Courthouse disasters
The Alabama Department of Archives and History lists the courthouse here as destroyed by fire in 1862. 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 Limestone 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 Judge1832–1950
- Records of Birth · Probate Judge1881–1919
- Records of Death · Probate Judge1881–1895
- Divorce Record · Circuit Court1896–1947
Deeds and land
- Indices to Real Estate Conveyances · Probate Judge1818–1900
- Deed Records · Probate Judge1819–1903
- Mortgage Records · Probate Judge1871–1919
- Judgment and Lien Records · Probate Judge1887–1929
- Plat Books · Probate Judge1950
Wills and estates
- Will Records · Probate Judge1826–1928
- Claims against the Estate · Probate Judge1828–1874
- Estate Case Files · Probate Judge1865–1915
- Estate Records · Probate Judge1876–1889
- Claims Docket · Probate Judge1881–1895
Military and pensions
- Census of Confederate Veterans · Probate Judge1907
- Records of Honorable Discharge from Military Service · Probate Judge1919–1954
Tax records
- Tax Abstracts · Tax Assessor1877–1899
Elections and voters
- Lists of Registered Voters · Board of Registrars1903–1941
- Purge Lists · Board of Registrars1904–1940
Court records
- Execution and Appearance Docket · Circuit Court1818–1910
- Minutes · Orphan's Court1818–1889
- Minutes · Superior Court1818–1867
- Order Book · Commission Court1819–1858
- Trial Docket · Circuit Court1819–1908
- Case Files · Chancery Court1820–1917
- Minutes · Circuit Court1820–1952
- Docket Court Suites · Civil Court1822–1828
- Minutes · County Court1825–1849
- Minutes · Probate Judge1825–1929
- Case Files · County Court1826–1830
- Docket Court Suites · Circuit Court1826–1844
- Execution and Appearance Docket · Civil Court1827–1876
- Case Files · Civil Court1832–1838
- and 22 more series in the full listing
Other records
- Index · Circuit Court1818–1849
- Estray Records · Probate Judge1824–1920
- Index · Civil Court1828–1848
- Official Bonds · Probate Judge1865–1913
- Journal · Chancery Court1867–1880
- Records · Chancery Court1867–1910
- Miscellaneous Record · Probate Judge1875
- Register's Journal · Circuit Court1880–1911
- Records of Trust · Circuit Court1882–1910
- Complete Record · Chancery Court1887–1891
- Registers of Commission · Circuit Court1888–1908
- Index · Probate Judge1910
- Poor Relief Records · Probate Judge1923–1926
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
- Limestone 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 "Limestone" as the county to see every reel of Limestone 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, Limestone" 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: Madison County
Check the parent county for earlier records: Madison County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1818, 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.