This index is for Lawrence County, Alabama Marriages covering the time period 1818-1947.
After the couple received their marriage license, they took it to a Minister, Justice of the Peace, or Probate Judge and were married. The marriage license was then returned back to the Clerk and recorded into one of the large marriage books. We used these marriage books to generate this index.
However, there were times when the Minister failed to return the license to the Clerk and the marriage was not recorded. There were also times when a license was obtained and the Groom or Bride decided they did not wish to marry and you will see the marriage listed in this index as not executed.
Also keep in mind that we have abstracted the names as written in the book, not always did the clerk spell the name correctly. Sometimes the name is not correct as with the marriage of James M. Terry to Caroline Loosier, the groom is listed as John C. Terry.
Marriage (OC) Book A covers the period of 1818 to 1823. Only half of this book to our knowledge has survived. We know that several different abstracts have been done and we included those in this Index.
Marriage (OC) Book C which covers the period 1841 to 1848. We only have an abstract which was done by the WPA. We have found numerous errors in the transcriptions of some of the names. An example is my husband's ancestor Pleasant A. Roberts, in the WPA abstract he is shown as Clement A. Roebucks.
Marriage Books (OC) B, D, (PC) A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, and Z have been abstracted and are all included in this index.
You will notice in the index that the book is listed as “Original.” This means that we have an original marriage license, bond or permission for the marriage. We sometimes have one and not all of the originals and sometimes we have all three.
This is a listing of the known burials in Lawrence County.
This is a list of some of the known churches in Lawrence County.
The Family Files are a mix of research donated by families, and news articles, obituaries, etc., pulled by the Archives.
The Loose Case Papers are a collection of papers that were found in the Alabama State Archives in Montgomery. As they all pertained to Lawrence County, they were sent here where volunteers spent 10 years organizing, cleaning, and preparing them for microfilming. They are an interesting varied source of information on the county and its inhabitants.
The Military Records encompass the Revolutionary War through the Afghanistan. Some file have many pages, others only have a one or two. This information was gleaned from family records, websites, and soldier rosters. Only those who served from Lawrence County will be included in these files.
The Minute books are indexed through 1850, but they are microfilmed through 1934. We are working on indexing and completing the database for the remainder of the years.
Tax Records from the years 1848 - 1849.
Not all Will books are in the Archives. We do not know if they have been lost or are simply located elsewhere. Some documents may be at the state Archives.
This is not a complete list. These are simply names that have been gleaned from records so far. As more names are found, they will be added. Sadly, there is often no more information than the size of the coffin.
The Archives has the deed records through March of 1902, but the records
from 1851 - 1902 have not yet been indexed and added to the databases.
They are available to view on microfilm.