Georgia Vital Records
This entry was originally written by the Johni Cerny and Robert S. Davis for Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources.
Georgia attempted to require registration of births, marriages, and deaths on a county level in 1875, but the law was repealed in 1876. Some vital records for fourteen Georgia counties for 1875 have been microfilmed and are available at the Georgia Archives (see Georgia Archives, Libraries, and Societies).
In 1919 Georgia law required the registration of all births and deaths in the state. As in many other states, Georgia's county governments were slow to respond to the new law and most did not comply until 1928. See Georgia Historical Records Survey, Guide to Public Vital Statistics in Georgia (Atlanta: the author, 1941) for the records kept by individual counties. A few major cities required birth and death registration early on:
• Atlanta'births, 1896; deaths, 1887. Fulton County Health Department, 99 Butler St. S.E., Atlanta, GA 30303.
• Augusta'births, 1823'1896. See Georgia Genealogical Society Quarterly (1968): 1988-93
• Savannah'births, 1890; deaths, 1803. Chatham County Health Department, P.O. Box 14257, Savannah, GA 31406. Early death records have been published by the Georgia Historical Society.
• Macon'births, 1891; deaths, 1882. Bibb County Health Department, 171 Emery Hwy., Macon, GA 31201.
• Columbus'births, 1869; deaths, 1890. Muscogee County Health Department, 2100 Comer Ave., Columbus, GA 31902.
• Gainesville'births, 1865; deaths, 1909. Available on microfilm at the Georgia Archives.
Birth and death records in Georgia can be requested from the Georgia Department of Human Resources, Vital Records Unit, Atlanta, Georgia 30334. For urgent requests, certificates can be ordered and paid for by phone with a Visa or MasterCard. There is an additional fee for this service.
As in most other states, marriage records in Georgia are created at the county level. Some Georgia counties kept some marriage bonds before 1805, although Georgia law did not require marriage licenses to be recorded until 1805. Officials were careless in adhering to the law and consequently some marriages were not recorded at all. Some records were also lost in various courthouse fires. All recorded Georgia marriages to 1900 are available on microfilm at the Georgia Archives and the Family History Library (FHL) in Salt Lake City. The former also has some loose, original county marriage records. Heritage Papers' periodical Georgia Genealogist contains civil marriages to 1810. Marriages after that date can be found in Mary B. Warren, Georgia Marriages 1811 Through 1820 (Danielsville, Ga.: Heritage Papers, 1988).
From 1793 to 1832, divorces in Georgia were subject to legislative approval after being approved by the county superior court. The divorce files remain in the custody of the county superior courts. Divorces, name changes, and decrees of femme sole (also called feme sole) granted by the Georgia legislature are abstracted in Robert S. Davis Jr., The Georgia Black Book II (Easley, S.C.: Southern Historical Press, 1987).
Ancestry.com has the following vital records databases for Georgia:
- Georgia Marriages, 1699-1944
- Georgia Marriages to 1850
- Georgia Marriages, 1851-1900
- Georgia Deaths, 1919-98
FamilySearch.org has a variety of collections available for free online:
- Georgia, Births and Christenings, 1754-1960
- Georgia, County Marriages, 1785-1950
- Georgia, Marriages, 1808-1967
- Georgia, Deaths, 1914-1927
- Georgia, Deaths, 1928-1930
- Georgia, Death Index, 1933-1998
In addition to these databases, there is a collection of Georgia Bible Records that contains an itemized list of the births, marriages, and deaths found in approximately 1,000 family Bibles that can be searched at Georgia Bible Records.
External Links
- Georgia Birth, Marriage, and Death Records - free up-to-date guide to accessing Georgia birth, marriage, and death records (FamilySearch Research Wiki). Includes links to FamilySearch vital record databases.
- Georgia Marriages Search Engine - free Georgia marriages search engine that has indexed marriages posted across the web.
- Georgia Obituary and Death Notice Archive - free Georgia obituary archive that has transcribed obits from across the state.
- Georgia Library of Files - free Georgia obituary and data files archive from across the state.
- Georgia Vital Records - links to Georgia vital record sources organized by county
