Effingham County, Georgia Genealogy

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

Description
The County was named for Thomas Howard, 3rd Earl of Effingham. The County is located in the east central area of the state.

County Courthouse
Effingham County Courthouse 901 N Pine Street Springfield, GA 31329 Phone: 912-754-2101 Effingham County Website Probate Court has birth and death records from 1927, and marriage and probate records from 1790. Clerk Superior Court has divorce and court records from 1777.

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Church Records
List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places


 * Ebenezer Record Book: Containing Early Records of Jerusalem Evangelical Lutheran Church, Effingham, Ga., More Commonly Known as Ebenezer Church. Savannah, Ga.: C.A. Linn, 1929. Digital version at Ancestry ($)
 * Saltzburgher Births and Baptisms 1756-1787 (digital images) Georgia Pioneers ($)
 * Constitution and By-Laws of the Georgia Saltburger Society, 1734-1925 Georgia Pioneers ($)

Funeral Homes

 * Carlson and Riggs Funeral Home in Guyton
 * Smalls Funeral Home, Inc in Guyton
 * Thomas C Strickland And Sons Funeral Home in Rincon and Springfield

Land and Property Records

 * 1735-1866 Georgian Colonial and Headright Plat Index, 1735-1866 at Georgia Archives Virtual Vault - alpha index
 * 1783-1909 Headright and Bounty Plats, 1783-1909 at Georgia Archives Virtual Vault - images with alpha index
 * 1805-1833 District Plats of Survey at Georgia Archives Virtual Vault - images organized by county and district
 * Colonial Plats and Warrants at Georgia Archives Virtual Vault - images with alpha index
 * Effingham County - Probate Court - Land Warrants, 1783-1787 at Georgia Archives

Maps and Gazetteers

 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places
 * 1740s-? Historic Map File at Georgia Archives Virtual Vault - images
 * 1866 - 1935 County Map File at Georgia Archives Virtual Vault - images
 * Maps of Georgia (1758-1932)

Military Records

 * Georgia USGenWeb Archives Project

Civil War 

Online Records
 * 1861-1865  at FamilySearch — index
 * 1861-1865  at FamilySearch — index
 * 1861-1865 U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry — index (free)
 * 1861-1865 U.S., Union Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry — index (free)
 * 1861-1865 Confederate Enlistment Oaths and Discharges at Georgia Archives Virtual Vault- images and alphabetical index
 * 1861-1865 Confederate Muster Rolls at Georgia Archives Virtual Vault- images; filter by commanding officer, service branch and regiment
 * 1861-1865 Confederate Pension Application Supplements - images and alphabetical index; filter by county
 * 1864 Militia Enrollment Lists, 1864 - images; filter by county
 * 1867-1868  at FamilySearch — index
 * 1879-1920  at FamilySearch — index
 * 1879-1960 Confederate Pension Applications - images and alphabetical index; filter by county


 * - 47th Regiment, Georgia Infantry (Confederate), Companies E, and I
 * - 54th Regiment, Georgia Infantry (Confederate), Company I

Spanish-American War
 * 1898 Spanish-American War Service Summary Cards - images and alphabetical index; filter by residence, muster location and unit

World War I World War II
 * 1914-1918 World War I Casualties Scrapbooks - images and alphabetical index
 * 1920-1929 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1940-1942 Georgia World War II Draft Registration Cards 1940-1942 at findmypast - index ($))

Newspapers

 * 1800s-1999 U.S., Newspapers.com Marriage Index, 1800s-1999 at Ancestry - index ($)
 * Georgia Historic Newspapers at Digital Library of Georgia

