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DESTRUCTION
of
Courthouses in Georgia
Below is a list from the State of Georgia, Dept. of Archives & History
of Georgia Counties and the years the Courthouses were subjected to a disaster.
This does NOT mean that ALL RECORDS were lost. Often, folks took their
documents again in for recording after a disaster and later deeds will contain
long chains of title, etc. CC's should still try to show what records are
available for their county. We have included some research
tips on what to do and what
other records may be available for research.
- Baker County: Flood - 1925, 1929.
- Baldwin County: Fire - 1861.
- Bartow County: Originally Cass County. Courthouse
destroyed by enemy fire during War Between the States in the 1860's.
- Bulloch County: Fire - 1864.
- Burke County: Fire - 1825, 1856.
- Calhoun County: Fire - 1888, 1920.
- Carroll County: Fire - 1927.
- Charlton County: County site then at Traders Hill.
Destroyed by fire in 1877. Present site fire 19 February 1928.
- Cherokee County: Fire - 1865, 1928.
- Clayton County: Fire - 1864.
- Clinch County: Fire - 1856, 1867.
- Cobb County: Fire - 1864.
- Coffee County: Fire - 1898, 1938.
- Colquitt County: Fire - 1881.
- Crawford County: Fire - 1829.
- Dade County: Fire - 1865, 1895.
- DeKalb County: Fire - 1842, 1898.
- Dooly County: Fire - 1847.
- Douglas County: Fire - 1896, 1957.
- Early County: Fire - 1896.
- Echols County: Fire - 1897.
- Emanuel County: Fire - 1841, 1855, 1857, 1919,
1938.
- Forsyth County: Fire - 1973.
- Glynn County: Storm - 1896.
- Gordon County: Storm - 1888.
- Greene County: Town burned by Indians in 1787.
- Gwinnett County: Fire - 1871.
- Habersham County: Fire - 1856. Blown up in 1898.
- Hall County: Fire - 1851, 1882. Tornado in 1936.
- Harris County: Set fire by Federal Troops in 1865,
but quickly extinguished.
- Hart County: Fire - 1900, 1967. Courthouse burned
in 1967. Clerk & Ordinary's Office in adjacent building.
- Heard County: Fire - 1893.
- Henry County: Fire - 1824. 1864 (Some records
destroyed by Sherman's men.)
- Jenkins County: Fire - 1919.
- Lee County: Fire - 1856. County seat then at
Starkville. Fire at Leesburg in 1872.
- Lowndes County: Fire - 1858, 1869.
- Macon County: Fire - 1857.
- Marion County: Fire - 1845.
- McIntosh County: Fire - 1864, 1872, 1931.
- Meriwether County: Cyclone - 3 March 1893. Fire -
1976.
- Miller County: Fire - 1873, 1974.
- Mitchell County: Fire - 1869.
- Muscogee County: Fire - 1838.
- Newton County: Fire - 1883.
- Paulding - Fire -
- Pickens County: Fire - 1947.
- Pierce County: Fire - 1875.
- Quitman County: Fire - 1920.
- Screven County: Fire - 1860's, 1896.
- Stewart County: Fire - 1922.
- Talbot County: Fire - 1890.
- Telfair County: Fire in the early 1900's.
- Thomas County: Damaged by storm in 1849.
- Toombs County: Fire - 1919.
- Troup County: Mysterious fire 4 November 1936.
- Twiggs County: Fire - 1901.
- Union County: Fire - 1859.
- Walker County: Fire - 1883.
- Ware County: Fire - 1854.
- Warren County: Fire - 1909.
- Washington County: Fire - 1855, 1864 (Sherman).
- Webster County: Fire - 1914.
- Wheeler County: Fire - 1916.
- Whitfield County: Fire - 1864 (Sherman).
- Wilkes County: Fire - 1958.
- Wilkinson County: Fire - 1829, 1854, 1864, 1924.
- Worth County: Fire - 1879, 1893
Here are some tips on what to do if the records
you need were destroyed:
Tactic #1.... Verify the report that the County that you are researching has
indeed
been burned or lost records for unknown reasons.
Tactic #2.... Do your homework
Verify everything published on problem area
Tract down all publications
Use interlibrary loan
Tactic #3....
Join major Genealogical Societies
example:
National Genealogical Society
State Genealogical Societies
County Genealogical Societies
Read every word in those journals, most important. read the footnotes
also!
Tactic #4
Use everything that has survived
Search for reconstituted records
Track Books
Federal Land Office
Order Pension Records
Tactic #5
In Census records, look at those neighbors, at least a dozen on each side
County Clerks Fee Books
Search surviving Counties
Lawsuits
District Court Records
Tactic #6
Follow Rivers
Cross State Lines
Tactic #7
Comb State level Records
Tax Record Rolls
Appeals Court Records
Each County made two copies of all records.
Take an in house inventory of what you have.
Tactic #8
Extend search to Federal Archives
Rev. War Era Records
Civil War Era Records
Wartime Damage Claims
Captured Confederate Records
Preliminary Capture Records
Tactic #9
Homestead Act Applications
Homestead Files
Tactic #10
Cross Ethnic Lines
Slave Narrations
Pursue Slaves
Check for Government Documents
Use to the fullest whatever courthouse records might
have survived.
Do not ignore the records traditionally considered
to be of little genealogical value....example...surveys, marks and brands books,
estray books, etc. When a man entered his brand markings to be recorded, that
brand mark ALWAYS followed him to his death. Even if he moved to another county
or state, the brand mark stayed the same.
Do not pass over unindexed material on the premises
that would take too long to search. Many OLD books were never indexed, and this
information is more apt to be more correct than in our newer published books.
Do not ignore material that carries the "wrong"
ethnic label...example...white, black, Indian, etc.
Many legal documents were re-recorded after a
courthouse was destroyed.
Deeds, probate files, and court records recorded
long after a disaster can contain long chains of title and other genealogical
information from the pre-disaster period.
Above all else, KEEP the FAITH! No situation is
hopeless.
Source Gagenweb CC help files
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