Alabama's history as a state began in 1819 when delegates gathered in a cabinetmaker's shop in Huntsville to write the Alabama Constitution. In 1819 construction began on what was later to be known as Fort Morgan at Mobile Point. On December 14, 1819 Alabama entered the union as the 22nd state. In 1846 the state capital was moved to Montgomery. Alabama was establisted on 14 December 1819, and the official state website is located at http://www.alabama.gov/.

   The state of Alabama was named after the river. The Alabama River was named by early European explorers after the Indian tribe that lived in the territory and first appeared in 1540 spelled as "Alibamu", "Alibamo" and even "Limamu" in the journals of the Spanish explorer Hernando DeSoto (c.1500-1542). The origin of the name Alabama is thought to come from a combination of two Choctaw words; Alba and Amo. In Choctaw, "Alba" means vegetation, herbs, plants and "Amo" means gatherer or picker. "Vegetation gatherers" would be an apt description for the Alabama Indians who cleared much land for agricultural purposes.

   County records vary widely from county to county in both quality and quantity. Some have been carefully preserved while others have been much abused and neglected. Some records have simply disappeared. Other scattered records are now preserved by the Alabama Department of Archives and History, the University of Alabama Library, and the Samford University Library.

Alabama shares the rich cultural history of the Southeastern region. From 1519, when the first Spanish explorer, Alonso Alvarez de Pineda, navigated Mobile Bay, the state was claimed explored, and settled by the Spanish, French, and British. 

The first permanent European settlers in Alabama were French. The LeMoyne brothers, Pierre LeMoyne, Sieur d'Iberville, and Jean Baptiste LeMoyne, Sieur de Bienville, sailed into Mobile Bay in 1699. By 1711, Fort Louis (on the present site of Mobile) had been settled as the capital of the French colony known as Louisiana.

With the Treaty of Paris in 1763, the French ceded most of Louisiana to Great Britain. When Spain declared war on Great Britain in 1779, the American Revolution came to Alabama. In 1780, Bernardo Galvez captured Mobile from the British. The Treaty of Paris in 1783 ceded to Spain the British holdings in the Mobile region.

In 1795, the Treaty of San Lorenzo more specifically stated that all Alabama lands below the 31st parallel belonged to Spain, and lands above the 31st parallel belonged to the United States and in turn to the Native Americans living there. At the same time the Ellicott Line was being surveyed, "squatters" (those having no legal claim to the lands they settled) began to move into Alabama forcing the various tribes off their lands. Washington, the first Alabama county, was created in 1800 from Mississippi Territory. The area below the 31st parallel was added to Mississippi Territory in 1812. Later counties were created as more white settlers moved into ceded native lands until Alabama Territory was created on 3 March 1817. Alabama became a state 14 December 1819 and, in 1835, the last native lands were ceded.

During the early years of statehood the most significant genealogical event was the opening of lands formerly held by Native Americans to white settlers between 1802 and 1835. Mary Elizabeth Young, Redskins, Ruffleshirts and Rednecks: Indian Allotments in Alabama and Mississippi, 1830-1860 (Norman, Okla.: University of Oklahoma Press, 1961), details these developments. By 1840 all but a few scattered tribes had been moved west beyond the Mississippi River.

Alabama suffered economic and agricultural problems in the 1840s and 1850s. The financial panic and depression which swept across the United States in 1837 resulted in banking problems that caused many Alabamians to lose their savings. Crops were ruined by drought, and several epidemics of yellow fever brought added suffering.

Economic rivalry between the industrial North and the agricultural South raised conflicts concerning states' rights and slavery. The unresolved conflict deepened until, on 11 January 1861, Alabama seceded from the Union and joined the Confederate States of America.

When compared with other Confederate states, Alabama, with the exception of the Mobile area, experienced relatively little military action. However, the conflict devastated the economic, political, and social life of the state. Though the state was readmitted to the Union on 25 June 1868, the devastation continued through the Reconstruction period. The deepening poverty experienced resulted in mass migration. In the 1860s and 1870s, 10 to 15 percent of the entire white population of Alabama migrated, with a third of these migrants going to Texas.

Railroads were completed across the state in the 1870s, leading to the industry of mining of Alabama's rich mineral deposits of coal, iron ore, and limestone. By 1880, steel, iron, lumber, and textile industries were rapidly expanding.

Alabama's industry and commerce grew with the United States' entry into World War I. Agricultural production increased, and a significant growth in Mobile's shipbuilding industry led to increased foreign trade. During the Great Depression, Alabamians suffered new financial hardships. The Tennessee Valley Authority, established in 1933 by the federal government, developed dams and power plants on the Tennessee River for inexpensive electricity, boosting Alabama's industrial growth.

