Courthouse disasters
The Alabama Department of Archives and History lists the courthouse here as destroyed by fire in 1853. A disaster doesn't always mean the records were lost: compare the years below for gaps, and ask the probate judge's office or ADAH what survives.
If records are missing, try the parent county, state records such as tax lists and land grants, church records and newspapers. See Burned Counties.
Records that survive
These are the record series from Butler County that the Alabama Department of Archives and History (ADAH) has on microfilm, with the office that kept each and the earliest and latest years filmed. A span can include gaps. Most of the original books are still in the county.
Marriages, births and deaths
- Divorce Record · Chancery Court1853
- Marriage Records and Indices · Probate Judge1853–1929
- Records of Birth · Probate Judge1886–1920
- Divorce Record · Circuit Court1906–1925
Deeds and land
- Tract Books · Probate Judge1817–1850
- Deed Records · Probate Judge1853–1904
- Indices to Real Estate Conveyances · Probate Judge1853–1880
- Sixteenth Section Land Books · Probate Judge1853
- Mortgage Records · Probate Judge1858–1879
Wills and estates
- Estate Case Files · Probate Judge1806–1918
- Will Records · Probate Judge1846–1938
- Estate Records · Probate Judge1853–1929
Court records
- Civil Case Files · Probate Judge1851–1926
- Minutes · Probate Judge1853–1923
- Case Files · Circuit Court1889–1893
Search ADAH's County Records on Microfilm database
Source: Alabama Department of Archives and History, County Records on Microfilm database. Enter the county's name to see every reel. Alabama's statewide registration of births and deaths began in 1908.
Where to find the records
- Butler County official website
Hours, addresses and phone numbers for the probate judge and the circuit clerk, and any online record search the county offers.
- The probate judge
In Alabama the probate office keeps most of the records family historians want: deeds, wills, estates, guardianships and marriage licenses. Before 1850 the same work was done by the orphans' court and the county court.
- The circuit clerk
Civil and criminal court cases and divorces. Older divorces and equity suits may be in the records of the chancery court.
- The Alabama Department of Archives and History
In Montgomery: microfilm of county records from every county, Confederate service and pension records, and the surviving state censuses (1820, 1850, 1855 and 1866, with many counties missing).
- ADAH County Records on Microfilmfree
Enter "Butler" as the county to see every reel of Butler County records, with the office, record type and dates.
- ADAH: Alabama courthouses destroyed by fire (PDF)free
The counties ADAH lists as losing a courthouse to fire between 1823 and 1965, with the years.
- FamilySearch Catalogfree
Search by place for "Alabama, Butler" to find filmed and digitized records, many viewable free online with a FamilySearch account.
Offices change their hours and access rules; call before you visit.
Boundaries and parent counties
Formed from: Conecuh County, Dallas County, Monroe County
Check the parent counties for earlier records: Conecuh County, Dallas County, Monroe County
Later formed partly from Butler County: Crenshaw County, Lowndes County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1819, search the parent county. The Atlas of Historical County Boundaries shows each boundary change.
Research tip
Alabama's probate judges kept deeds as well as wills and estates, so one office holds most of a family's paper trail. For an ancestor who arrived before statehood in 1819, look in the records of the Mississippi Territory (to 1817) and the Alabama Territory (1817–1819) too.