Clarke County, Georgia Genealogy

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

County Facts
County seat: Athens
Organized: December 5, 1801
Parent County(s): Jackson[1]
Neighboring Counties
BarrowJacksonMadisonOconeeOglethorpe
See County Maps
Courthouse
Clarke County, Georgia Court House.jpg
Location Map
Georgia Clarke County Map.png

County Information[edit | edit source]

Description[edit | edit source]

Clarke County was named for Elijah Clarke and is located in the northeastern area of the state.[2]

County Courthouse[edit | edit source]

Clarke County Courthouse
325 E Washington Street, Rm 200
PO Box 1868
Athens, GA 30601
Phone: 706-613-3031
Clarke County Website

Clerk Superior Court has divorce, land and court records from 1801 and military records from 1922.
County Health Department has birth and death records from 1919.
Probate Court had marriage and probate records from 1801.[3]

Clarke County, Georgia Record Dates[edit | edit source]

Information for this chart was taken from various sources, often containing conflicting dates. This information should be taken as a guide and should be verified by contacting the county and/or the state government agency.

cellpadding="1" border="1"
Known Beginning Dates for Government County Records[4]
Birth* Marriage Death* Court Land Probate Census
1919 1801 1919 1801 1801 1801 1820
*Statewide registration of births and death began in 1919. General compliance for births by 1928 and deaths by 1922.

Record Loss[edit | edit source]

There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.[5]

Boundary Changes[edit | edit source]

Populated Places[edit | edit source]

In 1991 the original City of Athens abandoned its charter to form a unified government with Clarke County, referred to jointly as Athens–Clarke County. Virtually the entire county is made up of the city of Athens and the University of Georgia. Its county seat is Athens, with which it is a consolidated city-county.

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:[7]

Cities

History Timeline[edit | edit source]

Resources[edit | edit source]

Bible Records[edit | edit source]

Biographies[edit | edit source]

Business, Commerce, and Occupations[edit | edit source]

Cemeteries[edit | edit source]

Cemeteries of Clarke, Georgia online and in print
Tombstone Transcriptions Online
Tombstone Transcriptions in Print (Often more complete)
List of Cemeteries in the County
See Georgia Cemeteries for more information

Census Records[edit | edit source]

Historical populations
Census Pop.
1810 7,628
1820 8,767 14.9%
1830 10,176 16.1%
1840 10,522 3.4%
1850 11,119 5.7%
1860 11,218 0.9%
1870 12,941 15.4%
1880 11,702 −9.6%
1890 15,186 29.8%
1900 17,708 16.6%
1910 23,273 31.4%
1920 26,111 12.2%
1930 25,613 −1.9%
1940 28,398 10.9%
1950 36,550 28.7%
1960 45,363 24.1%
1970 65,177 43.7%
1980 74,498 14.3%
1990 87,594 17.6%
2000 101,489 15.9%
2010 116,714 15.0%
Source: "Wikipedia.org".


Church Records[edit | edit source]

Church records and the information they provide vary significantly depending on the denomination and the record keeper. They may contain information about members of the congregation, such as age, date of baptism, christening, or birth; marriage information and maiden names; and death date. For general information about Georgia denominations, see the Georgia Church Records wiki page.
List of Churches and Church Parishes

First African Methodist Episcopal Church
521 N Hull Street
Athens, GA 30601
706-548-1454
Website
Facebook

Methodist Episcopal
First Methodist Episcopal Church, Athens

  • 1825-1884 First Methodist Episcopal Church, Athens, Baptism Index 1825-1884. Batch C712491 at FamilySearch.
  • 1825-1884 First Methodist Episcopal Church, Athens, Marriage Index 1825-1884. Batch M712491 at FamilySearch.

Methodist Episcopal Church South, Winterville

  • 1890-1895 Methodist Episcopal Church South, Winterville, Baptism Index 1890-1895. Batch C712501 at FamilySearch.
  • 1890-1895 Methodist Episcopal Church South, Winterville, Marriage Index 1890-1895. Batch M712501 at FamilySearch.

Court Records[edit | edit source]

Directories[edit | edit source]

Emigration and Immigration[edit | edit source]

Ethnic, Political, and Religious Groups[edit | edit source]

African American

Funeral Homes[edit | edit source]

Genealogies[edit | edit source]

Guardianship[edit | edit source]

Land and Property Records[edit | edit source]

Land and property records can place an ancestor in a particular location, provide economic information, and reveal family relationships. Land records include deeds, abstracts and indexes, mortgages, leases, grants and land patents.

