Alabama Genealogy & History Network

Welcome to the Alabama Genealogy & History Network

Welcome to the Alabama Genealogy & History Network providing free information to genealogists and historical researchers.

To share your 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 specific Alabama Counties, visit that county's website and follow the links.

About Alabama...

The recorded history of Alabama began when Spanish explorers in the 16th century became the first Europeans to reach this area. The expedition of Hernando de Soto passed through Mabila and other parts of the state in 1540. More than 160 years later, the French founded the first European settlement in the region at Old Mobile in 1702. The city was moved to the current site of Mobile in 1711. This area was claimed by the French from 1702 to 1763 as part of La Louisiane. After the French lost the Seven Years' War, it became part of British West Florida from 1763 to 1783.

After the United States victory in the American Revolutionary War, the territory was divided between the United States and Spain. The latter retained control of this western territory from 1783 until the surrender of the Spanish garrison at Mobile to U.S. forces on April 13, 1813.

What is now the counties of Baldwin and Mobile became part of Spanish West Florida in 1783, part of the independent Republic of West Florida in 1810, and was finally added to the Mississippi Territory in 1812. Most of what is now the northern two-thirds of Alabama was known as the Yazoo lands beginning during the British colonial period. It was claimed by the Province of Georgia from 1767 onwards. Following the Revolutionary War, it remained a part of Georgia......read more

Alabama Counties

Be sure to visit the county websites of interest to you.

Autauga County - Formed in 1819. County seat is Pratville.

Baldwin County - Formed in 1809. County seat is Bay Minette.

Barbour County - Formed in 1832. County seat is Clayton.

Bibb County - Formed in 1818. County seat is Centreville.

Blount County - Formed in 1818. County seat is Oneonta.

Bullock County - Formed in 1866. County seat is Union Springs.

Butler County - Formed in 1819. County seat is Greenville.

Calhoun County - Formed in 1832. County seat is Anniston.

Chambers County - Formed in 1832. County seat is LaFayette.

Cherokee County - Formed in 1836. County seat is Centre.

Chilton County - Formed in 1868. County seat is Clanton.

Choctaw County - Formed in 1847. County seat is Butler.

Clarke County - Formed in 1812. County seat is Grove Hill.

Clay County - Formed in 1870. County seat is Ashland.

Cleburne County - Formed in 1866. County seat is Heflin.

Coffee County - Formed in 1841. County seats are Elba & Enterprise.

Colbert County - Formed in 1867. County seat is Tuscumbia.

Conecuh County - Formed in 1818. County seat is Evergreen.

Coosa County - Formed in 1832. County seat is Rockford.

Covington County - Formed in 1821. County seat is Andalusia.

Crenshaw County - Formed in 1866. County seat is Luverne.

Cullman County - Formed in 1877. County seat is Cullman.

Dale County - Formed in 1824. County seat is Ozark.

Dallas County - Formed in 1906. County seat is Selma.

DeKalb County - Formed in 1836. County seat is Fort Payne.

Elmore County - Formed in 1866. County seat is Wetumpka.

Escambia County - Formed in 1868. County seat is Brewton.

Etowah County - Formed in 1866. County seat is Gadsden.

Fayette County - Formed in 1824. County seat is Fayette.

Franklin County - Formed in 1818. County seat is Russellville.

Geneva County - Formed in 1868. County seat is Geneva.

Greene County - Formed in 1819. County seat is Eutaw.

Hale County - Formed in 1867. County seat is Greensboro.

Henry County - Formed in 1819. County seat is Abbeville.

Houston County - Formed in 1903. County seat is Dothan.

Jackson County - Formed in 1819. County seat is Scottsboro.

Jefferson County - Formed in 1819. County seat is Birmingham.

Lamar County - Formed in 1867. County seat is Vernon.

Lauderdale County - Formed in 1818. County seat is Florence.

Lawrence County - Formed in 1818. County seat is Moulton.

Lee County - Formed in 1866. County seat is Opelika.

Limestone County - Formed in 1818. County seat is Athens.

Lowndes County - Formed in 1830. County seat is Hayneville.

Macon County - Formed in 1832. County seat is Tuskegee.

Madison County - Formed in 1808. County seat is Huntsville.

Marengo County - Formed in 1818. County seat is Linden.

Marion County - Formed in 1818. County seat is Hamilton.

Marshall County - Formed in 1836. County seat is Guntersville.

Mobile County - Formed in 1812. County seat is Mobile.

Monroe County - Formed in 1815. County seat is Monroeville.

Montgomery County - Formed in 1816. County seat is Montogomery.

Morgan County - Formed in 1818. County seat is Decatur.

Perry County - Formed in 1819. County seat is Marion.

Pickens County - Formed in 1820. County seat is Carrollton.

Pike County - Formed in 1821. County seat is Troy.

Randolph County - Formed in 1832. County seat is Wedowee.

Russell County - Formed in 1832. County seat is Phenix City.

St. Clair County - Formed in 1818. County seats are Ashville & Pell City.

Shelby County - Formed in 1818. County seat is Columbiana.

Sumter County - Formed in 1832. County seat is Livingston.

Talladega County - Formed in 1832. County seat is Talladega.

Tallapoosa County - Formed in 1832. County seat is Dadeville.

Tuscaloosa County - Formed in 1818. County seat is Tuscaloosa.

Walker County - Formed in 1823. County seat is Jasper.

Washington County - Formed in 1800. County seat is Chatom.

Wilcox County - Formed in 1819. County seat is Camden.

Winston County - Formed in 1850. County seat is Double Springs.

HISTORIC COUNTIES (no longer in existence)

Baine County - Named for David W. Baine, Colonel in the Civil War. Name changed to Etowah County in 1868.

Baker County - Named for Alfred Baker, a local landowner. Name changed Chilton County in 1874.

Benton County - Named for Thomas Hart Benton, U. S. Senator from Missouri. Name changed to Calhoun County in 1858, honoring Benton's rival John C. Calhoun of South Carolina after Benton's renunciation of slavery.

Cahawba County - Named for the former state capital of Cahawba. Name changed to Bibb County in 1820.

Cotaco County - Named for Cotaco Creek, a tributary of the Tennessee River. Name changed to Morgan County in 1821.

Jones County - Named for Josiah Jones, a local political leader. Name Changed to Covington County (its former name) in 1868 after Jones refused the honor.

Jones County - Named for E.P. Jones, a local landowner. Name changed to Sanford County, which subsequently became Lamar County in 1877.

Sanford County - Named for H.C. Sanford, a local landowner. Named changed to Lamar County in 1877.

Alabama Records

The Alabama Geneology & History Network has many records on our website. Thousands of County marriage dates are located on the county websites. Many counties have cemetery listings. 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.....read more