Autauga County Alabama Genealogy

Autauga County is located in central Alabama. Its county seat is Prattville, but only since 1868, up until 1831 the town of Washington was the county seat, and from 1831-1868 the seat became Kingston. The county was named after the Tawasee Indian town of Atagi, whose location is its southeastern corner. Autauga County is part of the Montgomery, Alabama Metropolitan Statistical Area.  The county was created in 1818 from lands forcibly ceded by the Creek Confederacy in 1814 at the Treaty of Fort Jackson, and was developed out of Montgomery County. Autauga is surrounded by five counties.  Chilton County forms its northern border.  Elmore County is located to the east. Autauga is bordered on the southeast by Montgomery County and the south by Lowndes County.  Dallas County forms its western boundary.

African American Genealogy

Several offline resources for researching black families in Autauga County exist. The records of the Bureau of Refugees , Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands detail this bureau’s work to ease the problems faced by black freedmen after the Civil War. Two microfilmed series are available from the National Archives and from many Alabama libraries:

  1. Records of the Assistant Commissioner for the State of Alabama, 1867-1870. Reel M809
  2. Records of the Superintendent of Education for the State of Alabama, 1865-1870. Reel M810

Specific online genealogy resources for researching black families in Autauga County, Alabama can be found as follows:

  1. Alabama African American Records
  2. 1850 United States Slave Schedule
    Name index and images of slave schedules listing slave owners and only age, gender and color data of the slaves in cesus states or territories in 1850. This was the first time that slave infomation was captured as a separate schedule.
  3. 1850 U.S. Federal Census – Slave Schedules $
  4. 1860 U.S. Federal Census – Slave Schedules $
  5. 1860 Autauga County, Alabama Federal Census, Free Persons of Color
  6. 1866 State Census Colored Population Schedule
  7. Autauga County, Alabama Slaveholders and Surname Matches
    Largest slaveholders from 1860 slave census schedules and surname matches for African Americans on 1870 census

Also see Census below for black census records from 1870-1940; vital records for 1870 onward; and Cemeteries for cemeteries which were not exclusively reserved for blacks.

Archives, Societies and Libraries

The main source for genealogical research in Autauga County is the Alabama Room at the Autauga-Prattville Public Library at 254 Doster Street in Prattville. Both of the Societies local to the community retain their holdings at that location. We also suggest a stop at the Alabama Archives center or better known as ADAH, which has a treasure trove of information available for genealogists and historians of Alabama ancestry.

  • Autauga County Heritage Association
    The Autauga County Heritage Association is a group of people who share a common interest in the history of Autauga County, who strive to create historical interest and educate the community about the benefits of preservation and the significance of our own heritage.
  • Autauga Genealogical Society
    Primary focus is on the genealogy of  the old Autauga counties of Autauga, Elmore, and Chilton.
  • Autauga-Prattville Public Libraries
    The Alabama Room is a special collection of local history and genealogy materials.  The materials in the collection pertain to Autauga County and the City of Prattville as well as other counties in Alabama and the southeast.  This collection was created through a collaboration of the Autauga County Genealogical Society and the Autauga Prattville Public Library.  Many of the materials previously housed at the Autauga County Heritage Association are now available in the Alabama Room.
  • Alabama Department of Archives and History
    • Autauga County Alabama Records at ADAH
      This database contains records from local, county and municipal offices, such as the probate office, tax assessor, and orphan’s court. Most of the original records remain in the originating office. The following results reflect the records available at the Alabama Department of Archives and History Center (ADAH) specifically for Autauga County. In order to view any of the following Autauga County Alabama records the researcher would need to visit the ADAH in person, or hire a researcher to perform the task for them, or visit the specific originating office for the record.

Bible Records

Biographies

Approximately 8 million Americans have been the subjects of biographical sketches in collective biography volumes. While many of these sketches are in local histories, more than 3 million appear in books with a nationwide scope, such as Who’s Who in America and Men and Women of Science. In fact, approximately 2,000 such volumes exist and have been indexed by Mirana C. Herbert and Barbara McNeil in the Biography and Genealogy Master Index (Detroit: Gale Research Co., 1980?).

