Wilcox County
Alabama Genealogy & History Network

Welcome to Wilcox County ALGHN

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

To share your Wilcox 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 Wilcox County, Alabama...

Wilcox County was created by an act of the Alabama territorial legislature on December 13, 1819. The county was created from portions of Dallas and Monroe counties, which in turn were created from Creek Indian lands acquired by the United States in the 1814 Treaty of Fort Jackson.

Most of the earliest settlers came from Georgia, the Carolinas, and Tennessee. Wilcox County was named for Lieutenant Joseph M. Wilcox, an army officer from Connecticut who fought and died in the Creek War of 1813-14. Some of the first towns in Wilcox County were Pine Hill, Pine Apple, Oak Hill, and Camden (formerly known as Barboursville).

The first county seat was located in Canton Bend on the Alabama River, a few miles west of present-day Camden. The first courthouse was a two-story wooden building that is no longer in existence. In 1833, the county seat was moved from Canton Bend to Barboursville, named for Sen. Philip B. Barbour of Virginia. A two-story wooden building served as the county courthouse.

Barboursville was later renamed Camden by physician John D. Caldwell in honor of his hometown of Camden, South Carolina. Incorporated in 1841, Camden became a commercial and political center by the 1850s. In 1857, the first Camden courthouse was torn down, and a new Greek Revival courthouse was built in its place. After the Civil War, the Wilcox County courthouse was dedicated in honor of Enoch Hooper Cook, a local Confederate veteran whose six sons died in action during the war. The courthouse continues to serve as the county today.

Like so much of Alabama, farming was the prevailing occupation of Wilcox County until well into the twentieth century. As part of the Black Belt, cotton was Wilcox County's main agricultural product in the nineteenth century. With more than 50 boat landings on the Alabama River, Wilcox County was an important transportation site as well. Paddlewheel steamers took cotton and other agricultural products as well as passengers up and down the Alabama River.

By the early to mid-twentieth century, farmers had diversified into corn, sweet potatoes, and livestock. Wilcox County received a significant economic boost in the 1930s with the completion of the T. Lee Long Bridge over the Alabama River, making transportation more efficient. When the Millers Ferry Lock and Dam was completed in the 1960s, the resulting hydroelectric power allowed for the growth of large industries in the county, such as the McMillan Bloedel Paper Mill. Today, the principal products and industries of Wilcox County center around timber. Although Wilcox County has attempted to move towards a more industrialized economy, it has done so slowly and with limited success. The county remains largely rural and agricultural.

The county has a total area of 907 square miles, of which 888 square miles is land and 19 square miles (2.1%) is water. The population recorded in the 1820 Federal Census was 2,917. The 2010 census recorded 11,670 residents in the county.

Dallas County (northeast), Lowndes County (east-northeast), Butler County (east-southeast), Monroe County (south), Clarke County (southwest), and Marengo County (northwest).

Communities in the county include Camden, Oak Hill, Pine Apple, Pine Hill, Yellow Bluff, Ackerville, Alberta, Anne Manie, Arlington, Canton Bend, Catherine, Coy, Furman, Gee's Bend, Lower Peach Tree, McWilliams, Millers Ferry, Pebble Hill, Snow Hill, Sunny South, and Prairie Bluff.

Wilcox 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.