Other Records
Voting Records 
 * 1867-1868  at FamilySearch — index

Probate Records
Online Probate Indexes and Records


 * 1733-1753 Colonial Wills at Georgia Archives Virtual Vault - images with alpha index
 * 1742-1990 (*) at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1742-1992 Georgia Wills and Probate Records 1742-1992 at Ancestry — index and images ($)
 * 1754-1776 Colonial Will Books at Georgia Archives Virtual Vault - images with alpha index
 * 1781-1802 Images of Births, Baptisms, Marriages, Wills and Estates, Bk B Georgia Pioneers $
 * 1791-1934 (*); Georgia. Court of Ordinary (Effingham County) at FamilySearch Catalog — images
 * 1818-1898 (*); Georgia. Court of Ordinary (Effingham County) at FamilySearch Catalog — images
 * 1818-1916 (*); Georgia. Court of Ordinary (Effingham County) at FamilySearch Catalog — partial index and images
 * 1819-1932 (*); Georgia. Court of Ordinary (Effingham County) at FamilySearch Catalog — partial index and images
 * 1826-1845 Wills 1826-1845 (abstracts) Georgia Pioneers ($)
 * 1826-1865 Index to Inventories and Appraisements, Vol. 3, 1827-1865 Georgia Pioneers ($)
 * 1827-1958 (*); Georgia. Court of Ordinary (Effingham County) at FamilySearch Catalog — index and images
 * 1828-1896 (*); Georgia. Court of Ordinary (Effingham County) at FamilySearch Catalog — partial index and images
 * 1829-1858 Index to Wills, Vol. 3, 1829-1858 Georgia Pioneers ($)
 * 1829-1859 Index to Will Book 3: 1829-1859, free from Strictly By Name. They offer a record retrieval service to photocopy and transcribe microfilm copies of the original documents for a small fee.
 * 1829-1950 (*); Georgia. Court of Ordinary (Effingham County) at FamilySearch Catalog — index and images
 * 1830-1914 (*); Georgia. Court of Ordinary (Effingham County) at FamilySearch Catalog — partial index and images
 * 1846-1856 (*); Georgia. Court of Ordinary (Effingham County) at FamilySearch Catalog — index and images
 * 1853-1940 (*); Georgia. Court of Ordinary (Effingham County) at FamilySearch Catalog — partial index and images
 * 1856-1934 (*); Georgia. Court of Ordinary (Effingham County) at FamilySearch Catalog — index and images
 * 1866-1898 Index to Will Book 4: 1866-1898, free from Strictly By Name. They offer a record retrieval service to photocopy and transcribe microfilm copies of the original documents for a small fee.
 * 1866-1898 Index to Wills, Vol. 4, 1866-1898 Georgia Pioneers ($)
 * 1898-1937 (*); Georgia. Court of Ordinary (Effingham County) at FamilySearch Catalog —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

 * 1787-1900 at FamilySearch — How to use this collection, index and images

Birth

 * 1756-1787 Saltzburgher Births and Baptisms 1756-1787 (digital images) Georgia Pioneers
 * 1870-1960  at FamilySearch — index, and some images

Marriage

 * 1560-1993 Georgia, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index ($)
 * 1699-1944 Georgia Marriages 1699-1944 at Ancestry — index ($)
 * 1750-1875 Effingham County Marriage Index 1750-1875. Batch  at FamilySearch
 * 1750-1875
 * 1754-1769; 1769-1778 Saltzburgher Marriages, New Jerusalem Church (digital images) Georgia Pioneers ($)
 * 1754-1960  at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1785-1950  at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1787-1962  at FamilySearch — index
 * 1791-1834 Effingham County Marriage Books 1 and 2 Index 1791-1834. Batch  at FamilySearch
 * 1808-1967  at FamilySearch — index
 * 1828-1978 Georgia Marriage Records from Select Counties 1828-1978 at Ancestry — index and images ($)
 * 1832-1891 Effingham County Marriage Books 3 and 4 Index 1832-1891. Batch  at FamilySearch
 * 1890-1895 Effingham County Marriage Books B and C Index 1890-1895. Batch  at FamilySearch

Death

 * 1870-1960  at FamilySearch — index, and some images
 * 1914-1927  at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1919-1998 Georgia Deaths 1919-1998 at Ancestry — index ($)
 * 1919-1930 Georgia Death Certificates at Georgia Archives Virtual Vault - index and images
 * 1928-1930 Georgia Non-Indexed Death Certificates at Georgia Archives Virtual Vault - images
 * 1928-1942  at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1933-1998  at FamilySearch — index

Voter Records

 * 1856-1941 at FamilySearch — How to use this collection, index and images

Societies
Georgia Salzburger Society 2980 Ebenezer Road Georgia Highway 275 Rincon, GA 31326 Phone: 912-754-7001 Email: [mailto:gaslzbrgr@aol.com gaslzbrgr@aol.com] Georgia Salzburger Society

Historic Effingham Society 1002 Pine Street PO Box 999 Springfield, GA 31329 Historic Effingham Society Facebook

'''Savannah Area Genealogical Association PO Box 15385 Savannah, GA 31416 Email: [mailto:gasaga@comcast.net gasaga@comcast.net] Savannah Area Genealogical Association

Websites

 * Georgia Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * USGenWeb Effingham County, Georgia project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county.
 * GAGenWeb Archives
 * Effingham County, Georgia Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Effingham County Georgia (USGenNet)
 * Georgia Pioneers Georgia Pioneers
 * - 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