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alabama map

Your Guide to Researching
Alabama Ancestors

 

* General Guides * Maps * Statewide Genealogy Websites *
* Societies, Libraries and Archives *
* Finding and Using Records *Queries & Help * More Links *

General Guides to Alabama Research

  • First, bookmark or print out the Family History Library Alabama Research Outline.
  • Also bookmark the Family History Library Alabama Research Wiki
  • Ancestry Redbook, 3rd ed. Alabama section online at the Ancestry.com wiki (note you will click the links to the right to see further topics)

Books you might purchase or use in a library include

Atlases, Maps & Gazateers

For more information on finding and using maps,
see Your Guide to Atlases, Maps and Gazateers.

Statewide Genealogy Websites

Next, see what is available for your counties of interest at at one of these statewide sites. For each, use the county selection list to find out what is available for the various counties. Content will vary, but in usually you wil find the GenWeb site to be the most robust. All are volunteer driven sites; all data free, but as time goes by, the upkeep of many of these sites seems to be falling by the wayside.

Societies, Libraries and Archives

For more information on using libraries and archives, see genealogy guides to Libraries and Archives

Finding and Using Records: bible * cemetery,* census,* church,*
* directories * histories * court & legal * military * land and property * naturalizations * newspapers * probate * vital

Use the catalog at the place name box in the Family History Library catalog to find out what has been filmed covering the state of Alabama, the counties of Alabama and the cities, villages or townships within the counties.

  • As you type ALABAMA in the place box, you will see an alphabetical listing of counties in the dropdown;
    • once in a county, you can click in the place box on the left to see an alphabetical list of the towns, cities and villages within that county.
    • This only shows areas for which material has been filmed.
  • An item will likely be in one of the three, perhaps two of the three and almost never in all three of these searchs --you need to check each.

Bible: For general information, see guide to bible records, this website.

Cemetery: For general informaton, see guide to cemetery records, this website

Census: For general information, see guide to census records, this website.

Church: For general information, see guide to church records, this website.

City and County Directories: For general information, see guide to city and county directories, this website.

County and Local Histories: For general informaton, see guide to county histories, this website.

Court & Legal; For general information, see Guide to Law Libraries, this website and Guide to Courthouse Research

Land & Property: For general information, see guide to land records, this website.

Alabama is a public land state, so original patents can be searched at the BLM-GLO website. (click SEARCH in the green bar at the top of the page).

Military; For general information, see guide to military records, this website

Naturalizations; For general informaton, see guide to naturalizations, this website

Newspapers: For general information, see guide to newspapers, this website

Probate: For general information, see guide to probate records, this website

  • A collection called Alabama County Probate Records are now available as unindexed digital images on FamilySearch.org. -- but at present (May, 2011) it is only the probate records of one county. Will it grow?
  • Ancestry Redbook overview: Alabama Probate Records
  • Family Search Wiki: Alabama Court Records

Tax Records

Vital: For general information, see guide to vital records, this website.

Queries & Help

To get help from others, see if offers at the

Also, post a query in the appropriate

More Links

 

 

 

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This page last updated May 24, 2011