in 1869.

Genealogical Societies, Historical Societies, Libraries, and Archives

Post Offices and Postmasters

Prison Records

  • Alabama, Convict Records, 1886-1952 $
    The collection includes two series of records created by government boards responsible for the oversight and care of prisoners during that period. One set was created as convicts were admitted into a state prison; the other monitored county convicts who were admitted into the state prison system. The collection includes both indexes and the records themselves.
  • 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.

Various Historical Lists

  • Alabama, Civil Appointments, 1818-1939
    This collection consists of a card index to officials who were appointed, commissioned, or elected in Alabama between 1818 and 1939.The cards are in alphabetical order by surname. This database contains record of over 500 Chilton residents.
  • 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.”

Land Records for Chilton 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 Chilton County Alabama has these records.

Maps of Chilton County Alabama

1884 Map of Chilton County Alabama
Cutout showing Chilton 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 Chilton County Alabama

Civil War

  • Alabama Wills and Probate Records 1753-1999  $
    This collection includes images of probate records from the state of Alabama. The records for Chilton County Alabama cover the years from 1870-1940.
  • Alabama Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers, 1861-1865  — index only
    Union service records of soldiers who served in the First Regiment of Alabama Cavalry.The records include a jacket-envelope for each soldier, labeled with his name, his rank, and the unit in which he served. The jacket-envelope typically contains card abstracts of entries relating to the soldier as found in original muster rolls, returns, rosters, payrolls, appointment books, hospital registers,prison registers and rolls, parole rolls, inspection reports; and the originals of any papers relating solely to the particular soldier. For each military unit the service records are arranged alphabetically by the soldier’s surname. The Military Unit field may also display the surname range (A-G) as found on the microfilm. This collection is a part of RG 94, Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1780’s-1917 and is National Archive Microfilm Publication M276.
  • U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865
    This database contains an index to compiled service records (CSRs) for soldiers who served with units in the Confederate army. Most of the men whose names appear in this index served with units from 15 different states or territories; others were soldiers raised directly by the Confederate government, generals and staff officers, and other enlisted men not associated with a regiment.
  • U.S., Union Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865
    This database contains an index of compiled military service records for volunteer Union soldiers who served with units organized in more than 20 states and territories, including states in the Confederacy. This index also includes Confederate soldiers who later served with the Union Army.
  • Alabama, Southern Claims Commission Approved Claims, 1871-1880  — index and images
    Index and images of approved claims from civilians seeking compensation for lost or destroyed property as a result of the Civil War.The collection is NARA publication M2062 Southern Claims Commission Approved Claims,1871-1880:Alabama and is from RG 217, Records of the Accounting Officers of the Department of the Treasury. It contains 828 approved applications arranged by county and then alphabetical by name.
  • Alabama, Census of Confederate Veterans, 1907, 1921, 1927  — images
    Images of a census of Confederate veterans living in Alabama. Originals are located in the Alabama Department of Archives and History in Montgomery, Alabama.
  • Alabama, Questionnaires of Widows of Confederate Soldiers, 1927 $
    This database contains a collection of questionnaires and other documents from a 1927 survey of Confederate widows living in Alabama.
  • Alabama, Texas and Virginia, Confederate Pensions, 1884-1958 $
    Pension records for the soldiers or their widows who served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War are contained in this index. Most former Confederate states provided relief payments to veterans or widows because the Confederacy was dissolved after the war leaving no central government agency to distribute pensions. Pension award requirements generally were: residency in the state the pension was claimed in for a certain amount of time, disablement, or indigence. This roster does not provide a complete index of all pensioners as the records are compiled from different states, at different times, and by different offices after the Civil War. Also not all soldiers who fought for the Confederacy are registered; however, some information on missing files or rejected applications can be found.
  • Confederate Pension Applications, ca. 1880-1930’s
    Index and images of records at the Alabama Department of Archives and History in Montgomery, Alabama.

World War 1

  • Alabama World War I Service Records
    This collection consists of index cards with personal details about Alabamians who served in the armed forces during World War I. Information recorded may include name, race, age, date and place of birth, home address, date and location of induction, units served in, rank, engagements, wounds, dates and locations of service, date of discharge, and other remarks. The amount of information varies on each card. (A separate series gives information about members of the 167th Infantry Regiment.
  • Alabama, World War I Service Cards, 1917-1919 — index
    Index to a card roster of Alabamians who served in the United States Army, Navy, Coast Guard, or Marines during World War I from 1917 to 1919. Each soldier has one or two cards giving information on his/her military service, such as name, serial number, residence, place and date of birth, military organizations he/she served in, rank, engagements participated in, wounds or injuries received, dates serving overseas, discharge date, percentage disabled, and additional remarks.
  • Alabama, WWI Gold Star Index, 1917-1918 $
    This collection consists of information on World War I service members who died during the war or who were awarded distinguished service recognition. 24 men from Chilton County Alabama were Gold Star soldiers.
  • Alabama, Military Card Files,1917-1918 $
    This database contains World War I draft registration and induction records from the state of Alabama.

