Meriwether County Genealogy Search

Meriwether County genealogy records date back to 1827, when the county was formed from Troup County in west-central Georgia. The Probate Court in Greenville holds marriage licenses, wills, estate files, and guardianship papers. The Superior Court Clerk maintains land deeds, divorce records, and court cases. Meriwether County has a notable connection to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who spent time at the Little White House in Warm Springs. But for genealogists, the real value is in nearly two centuries of court and land records that document the families who settled and lived in this part of the state.

Meriwether County Probate Court Records

The Meriwether County Probate Court in Greenville is the main source for marriage and estate records. Marriage licenses go back to 1827. The court also holds wills, letters of administration, guardianship files, and estate inventories. Under O.C.G.A. § 15-9-30, the Probate Court has jurisdiction over all these record types.

You can visit the courthouse in Greenville to search in person. Staff can help you locate the records you need. Mail requests are also accepted. Send the names and dates you are searching for with a search fee. Regular copies work well for genealogy. Certified copies cost more and are needed for legal use. Call the court to get current fee information before sending any payment.

Estate records in Meriwether County are especially useful for genealogy. Wills name heirs and sometimes give relationships. Inventories list property and personal items. Annual returns track how estates were managed over time. These records paint a detailed picture of families in Meriwether County going back to the 1820s.

Note: The Court of Ordinary handled probate matters in Meriwether County before 1974, and those records are now in the Probate Court.

Meriwether County Superior Court Genealogy

The Superior Court Clerk holds land records, divorce files, and court cases from 1827 forward. Deed books track property transfers between family members and neighbors. These records show where ancestors lived and what land they held in Meriwether County.

Divorce records often include names of children, property details, and ages or birth dates. Under O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70, most court records in Meriwether County are public. You can request copies at the courthouse in Greenville or by mail. Tax digests from the county and the Georgia Archives list property owners each year. For gaps in the census record, tax digests are a good substitute. Georgia lost the 1790, 1800, 1810, and 1890 censuses, so these tax records are especially valuable for early Meriwether County research.

Vital Records for Meriwether County Genealogy

Georgia started statewide birth and death registration in 1919 under O.C.G.A. § 31-10-9. The Meriwether County Health Department issues certificates from 1919 onward. Before that year, official vital records are rare at the county level.

The Virtual Vault has death certificates from 1919 to 1943 online for free. FamilySearch has Georgia death records from 1914 to 1943 indexed at no cost. Under O.C.G.A. § 31-10-26, certified birth certificates are limited to close family members and legal guardians. Death certificates are available to a wider group, so they are a better starting point for genealogy research.

For Meriwether County ancestors who lived before 1919, check church records, cemetery inscriptions, and Family Bible entries. Estate records and marriage licenses at the Probate Court also contain birth and death information in some cases.

Note: Marriage records from 1952 to 1996 were filed with the Georgia Department of Public Health as well as the county.

Meriwether County GAGenWeb Genealogy

The Meriwether County GAGenWeb page is a free volunteer-run genealogy resource. It has cemetery records, census data, family histories, and documents shared by researchers working on Meriwether County families.

Volunteers post records from courthouses, libraries, and archives across Georgia. You can share your own research too. The site helps connect people researching the same Meriwether County families.

Other free resources for Meriwether County genealogy include FamilySearch, which has Georgia marriages from 1754 to 1960, probate records from 1742 to 1990, and death records from 1914 to 1943. The Georgia Historic Newspapers archive has over one million pages of old newspapers with obituaries and legal notices.

Genealogy Tips for Meriwether County

Start with what you know. Write down names, dates, and places for your Meriwether County family. Then work backward one generation at a time. Census records are a strong next step. Federal census data from 1830 to 1940 is available at the Georgia Archives through Ancestry.com in the search room.

Meriwether County was formed from Troup County in 1827. For ancestors who lived in this area before that date, check Troup County records. County borders changed frequently in Georgia. The Virtual Vault has "Georgia Counties: Their Changing Boundaries" to help you determine which county held jurisdiction over a specific area in any given year. This tool is essential for Meriwether County research because several smaller counties were carved from the surrounding territory during the 1800s.

• Check cemetery records when vital records are missing
• Search church records for baptisms, marriages, and burials
• Look at Family Bible records on microfilm at the Georgia Archives
• Use tax digests to fill census gaps
• Review the Vanishing Georgia collection for Meriwether County photographs

The Georgia Archives is at 5800 Jonesboro Road, Morrow, GA 30260. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Under O.C.G.A. § 50-18-71, standard copy fees are 10 cents per page.

Cities in Meriwether County

Meriwether County includes Greenville, Warm Springs, Manchester, Woodbury, and Gay. All genealogy records for these communities are maintained at the Meriwether County Probate Court and Superior Court Clerk in Greenville. No cities in this county meet the population threshold for individual pages.

Nearby Counties

These counties border Meriwether County. If your ancestors moved in this region, check neighboring county records. Boundary changes mean a family could appear in different counties over time without ever relocating.