  • Early Settlers of Autauga County, Alabama
    • William Wyatt Bibb
    • John Archer Elmore
    • Robert Broadnax
    • William Raiford Pickett
    • Dixon Hall
    • Crawford M. Jackson
    • Daniel Pratt
    • Henly Bryon
  • GenWeb Archives – Autauga County Biographies
    • Dr. John W. Davis
    • Col. Doster, Charles S. G.
    • John Jacob Deramus & Elizabeth Magdalene Wolfe
    • Washington L. Ellis
    • John Archer Elmore
    • Josiah H. Marbury
    • William Martin, of Montgomery County
    • Daniel Pratt
    • Daniel Pratt
    • Merrill E. Pratt
    • John W. Roy
    • Thomas W. Sadler
    • Lot Scott
    • Col. Alfred Y. Smith
    • Mac. A. Smith
    • Samuel Parrish Smith, MD
    • William D. Smith
    • George Cook Spigener,
    • Nellie Atwood Strong
    • Peter Tatum
    • Peter James “Jimmy” Tatum
    • James M. Thompson
    • William W. Wadsworth
    • Willard Warner, Cherokee County
    • John E. Wilkinson, Dr.
    • William F. Wilkinson, Judge
  • Biographies for Autauga County, Alabama
  • Biography of Thomas J. Owen

Cemeteries

  • Autauga County, Alabama Cemetery Records
    An all inclusive listing of cemetery records specific to Autauga County Alabama that can be found on the web. These include simple transcriptions, historical transcriptions, and photographs of actual gravestones.

Census

Census records exist for Autauga County starting in 1830 and every 10 years thereafter.

Church Records

Court Records

  • Index to Commissioners Court Records
  • Index to Orphans Court Records, 1823-1849
    Search an index of Autauga County, Alabama Orphans Court records compiled by Larry Nobles and the Autauga Genealogical Society.
  • Trial Records
    • Trial of Joseph Noles (Knowles)
      The following transcription was made from copies taken from the original Alabama Supreme Court journal (June Term-1854) found in the State Archives. It documents the Dallas County Circuit Court trial of Joseph Noles(“Knowles”)in May 1854, for his crime in February 1853.
      • Retrial of Joseph Noles (Knowles)
        Joseph Noles’ conviction was overturned by the Alabama Supreme Court-June Term, 1854. He was tried again in Dallas County Circuit Court beginning on November 16, 1854. Results of the second  trial were also appealed, and the decision affirmed by the Supreme Court.
  • Autauga County Alabama Records at ADAH
    This database contains records from local, county and municipal offices, such as the probate office, tax assessor, and orphan’s court. Most of the original records remain in the originating office. The following results reflect the records available at the Alabama Department of Archives and History Center (ADAH) specifically for Autauga County. In order to view any of the following Autauga County Alabama records the researcher would need to visit the ADAH in person, or hire a researcher to perform the task for them, or visit the specific originating office for the record.

Genealogy

History

Land and Property

Land records started being recorded in 1820.

  • Index to Land Records, 1818-1878
    Search an index of Autauga County, Alabama land records compiled by Larry Nobles and the Autauga Genealogical Society.
  • Transcriptions From Deeds & Mortgages

Letters

Maps

Military

Native American

In the early years of the eighteenth century, the French found the territory of the country inhabited by the Alibamo Indians, whose villages were located along the Alabama River. But on an ancient French map there is an Alibamo town (Halbama), apparently in the western part of the county. Altogether, the county has no important aboriginal history.

Along the Alabama River are found some evidencis of aboriginal occupancy but they are not numerous. Autauga (Atagi), an Alibamo town was situated below the mouth of Autauga Creek, which enters the river just above the old Washington ferry on the Montgomery and Prattville public road Opil ‘Lako an Upper Creek town, possibly Alibamo was located in the county, but its site has never been determined. Arrow and spearpoints of flint are found in several sections but at no place in sufficient quantities to suggest the existence of workshop sites, as on the opposite side of the Alabama and on the Tallapoosa River, some miles to the east. During the Creek War, 1813-14, Dutch Bend became a place of refuge for the Creeks after their defeat at the Holy Ground. Here Weatherford’s wife, Sapoth Thlanie died two days after the battle. Weatherford had a plantation on the west bank of the river about a mile and a half below the mouth of Pintala Creek.

