Clay County, Alabama Genealogy

United States   Alabama    |Clay County

County Courthouse
Clay County Courthouse County Square Ashland, AL 36251 Phone: (256) 354-7926

Probate Court has land records from 1861 Probate records from 1865 marriage records from 1872 County Court has death records 1920-1940 and Voting Register 1903-1936

History


The county is named after U.S. Speaker of the House Henry Clay (1777-1852).

Parent County
1866--Clay County was created 7 December 1866 from Randolph and Talladega Counties. County seat: Ashland

Record Loss
1875 -- Courthouse burned and many records were damaged.

For further information on researching in burned counties, see the following:


 * Burned Counties Research in FamilySearch Wiki
 * Michael John Neill, Burned Counties in Family History Circle

Neighboring Counties

 * Cleburne
 * Coosa
 * Randolph
 * Talladega
 * Tallapoosa

Biography

 * Clay County Biographies at The USGenWeb Archives Project - free.

Probate Records

 * 1830-1976 - Probate Records, 1830-1976 at  - free.

Birth

 * 1881-1930 - FamilySearch Historical Records Collection - free

Marriage

 * 1816-1957 - FamilySearch Historical Records Collection. Incomplete.


 * To 1825 Index to Marriages at Ancestry– ($); Index. contains over 12,000 names. Each entry includes groom, bride, marriage date, county, and state. Every name is indexed so you can search for one name, or two names that are linked.


 * 1872–1886, 1888–1892, 1936–1969 Alabama, Marriage Collection, 1800–1969 at Ancestry– ($); Index. 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.


 * 1872–1891 "Alabama Marriages, 1809–1920"at Ancestry– ($); Index. This database is a collection of marriage records from the state. Researchers will find the names of both bride and groom along with the marriage date. The county where the ceremony was performed is also provided. Containing about 150,000 records and the names of nearly 300,000 men and women.


 * Clay County Marriages at ALGenWeb - free

Death

 * 1881-1952 - FamilySearch Historical Records Collection - free


 * 1881–1974 Index to Deaths and Burials at Ancestry– ($); Index. Volunteers extracted the details in this index from microfilmed copies of church, civil, family, and other records of Alabama deaths and burials. details vary depending on the original record. Note that the number of available records can vary widely by county, and this database does not necessarily represent a comprehensive set of death records for the state during this time.


 * 1908–1959 Index to Deaths recorded by the state of Alabama at Ancestry– ($); Index. The index includes name of the deceased, county of death, date of death, and the state certificate number (volume and page).


 * 1908-1974 - FamilySearch Historical Records Collection - free

Voting Registers
Alabama Voting Registers for 1867 are available online at the Alabama Department of Archives and History. Clay County has one book.

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Web Sites

 * 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.
 * Clay County ALGenWeb~ record transcriptions and information pertinent to the county.
 * Clay County, Alabama Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Clay County, Alabama Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)