An attempt was made in Georgia
to require registration of births, marriages, and deaths on a
county level in 1875, but the law was repealed in 1876. Some
vital records for fourteen Georgia counties for 1875 have been
microfilmed and are available at the Georgia Department of Archives
and History. In 1919 Georgia law required the registration of all births and deaths in the state. As in many other states, Georgia's county governments were slow to respond to the new law and most did not comply until 1928.
From 1793 to 1832 - divorces in Georgia were subject to legislative approval after they had been approved by the county superior court. The divorce files continue to be in the custody of the county Superior Courts. Divorces, name changes, and decrees of feme-sole granted by the Georgia legislature are abstracted in Robert S. Davis, Jr., The Georgia Black Book II (Easley, S.C.: Southern Historical Press, 1987). |
Marriage records in Georgia are created at the county level. Some Georgia counties kept early marriage bonds before 1805; however, Georgia law did not require marriage licenses to be recorded until 1805. Officials were careless in adhering to the law and some marriages were consequently not recorded. Some records were also lost in various courthouse fires. All recorded Georgia marriages to 1900 are available on microfilm at the Georgia Department of Archives and History and the FHL. The former also has some loose, original county marriage records. Heritage Papers' periodical Georgia Genealogist contains published marriages to 1810. Mary B. Warren's Georgia Marriages 1811 Through 1820 (Danielsville, Ga.: Heritage Papers, 1988) continued publishing the marriages. There may be more resources not listed herein. |
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Probate Records County ordinary courts kept probate records from 1777–98 and began keeping them again in 1852. County inferior courts were responsible for probate matters from 1798–1852. Almost all pre-1900 county probate records are on microfilm at the Georgia Department of Archives and History and the FHL. The Archives also has many loose, original Georgia county records. After 1900, probate records are in the county's ordinary court. <I will say that some are probably missing due to court houses burning.> Unfortunately, no colonial Georgia court records survive. Georgia's state constitution provided for two county level courts to be created in 1777. Superior courts were established at the county level to hear cases dealing with divorce, civil and criminal charges, naturalization, military discharges, homesteads, prisons, and slaves. Simultaneously, courts of ordinary were created to hear and record cases involving probate matters. It also dealt with indentures, paupers, licenses, voting, and marriage. Each court kept minutes, which are useful in our research. |
-William Thorndale and William Dollarhide, Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Censuses, 1790–1920 (Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1987) -Pat Bryant and Ingrid Shields, Georgia Counties: Their Changing Boundaries (Atlanta, Ga.: Georgia Surveyor General Department, 1983). |
Links: GENWEB CENSUS PROJECTS About the Population Schedules: Indexed—1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1890 (fragmented) Soundex—1880, 1900, 1910, 1920 Industry—1820, 1880 Agriculture—1850, 1860, 1870, 1880 Slave Schedules - 1850, 1860 The 1820 census is the earliest enumeration of Georgia's population to have survived, thus making it necessary to substitute other lists for the missing censuses. The 1820 census of Georgia is lost for Franklin, Rabun, and Twiggs counties. The Land lottery, military and tax lists and other records can be used as census substitutes and supplements for the 1820 and earlier censuses. Ruth Blair, Some Early Tax Digests of Georgia (1926; reprint, Easley, S.C.: Southern Historical Press, 1971); Virginia S. Wood and Ralph V. Wood, The 1805 Land Lottery of Georgia (Cambridge, Mass.: Greenwood Press, 1964), which lists nearly every Georgia head of household in 1802–03, this could be used as an 1800 census substitute. were conducted for various years from 1787 to 1866. Only a relatively few of these returns survived, and they are only lists of (HOH) heads of households with some minor statistical information. The returns prior to 1852 have been published in various sources. Later census returns, where they survived, are almost all on microfilm at the Georgia Department of Archives and History. Reconstructive Histories - -Coleman, Kenneth, ed. A History of Georgia. 2d ed. Athens, Ga.: University of Georgia Press, 1991. -Coulter, E. Merton. Georgia: A Short History. Chapell Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press, 1964. |
Sixth or 1832 Land Lottery Sections & Districts: Grant fee: $18 per lot, either
size. Persons entitled to draw 40
acre Gold lots: Persons excluded: Note: Some persons drew a blank ticket. If there were, for example, 1000 land lots and 2000 persons registered to draw, there would be 1000 blank tickets added so that the tickets would be equal the number of persons drawing. With the exception of the 1805 land lottery, the State has no record of those who drew blank tickets. Information Provided by: Linda
S. Sanders |
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Immigration Records - Savannah, Georgia, served as one of the nation's southern immigration ports. Passenger lists of immigrants arriving at Savannah (sketchy though they are available on federal microfilm M575, Passengers Arriving at Miscellaneous Ports on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, at the National Archives and the FHL. POORHOUSES PRISON RECORDS - State prison and asylum records are housed at the Georgia Department of Archives and History. These records are open to researchers when 75 years has passed from the date of their creation. You can also read the earliest Georgia prison and asylum records are used in Robert S. Davis, Jr.'s two volume, Georgia Black Book (Easley, S.C.: Southern Historical Press, 1982). CEMETERY RECORDS - The (DAR) and many County Historical Societies have compiled and published volumes of cemetery records, DAR publications include Bible, court, and probate records in addition to cemetery inscriptions. Also many individuals have also completed cemetery inscriptions. Our USGenweb project and GAGenweb Project has many cemetery transcriptions online at county websites and in the archives and also check the Tombstone Project. Indian Land Passports - were issued by Georgia governors for good character for families passing through the Indian lands for the West prior to 1820. These passports are abstracted in Dorothy Williams Potter, Passports of Southeastern Pioneers, 1770–1823 (Baltimore, Md.: Gateway Press, 1982). See also Marion R. Hemperley “Savannah Federal Naturalization Oaths, 1790–1860.” Georgia Historical Quarterly 51 (1967). |
Land and Property Records with Tax Digests FARM SCHEDULES - |
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