Newspapers

  • Death and marriage notices, 1853-1867
    Death and marriage notices from issues of Autauga county newspapers including the Autauga Citizen and Southern Statesman.
  • Autauga Citizen
    The Autauga Citizen was published out of Prattville from 1853-1882
    • Libraries which hold copies of the Autauga Citizen
    • Genealogical Abstracts From The Autauga Citizen, 1853, in Prattville, Autauga County, Alabama
      Ms. Vinson has abstracted and compiled articles of genealogical value from microfilmed copies of Prattville’s weekly newspaper-a treasure trove of information on Alabama families and a glimpse of our world in 1853 as viewed through southern eyes. Shifting county lines, following the publication of this newspaper, make this volume of interest to genealogists researching ancestors in Autauga, Elmore or Chilton Counties. Elmore County was established in 1866 and included an eastern section of Autauga. Chilton, formed in 1868, annexing a northern portion of Autauga. Articles are arranged chronologically, and include “Editorial Brevities,” “News By Telegraph,” lists of unclaimed letters at the post office, lists of political representatives, legislative proceedings, proceedings of the Southern Rights Convention, birth notices, marriage announcements, obituaries, election notices, probate notices, administrator sale notices, accounts of shootings, murders, and much more. Articles such as “Reminiscences of Autauga County” will be of interest to general readers as well as genealogists and historians. Advertisements with genealogical value, as well as state, national, and worldwide news items are also included. Spelling variations have been maintained as they appeared in these articles, and each variation is included in the index.
  • Southern Statesman
    An Independent weekly family newspaper, devoted to Southern industry, agriculture, manufactures, mechanics, internal improvements, current news, etc. The Southern Statesman was published out of Prattville by T.S. Luckett until J.R. Jones took over the reigns and published it at least through 1861.
  • Prattville Progress
    The Prattville Progress has been Prattville’s weekly community newspaper since 1885. It is still in publication.

Obituaries

Also see newspapers for additional death notices.

  • Marriage and Death Notices (1849-1853) in the Alabama Baptist Advocate, Marion, Alabama
  • Prattville Progress Online – check for current obituaries. Due to the format of the website, we are unable to directly link you to the obituaries specific to the Prattville Progress newspaper. The Obituaries link at the top of the page, is actually for the Montgomery Advertiser which is the parent paper of the Progress. You’ll see the links specific for Prattville Progress down the page, and obituaries are normally labelled as obituaries.

Probate Records

Probate records started being recorded in 1824.

Surnames

Among the early residents of the county were: Gov. William W. Bibb, John A. Elmore Sr., Bolling Hall, Sr., James Jackson, Robert Gaston, Jacob P. House, Francis Lewis, Bent Pierce, Philips and Byrd Fitzpatrick, Nicholas Zeigler, Edmund Gholson, Isaac Funderburg, Levi Kelly, William Hester, Jesse Gay, Josiah Rice, Thomas Harris, James Goss, Thomas Tatum, George Jones, Edmund Foreman, Joseph Riley, Mackey Johnson, Archibald Graham Richard Bibb, Job Calloway, William Lewis, Joshua Marcus, William Futch, Isaiah Thacker, Aaron Moore, Hiram Bishop, Abram Chancellor, Lewis C. Davis, Thomas C. Smith, William R. Pickett, Mark Howard, Seaborn Mims, Lewis Tyus, Richard Mouton, William Hightower, Jeremiah Jackson, Robert Motley, Robert Broadnax, Edmund Shackleford, John G. Stoudenmire, William N. Thompson, John Mathews, James Mathews, William Peebles, Benjamin Averett, James and Nehemiah Howard, Eli Ely, Lazarus Parker, William Nunn, Thomas Hogg, Dr. N. S. Jones, Benjamin Davis, Dr. A. R. Hutchinson, Organ Tatum, Berry Tatum, S. McGraw, B. Mason, John Lamar, L. Houser, S. Stoudenmire, and John McNeel.

Vital Records

For vital records prior to 1881 the researcher should use the probate records here mentioned. Marriage records exist from 1829 onward, though there may be earlier ones located in legal files of the Autauga court house in Prattville.

Birth Records

Marriage Records

Death Records

Autauga County Websites

Surnames:
Averett, Baker, Bibb, Bishop, Broadnax, Bryon, Cale, Calloway, Chancellor, Davis, DeJarnette, Dennis, Deramus, Doster, Dunn, Ellis, Elmore, Ely, Fitzpatrick, Foreman, Funderburg, Futch, Gaines, Gaston, Gay, Gholson, Goss, Graham, Griffith, Hall, Harris, Hester, Hightower, Hogg, House, Houser, Howard, Hutchinson, Jackson, Johnson, Jones, Kelly, Knowles, Lamar, Lewis, Marbury, Marcus, Martin, Mason, Mathews, McGraw, McNeel, Mims, Moore, Motley, Mouton, Noles, Nunn, Parker, Peebles, Pickett, Pierce, Posey, Pratt, Rice, Riley, Robinson, Roy, Sadler, Scott, Shackleford, Smith, Spigener, Stoudenmire, Strong, Tatum, Thacker, Thompson, Tyus, Wadsworth, Warner, Wilkinson, Wolfe, Zeigler,

Locations:
Atagi, Autauga County AL, Kingston Alabama, Prattville Alabama, Washington Alabama,

Collection:

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