Records that survive
These are the record series from Russell 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 Judge1823–1950
- Delayed Certificates of Birth · Probate Judge1943–1962
Deeds and land
- Indices to Real Estate Conveyances · Probate Judge1836–1908
- Deed Records · Probate Judge1885–1904
Wills and estates
- Estate Case Files · Probate Judge1826–1915
- Inventory Records · Probate Judge1837–1908
- Will Records · Probate Judge1838–1942
- Records of Final Settlement · Probate Judge1856–1942
- Appraisement Records · Probate Judge1863–1881
- Estate Records · Probate Judge1900
- Petition Records · Probate Judge1906–1942
Military and pensions
- Confederate Pension Records · Probate Judge1901–1927
Court records
- Minutes · Orphan's Court1838–1847
- Docket Book · Orphan's Court1843–1848
- Minutes · Probate Judge1846–1923
Other records
- Official Bonds · Probate Judge1837–1856
- Miscellaneous Records · Probate Judge1886–1942
- Register of Prisoners · Sheriff's Department1951–1956
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
- Russell 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 "Russell" as the county to see every reel of Russell 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, Russell" 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: Montgomery County, Pike County
Check the parent counties for earlier records: Montgomery County, Pike County
Later formed partly from Russell County: Lee County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1832, 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.