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 Chilton 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 Chilton 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. 

  • Abstracts from Chilton County Alabama Newspapers, 1898-1945
    These abstracts were compiled over a long period of reading both old papers and often very poor film of some early issues. In all the files of available papers of this County one will find some missing issues and also there are issues with very little information. In the early days obituaries were very rare especially for women. Often there will be only a statement that a given person died in the news items of a community and too often no personal information is given. One will note that in the early days of this County there were many sudden or unexpected deaths. Every few years one will detect a move toward providing more information about the people named. Many of the reports given in this compilation will give names of the parents and a few will give the names of Grandparents of the deceased and will tell the place of birth and where they have lived. Reading abstracts over this number of years will provide an overview of life as it was lived here. One will observe in some of the abstracts, there will be some information placed in parenthesis and this is sharing other information gained from years of research.
  • Clanton Advertiser
  • Union Banner 1913-1926 – Digital Images, no search
    Founded in 1912, the Union-Banner was formed by merging two competing Clanton papers; the Union (1903-1912) and the Banner(1893-1912). W.M. Wyatt was one of the early owners of the newly merged newspaper, which ceased publication in 1975.
  • Calera Journal 1892 – Digital Images, no search
    Owned by Frank W. Gist, the Journal launched on October 30, 1891 with an annual subscription rate of $1.00. The newspaper endeavored to “have correspondents from every portion” of Shelby County. The Journal ceased operations in April of 1893.
  • The Chilton County Courier 1876 – 1877
  • The Chilton View 1881 – 1896
  • The Peoples Party Banner 1892
  • The Banner 1893 – 1912
  • The Mid-Alabama Daily News 1897
  • The Union 1903 – 1912
  • The Union-Banner 1920
  • The Record 1909
  • The Clanton Press 1910 – 1919
  • The Chilton County News 1921

Out of Print

  • Genealogical Abstracts from The Banner, 1893 in Clanton, Chilton County, Alabama
    This work contains a wealth of information extracted from microfilmed copies of The Banner newspaper, published in Clanton, Chilton County, Alabama. The 1893 coverage is complete with the exception of February 16 and 23, March 16 and 23, and May 11. Articles not possessing genealogical value have been given brief attention, but are not fully transcribed. All articles of genealogical value, even those that could not be fully transcribed due to damaged newsprint, have been included. Advertisements containing genealogical material have also been included. Variations and inconsistencies in the spelling of names, as they appeared in these articles, have been maintained and each variation is included in the index. The contents of these articles paint a vivid portrait of the life of local residents, rich with names, and reflecting the priorities and interests of their era. 1999, 356 pp., original fullname index, paper. Heritage Books Inc. OCLC 43257409

Vital Records for Chilton 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.

Birth

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

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.

  • 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 17,000 records recorded for people who died or were buried in Chilton County Alabama.
  • Chilton County Death Index 1908-1910. Batch B545457
  • 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

Probate Judge has marriage records.

  • Alabama Wills and Probate Records 1753-1999  $
    This collection includes images of probate records from the state of Alabama. The records for Chilton County Alabama cover the years from 1870-1940.
  • Alabama Probate Records, 1809-1985  — images
    This collection includes digital images of various probate records created in the county courts in Alabama.
  • Chilton County Marriage Books 2-10 Index 1870-1936
    These records were indexed in International Genealogical Index from FamilySearch.
  • 1870-1930 – Chilton County, Alabama Marriage Books 1-3, and Licenses in “Alabama, County Marriages, 1809-1950,”
    This collection of marriage records for Alabama counties includes: a) indexed records with images; b) indexed records without images; and c) images which can be browsed but do not have searchable indexes. The indexed records without images display a message “Image is Unavailable” when you attempt to view the image. The browse records are grouped by film number/digital film number (DGS). Each film is arranged by county, volume and date. Digital images and indexes will be added as they become available.
  • Alabama, Marriage Indexes, 1814-1935
    This database consists of an index to more than 250 thousand marriages registered in Alabama between 1814 and 1935. The index was created by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the depression of the 1930s.
  • Alabama, Marriage Collection, 1800–1969 $
    This collection is comprised of indexes created by several agencies – the Alabama Center for Health Statistics, Jordan Dodd of Liahona Research, and Hunting For Bears. There are currently over 16,000 marriage records recorded for Chilton County.
  • Alabama Marriages, 1816-1957 — index
    Name index to marriage records from the state of Alabama. Microfilm copies of these records are available at the Family History Library and FamilySearch Centers.
  • 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.”

Divorce

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.