Like many of its Southern neighbors, Georgia is comprised of distinct geographic regions that make a significant impact on research. Plus, many of our ancestors only had a passing acquaintance with the state. Researching Georgians without understanding the state’s diversity can make genealogy seem intimidating. Instead, study your Georgians and their unique place in the state’s history—a rewarding experience unlike any other once you’re aware of the sources available. This guide can help.
Indigenous peoples have been documented in what is now Georgia for thousands of years. By the time Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto reached the area around 1540, notable groups included the Muscogee (called “Creek” by the Europeans), Cherokee, Hitchiti, Yamasee and Guale. Early in its colonial history, Georgia was claimed by both Spain and Great Britain. The Spanish founded near- by Saint Augustine, Fla., in 1565, and attempted to assert Spain’s authority over the area. But much of the land was also part of the charter for the British Province of Carolina (1663).
The colony of Georgia itself was thus founded late in comparison with the other Thirteen Colonies. A board of trustees received a charter in 1732, and the colony’s only major port (Savannah) was founded the next year. Georgia’s founders—notably James Oglethorpe—intended the colony to be settled as a refuge for debtors, but that utopian vision didn’t become a reality. Georgia’s proximity to often-hostile neighbors (Spanish Florida to the south, and the Muscogee and Cherokee to the west nd throughout) kept English settlement sparse. Much of the modern state’s land remained unsettled by Europeans for many years. And documentation of the European settlers who did live there may have been kept by neighboring South Carolina or Florida.
Both patriots and Loyalists lived in Georgia during the Revolutionary War, with a large percentage trending toward the latter. Because Georgia was unable to fill its quotas for the Continental Army, men from other colonies served among Georgia’s ranks. Today, that leaves family historians looking in the wrong state for their “Georgia” soldier. At the war’s end, the new state of Georgia also had a practically new set of residents. Conflict with Native Americans dwindled the already-small population, as did the tendency for Loyalists to flee. The new Georgia government attempted to encourage settlement by issuing land through bounties and a lottery. Fraud was widespread among bounty land-seekers. But the relatively low cost of land through the lottery system (begun in 1805) made ownership more accessible.
Residents expanded westward into the early 19th century. That unfortunately led to the displacement and eventual removal of Native Americans. The Muscogee gave up large tracts of land in the “Creek Wars of the 1810s, and the Cherokee were forced along the Trail of Tears to Oklahoma in late 1838. Today, the state recognizes three tribes: two Cherokee, and one Muscogee. Railroads followed settlers west, leading some to call Georgia the “Empire State of the South.” Immigrants (especially Irish fleeing the potato famine of the 1840s and 1850s) flocked to Savannah. Atlanta was founded as the terminus of the Western and Atlantic Railroad in 1837, and grew to become the South’s largest city.
A slave state, Georgia seceded from the Union ahead of the Civil War. Though the state’s economy largely relied on slave labor, the enslaved population mostly concentrated on large plantations. Roughly one-third of Georgia’s adult white male population held slaves by 1860. Most residents supported the Confederacy, though there were some communities (particularly in the mountainous northern part of the state) who retained Union loyalties. Much of the state was devastated by the war, with Union General William Tecumseh famously capturing Atlanta and pillaging a swath of land from there to Savannah. The event is often cited as the primary driver of record loss, though Georgia’s records were largely spared the destruction seen in other Southern states. Reconstruction ushered in an era of political, racial and economic unrest. Different parts of the state faced different challenges. The rural south, having lost the enslaved workforce, struggled economically. But northern Georgia (whose mountains made plantations impractical) dealt more with new taxes.
A rebuilt Atlanta continued to grow, becoming the state’s capital in 1868. It was also the symbolic capital of the “New South,” becoming a nexus of development and (a century later) the civil rights movement. By the early 1900s, many Georgians were poor farmers. (Look for mortgage and sharecropping records.) Though spared most of the effects of the Dust Bowl, Georgia suffered boll weevil infestations during the Great Depression. This—along with racial tension—encouraged many Black farmers to leave for Northern cities as part of the Great Migration.
Today, Georgia is the eighth-most-populous state in the Union and a major hub for industry, entertainment, and transportation. Though agriculture is a much smaller portion of the state’s economy than it once was, Georgia is still famous for its peaches and peanuts.
1540 Spaniard Hernando
de Soto leads a party through the American Southeast in search of gold 1732 A board of trustees secures a charter for the colony of Georgia, named for King George II 1752 The Crown takes direct control over Georgia and removes its ban on slaver
1753-1804
1788 Georgia adopts the Constitution, becoming the
fourth US state 1804 Amidst the Yazoo land scandal, Georgia cedes its western claims to what is now Alabama
and Mississippi
1805-1864
1838 The Cherokee are forced from Georgia to Oklahoma as part of the Trail of Tears 1861 Georgia secedes from the Union and joins the Confederate States of America
1865-1957
1864 Union troops capture Atlanta and “March to the Sea” at Savannah 1932 Fulton County annexes neighboring Campbell
and Milton Counties, the last major change to Georgia’s county boundaries 1957 Martin Luther King, Jr. becomes the first
president of the Atlanta-based Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Georgia didn’t require birth and death records in 1919. (An 1875 legislative act to that effect was quickly rescinded.) Compliance among counties was slow, meaning many events even after 1919 went unrecorded. Worse still, a 2010 state law restricts access to birth and death records. Fortunately, there are some exceptions. Certain counties and cities began keeping birth and death records before the wider state, and they’re not subject to privacy restrictions.
You can contact the relevant office to request records. In addition, FamilySearchholds some death records, plus a death index through 1998. The Georgia Archives also hosts digital copies of certificates through 1927.
MARRIAGE RECORDS
Marriages were documented much sooner; the state required counties to keep marriage records in 1805. Contact the county where the marriage took place, or consult an index at FamilySearch. You can request records from 1952 (when the state began documenting marriages) to 1996 through the department of health’s vital records office.
Georgia has appeared in every US federal census since 1790. However, records from that year through 1810 are largely missing, as are 1820 census returns for some counties. (Ancestry.com has a reconstructed 1790 census.) As of this writing, decennial census records through 1950 are available to the public at various genealogy websites. The Georgia Archives hold some surviving records of various state-level censuses taken by Georgia between 1798 and 1859. These generally name only the head of household.
Fortunately, Georgia also compiled various tax lists (called “tax digests”), which can serve as supplements for missing federal or state censuses. Ancestry.com has a collection, though the records are organized only by year range (rather than exact year). You’ll need to be methodical when using these, as you’ll find different information in different years
Georgia’s land-distribution system (mentioned in the history section) is unusual compared to other states in both its format (a lottery system, plus bounty land) and its high level of participation. Ancestry.com has a collection of land lottery books(though many remain o·ine) plus other records. The Georgia Archives has a Colonial and headright plat index, and FamilySearch has a wide collection of deeds.
Because land ownership was easierthan in other locations, there is a greater chance someone had real property that needed to be distributed at their death. Probate records can provide a goldmine of information in Georgia. FamilySearch has the largest online collection of county probate records, though it’s certainly not comprehensive. Probate records include both testate (estates with a will) and intestate (those without a will)
Georgia may boast one of the best free online collections of newspapers: Georgia Historic Newspapers, which has pages from 442,000 issues and counting. The only downside of this amazing resource is that it’s not as easy to search as some of the paid sites (GenealogyBank, Newspapers.com, NewspaperArchive, and so on), some of which have exclusive titles. Start with subscription sites if you already pay for them.
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