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United States    Georgia    Chatham County

County Courthouse

Chatham County Courthouse
133 Montgomery Street
Savannah, GA 31401-3230
Phone: 912.652.7127

Probate Court has birth, marriage, death and probate records;
Clerk Superior Court has divorce and court records from 1783,
land records from 1785 and naturalization records from 1801^[1]

History

There were no counties prior to 5 February 1777. The settlement areas were mostly near the coastline and were organized as church-governmental parishes.  See Chatham County History at GAGenWeb Project.

Parent County

• 1777-Chatham County was created 5 February 1777 from St. Phillip and Christ Church Parishes.
  County seat: Savannah ^[2]

Boundary Changes

See Georgia Counties:  Their Changing Boundaries  (Georgia Archives)

Record Loss

Places/Localities

Populated Places

• Incorporated Cities: Bloomingdale . Garden City . Pooler . Port Wenworth . Savannah . Thunderbolt . Tybee Island . Vernonburg
  

• Communities: Georgetown . Hunter Army Airfield . Isle of Hope . Montgomery . Pin Point . Skidaway Island . White Bluff . Whitemarsh Island . Wilmington Island
  

Neighboring Counties

• Beaufort County, South Carolina
• Bryan
• Effingham
• Jasper County, South Carolina

Resources

African Americans

• Look Back, Ponder, and Move on:Glimpses of the African American Experience in Savannah 1750-1900 (The King-Tisdell Cottage Foundation)
• Savannah, Georgia, Slave Manifests, 1811-1860 ($) - via Ancestry.com. This is a database of manifests for slaves arriving in Savannah, Georgia from 1811-1860.  The manifests include: Name of ship, Master, Port of departure, Port of destination, List of slaves on board. The slave information includes: First name, Sex, Age, Stature, Name of shipper/owner, Shipper/owner’s place of residence.
  
  

Cemeteries

• Belmont Cemetery
• Bethel Cemetery
• Blessed Sacrament Church
• Bonaventure Cemetery
• Bonaventure/Greenwich Section
• Brickyard Cemetery
• Bull Street Cemetery
• Cathedral Cemetery
• Catholic Cemetery
• Cedar Grove Cemetery
• Chapel of the Little Sister's of the Poor
• Cherokee Hill Cemetery
• Colonial Park Cemetery
• Corinth - Leefield Cemetery
• Crest Lawn Memory Gardens
• Dalton Baptist Church Cemetery
• Douglas Cemetery
• East Savannah Cemetery
• Elkens Cemetery
• Elkins Cemetery
• Ennis Cemetery
• Ephesus Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery
• Eugenia Cemetery
• Evergreen Cemetery
• Fairlawn Cemetery
• Forest Lawn Memory Gardens
• Forsythe Park
• Fort Pulaski Prisoner Burial Ground
• Foxfield Cemetery
• Friendship Baptist Church
• God's Acre
• Gravel Hill Cemetery
• Greenwich Cemetery
• Gun Hill Cemetery
• Halladay Family Cemetery in the Woods
• Heart Of Jesus Cemetery
• Hester Plantation
• Hillcrest Abbey East Cemetery
• Hillcrest Abbey West Cemetery
• Hopeton Plantation Cemetery
• Horning Memorial
• Houston Baptist Church Cemetery
• Johnson Square
• Laurel Grove Cemetery North
• Laurel Grove Cemetery South
• Laurel Grove North Cemetery
• Laurel Grove South Cemetery
• LDS Cemetery Records
  Vol. 1, page 1 - Grave Hill, near Pooler
• Lepageville Memorial Cemetery
• Lincoln Memorial Cemetery
• Macedonia Baptist Church Cemetery
• Magnolia Memorial Gardens
• Magnolia Memorial Park
• McNish Cemetery
• Memorial Gardens Eighth Air Force Museum
• Messiah Lutheran Church Gardens
• Monterey Square
• Mordecai Sheftall Cemetery
• New Guinea Cemetery
• New Hope United Methodist Church Cemetery
• New Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church
• Newton Cemetery
• Oak Grove Cemetery
• Oak Hill Cemetery
• Old Church Cemetery
• Old Jewish Cemetery
• Pet Cemetery
• Piney Grove Baptist Church Cemetery
• Pooler City Cemetery
• Richmond Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery
• Saint Francis Memorial Garden
• Saint Thomas Episcopal Church Gardens
• Sand Hill Cemetery
• Skidaway Island Methodist Church Memorial Garden
• Skidaway Island Presbyterian Church
• Tarrytown Cemetery
• Turner Cemetery
• Tybee Memorial Cemetery
• Waldburgh Cemetery
• West Crest Abby
• Westside Memorial Gardens
• White Bluff Presbyterian Church Cemetery
• Wild Heron Cemetery
• Wild Horn Cemetery
• Woodstock Cemetery
• Woodville Cemetery
• Wormsloe Family Burial Ground
• Wright Cemetery
• Wright Square
• Zion White Bluff

