Records that survive
These are the record series from Elmore 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 Judge1867–1954
- Records of Birth · Probate Judge1909–1913
Deeds and land
- Deed Records · Probate Judge1842–1922
- Indices to Real Estate Conveyances · Probate Judge1867–1906
- Mortgage Records · Probate Judge1881–1902
Wills and estates
- Will Records · Probate Judge1826–1949
- Estate Records · Probate Judge1864
- Estate Case Files · Probate Judge1867–1915
- Administrator Records · Probate Judge1869–1881
- Guardian Records · Probate Judge1881–1941
- Apprenticeship Records · Probate Judge1888–1918
Military and pensions
- Confederate Pension Records · Circuit Court1860–1917
- Confederate Pension Records · Probate Judge1890–1920
- Census of Confederate Veterans · Probate Judge1907
- Records of Honorable Discharge from Military Service · Probate Judge1919–1945
Elections and voters
- Lists of Registered Voters · Board of Registrars1908–1926
Court records
- Case Files · Chancery Court1842–1900
- Minutes · Probate Judge1867–1926
- Final Record · Circuit Court1874–1893
- Probate Dockets and Fee Books · Probate Judge1884
Other records
- Records · Chancery Court1842–1900
- Records · Probate Judge1869–1928
- US Census · Probate Judge1880
- Sheriff's Book · Chancery Court1881–1903
- Register of Prisoners · Circuit Court1892–1900
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
- Elmore 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 "Elmore" as the county to see every reel of Elmore 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, Elmore" 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: Autauga County, Coosa County, Montgomery County, Tallapoosa County
Check the parent counties for earlier records: Autauga County, Coosa County, Montgomery County, Tallapoosa County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1866, 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.