Courthouse disasters
The Alabama Department of Archives and History lists the courthouse here as destroyed by fire in 1926, 1938. 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 Morgan 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 Judge1821–1952
- Records of Birth · Probate Judge1893–1915
- Divorce Record · Circuit Court1906–1912
- Obituary Collection · Morgan County Archives1930–2001
Deeds and land
- Deed Records · Probate Judge1820–1901
- Mortgage Records · Probate Judge1827–1902
- Indices to Real Estate Conveyances · Probate Judge1880–1900
- Judgment and Lien Records · Probate Judge1888–1912
Wills and estates
- Estate Case Files · Probate Judge1820–1915
- Administrator Records · Probate Judge1871–1928
- Guardian Records · Probate Judge1871–1927
- Inventory Records · Probate Judge1871–1927
- Records of Partial Settlement · Probate Judge1871–1917
- Records of Sale of Real & Personal Property · Probate Judge1871–1904
- Records of Final Settlement · Probate Judge1879–1920
- Claims Against the Estate · Probate Judge1881–1933
- Will Records · Probate Judge1883–1930
- Appraisement Records · Probate Judge1893–1917
Military and pensions
- Records of Honorable Discharge from Military Service · Probate Judge1845–1962
- Census of Confederate Veterans · Probate Judge1861
- Confederate Pension Records · Probate Judge1902–1940
Tax records
- Poll Tax Records · Probate Judge1901–1921
Elections and voters
- Purge Lists · Board of Registrars1836–1938
- Lists of Registered Voters · Board of Registrars1888–1935
- Poll Lists · Probate Judge1901–1943
Court records
- Case Files · Circuit Court1825–1978
- Minutes · Orphan's Court1826–1852
- Final Record · Probate Judge1833–1911
- Final Record · Orphan's Court1837–1852
- Minutes · Chancery Court1843–1901
- Orders · Chancery Court1854–1896
- Minutes · Probate Judge1856–1925
- Orders · Probate Judge1859–1867
- Final Record · Chancery Court1860–1909
- Chancery Docket · Chancery Court1872–1892
- Final Record · Circuit Court1875–1904
- Minutes · Circuit Court1884–1903
- Trial Docket · Chancery Court1893–1902
- Judgment and Decrees · Probate Judge1897–1936
Schools
- Mt. Tabor Methodist Church & Cemetery and Old Mt. Tabor School · Morgan County Archives1990
Town and city records
- Equity Minutes · City of Decatur1888–1893
- Final Record · City of Decatur1892–1904
- Final Record · Decatur City Court1899–1901
Other records
- Elbert Minter Collection · Morgan County Archives1680–1995
- Hooper Family Tree · Morgan County Archives1773–1944
- Ancestor Charts · Morgan County Archives1818–1997
- Family Vertical Files · Morgan County Archives1818–1997
- Historical Files · Morgan County Archives1818–1997
- Register · Orphan's Court1818–1873
- Index · Probate Judge1820–1888
- Records · Probate Judge1820–1936
- Miscellaneous Records · Probate Judge1825–1879
- Records · Orphan's Court1841–1872
- Letter Book · Chancery Court1842–1868
- Trial Records · Probate Judge1854–1858
- Church Register · Morgan County Archives1869–1978
- Naturalization Record · Circuit Court1892–1906
- 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
- Morgan 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 "Morgan" as the county to see every reel of Morgan 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, Morgan" 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
Later formed partly from Morgan County: Cullman 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.