Marion County
Alabama Genealogy & History Network

Welcome to Marion County ALGHN

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

To share your Marion 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 Marion County, Alabama...

Marion County was created by the Alabama Territorial General Assembly on February 13, 1818, preceding Alabama's statehood by almost two years. The county was created from land acquired from the Chickasaw Indians by the Treaty of 1816. The county included all of the current territory of Marion County and parts of what are now Winston, Walker, Fayette, and Lamar counties in Alabama as well as portions of present-day Lowndes, Monroe, and Itawamba counties in Mississippi.

Marion was named in honor of General Francis Marion (1732–1795), an American Revolutionary War hero from South Carolina who was known as "The Swamp Fox." Most of Marion County's early settlers came from Kentucky and Tennessee after General Andrew Jackson established the Military Road. The first towns in the area include Pikeville, Hamilton (formerly Toll Gate), Winfield, and Guin.

In 1818, the first county courthouse was constructed at Cotton Gin Port, near Amory. It was moved in 1819 to the home of Henry Greer along the Buttachatchee River. Pikeville served as Marion County's first permanent county seat from 1820–82. The town is now abandoned, but the home of Judge John Dabney Terrell Sr., which served as the third county courthouse, still stands.

In 1883, Hamilton became the county seat. The first courthouse in Hamilton was destroyed by fire on March 30, 1887, and the second courthouse, constructed in the same place, also burned. A new courthouse, opened in 1901, is still in use.

Like most Alabama counties, farming was the prevailing occupation in Marion County until well into the twentieth century. Until the 1930s, cotton was the county's major crop, after which time farmers began to diversify into cattle, corn, and soybeans. The economy was mainly agriculturally based until the mid-twentieth century, when its many acres of forest attracted the timber industry.

The county has a total area of 744 square miles, of which 742 square miles is land and 2 square mile (0.3%) is water. The population recorded in the 1830 Federal Census was 4,058. The 2010 census recorded 30,776 residents in the county.

Neighboring counties are Franklin County (north), Winston County (east), Walker County (southeast), Fayette County (south), Lamar County, Mississippi (southwest), Monroe County, Mississippi (southwest), and Itawamba County, Mississippi (west).

Communities in the county include Guin, Haleyville (partly in Winston County), Hamilton, Winfield (partly in Fayette County), Bear Creek, Brilliant, Glen Allen (partly in Fayette County), Gu-Win, Hackleburg, Twin (also known as Yampertown), Barnesville, Bexar, Pigeye, Pull Tight, South Haleyville, and Pikeville.

Marion 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.