Records that survive
These are the record series from Montgomery 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 Judge1817–1951
- Records of Birth · Probate Judge1908–1952
- Records of Death · Probate Judge1908–1912
Deeds and land
- Deed Records · Probate Judge1817–1901
- Indices to Real Estate Conveyances · Probate Judge1820–1901
- Sixteenth Section Land Books · Probate Judge1839–1855
- Land Records · Tax Assessor1887–1888
- Assessment of Taxes on Real Estate and Personal Property · Tax assessor1930
- Assessment of Taxes on Real estate and Personal Property · Tax Assessor1930
Wills and estates
- Inventory Records · Probate Judge1800–1934
- Estate Case Files · Probate Judge1817–1949
- Estate Records · Probate Judge1817–1949
- Will Records · Probate Judge1817–1932
- Guardian Records · Probate Judge1831–1915
- Administrator Records · Probate Judge1870–1899
- Records of Final Settlement · Probate Judge1870–1878
- Dower Records · Probate Judge1872–1883
- Records of Partial Settlement · Probate Judge1873–1883
Military and pensions
- Records of Honorable Discharge from Military Service · Probate Judge1919–1944
Tax records
- Tax Book · Tax Assessor1852–1921
- Poll Tax Records · Probate Judge1869–1917
- 1930 Personal Property Tax Books · Dept. of Archives and History1930
- List of Property and Assessments returned by owner · Tax Assessor1930
- Tax Books · Dept. of Archives and History1930
Elections and voters
- Lists of Registered Voters · Board of Registrars1902–1940
Court records
- Minutes · Orphan's Court1817–1850
- Minutes · Probate Judge1818–1928
- Case Files · County Court1822–1866
- Minutes · Montgomery County Board of Revenue1875–1882
- Minutes · County Commission1968–1985
- Index to Minutes · Dept. of Archives and History1980–1985
- Commission Minutes · Dept. of Archives and History1985–1987
Town and city records
- Minutes · Montgomery City Council1873–1929
Other records
- Records · County Court1822–1866
- Records · Orphan's Court1831–1854
- Records · Probate Judge1854–1928
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
- Montgomery 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 "Montgomery" as the county to see every reel of Montgomery 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, Montgomery" 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: Monroe County
Check the parent county for earlier records: Monroe County
Later formed partly from Montgomery County: Autauga County, Bibb County, Blount County, Bullock County, Chambers County, Coosa County, Dallas County, Elmore County, Franklin County, Lawrence County, Lowndes County, Macon County, Pike County, Russell County, Shelby County, Tallapoosa County, Tuscaloosa County, Wilcox County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1816, 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.