Church

• Thomas, Edgar Garfield. The First African Baptist Church of North America. Savannah, Ga.: unknown, 1925. Digital version at Ancestry ($).
  

LDS Ward and Branch Records

• Savannah
• Chatham County Marriages (white 1805-1850) Independent Presbyterian Church of Savannah
  

Court 

Colonial Records

  1738 Savannah Residents Georgia Pioneers ($)

  1735-1738 Baptisms Georgia Pioneers ($)

  1738 Savannah Malcontents Georgia Pioneers ($)

  1745-1747 and 1756 Savannah Town Lots Georgia Pioneers ($)

  1760 Savannah Lots, Yamacraw Bluff Georgia Pioneers ($)

  1759 Savannah Wharf Lots Georgia Pioneers ($)

Directories 

• 1888 - Savannah, GA, 1888. Savannah, GA: The Morning News Print, 1888. Digital version at Ancestry ($).
  

  • 1889 - Savannah, GA, 1889. Savannah, GA: The Morning News Print, 1889. Digital version at Ancestry ($).
    

• 1890 - Savannah, GA, 1890. Savannah, GA: The Morning News Print, 1890. Digital version at Ancestry ($).
  

• 1891 - Savannah, GA, 1891. Savannah, GA: The Morning News Print, 1891. Digital version at Ancestry ($).
  
• 1898 Savannah City Directory Georgia Pioneers ($)
• 1899 Savannah City Directory Georgia Pioneers ($)

Immigration 

Inward and outward slave manifest lists:

• Savannah, Georgia: Coastwise Slave Manifests, 1801-1860. ARC 1151775, U.S. Customs Service, Record Group Number 36. National Archives Southeast Region, Morrow, Georgia. Digital version at Ancestry ($).
  

Land

Deeds and Probate Records

• Appendices to articles in Georgia Historical Quarterly : March 1939 - June 1939, on the history of Causton's Bluff, Deptford, Brewton Hill The Georgia historical quarterly
• Deeds, 1785-1900; index to deeds, 1784-1910  Georgia. Superior Court (Chatham County) are available on microfilm through a local Family History Center.
• Chatham County Deed Books (1785-1806), index and images online at the Georgia Virtual Vault.
  

Grants

• Effingham County grants, also some Chatham County, Georgia, 1771-1801 Georgia. Court of Ordinary (Effingham County)
• English crown grants for islands in Georgia, 1755-1775 Bryant, Pat
• English crown grants in Christ Church parish in Georgia, 1755-1775 Hemperley, Marion R.

Headright Surveys:

Public land given to the head of a household or to an individual who paid another person's passage to America. Headright grants were given to early colonists of America and to early citizens of Texas.  See Headright surveys, plat books D and E for Camden, Glynn, Liberty, Chatham and Effingham counties, 1784-1793.

