Calhoun County, Alabama Genealogy

Guide to Calhoun County, Alabama ancestry, genealogy and family history, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Description
Calhoun County was originally named Benton County in honor of Thomas Hart Benton. Name was changed to Calhoun, in honor of John C. Calhoun, in 1858. The County is located in the northeast area of the state.

County Courthouse
Calhoun County Courthouse 25 W 11th St. Anniston, AL 36201 Phone: 256-231-1750 Calhoun County Website Probate Judge has marriage records 1834-1979. Registrar in Chancery has divorce records. Clerk Circuit Court has Court Records.

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit Hometown Locator.

Biographies

 * Biographies of many notable residents of Calhoun County were published in Memorial Record of Alabama (1893). Digital version at . Begins on page 584.
 * Northern Alabama, Historical and Biographical. Birmingham, Ala.: Smith and De Land, 1888. Digital version at . Calhoun County (Town of Oxford) begins on page 112.
 * Calhoun County Biographies at The USGenWeb Archives Project

Census Records
State Census


 * 1855   at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1866  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1907, 1921, 1927  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images

Church Records

 * 1831-1994  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images

List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places

Court Records

 * Benton County Final Record, 1837–1840 [Circuit Court]. Bound and stored in the Alabama Room at the Anniston-Calhoun County Public Library--Main.

Directories
Calhoun County, Alabama Online Historical Directories - identifies historical city, county, business and other directories available online on both and pay-to-access websites.


 * 1931 Polk's Anniston City Directory, 1931 at

Ethnic, Political, and Religious Groups

 * 1865-1872  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; images only

The following have information concerning African American research.Both should be used:
 * African American Research (US) has more information about the kinds of records
 * Alabama Minorities has information specific to Alabama African Americans.

Land and Property Records
To place a grant or deed on a map within context of Calhoun County see:


 * Boyd, Gregory A. Family Maps of Calhoun County, Alabama: with Homesteads, Roads, Waterways, Towns, Cemeteries, Railroads, and More. Norman, Okla.: Arphax Pub. Co., 2007. This is a definitive work and can be used as an index to land grants. Arphax Publishing ($). Website includes surname index..

Local Histories

 * Lower Piedmont Country: The Uplands of the Deep South. By H.C. Nixon with new introduction by Sarh N. Shouse. University, Ala.: University of Alabama Press, 1984, 1946.
 * Northern Alabama, Historical and Biographical. Birmingham, Ala.: Smith and De Land, 1888. Digital version at . Calhoun County begins on page 111.
 * Possum Trot, Rural Community. By H. C. Nixon. Norman, University of Oklahoma Press, 1941.

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Maps of Alabama (1799-1980)
 * Family Maps of Calhoun County (land patent maps) at HistoryGeo.com ($). Free surname search.
 * FamilySearch Places:Cities and Towns- How to Use FS Places
 * Alabama Maps and Blueprints Collection at Alabama Department of Archives and History – maps can be browsed by location or subject

Military Records
Multiple Wars
 * ca.1918-ca.1962  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images

Civil War
 * 1861-1865 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index, images at partner site
 * 1861-1865  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index, images at partner site
 * 1861-1865 Civil War Service Database at Alabama Department of Archives and History - index
 * 1861-1865 U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry
 * 1861-1865 U.S., Union Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry
 * 1871-1880  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1880-1930   at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1907, 1921, 1927  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * Alabama Civil War and Reconstruction Newspapers at Alabama Department of Archives and History


 * - 1st Regiment, Alabama Cavalry, Company E
 * - 1st Regiment, Alabama Cavalry, Company H "Sandy Williams' Guards"
 * - 2nd Regiment, Alabama Cavalry, Company A
 * - 2nd Regiment, Alabama Infantry, Company A and I
 * - 3rd Regiment, Alabama Cavalry, Company G, Floyd Bush Rangers
 * - 7th Regiment, Alabama Infantry, Company B
 * - 10th Regiment, Alabama Infantry, Company D "Alexandria Rifle Company"
 * - 10th Regiment, Alabama Infantry, Company G "Pope Walker Guards"
 * - 10th Regiment, Alabama Infantry, Company H "Choccolocco Rifles"
 * - 22nd Regiment, Alabama Infantry, Company E
 * - 25th Regiment, Alabama Infantry, Company I
 * - 30th Regiment, Alabama Infantry, Company B and E
 * - 31st Regiment, Alabama Infantry, Company D
 * - 44th Regiment, Alabama Infantry, Company K
 * - 48th Regiment, Alabama Infantry, Company I and K
 * - 50th Regiment, Alabama Infantry, Company A, formerly Company A, 2nd Battalion
 * - 51st Regiment, Alabama Partisan Rangers, Company A and D
 * - 58th Regiment, Alabama Infantry, Company F

World War I


 * 1917-1919  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1917-1918 Alabama World War I Service Records at Alabama Department of Archives and History - alpha index by name and images
 * 1917-1918 Alabama World War I Gold Star Files at Alabama Department of Archives and History - alpha index by name and images

World War II


 * 1940-1945   at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1940-1966 Alabama Active Military Service Reports at Alabama Department of Archives and History - alpha index by name and images

Newspapers
archived and digitized newspapers available online on both and pay-to-access websites.


