Alabama State Census, 1866 - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Alabama 

What is in the Collection?
This collection covers individuals living in Alabama in 1866.

The State of Alabama conducted state censuses in the following years: 1818 (partial), 1820 (partial), 1821 (partial), 1823, 1850, 1855, 1866, and 1907.

The information is generally reliable. However, use the information with some caution, since the information may have been given to a census taker by any member of the family or by a neighbor. Some information may have been incorrect or deliberately falsified.

The census was compiled to obtain a count of the population of the state to determine how many representatives the state would send to Congress.

What Can these Records Tell Me?
The index contains the following information:


 * Names of individuals or heads of families
 * Residence
 * Film number
 * Digital folder number
 * Page number
 * Image number

The census generally includes the following information:


 * Name of the head of household
 * Number of persons in each family
 * Relationship to head of household
 * Age
 * Sex
 * May list number of deceased or disabled soldiers in the family
 * May list former slaves

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know at least some of the following:
 * The name of your ancestor.
 * The residence of your ancestor.
 * The approximate age of your ancestor.
 * The names of other relatives and their relationships.

Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information in the list to what you already know about your ancestor to determine if it is the correct person. You may need to compare several persons in the list before you find your ancestor.

'Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page:

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line video at FamilySearch Search Tips.

What Do I Do Next?
Whenever possible, view the original records to verify the information and to find additional information that might not be reported. These pieces of information can lead you to additional records and family members.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use the age listed to determine an approximate birth date. This date along with the place of birth can help you find a birth record. Birth records often list biographical and marital details about the parents and close relatives other than the immediate family.
 * Use the race information to find records related to that ethnicity such as records of the Freedman’s Bureau or Indian censuses.
 * Use the naturalization information to find their naturalization papers in the county court records. It can also help you locate immigration records such as a passenger list which would usually be kept records at the port of entry into the United States.
 * Birth places can tell you former residences and can help to establish a migration pattern for the family.
 * If they are subject to military service they may have military files in the State or National Archives.
 * Occupations listed can lead you to employment records or other types of records such as school records; children’s occupations are often listed as “at school.”
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.
 * Church Records often were kept years before government records were required and are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

I Can't Find Who I'm Looking for, What Now?

 * Try viewing the original record to see if there were errors in the transcription of the name, age, residence, etc. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * Collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you identify possible relations that can be verified by records.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby locality in an area search.
 * Standard spelling of names typically did not exist during the periods our ancestors lived in. Try variations of your ancestor’s name while searching the index or browsing through images.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Search the indexes and records of Alabama, United States Genealogy.
 * Search in the Alabama Archives and Libraries.

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.. Collection citation:

Record citation (or citation for the index entry):

Top of Page