Homestead Records (See also Probate Records)

Homestead records, 1868-1902 Georgia. Superior Court (Chatham County)

Land Lottery

• Learn more about Land Lotteries here: Land Lottery  (Georgia Archives)
• List of those entitled to draw in land lottery of 1832 Georgia. Surveyor General

Maps

  Map of Chatham County Georgia Pioneers ($)
  Map of the Savannah River Plantations Georgia Pioneers ($)

Oyster Leases

• Oyster leases 1890-1901, Chatham County, Georgia Georgia. Superior Court (Chatham County)
• Oyster leases 1890-1911, Chatham County, Georgia Chatham County (Georgia). County Commissioners

Mortgages

Mortgages, 1871-1900 Georgia. Superior Court (Chatham County)

Pony Homestead Records

Pony homestead records, 1876-1922 Georgia. Court of Ordinary (Chatham County)

Probate Records

  Complete Card Index File (digitized) of all Wills and Estates in Chatham County, alphabetical by surname. Georgia Pioneers ($)
  Wills 1781-1824 (abstracts) Georgia Pioneers ($)

  Will Book B 1777-1787 (digital images). See list of names.  Georgia Pioneers
  Will Book C 1788-1791 (digital images). See list of names.  Georgia Pioneers
  Will Book D 1801-1807 (digital images). See list of names. Georgia Pioneers
  Will Book E 1791-1801 (digital images) . See list of names. Georgia Pioneers
  Will Book F 1801-1807 (digital images. See list of names.  Georgia Pioneers
  Will Book I 1827-1840 (digital images) See list of names. Georgia Pioneers
  Will Book K 1839-1852 (digital images). See list of names. Georgia Pioneers
  Will Book L 1850-1861 (digital images). See list of names.   Georgia Pioneers
  Index to Estates, Inventories 1783-1788 (digital image). See list o names.  Georgia Pioneers
  Index to Estates, Inventories 1794-1805 (digital image). See list o names.  Georgia Pioneers
  Index to Chatham Will Book A 1775-1801 (digital) . See list of names. Georgia Pioneers
  Index to Chatham Will Book B 1777-1787 (digital). See list of names.  Georgia Pioneers

Tax Records

Chatham County Tax Digest for 1793 (digital images) Georgia Pioneers ($)

Chatham County - Tax Collector - Tax Digests, 1837-1978 | Georgia Archives

Local Histories

• Gamble, Thomas. Bethesda: An Historical Sketch of Whitefield's House of Mercy in Georgia, and of the Union Society, His Associate and Successor in Philanthropy. Savannah, Ga.: Morning News Print, 1902. Digital version at Ancestry ($).
  

• Gamble, Thomas. Savannah Duels and Duellists, 1733-1877. Savannah, Ga.: Review Pub. & Print. Co., 1923. Digital version at Ancestry ($).
  

• Granger, Mary. Savannah River Plantations. Digital version at Ancestry ($).
  

• Harden, William. A History of Savannah and South Georgia. Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co., 1913. Digital version at Ancestry ($).
  

• Harden, William. Recollections of a Long and Satisfactory Life. New York: Negro Universities Press, 1968, c1934. Digital version at Ancestry ($).
  

• Jones, Charles Colcock. History of Savannah, Ga.: From Its Settlement to the Close of the Eighteenth Century. Syracuse, N.Y.: D. Mason & Co., 1890. Digital version at Ancestry ($).
  

• Lattimore, Ralston B. Fort Pulaski National Monument, Georgia. Washington, D.C.: G.P.O., 1954. Digital version at Ancestry ($).
  

• Lee, F. D. Historical Record of the City of Savannah. Savannah Ga.: Printed and published by J.H. Estill, Morning News Steam-powered Press, 1869, c1868. Digital version at Ancestry ($).
  

• Lichtenstein, Gaston. Early History of Tarboro, North Carolina: Also, Collated Colonial Public Claims of Edgecombe County, and Easter Sunday in Savannah, Ga. Richmond: W.E. Jones, Book and Job Printer, 1908. Digital version at Ancestry ($).
  

• Piechocinski, Elizabeth Carpenter. Once Upon an Island: The Barrier and Marsh Islands of Chatham County, Georgia. Includes marriages and other vital records for Island residents, family history information for Island residents, listings of Island-born Blacks, gravesites, victims of hurricans, Union soldiers involved in the skirmish on Whitemarch Island, plantation owners, and freed Blacks who obtained land in the Islands.
  

• Savannah. Savannah, Ga.: Review Print. Co., 1937. Digital version at Ancestry ($).
  

