Courthouse disasters
The Alabama Department of Archives and History lists the courthouse here as destroyed by fire in 1823, 1840, 1872. 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 Mobile 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 Judge1813–1967
Deeds and land
- Deed Records · Probate Judge1851–1927
- Plat Books · Probate Judge1896
Wills and estates
- Will Records · Probate Judge1812–1957
- Estate Records · Orphan's Court1818–1822
- Estate Case Files · Circuit Court1851–1872
Military and pensions
- Confederate Pension Records · Probate Judge1867–1939
Records of free Black and enslaved people
- Run Away Slave Index · Probate Judge1857–1865
Elections and voters
- Lists of Registered Voters · Board of Registrars1844–1920
Court records
- Case Files · Probate Judge1813–1932
- Case Records · Probate Judge1814–1850
- Boyington Case · Probate Judge1834–1835
- Docket Book · Orphan's Court1840–1844
Other records
- Colonial Records · Probate Judge1788–1798
- Official Bonds · Probate Judge1813–1846
- Records · Probate Judge1813–1882
- Records · Coroner's Office1814–1851
- Reports · Treasurer's Office1814–1850
- Citations · Probate Judge1821–1849
- Oaths · Probate Judge1826–1849
- Commitments to Jail · Probate Judge1831–1833
- Jury List · Orphan's Court1839–1840
- Records · Orphan's Court1841–1850
- Map Survey · Probate Judge1844
- Road Books · Probate Judge1848
- Miscellaneous Records · Probate Judge1858–1905
- Dog License · Probate Judge1888–1926
- and 4 more series in the full listing
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
- Mobile 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 "Mobile" as the county to see every reel of Mobile 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, Mobile" 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: Land not yet in any county
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1812, 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.