Alabama State Census, 1866 - FamilySearch Historical Records

Record Description
This collection covers individuals living in Alabama in 1866.

Additional Information About Alabama Census Records
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.

Record Content
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 to Use the Record
To begin your search it is helpful to know


 * Full name
 * Identifying information such as the residence

Search the Collection
To search the collection fill in the requested information in the boxes on the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the individuals in the list to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to look at the information on several individuals comparing the information about them to your ancestors to make this determination. Keep in mind:


 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names, or variations of their name, throughout their life.
 * If your ancestor used an alias or a nickname, be sure to check for those alternate names.
 * Even though these indexes are very accurate they may still contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned.

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

Using the Information
When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. Download a copy of the record, or extract the genealogical information needed. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details. Add this new information to your records of each family. The information in this index can help you with the following:


 * Use the names, county, and page number to locate your ancestor in the actual census.
 * Use the names and location to locate your ancestor in the 1850 and 1860 federal censuses of Alabama.
 * Use the residence to locate additional records such as church and land records.

Tips to Keep in Mind

 * If you do not have the full name, use the surname. If you know the county where your ancestor lived put the name in the residence box.
 * Remember, this is only an index.
 * If the surname is unusual, you may want to compile the entries for every person of the same surname.
 * There is also some variation in the information given from record to record.
 * If you are unable to find the ancestors you are looking for, check for variant spellings of the names.

Related Websites

 * Chattahoochee Valley Libraries
 * Columbus Public Library
 * Alabama Genealogy
 * New Horizons Genealogy

Related Wiki Articles

 * Alabama
 * Alabama Census
 * Alabama Censuses, Existing and Lost

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
When you copy information from a record, you should list where you found the information. This will help you or others to find the record again. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records.

Citation for This Collection
The following citation refers to the original source of the information published in FamilySearch.org Historical Records collections. Sources include the author, custodian, publisher, and archive for the original records.