Georgia Genealogy

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Overview of Georgia records

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Overview of Georgia Genealogy Records

• History: Georgia was first settled in 1733 and became a state in 1788. It was a Confederate state during the Civil War from 1861-1865.
• Birth records: Statewide registration of births began in 1919 with complete records being kept by 1928. Birth certificates can be obtained from the Georgia Department of Public Health. A few areas have earlier birth records available including Atlanta (Fulton County) starting in 1887, Savannah (Chatham County) starting in 1890, and Macon (Bibb County) starting in 1891, which can be obtained from the individual counties.
• Marriages: Marriage records were kept by the individual counties and often date back to when the counties were first organized. By 1805 the court of ordinary for the county was issuing marriage licenses. Copies of marriage records can be obtained from the county clerk of the court of the ordinary.
• Deaths: Statewide registration of deaths began in 1919 with complete records by 1922. Death certificates can be obtained from the Georgia Department of Public Health. A few areas have earlier death records available including Atlanta (Fulton County) starting in 1896, Savannah (Chatham County) starting in 1803, and Macon (Bibb County) starting in 1882, which can be obtained from the individual counties.
• Divorces: Divorce and civil court records are kept by the individual county Superior Court Clerk.
• Census: The first federal census available for Georgia is 1800. (The 1790 and 1810 censuses were lost.) There are federal censuses publicly available for 1800 (only Oglethorpe County), 1820 (partial), 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1890 (partial), 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940, and 1950. There were also some state censuses taken in some areas in various years from 1827 to 1896.
• Naturalization records: Naturalization records were kept by the superior, district, or city court in an individual county. Most of them can also be found at the Georgia Department of Archives and History as well.
• County records: Court, land, probate, and voter records were kept at the county level by the Court of Ordinary.
• Other records: Many cities and towns had newspapers, records kept by churches, cemeteries, histories, school, city directories, and other records that can be located on the city pages on this site. Records specific to minority groups can be found in the Minority Records section.
• All records: Online indexes and images of many of the above records can be found by using the links on this site.