Records that survive
These are the record series from Washington 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 Judge1826–1961
- Records of Birth · Probate Judge1928–1943
- Records of Death · Probate Judge1931–1938
- Delayed Certificates of Birth · Probate Judge1944–1964
Deeds and land
- Deed Records · Probate Judge1799–1928
Wills and estates
- Estate Case Files · Probate Judge1800–1920
- Will Records · Probate Judge1820–1938
- Inventory Records · Probate Judge1825–1914
Military and pensions
- Census of Confederate Veterans · Probate Judge1907
- Records of Honorable Discharge from Military Service · Probate Judge1919–1955
Elections and voters
- Lists of Registered Voters · Board of Registrars1901
Court records
- Dockets · Superior Court-Mississippi Territory1802–1821
- Minutes · Superior Court-Mississippi Territory1802–1827
- Probate Dockets and Fee Books · Probate Judge1805–1818
- Docket 1 · Superior Court-Mississippi Territory1818–1821
- Minutes · County Court1827
- Minutes · Probate Judge1884–1933
Other records
- Miscellaneous Record · Probate Judge1800–1850
- Records · Superior Court1802–1821
- Records · Chancery Court1805–1827
- Records · County Court1827–1844
- Records · Probate Judge1838–1943
- Inmate Rosters · Sheriff1911–1930
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 Washington 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 "Washington" as the county to see every reel of Washington 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, Washington" 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: Adams County (Miss.), Pickering County (now JEFFERSON, Miss.)
Later formed partly from Washington County: Baldwin County, Choctaw County, Clarke County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1800, 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.