World War II led to expansion of the state's agricultural and industrial production, and installation of several military training sites, including Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville-which launched the United States into the space age. During the 1950s and 1960s, agriculture and industry became more diversified, requiring fewer agricultural workers who were forced to seek employment in urban areas outside the state. Alabama faced serious racial questions during the time period. The Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955-56, the Birmingham demonstrations in 1963, and the Selma March in 1965 attracted much media attention. With the passage of the U.S. Voting Rights Act in August 1965, blacks played an increasing role in local and state politics and commerce.

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Alabama Discontinued Counties

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Alabama Burned Courthouses

   Approximately one-half of all the counties in Alabama have had their courthouse to burn. Some of them were burned during the Civil War era of 1860-1865. Some have burned as many as four times.

The destruction of courthouses greatly affects genealogists in every way. No only are these historic structures torn from our lives, so are the records they housed: marriage, wills, probate, land records, and others. Once destroyed they are lost forever. Even if they have been placed on mircofilm, computers and film burn too. The most heartbreaking side of this is the fact that many of our courthouses are destroyed at the hands of arsonist. Ten Alabama counties have had significant destruction of records by fire. However, not all records were lost.
Below is a list of the Counties with the County seat and dates of Fires

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Alabama County Listings

For genealogists doing research in Alabama there is no effective substitute for an on-site search of county courthouse records. County level records have not yet been centralized. No single county's records have been significantly abstracted or transcribed, making a courthouse visit essential. County records vary widely from county to county in both quality and quantity. Some have been carefully preserved while others have been much abused and neglected. Some records have simply disappeared. Other scattered records are now preserved by the Alabama Department of Archives and History, the University of Alabama Library, and the Samford University Library.

Ten Alabama counties have had significant destruction of records by fire. These “burned” counties and counties that have had less destructive fires are indicated on the chart above. However, not all records were lost.

Between 1935 and 1945 the Historical Records Survey conducted a preliminary inventory of fifteen county archives. The counties that were surveyed include Clay, Colbert, Conecuh, Cullman, Greene, Hale, Lauderdale, Lowndes, Madison, Marengo, Sumter, Talladega, Wilcox, and Winston. Unfortunately, the inventory has never been updated, revised, or expanded to include counties not originally surveyed. The University of Alabama Library's special collections department also has inventories of the DeKalb and Cherokee county courthouse holdings compiled in 1979.

The Chart below list each current county. Information on each page will list former names of counties, dates for records availible in each courthouse, addresses and other informaition. Court records are at the district court at the county seat, and no survey has been completed for all counties. Land and probate records are in the probate judge's office at the county seat. Exact dates for existing records are questionable, and different records will be available at different repositories. Specific, accurate information must be obtained individually from a courthouse visit. Three counties have two county seats.

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Alabama Time-Line

1802
Georgia formally cedes western claims for its southern boundary at the 31st parallel.

1803 .. 1811
Federal Road conceived and built connecting Milledgeville, Georgia to Fort Stoddert, American outpost north of Mobile.

1805 .. 1806
Indian cessions opened up to white settlement large portions of western (Choctaw) and northern (Chickasaw and Cherokee) Alabama.

1810
West Florida, from Pearl River to the Mississippi, annexed by U.S. from Spain.

1811 .. 1812
Schools established in Mobile (Washington Academy 1811) and Huntsville (Green Academy 1812).

1811 .. 1816
Newspapers established in Mobile to the south (Sentinel 1811; Gazette 1812) and Huntsville (Alabama Republican 1816) and St. Stephens (Halcyon & Tombecbe*) to the north.
*Halcyon & Tombecbe published by Thomas Easton 1815-1823 at St. Stephens.  Microfilm is available in Special Collections at Samford University Library

1813 .. 1814
Creek Indian War
July 1813 -Battle of Burnt Corn Creek
August 1813 - Fort Mims Massacre
December 1813 - Battle of Holy Ground
March 1814 - Battle of Horseshoe Bend

April,1813---U.S. annexed West Florida, from the Pearl River to the Perdido River, from Spain; Spanish surrender Mobile to American forces.

August,1814--Treaty of Fort Jackson signed at Fort Toulouse. Creek Indians forced to cede lands to U.S. comprising nearly half of the state. U.S. represented by General Andrew Jackson.

September,1814--British attack on Fort Bowyer on Mobile Point fails, prompting them to abandon plans to capture Mobile and turn towards New Orleans.