See Georgia Land and Property for additional information about early Georgia land grants from the government. After land was transferred to private ownership, subsequent transactions (generally buying and selling deeds) were usually recorded at the county courthouse and where records are currently housed.

Online Land Indexes and Records


Local Histories[edit | edit source]

Local histories are available for Clarke County, Georgia Genealogy. County histories may include biographies, church, school and government history, and military information. For more information about local histories, see the wiki page section Georgia Local Histories.

  • History of Athens and Clarke County. Athens, Ga.?: H.J. Rowe, 1923. Digital version at Ancestry ($)
  • Hull, Augustus Longstreet. Annals of Athens, Georgia, 1801-1901. Athens, Ga.?: Banner Job Office, 1906, c1907. Digital version at Ancestry ($) or for free at Google Books

Maps and Gazetteers[edit | edit source]

Jackson CountyMadison CountyOglethorpe CountyOconee CountyBarrow CountyGA CLARKE.PNG
Click a neighboring county
for more resources


Migration[edit | edit source]

Military Records[edit | edit source]

Civil War

Online Records

Regiments. Service men in Clarke County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are companies that were specifically formed in Clarke County:

- Carlton's Company, Georgia Artillery (Troup Artillery) (Confederate)
- 3rd Battalion, Georgia Infantry (Confederate) Companies K and L
- 5th Regiment, Georgia Infantry (Confederate) , Company N
-37th Regiment, Georgia Infantry (Confederate) , Company E
- 44th Regiment, Georgia Infantry (Confederate) Company C
- 66th Regiment, Georgia Infantry (Confederate) , Company I


  • Jones, Charles C., and Joseph B. Cuimming. 1993. Military operations in Georgia during the War between the States: address delivered before the Confederate Survivors Association in Augusta, Georgia upon the occasion of its fifteenth annual reunion on Memorial Day, April 26th, 1893. Conway, Arkansas: Olbuck Press. 975.8 M29j
  • Stegeman, John F. 1964. These Men She Gave: Civil War Diary of Athens, Georgia. Athens, Ga: University of Georgia Press. (page 146-158) 975.818 M25st
  • Georgia. Inferior Court (Clarke County). 1960. Bonds to support families of Confederate soldiers 1861-1869, and discharge certificates of Confederate soldiers 1864 [Clarke County, Georgia]. Salt Lake City, Utah: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah. Film 214554 item 1,2,3
  • Mitchell, Albert L. 1960. Roster of companies furnished by Clarke County, Georgia, to the Confederate Army in the War between the States, 1861-1865. [S.l.]: Mann Film Laboratories. Film 219472 item 3

Spanish-American War

World War I

World War II

Naturalization and Citizenship[edit | edit source]

Newspapers[edit | edit source]

Obituaries[edit | edit source]

Other Records[edit | edit source]

Paupers and Chain Gangs

Voting Records

Periodicals[edit | edit source]

Probate Records[edit | edit source]

Colonial courts kept some early probate records. From 1777 to 1798 and since 1852, the court of ordinary or register of probates has kept probate and guardianship records. The inferior court handled probate and guardianship matters from 1798 to 1852.

Many probate records to the 1930s and 1940s are at the Georgia Department of Archives and History and the FamilySearch Library on microfilm.

Content: Probate Records may give the decedent's date of death, names of his or her spouse, children, parents, siblings, in-laws, neighbors, associates, relatives, and their place of residence.

Record types: Wills, estates, guardianships, naturalizations, marriage, adoption, and birth and death records (not all years).

Online Probate Indexes and Records


School Records[edit | edit source]

Social Security Records[edit | edit source]

Tax Records[edit | edit source]

Taxes were levied on free white males over 21 and all slaves up to age 60. These persons are referred to as "polls." Tax listings, or digests, of a county generally list the taxable landowners and other polls and the amount of tax. The records for each county are divided by militia district.

Vital Records[edit | edit source]

Vital Records consist of births, adoptions, marriages, divorces, and deaths recorded on registers, certificates, and documents. A copy or an extract of most original records can be purchased from the Georgia State Department of Health , the County Clerk's office of the county where the event occurred or order electronically online.

For some online statewide indexes, see the FamilySearch Historical Record Collections for Georgia.

