Georgia County Court, Probate, Tax and Other Miscellaneous Records
Even today, few people escape mention in court records at some time during their lives as witnesses, litigants, jurors, appointees to office, or as petition signatories. However, Americans of a few generations ago also expected to attend local court proceedings when they were in session. It was a civic duty-and they could be fined if they did not attend.
American court files mirror U.S. history. Buried away in courthouses and archives everywhere are the dreams and frustrations of millions of citizens. The chances are great that your ancestors have left a detailed record of at least some aspects of their lives in court records.
Most of us don’t think of court records as the rich source of personal history that they are. But America’s English heritage established a tradition of court processes in which the people have a right to participate actively—and we always have. With relative freedom from royal supervision and with court enforcement of religious as well as civil laws, American courts tried many matters that were not subject to court action in other parts of the British empire and that are now considered too minor to warrant criminal action.
Order County Court, Civil or Criminal Records Online!
When a person dies, every state has laws that provide for public supervision over the estate that is left, whether or not there is a will. The term “probate records” broadly covers all the records produced by these laws, although, strictly speaking, “probate” applies only when there is a will.
Family historians use probate case files far more than any other kind of court record. Probate case files are logical sources because they tend to include so much personal data, and because Americans have depended on the courts to settle their estates since North America was colonized. According to Val Greenwood in his Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy, “All records which relate to the disposition of an estate after its owner’s death are referred to as probate records. These are many and varied in both content and value, but basically, they fall into two main classes: testate and intestate”. Probate case files generally provide names, addresses, and biographical data for the deceased, but frequently provide the same information for other relatives named in the papers. Relationships, maiden names of wives, married names of daughters, past residences, and place of origin in a native country are just a few of the details that can be discovered in probate files. And probate files can be found in courthouses and archives across the United States.
When requesting probate information from the county clerk, it is important not to limit yourself by asking for a person’s “will.” The clerk will usually take you at your word and not copy other papers in the probate file that may have equally important information if there is no will.
Even if your ancestor is not mentioned in a probate case, consider all of the other procedures which might have resulted in him or her appearing in court records.
Search Georgia Historical Records - Databases include Court, Land, Wills & Financial Records; Birth, Marriage & Death Records; Voter Lists & Census Records; Immigration & Emigration Records; Obituary Records; Military Records; Family Tree Records; Pictures; Stories, Memories & Histories; Directories & Member Lists and much more....
Georgia Court Records
See Also Research In State Court Records
Even today, few people escape mention in court records at some time during their lives as witnesses, litigants, jurors, appointees to office, or as petition signatories. However, Americans of a few generations ago also expected to attend local court proceedings when they were in session. It was a civic duty-and they could be fined if they did not attend......
There is no effective substitute for an on-site search of county courthouse records. County level records have not yet been centralized. No single county's records have been significantly abstracted or transcribed, making a courthouse visit essential. County records vary widely from county to county in both quality and quantity.
Unfortunately, no colonial Georgia court records survive. Georgia's state constitution provided for two county level courts to be created in 1777. Superior courts were established at the county level to hear cases dealing with divorce, civil and criminal charges, naturalization, military discharges, homesteads, prisons, and slaves. Simultaneously, courts of ordinary were created to hear and record cases involving probate matters. It also dealt with indentures, paupers, licenses, voting, and marriage. Each court kept minutes, which are useful in genealogical research.
Inferior courts were created in 1798 and were responsible for probate matters (until 1852), civil matters, and misdemeanor type civil and criminal cases. Georgia's state supreme court began in 1846, and the case files and records of this court are in the Georgia Department of Archives and History . The decisions of that court are published annually in the Georgia Reports. With the exception of only the most recent records, the federal district and circuit court records for Georgia are at the National Archives-Southeast Region in East Point, Georgia.
Georgia's state prison and asylum records are housed at the Georgia Department of Archives and History . These records are open to researchers when over seventy-five years have passed from the date of their creation.
The FHL has a broad collection of court records from each of Georgia's courts at the county level, as well as the U.S. Circuit Court, District of Georgia.
Georgia Probate Records
See Also Research In State Probate Records
Probate records include a variety of documents created to support court proceedings in the settlement of an individuals' estates. The number and type of probate records created may vary over time in different jurisdictions and due to the amount of real and personal property involved. The various documents generated in the probate process are rarely filed together......
The office of the probate judge is the county office where the most significant genealogical records are created and maintained in Georgia. A variety of records are housed in this office.
In Georgia, estate records are produced by courts with jurisdiction at the county level beginning in 1777 and with the creation of the county ordinary courts. Prior to that date, most estate matters were handled at the colonial capitol in Savannah. Most all of Georgia's colonial estate, colonial deed, mortgage, and deed of gift records survive at the Georgia Department of Archives and History .
County ordinary courts kept probate records from 1777–98 and began keeping them again in 1852. County inferior courts were responsible for probate matters from 1798–1852. Almost all pre-1900 county probate records are on microfilm at the Georgia Department of Archives and History and the FHL. The Archives also has many loose, original Georgia county records. After 1900, probate records are in the county's ordinary court.
Georgia Tax Records
See Also Researching in Tax Records
Things taxed have included carriages and watches, windows and whiskey, land and slaves. Taxes on documents and tea helped start a war. Arkansas Territory’s sudden tax on bounty lands in the 1820s was enacted and due before the news had time to reach out-of-state owners, permitting the quick seizure and sale of “delinquent” lands. As this variety suggests, name lists of such taxes must be used with a cautious understanding of who should be on the list and who should not...
None of Georgia's colonial tax records have survived. Surviving Georgia tax records begin on a county basis in the late 1780s. By 1783 Georgia tax laws provided for taxing land according to its quality and quantity, and male polls were white males over twenty-one. Other taxes were imposed on town lots, slaves, and free persons of color, buildings and improvements, merchandise, lawyers, and doctors. The poll tax on all adult males made Georgia tax digests good census substitutes and supplements.
List of Tax Acts of Georgia from 1780-1817
|
|
|
|
Legislative Activity for Taxes: 1817-1850
- 1818-1839: The acts during these years are all based on the tax act of 1817. These tax acts continually revive preceding acts, often with amendments. Many simple tax questions can be answered by a glance at the 1817 law. Complex or refined questions may require consulting the specific act for the year in question and then backward through a chain of revived acts.
- 1840: This act revives the Tax Act of 1804, with amendments. This was probably an attempt at simplification. The stated intention was to make this act permanent.
- 1842: This act increased the taxes of 1840 by 25%.
- 1843-50: The final years of the first half of the nineteenth century the Georgia Legislature re-enacted the 1840 act, which itself was a revival of the 1804 act. The 1847 act did require that taxes be paid in the county in which the land was held in jurisdiction. Previously, the tax had been paid in the county of residence.
The Georgia Department of Archives and History has other tax digests for 1789–1817 which are not included in the above publication. A complete set of originals for the years 1872 to the present is at the Georgia Department of Archives and History . Some earlier digests are on microfilm at the Georgia Archives and the FHL.
- Georgia Tax Books at Amazon.com
- Georgia Tax Index, 1789-99 - Online tax database for an index of tax records held by the state government from 1789-99.
Definitions of Common Court Terms
| FOR DEFINITIONS OF ALL COURT TERMS SEE THE GENEALOGY ENCYCLOPEDIA | ||
|---|---|---|
|
|
|
| Copyright © 2009