February,1815--British forces take Fort Bowyer on return from defeat at New Orleans, then abandon upon learning that the war is over.

1817
Alabama Territory created, with temporary capital at St. Stephens, when Mississippi becomes a state.

1818
The Alabama, the area's first steamboat, constructed in St. Stephens.
Cedar Creek Furnace, the state's first blast furnace and commerical pig-iron producer, established in (now) Franklin County.

1819
March 2, 1819: President Monroe signs the Alabama enabling act.

July 1819: Constitutional Convention meets in Huntsville. Constitution adopted with Cahaba selected as temporary seat of government for the new State.

October 25 through December 17, 1819: General Assembly meets in Huntsville until the Cahaba Capitol is constructed.

December 14, 1819: Alabama enters Union as 22^nd state.

1822
December--The Legislature charters Athens Female Academy, which later becomes Athens State University.

1825
French general and American Revolution-hero, the Marquis de Lafayette, toured Alabama at Governor Israel Pickens' invitation.

1826
Capitol moved to Tuscaloosa.

1830
Tuscumbia Railway Company chartered by General Assembly; first two miles of track link Tuscumbia and Sheffield (1832).

State's population=309,527.

1830 Federal Census:

White population=190,406
African-American population=119,121
Slave population=117,549
Free black population=1,572
Urban population=3,194
Rural population=306,333.

1830
LaGrange College chartered by the Legislature January 19, 1830; eventually becomes the University of North Alabama

1831
University of Alabama opened doors to students (incorporated by General Assembly 1819).

1832
Bell Factory (Madison County), state's first textile mill, chartered by General Assembly.

1833
"Stars fell on Alabama" with spectacular meteor shower (November 13).

Daniel Pratt established cotton gin factory north of Montgomery; his company town, Prattville (founded 1839), became a manufacturing center in the antebellum South.

1835 - 1836
Alabama gold rush, concentrated in east-central hill country.

Dr. James Marion Sims, "the Father of Modern Gynecology," established a medical practice in Mt. Meigs, then in nearby Montgomery (1840), before moving on to New York in 1853 to found the renowned Woman's Hospital.

1836 - 1837
Second Creek War (Seminole War).

Battle of Hobdy's Bridge last Indian battle in Alabama (1837).

1840
State population=590,756.

1840 Federal Census:

White population=335,185
African-American population=255,571
Slave population=253,532
Free black population=2,039
Urban population=12,672
Rural population=578,084.

1846
General Assembly votes to move state capital to Montgomery (first held session there in 1847).

1850
State population=771,623.

1850 Federal Census:

White population=426,514
African-American population=345,109
Slave population=342,844
Free black population=2,265
Urban population=35,179
Rural population=736,444
Cotton production in bales=564,429
Corn production in bushels=28,754,048
Number of manufacturing establishments=1,026.

1852
Alabama Insane Hospital established at Tuscaloosa (renamed Alabama Bryce Insane Hospital upon death of its first director, Peter Bryce, 1892).

1854
Alabama Public School Act creates first state-wide education system by establishing an office of State Superintendent of Education.

1856
Alabama Coal Mining Company begins first systematic underground mining in the state near Montevallo.

East Alabama Male College established at Auburn by Methodists; evolved into Auburn University.

1860
State School for Deaf, Dumb, and Blind established at Talledega.

State population=964,201.

1860 Federal Census:

White population=526,271
African-American population=437,770
Slave population=435,080
Free black population=2,690
Urban population=48,901
Rural population=915,300
Cotton production in bales=989,955
Corn production in bushels=33,226,282
Number of manufacturing establishments=1,459.

1861
January 11:  Alabama convention votes to secede from the Union.

February 4-8: Alabama invites other Southern states to Montgomery where a constitution for the Confederate States of America was adopted.

February 18: Jefferson Davis of Mississippi sworn in as President of the C.S.A.

February-May: Montgomery serves as C.S.A. capital until move to Richmond, Virginia.

March 20: Alabama Constitution of 1861 adopted.

1861 .. 1865
194 military land events and 8 naval engagements occurred within the boundaries of Alabama including:

• Streight's Raid in north Alabama (April-May 1863);
• Rousseau's Raid through north and east-central Alabama (July 1864);
• Wilson's Raid through north and central Alabama (March-April 1865);
• Battle of Mobile Bay (August 1864) and the subsequent campaign which involved action at Spanish Fort (April 8, 1865) and Blakeley (April 9) before the fall of the city of Mobile (April 12).
• General Richard Taylor surrenders last sizable Confederate force at Citronelle, Mobile County (May 4, 1865).