Alabama genealogy records

Births and deaths

Birth and death certificates were not required by Alabama law until 1908, and the ADPH Center for Health Statistics has filed them since then. Before 1908, a few Alabama counties created birth and death registers between the mid-1880s and the 1930s. ADAH's County Records on Microfilm Database shows which of those registers it has.

By Alabama law, death certificates are confidential for 25 years from the date of death. As of 2026, a death certificate more than 25 years old may be obtained by anyone who pays the fee. A newer one is limited to the parents, spouse, children and siblings of the person named, a grandchild who can show entitlement, a legal representative of the family or estate, and the informant listed on the certificate, and identification is required.

Birth records less than 125 years old are restricted, and a written request must give your relationship to the person named and include a copy of your identification. Since statewide filing began in 1908, no Alabama birth certificate has yet passed that 125-year mark.

As of 2026, the search fee is $15, which includes one certified copy or a "Certificate of Failure to Find", and extra copies of the same record ordered at the same time are $6 each. Fees are not refundable. You can order by mail from the Center for Health Statistics in Montgomery, at any county health department in Alabama, where most death certificates can be issued while you wait, or online through VitalChek for an extra fee.

ADAH is a FamilySearch affiliate library, which gives visitors to its Research Room access to digital copies of many Alabama death records from 1908 to 1974.

Marriages and divorces

The state office has marriage records from August 1936. For a marriage before then, contact the probate judge in the county where the license was issued. Marriage records are not restricted, and as of 2026 a state copy costs $15. ADAH's county microfilm includes marriage records, and its county books may include marriage indexes.

The state office has divorce records from January 1950, but not the divorce decrees themselves. For a divorce before 1950, contact the clerk of the circuit court in the county where it was granted. Divorce records are not restricted.

Census and voter registration

The National Archives' list of surviving 1820 census schedules does not include Alabama, so look for the family in later federal censuses. ADAH keeps census indexes in its Research Room and offers free access there to Ancestry, which has federal census records for each decade through 1950.

ADAH also points family historians to the Alabama state censuses of 1850, 1855 and 1866, the slave schedules of 1850 and 1860, agricultural censuses and mortality schedules.

Two sets of state voter registration books are early records of African American men. The Second Reconstruction Act of March 23, 1867 required the registration of all male citizens 21 and older who took an oath of loyalty, and ADAH calls the 1867 books among the first government documents to record African American men living in Alabama. The 1875 books, made before an August 1875 referendum on calling a new constitutional convention, are among the earliest state records naming formerly enslaved men. Not every county is represented, so check ADAH's digital collection for the counties available.

County records and courthouse fires

ADAH's County Records on Microfilm cover every Alabama county, though the types, dates and amount of material vary. The earliest predate statehood in 1819 and the latest are from the 1950s. They include marriages, deeds, wills, estate case files, guardianship records and a limited number of birth and death registers. Search the County Records on Microfilm Database to see what ADAH has for your county and years.

ADAH keeps a list of Alabama county courthouses destroyed by fire from 1823 to 1965. It names 32 counties, some more than once: Mobile County in 1823, 1840 and 1872, Conecuh County in 1868, 1875, 1885 and 1895, and Walker County in 1865, 1877, 1896 and 1932. Check whether your county is on it before you plan a search.

Land records

The Alabama Secretary of State's Lands records date from the time Alabama became a state through 1950, and you can search them online or contact the office. After 1950, land records may be found in the office of the county probate judge. Deeds are also among ADAH's county microfilm, and the Research Room offers free access to HistoryGeo, which covers maps and land patents.

Military records and Confederate pensions

ADAH's online Civil War Service Database gives information about Civil War soldiers from Alabama. One soldier may have several entries, with details such as county of enlistment, regiment number and discharge. Search with just the first and last name, or only the last name, since some records give initials instead of full names and some entries are misspelled. ADAH also holds muster rolls, regimental histories and Civil War pension applications.

Confederate pension files are state records, held by ADAH rather than the National Archives. Wallace State's Family and Regional History Program explains that Alabama passed a general pension bill only in 1899, and that the files are alphabetical and cross referenced by widows' names. A typical file gives the veteran's unit, dates of service and residence when he or his widow applied, and widows in 1920 filled out a questionnaire that asked, among other things, for their father's name.

The same guide describes censuses of Confederate pensioners taken in 1907, 1921 and 1927. The 1907 census, arranged by county, gives each veteran's county and date of birth and his service. The 1921 census also asked where his wife was born and lived at marriage, and for his children's names, residences and occupations. The 1927 census asked widow pensioners about their marriage. Wallace State adds that ADAH has pension payment records for 1899 to 1915, 1920 to 1925, 1927 to 1928 and 1930, and rejected applications from 1919 to 1938.

For the twentieth century, ADAH holds World War I Gold Star Files on Alabamians who died in that war, and discharge records (DD214) from the Selective Service Office for 1939 to May 1975 for soldiers who enlisted in Alabama, restricted to the veteran or direct next of kin. Later discharges are at the National Personnel Records Center.

Newspapers and help from ADAH

ADAH has newspapers from all Alabama counties, listed in its Newspapers Database. Some can only be read in the Research Room, but many are on Newspapers.com, free to visitors there.

If you cannot visit, ADAH staff will do limited research on individual family members. As of 2026, a research request costs $15 in state and $25 out of state, with extra charges for more than 25 pages of copies. In the Research Room, open Tuesday through Saturday, copies as of 2026 are $0.10 a page from the photocopier or computers and $0.25 a page from microfilm.