Records that survive
These are the record series from Tallapoosa 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 Judge1830–1946
- Divorce Record · Circuit Court1840–1934
- Records of Birth · Probate Judge1881–1938
- Records of Death · Probate Judge1881–1938
Deeds and land
- Indices to Real Estate Conveyances · Probate Judge1835–1913
- Deed Records · Probate Judge1885–1903
Wills and estates
- Apprenticeship Records · Probate Judge1834–1930
- Estate Records · Probate Judge1834–1946
- Will Records · Probate Judge1835–1949
- Estate Case Files · Probate Judge1840–1915
- Administrator Records · Probate Judge1871–1936
- Guardian Records · Probate Judge1871–1931
- Dower Records · Probate Judge1872
- Records of Sale of Real & Personal Property · Probate Judge1872–1898
- Petition Records · Probate Judge1874–1927
- Records of Final Settlement · Probate Judge1874–1926
Military and pensions
- Records of Honorable Discharge from Military Service · Probate Judge1919
Records of free Black and enslaved people
- Slave Records · Probate Judge1847–1860
Court records
- Commissioner's Court Minutes · Probate Judge1835–1863
- Commissioner's Court Records · Probate Judge1835–1863
- Minutes · Orphan's Court1835–1852
- Minutes · Probate Judge1857–1924
Schools
- School Records · Probate Judge1835–1929
Other records
- Index · Orphan's Court1835–1851
- Native American Records · Probate Judge1835–1863
- Official Bonds · Probate Judge1839–1855
- Civil War Records · Probate Judge1846–1915
- Index · Probate Judge1848–1930
- Bastardy Bonds · Probate Judge1849–1852
- Miscellaneous Records · Probate Judge1856–1892
- Records · Tax Assessor1860–1946
- Records · Probate Judge1869–1873
- Child Labor Affidavits · Probate Judge1908–1916
- Naturalization Record · Circuit Court1914–1924
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
- Find Tallapoosa County's official website
We haven't checked this county's website yet, so this opens a web search. Look for an address ending in .gov, then find the probate judge and the circuit clerk.
- 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 "Tallapoosa" as the county to see every reel of Tallapoosa 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, Tallapoosa" 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, Shelby County
Check the parent counties for earlier records: Montgomery County, Shelby County
Later formed partly from Tallapoosa County: Elmore 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.