Guide
Alabama Genealogy Search at a Glance
Alabama family history runs through three kinds of records: the vital records the state began keeping in 1908, the county courthouse books of deeds, probate and marriages that go back to each county's founding, and the collections of the Alabama Department of Archives and History in Montgomery, the oldest state archives in the country. Alabama's counties formed between 1800 and 1868 as Creek and Cherokee lands opened, so the earliest records for a family often sit in a parent county.
Two facts save time: Alabama had no statewide birth or death registration before 1908, so church, cemetery and newspaper records fill that gap, and the state censuses of 1855 and 1866, taken between federal counts, survive for many counties.
Official sources on this page were checked on September 25, 2026.
Guide
Alabama Genealogy
Alabama statewide genealogy links
- Alabama Department of Archives and History Collections SearchSearch Alabama Collections Online
- Alabama Public Records Search
- State of Alabama Genealogy ResourcesOfficial State Genealogy Records
- Alabama State Archives Internet RecordsAlabama Public Records Resources
- Alabama State History Internet ResourcesOnline History Resources
- Alabama State Archives Government Records on MicrofilmLocal Government Records on Microfilm
- Alabama Civil War Service DatabaseCivil War Service Search
- Alabama State Archives Military Records Databases
- ALGenWeb Archives AlabamaSearch Alabama USGenWeb Archives
- Birmingham Public LibraryBirmingham Library Genealogical Resources
Guide
Vital records for Alabama family history
Alabama began statewide birth and death registration in 1908, and the Alabama Department of Public Health's Center for Health Statistics holds those certificates. Birth certificates become public 125 years after the birth and death certificates 25 years after the death, and the Department of Archives and History holds death certificates from 1908 through the public years on microfilm with a free online index. Marriage records were kept by each county's probate judge from the county's founding, and a statewide marriage index begins in 1936. Divorce records sit with the circuit clerk of the county where the divorce was granted.
- Alabama Department of Archives and HistoryDeath certificate index, marriage records, county records on microfilm, checked September 25, 2026
- Alabama Center for Health StatisticsBirth, death, marriage and divorce certificates from 1908, checked September 25, 2026
- Alabama Vital RecordsHow to order certificates and what is public
Guide
Alabama archives, census and military records
The Department of Archives and History holds the 1855 and 1866 state censuses, Confederate pension applications filed by veterans and widows from 1867 onward, Alabama's World War I service cards, county tax lists, land patents from the federal land offices at Huntsville, Cahaba, Tuscaloosa and other towns, and the Alabama Surname Files compiled from published sources. Its digital collections are free online. Federal land records for Alabama, a public land state, are searchable at the Bureau of Land Management's General Land Office site, and the National Archives holds the federal censuses, which for Alabama begin with 1830.
- Alabama Digital ArchivesFree digitized state census, pension and military records, checked September 25, 2026
- Bureau of Land Management General Land Office recordsFederal land patents for Alabama from 1820 onward, checked September 25, 2026
- National Archives genealogy researchFederal census, military and immigration records, checked September 25, 2026
- FamilySearch Alabama research guideFree indexed Alabama records and images, checked September 25, 2026
Guide
County courthouse records in Alabama
Alabama's probate judge is the county's recorder as well as its probate court, so one office holds deeds, mortgages, wills, estate files, marriage licenses and, in many counties, the early birth and death registers kept before 1908. Probate records survive from each county's founding except where courthouse fires took them, as in Baldwin, Dallas and Jefferson counties, and the Department of Archives and History has microfilmed most county probate and deed books through the early 1900s. Circuit clerks hold civil and divorce case files. Many probate offices now post deed indexes online through commercial recording vendors.
Guide
Federal & National Authoritative Sources
These federal and national sources complement Alabama's state-level records. They are the authoritative sources you should cross-check when Alabama state records are incomplete or out-of-state activity matters.
NARA, National Archives The federal government's primary archive. Holds the U.S. census (1790, 1950), ship passenger lists, naturalization records, military service files, and land entry files.
FamilySearch Free online genealogy platform operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Digitized microfilm copies of many county and state records worldwide.
Library of Congress, Local History & Genealogy The LoC's research guides, city directories, newspapers, and Civil War records, most accessible free online through loc.gov.
Straight answers
Alabama Genealogy Search, questions
When did Alabama start keeping birth and death records?
Statewide registration began in 1908. Before that, a few cities kept registers, and church, cemetery, newspaper and probate records are the sources. Marriage records go back to each county's founding.
Are Alabama death certificates online?
The Department of Archives and History posts a free index to death certificates from 1908 through the public years, with copies available by mail. Certificates become public 25 years after the death.
Did Alabama take state censuses?
Yes, in 1855 and 1866, between federal counts. The 1866 census lists the number of soldiers killed or disabled in the Civil War per household, and both are held by the Department of Archives and History.