Courthouse disasters
The Alabama Department of Archives and History lists the courthouse here as destroyed by fire in 1869, 1884. 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 Dale 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
- Marriage Records and Indices · Probate Judge1884–1969
- Divorce Record · Circuit Court1921–1946
Deeds and land
- Deed Records · Probate Judge1884–1904
- Indices to Real Estate Conveyances · Probate Judge1884–1923
Wills and estates
- Administrator Records · Probate Judge1885–1922
- Guardian Records · Probate Judge1885–1924
- Records of Final Settlement · Probate Judge1886–1923
- Inventory Records · Probate Judge1891–1918
- Will Records · Probate Judge1904–1942
Military and pensions
- Records of Honorable Discharge from Military Service · Probate Judge1919–1942
Elections and voters
- Registered Voters · Dept. of Archives and History1894
- Lists of Registered Voters · Board of Registrars1914–1944
Court records
- Orders · Probate Judge1885–1897
- Orders · Orphan's Court1892–1930
Other records
- Records · Orphan's Court1885–1892
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
- Dale 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 "Dale" as the county to see every reel of Dale 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, Dale" 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: Covington County, Henry County
Check the parent counties for earlier records: Covington County, Henry County
Later formed partly from Dale County: Coffee County, Geneva County, Houston County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1825, 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.