Greene County
Alabama Genealogy & History Network

Welcome to Greene County ALGHN

Welcome to the Greene County Alabama Genealogy & History Network website providing free information to genealogical and historical researchers.

To share your Greene County, Alabama genealogy or history information, send an email to alghn@outlook.com - we will be pleased to include it here. If you have information to share for other Alabama Counties, visit the Alabama Genealogy & History Network state website and choose the appropriate county.

About Greene County, Alabama...

Greene County was created by an act of the Alabama territorial legislature on December 13, 1819, from lands ceded to the federal government by the Choctaw Cession of 1816. The county was named for Revolutionary War hero Nathaniel Greene, and the county seat, Eutaw, was named for the Battle of Eutaw Springs, in which Greene led his troops in the recapture of Charleston, South Carolina, from the British.

In 1867, sections of Greene County were used to form Hale County. The first county seat was located at Erie, located on the banks of the Black Warrior River in what is now Hale County. As a result of flooding and the prevalence of yellow fever, the county seat was moved to the more central location of Eutaw in 1838.

In the decades leading up to the Civil War, Eutaw experienced a golden era as the mercantile and legal center of the Black Belt. The first courthouse, built in 1838, burned in 1868. The current courthouse was built in 1993.

During the Mexican War, Eutaw contributed a company of volunteers. Known as the Eutaw Rangers, the company mustered out of Mobile in June 1846 and participated in the Battle of Vera Cruz. During the Civil War, prominent Eutaw lawyer Stephen Fowler Hale was appointed by Gov. Andrew B. Moore as Alabama's secession commissioner. Hale traveled to Kentucky in an effort to convince the border state to secede and join the Confederacy and later served his district in the Confederate Congress. He was killed at the Battle of Gaine's Mill in 1862.

In the years following the Civil War, Greene County experienced a steady decline, and by the twentieth century it had become one of the poorest counties in the state. The vast majority of workers were employed as sharecroppers.

During the civil rights movement, African American citizens picketed and boycotted Eutaw businesses. In 1970, the county received statewide media attention when the white-dominated Greene County Board of Education and city council was replaced with an African American majority. In addition, the county elected an African American probate judge and sheriff.

The county has a total area of 660 square miles, of which 647 square miles is land and 13 square miles (1.9%) is water. The population recorded in the 1820 Federal Census was 4,554. The 2010 censusrecorded 9,045 residents in the county.

Neighboring counties are Pickens County (north), Tuscaloosa County (northeast), Hale County (east), Marengo County (south), and Sumter County (southwest). Communities in the county include Eutaw, Boligee, Forkland, Union, Clinton, Crawford Fork, Knoxville, and West Greene.

Greene County, Alabama Records

Alabama Genealogy & History Network has much information on our county websites - cemetery listings, community data, etc. Please visit the county or counties of interest to you.

Birth Records - The Alabama Department of Public Health maintains records of births from 1908 to present. This was the year Alabama began keeping official birth records. You can obtain official copies of birth certificates by visiting the birth record page on their website and following the instructions. Since there are no official birth records before 1908 for births prior to that date you will need to determine birth information from census records, bible records, baptismal records, cemetery tombstones, etc.

Death Records - The Alabama Department of Public Health maintains death records after 1908 on file. This was the year Alabama began keeping official death records. You can obtain official copies of death certificates by visiting the death record page on their website and following the instructions. Since there are no official death records before 1908 for deaths prior to that date you will need to determine death information from census records, bible records, funeral home records, cemetery tombstones, etc.

Marriage Records - The Alabama Department of Public Health can provide you with information for marriages that took place from 1936 to present by by visiting the marriage record page on their website and following the instructions.

All existing county marriage records for any date not listed above (and for the dates listed above for that matter) may be obtained from the county's Probate Office in which the marriage was held.

Divorce Records - The Alabama Department of Public Health maintains divorce records from 1950 to present. You can obtain official copies of devorce records by visiting the divorce record page on their website and following the instructions. Records for divorces occuring before 1950 may be obtained from the Circuit Clerk in the county where the divorce took place.