 * 1837-1895 Jacksonville Republican
 * 1800s-1999 U.S., Newspapers.com Marriage Index, 1800s-1999 at Ancestry - index ($)
 * 1929-1976 Anniston Star at Ancestry ($).
 * Alabama Civil War and Reconstruction Newspapers at Alabama Department of Archives and History
 * Alabama Online Historical Newspapers - identifies historical

Other Records
Voting Registration
 * 1834-1981: at FamilySearch - How to use this collection, index and images

Alabama Voting Registers for 1867 are available online at the Alabama Department of Archives and History. See Calhoun County at Register.

Probate Records
Online Probate Indexes and Records


 * 1753-1999 Alabama Wills and Probate Records 1753-1999 at Ancestry $
 * 1809-1985  at FamilySearch- How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1830-1976  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images

Social Security Records

 * 1935-2014  at FamilySearch - How to use this collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
 * 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry ($) — index, click here for more information.

Tax Records

 * 1865-1866 U.S. IRS Tax Assessment Lists, 1862-1918 at Ancestry ($). Calhoun County is in District 3.

Vital Records
Vital Record Substitutes


 * A collection of obituaries and death notices from various funeral homes in the Calhoun County area has been put together by GenealogyBuffs:


 * Calhoun County, Alabama Obituary and Death Notices Collection

Birth

 * 1881-1930  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index
 * 1881-1930  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and some images

Marriage

 * 1733-2013 Alabama, United States Marriages at FindMyPast ($)
 * 1800-1969 Alabama, Marriage Collection, 1800-1969 at Ancestry $
 * 1809-1920 Alabama Marriages, 1809-1920 (Selected Counties) at Ancestry $
 * 1809-1950 at FamilySearch- How to Use this Collection; index and some images
 * 1815, 1833-1868, 1936-1969 Alabama, Marriage Collection, 1800-1969 at Ancestry ($); Index.
 * 1816-1957 at FamilySearch- How to Use this Collection; index
 * 1818-1936 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index
 * To 1825 Index to Marriages at Ancestry ($); Index. Contains over 12,000 names.
 * 1834-1927 Calhoun County Marriage Books B2-N Index 1834-1927 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch

Death

 * 1881-1952 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index
 * 1881-1974 Index to Deaths and Burials at Ancestry ($); Index.
 * 1908-1959 Index to Deaths recorded by the state of Alabama at Ancestry ($); Index
 * 1908-1974 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index

Archives

 * Alabama Department of Archives and History P.O. Box 300100 624 Washington Ave. Montgomery, AL 36130 (334) 242-4435 website

Family History Centers

 * Anniston Alabama Family History Center

Libraries

 * Public Library of Anniston-Calhoun County Alabama Room 108 E. 10th Street Anniston, Alabama 36201 Phone: 256-237-8501 E-mail: [mailto:alroom@anniston.lib.al.us alroom@anniston.lib.al.us] Website

Societies

 * AlaBenton Genealogical Society 108 E. 10th Street Anniston, AL 36202 Website 


 * Northeast Alabama Genealogical Society P O Box 8268 Gadsden, AL 35902 Website

Websites

 * Alabama Genealogical and Historical Resources on the Net
 * Calhoun County, AL Genealogy Trails
 * Calhoun County Tracking Your Roots
 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
 * USGenWeb Archives Project ~ contains record transcriptions from Bibles, obituaries, court records and more.
 * Calhoun County ALGenWeb ~ record transcriptions and information pertinent to the county.
 * Calhoun County, Alabama Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Jacksonville State University Yearbook Digital Project: The Library is currently digitizing the entire run of the Jacksonville State University yearbooks. The yearbooks began publication in 1926 under the name Teacola (some volumes spelled "Teacoala"), which they held until 1933, when the title changed to the Mimosa. The Mimosa was not published immediately preceding and during World War II, so there are no volumes for the years 1934-1947. Print copies of the yearbooks can be found in the Library's reference collection on the 5th floor, and also in closed stacks in the 10th floor Alabama Gallery.
 * Web Sites at RootsWeb - Calhoun AL
 * – The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records.