Birth[edit | edit source]

Marriage[edit | edit source]

  • 1805-1852 - Clarke County Marriage Books A thru D Index 1805-1852. Batch M531921 at FamilySearch
  • 1808 - Clarke County Marriage Index 1808. Batch M531927 at FamilySearch
  • 1808-1967 Georgia Marriages 1808-1967 at FamilySearch — index — How to Use this Collection
  • 1828-1978 Georgia, U.S., Marriage Records From Select Counties, 1828-1978 at Ancestry - index & images ($)
  • 1846-1872 Clarke County Marriage Books D and E Index 1846-1872. Batch M531922 at FamilySearch
  • 1871-1885 Clarke County Marriage Books F thru H Index 1871-1885. Batch M531923 at FamilySearch
  • 1885-1886 Marriages from Newspapers 1885-1886 Georgia Pioneers ($)
  • 1886-1890 Clarke County Marriage Books F thru H Index 1886-1890. Batch M531924 at FamilySearch
  • 1890-1901 Clarke County Marriage Books I and J Index 1890-1901. Batch M531925 at FamilySearch
  • 1807-1820; 1805-1821 (index); 1815-1821 (index); License (Index) 1821-1838; License (Index) 1838-1867; 1885-1886 (from newspapers). Georgia Pioneers ($)

Death[edit | edit source]

Divorce[edit | edit source]

Voting Records[edit | edit source]

Research Facilities[edit | edit source]

Archives[edit | edit source]

Listed below are archives in Clarke County. For state-wide archival repositories, see Georgia Archives and Libraries.

FamilySearch Centers[edit | edit source]

FamilySearch Center and Affiliate Library Locator map - search for local FamilySearch Centers or Affiliate Libraries

  • FamilySearch Centers provide one-on-one assistance, free access to center-only databases, and to premium genealogical websites.
  • FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries have access to most center-only databases, but may not always have full services normally provided by a FamilySearch center.

Local Centers and Affiliate Libraries

Libraries[edit | edit source]

Listed below are libraries in Clarke County. For state-wide library facilities, see Georgia Archives and Libraries.

Athens-Clarke County Library Heritage Room
2025 Baxter Street
Athens, GA 30606
706-613-3650 Ext 350
Email: heritageroomref@athenslibrary.org
Website
Facebook

Athens Regional Library System
2025 Baxter Street
Athens, GA 30606
706-613-3650
Website
Facebook

University of Georgia Library
University of Georgia
320 S Jackson St
Athens, Georgia 30602-1641
706-542-3251
Website
Facebook

Museums[edit | edit source]

Societies[edit | edit source]

Listed below are societies in Clarke County. For state-wide genealogical societies, see Georgia Societies.

Historic Athens, Athens-Clarke Heritage Fountain, Inc.
489 Prince Ave
Fire Hall Number 2
PO Box 81186
Athens, GA 30601
706-353-1801
Website
Facebook

Clarke-Oconee Genealogical Society
PO Box 6403
Athens, GA 30604
Email: cogsgenealogy@gmail.com
Website
Facebook

Watson-Brown Foundation, T.R.R. Cobb House
175 Hill Street
Athens, GA 30601
706-369-3513
Email: sthomas@trrcobbhouse.org
Website
Facebook

Websites[edit | edit source]

Research Guides[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Georgia.At various libraries (WorldCat); FS Library Book 973 D27e 2002.
  2. Wikipedia contributors, "Clarke County, Georgia" in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarke_County,_Georgia accessed 31 Oct 2018
  3. Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Georgia.At various libraries (WorldCat); FS Library Book 973 D27e 2002.
  4. Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Clarke County, Georgia. Page 151-163 At various libraries (WorldCat); FS Library Book 973 D27e 2002; Alice Eichholz, ed. Ancestry’s Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources, Third ed. (Provo, Utah: Ancestry, 2004), 155-160.
  5. Paul K. Graham, Georgia Courthouse Disasters (Decatur, Georgia: Genealogy Co., 2013), 20. At various libraries (WorldCat).
  6. Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Georgia.At various libraries (WorldCat); FS Library Book 973 D27e 2002.
  7. Wikipedia contributors, "Clarke County, Georgia," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarke_County%2C_Georgia, accessed 3 Febuary 2019.
  8. Genealogical Society of Utah, Parish and Vital Records List (July 1998). Microfiche. Digital version at https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/images/0/09/Igigeorgiaad.pdf.