• Sholes, A. E. Chronological History of Savannah: From Its Settlement by Oglethorpe Down to December 31, 1899: Together with a Complete Record of the City and County, and Savannah's Roll of Honor, A Roster of the Soldiers Who Have in Three Wars Gone Forth at Their Country's Call, from This City. Savannah, Ga.: Morning News Print., 1900. Digital version at Ancestry ($).
  

• Wilson, Adelaide. Historic and Picturesque Savannah. Boston: Published for the subscribers by the Boston Photogravure Co., 1889. Digital version at Ancestry ($).
  

Maps

Migration

Early migration routes to and from Chatham County for European settlers included:^[3]

• Atlantic Ocean 1733
• Savannah River 1733
• Charleston-Savannah Trail late 1730s (an extension of the King's Highway)
• Augusta-Savannah Trail 1739
• Savannah-Jacksonville Trail 1740s

Military

Civil War

Civil War Battle

The following Civil War battle was fought in Chatham County.

• April 10-11, 1862 = Fort Pulaski^[4]

Map showing Civil War battles in Georgia.

Miscellaneous Records

• Chatham County - City Clerk (City of Savannah) - Letters to the Mayor, 1844-1890 | Georgia Archives
• Chatham County - Misc. County Offices - Misc. Records, 1813-1952 | Georgia Archives, 1832-1900, Estate Papers, Promissory Notes, Marriage Announcement, Deed Records
  

Newspapers

Savannah Morning News (Live Oak Public Libraries)

• The Bull Street Branch has the Savannah Morning News from 1763-present in microfilm.
• The Georgia Room has the index to this paper for 1763-1986 except: 1846-1849; 1892-1895 (spotty); 1896-1929.
• The Georgia Death Index (1919-1994) is available at Ancestry.

Probate

• Chatham County - Probate Court - Marriage Licenses, 1866-1924 | Georgia Archives
• Chatham County - Probate Court - Misc. Records, 1860-1899 | Georgia Archives, 1860-1899, Homestead files, Case files, Lunacy files, Petitions, Wills, Other Estate records
• Chatham County - Probate Court - Proceedings and Declarations Indexes, 1845-1845 | Georgia Archives
  

Taxation

Chatham County - Tax Collector - Tax Digests, 1837-1978 | Georgia Archives

Vital Records

Birth Records

The City of Savannah (Chatham County) has birth records beginning in 1890. They were recorded state-wide beginning in 1919. 

Chatham County Health Department
P. O. Box 14257
Savannah, GA, 31416.
Telephone: 912-356-2138

Marriage Records

Georgia Marriages, 1808-1967  Name index to marriage records from the state of Georgia. Microfilm copies of these records are available at the Family History Library and Family History Centers.

Death Records

• Georgia Deaths, 1914-1927  Name index and images of Georgia statewide deaths.

• Georgia Deaths, 1928-1930  Name Index and images of Georgia statewide deaths. Original records are arranged chronogically by year and then by certificate numbers.

• 1849-50, 1879-80 - Chatham County, Georgia Mortality Schedules at Ancestry ($).
  

Voter's Records

Chatham County - City Clerk (City of Savannah) - Voters Registration Books, 1867-1867 | Georgia Archives

Societies and Libraries 

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.
• Family History Library Catalog
• Chatham County, Georgia Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
• Documenting Family History in Georgia  I Georgia Archives
• Lane Library Digital Collections (Armstrong Atlantic State University)
• Georgia Pioneers Georgia Pioneers ($)

References

1. ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Chatham County, Georgia. Page 152 At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 2002.
2. ↑ The Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America,10th ed. (Draper, UT:Everton Publishers, 2002).
3. ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), 847-61. (FHL Book 973 D27e 2002) WorldCat entry., and William E. Myer, Indian Trails of the Southeast. (Nashville, Tenn.: Blue and Gray Press, 1971), 12-14, and the book's pocket map "The Trail System of the Southeastern United States in the Early Colonial Period" (1923). (FHL Book 970.1 M992i) WorldCat entry.
4. ↑ Heritage Preservation Services, Civil War Battle Summaries by State, (accessed 13 August, 2012)