Source Information
- Alabama Center for Health Statistics. Alabama Marriage Index, 1936-1969. Alabama Center for Health Statistics, Montgomery, Alabama.
- Dodd, Jordan R., et. al. Early American Marriages: Alabama to 1825. Bountiful, UT: Precision Indexing Publishers, 19xx.
- Hunting For Bears, comp. Alabama marriage information taken from county courthouse records. Many of these records were extracted from copies of the original records in microfilm, microfiche, or book format, located at the Family History Library.
- Dodd, Jordan R., comp. Early American Marriages: Alabama, 1800 to 1920.
About Alabama, U.S., Marriage Index, 1800-1969
This database is a collection of Alabama marriage indexes covering various years and counties. A list of counties and the years for which there are records covered in this index is available at the bottom of this page. This collection is comprised of indexes created by several agencies - the Alabama Center for Health Statistics, Jordan Dodd of Liahona Research, and Hunting For Bears.
Liahona Research and Hunting For Bears extracted information from records at the Family History Library (FHL) in Salt Lake City, Utah and/or from records located at county courthouses. The Alabama Center for Health Statistics index was created from actual marriage records and begins in 1936 with the statewide registration of marriages. Information contained in these indexes includes:
- Name of bride and/or groom
- Marriage date
- Marriage county
Important Notes:
On the images, following the name of the bride or groom, there are generally six (sometimes five) columns containing numbers. These columns are, left to right, County Code, Month, Day, Year, Volume Number, and Certificate Number.
I Found An Ancestor In This Database….What Now?
Marriage records are great sources for genealogists because they document an individual in a particular place and time as well as provide details about that person's marriage and establish important family relationships.
It is important that you use the information found in this database to locate your ancestor in the records that this index references. Usually more information is available in the records themselves than is found in an index. For example, marriage records sometimes provide the birth dates and places of the bride and groom, their parents' names, their addresses, and witnesses' names, in addition to the information listed in this index.
Finding the Original Marriage Record:
Marriage records in this database from the Center for Health Statistics are linked to corresponding images of the index on which the marriage is recorded. Be sure to view these images as additional information, such as a marriage certificate number, may be found there, which may help you in obtaining a copy of the original marriage record. Visit the Alabama Center for Health Statistics website for more information about obtaining copies of marriage records since 1936.
In most cases, the marriage records from Liahona Research and Hunting For Bears can be found in microfilm or book format at the Family History Library (FHL) in Salt Lake City, Utah. Unfortunately, Liahona Research and Hunting For Bears did not always provide citations on the origin of each entry. However, careful researchers who wish to examine the original source will find sufficient information to lead them to that source. It is up to the researcher to examine and identify the original records. To identify possible sources of these records at the Family History Library, begin by checking the Family History Library Catalog (available online at www.familysearch.org) under the heading "Vital Records" for the appropriate locality. Once a possible microfilm source is identified, you will need to order that microfilm to your local LDS Family History Center (more information about Family History Centers available on www.familysearch.org, under the Library tab) in order to search it. Since marriage licenses are issued by the county, copies of these records may also be obtained by contacting the appropriate county probate office. For pre-1936 marriages the probate court is the first place you should check for marriage information as the state does not maintain any records before this date.
Cautions About this Collection
There are records that may have been overlooked, misspelled, or not available to the researchers. These are not comprehensive indexes to all marriages occurring in Alabama. Therefore, if a marriage is suspected to have occurred, but is not in this collection, further research in additional sources may locate the evidence.
Counties and Years:
The following table is a list of the counties and years included in this database. This database is not comprehensive and does not necessarily include all marriages recorded for the listed years.
