Alabama Compiled Genealogies

United States U.S. Genealogy  Alabama  Alabama Genealogy

Most archives, historical societies, and genealogical societies have special collections of previous research and indexes of genealogical value. To begin the search of an ancestor in these collections, you may wish to begin with available published indexes, both on a national level as well as a local level. Many genealogy databases are on line through various websites.

See United States Genealogy for other important indexes.

For family histories published in periodicals, from 1847 to the present, see the Periodical Source Index, mentioned in Alabama Periodicals.

Nationwide Indexes

 * FamilySearch™ Internet Genealogy Service - Trees contains lineages organized into family groups and pedigrees with an every-name index. This was created from a database formerly known as Ancestral File.


 * The Family History Library has an extensive collection of almost 50,000 published U.S. family histories and newsletters. Copies at the library are listed in the Last names Search of the Family History Library Catalog.


 * Major collections of printed family histories are also found at most of the archives and libraries listed in United States Archives and Libraries. Most large libraries have indexes and catalogs to published family histories. For a list of the indexes and catalogs available at the Family History Library see the Family History section of United States Genealogy in the Wiki.


 * National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUCMC). "The National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections, established in 1959, is a cooperative cataloging program in which repositories from all over the United States open to the public report their holdings of manuscript collections to the Library of Congress. Staff members of the Manuscripts Section of the Library's Special Materials Cataloging Division prepare catalog entries for these reports, which are published annually in book form by the Library of Congress"--Index to personal names in the National Union Catalog of manuscript collections, 1959-1984, p. vii. An index is available at the Family History Library


 * Ancestry.com ($) Public and Private member trees.


 * World Connect includes hundreds of thousands of ancestors in pedigrees and family trees with an easy to use index.


 * Periodical Source Index (PERSI). There are more than 126,000 surnames included in the PERSI database which is available on the Internet at HeritageQuestOnline.com as well as at Ancestry.com. Both are subscription websites, but often available at local libraries.

Statewide Indexes
Genealogical publications and collections generally contain birth, marriage, and death information, often for several generations. Some biographical information also may be included.

Some of the major genealogical indexes and collections for Alabama are:


 * Alabama. Department of Archives and History. Surname Collection. Montgomery, Alabama: Department, 1985. This collection is arranged alphabetically and includes published and manuscript materials from the 1700s to 1985.


 * Gandrud, Pauline Myra Jones. Alabama Records. Easley, South Carolina: Southern Historical Press, 1981–. 245 vols. To date, 100 of the 245 volumes have been published. Volumes 1–232 and 235 are available on films (see the source below). There are one or more volumes for most counties. This collection has transcripts of tombstone inscriptions; death, marriage, probate, land, church , and court records; Bible records; obituaries; tax lists; military pensions; and other records. Each volume is individually indexed.


 * A typescript edition of the above records was filmed at the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Library in Washington, D.C. Jones, Kathleen Paul and Pauline Jones Gandrud. Alabama Records. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1939–1983. These films contain volumes 1–232 and 235. There are often several volumes for a county.


 * Another DAR collection is Miscellaneous Records cited in Alabama Cemeteries. A surname index for these two DAR collections is Kirkham, E. Kay. An Index to Some of the Family Records of the Southern States: 35,000 Microfilm References from the NSDAR Files and Elsewhere. Logan, Utah: Everton Publishers, 1979. Digitized version available through FHL catalog entry. There are two alphabetical surname indexes in the book, both of which should be searched. Not all individuals were included in the index.


 * England, Flora D. Alabama Notes. Four Volumes in two. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing, 1977.


 * Lineage Book. Alabama Genealogical Society. Two Volumes. Birmingham, Alabama: Alabama Genealogical Society, 1991, 1997. These volumes contain the name and address of each member and have four-generation pedigree charts, usually starting with the member’s parents. The charts provide names of ancestors with birth, marriage, and death dates and places. Each volume has about 4,000 names and is fully indexed.


 * Saunders, James Edmonds. Early Settlers of Alabama. New Orleans, La., 1899. Free Name Search ; publisher's bookstore: Genealogical.com ; ; digital versions at Ancestry ($), ; ; Google Books, and Internet Archive.


 * Oliver, Lloyd F. Index to Colonel James Edmonds Saunders’ Early Settlers of Alabama. Tomball, Texas: Genealogical Publications, 1978.


 * Ancestor Charts. Huntsville, Alabama: Tennessee Valley Genealogical Society, 1975–. Four Volumes. The Tennessee River Valley crosses through the northern part of Alabama. These ancestor charts of members of the Tennessee Valley Genealogical Society often contain birth, marriage, and death information for five generations of the submitter’s family. The address of the submitter is given.


 * Tuscaloosa Genealogical Society (Alabama). Lineage Chart Book. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: Society, 1979, 1990. Each volume contains six-generation lineage charts, some with information to the 1600s. Each volume is indexed by surname.

Family History Library

 * To access other genealogical records for Idaho use the Place-names Search of the Family History Library Catalog for:


 * ALABAMA - GENEALOGY
 * ALABAMA, [COUNTY] - GENEALOGY

Web Sites

 * Ancestor Hunt
 * Genealogy Search
 * Access Genealogy Alabama
 * USGenWeb Alabama
 * GeneaLinks Alabama
 * Researching Your Alabama Genealogy

Writing and Sharing Your Family History
Sharing your own family history is valuable for several reasons:


 * It helps you see gaps in your own research and raises opportunities to find new information.
 * It helps other researchers progress in researching ancestors you share in common.
 * It draws other researchers to you who already have information about your family that you do not yet possess.
 * It draws together researchers with common interests, sparking collaboration opportunities. For instance, researchers in various localities might choose to do lookups for each other in remote repositories. Your readers may also share photos of your ancestors that you have never seen before.


 * See also:
 * Create a Family History
 * Writing Your Family and Personal History
 * A Guide to Printing Your Family History