County | Years Included |
---|---|
Autauga | 1830-1868, 1877, 1936-1969 |
Baldwin | 1810-1825, 1845-1889, 1936-1969 |
Barbour | 1843, 1845, 1849-1874, 1892, 1936-1969 |
Bibb | 1818-1860, 1862, 1932, 1936-1969 |
Blount | 1819-1844, 1852-1888, 1932, 1936-1969 |
Bullock | 1867-1868, 1921, 1936-1969 |
Butler | 1853-1870, 1913, 1936-1969 |
Calhoun | 1815, 1833-1868, 1936-1969 |
Chambers | 1824, 1833-1902, 1936-1969 |
Cherokee | 1821-1824, 1826-1837, 1841-1846, 1849, 1861, 1865-1872, 1874-1891, 1895-1898, 1936-1969 |
Chilton | 1933, 1936-1969 |
Choctaw | 1936-1969 |
Clarke | 1812-1891, 1899, 1918, 1920, 1929, 1936-1969 |
Clay | 1872-1886, 1888-1892, 1936-1969 |
Cleburne | 1867-1881, 1936-1969 |
Coffee | 1877-1886, 1888-1901, 1936-1969 |
Colbert | 1870-1872, 1936-1969 |
Conecuh | 1873-1875, 1936-1969 |
Coosa | 1834-1848, 1878-1901, 1936-1969 |
Covington | 1936-1969 |
Crenshaw | 1858, 1867-1872, 1935-1969 |
Cullman | 1807, 1855, 1877-1899, 1936-1969 |
Dale | 1884-1901, 1933, 1936-1969 |
Dallas | 1818-1826, 1835-1839, 1936-1969 |
DeKalb | 1850-1858, 1862-1901, 1936-1969 |
Elmore | 1867-1901, 1920, 1936-1969 |
Escambia | 1860, 1879-1892, 1936-1969 |
Etowah | 1867-1901, 1936-1969 |
Fayette | 1827, 1850-1851, 1858, 1860, 1864-1903, 1906, 1936-1969 |
Franklin | 1823-1825, 1875, 1890-1902, 1936-1969 |
Geneva | 1936-1969 |
Greene | 1822-1860, 1936-1969 |
Hale | 1936-1969 |
Henry | 1821-1864, 1868-1872, 1936-1969 |
Houston | 1936-1969 |
Jackson | 1800, 1833, 1851-1901, 1936-1969 |
Jefferson | 1808, 1815, 1818-1879, 1885, 1898, 1923, 1930, 1936-1969 |
Lamar | 1870-1892, 1936-1969 |
Lauderdale | 1818-1902, 1910, 1923, 1935-1969 |
Lawrence | 1808, 1818-1884, 1888-1889, 1936-1969 |
Lee | 1788, 1797, 1874-1880, 1882-1883, 1886-1907, 1933, 1936-1969 |
Limestone | 1821-1862, 1924, 1936-1969 |
Lowndes | 1830-1880, 1898, 1936-1969 |
Macon | 1834-1878, 1936-1969 |
Madison | 1809-1826, 1828, 1831-1843, 1853-1869, 1871, 1875-1883, 1896, 1936-1969 |
Marengo | 1818-1851, 1923, 1926, 1929, 1936-1969 |
Marion | 1861, 1865, 1886-1901, 1936-1969 |
Marshall | 1836-1840, 1846-1847, 1868, 1936-1969 |
Mobile | 1813-1821, 1823-1825, 1827-1840, 1844, 1846-1849, 1851-1853, 1878, 1924, 1936-1969 |
Monroe | 1825, 1833-1838, 1936-1969 |
Montgomery | 1817-1861, 1869, 1925, 1936-1969 |
Morgan | 1821-1825, 1848-1853, 1856-1862, 1917, 1936-1969 |
Perry | 1818, 1820-1879, 1923, 1927, 1933-1969 |
Pickens | 1822, 1867, 1876-1901, 1936-1969 |
Pike | 1936-1969 |
Randolph | 1888, 1896-1900, 1925, 1936-1969 |
Russell | 1844-1850, 1859, 1936-1969 |
Shelby | 1811, 1818-1827, 1833-1834, 1837-1869, 1876, 1888, 1893, 1898, 1936-1969 |
St Clair | 1819-1826, 1828-1853, 1936-1969 |
Sumter | 1833-1838, 1847-1901, 1936-1969 |
Talladega | 1835-1837, 1840, 1842-1843, 1845-1856, 1862-1864, 1936-1969 |
Tallapoosa | 1834-1845, 1936-1969 |
Tuscaloosa | 1821-1860, 1936-1969 |
Walker | 1797, 1812, 1823, 1829, 1877-1879, 1881-1882, 1884, 1886, 1888-1889, 1936-1969 |
Washington | 1802-1804, 1825-1873, 1889-1896, 1931, 1936-1969 |
Wilcox | 1805, 1820-1825, 1936-1969 |
Winston | 1891-1901, 1936-1969 |