Schley County Genealogy Lookup

Schley County genealogy records date back to 1857, when the county was created from parts of Marion and Sumter counties. The Probate Court and Superior Court Clerk in Ellaville hold marriage licenses, wills, estate files, land deeds, and court records from that year forward. Schley is a small rural county in southwest Georgia, and its records are a key resource for tracing families in the region between Americus and Columbus during the antebellum and postwar periods.

Schley County Probate Court Records

The Schley County Probate Court in Ellaville is the main source for marriage and estate records. Marriage licenses date from 1857. The court also keeps wills, letters of administration, guardianship records, and estate inventories. Under O.C.G.A. § 15-9-30, the Probate Court handles wills, estates, guardianships, and marriage licenses for Schley County.

You can visit the courthouse in Ellaville during business hours to search records in person. Staff can look up names and give you a cost estimate. Copies run about $1 per page, and certified copies are around $11 each. For mail requests, send the full name, approximate date, and type of record you need, along with a check or money order for the search fee. The staff will let you know what they find and the total cost of copies.

Since Schley County was formed from Marion and Sumter counties, records before 1857 for families in this area will be in those parent counties. Always check where a county came from when records seem to start too late for the dates you need.

Note: Pre-1900 Schley County probate records are also available on microfilm at the Georgia Archives in Morrow.

Vital Records for Schley County Genealogy

Georgia started statewide vital records in 1919 under O.C.G.A. § 31-10-9. Birth and death certificates from 1919 onward are on file at the Schley County Health Department. Before that year, there are no systematic birth or death records for this county. You need to rely on census data, church records, cemetery inscriptions, and family Bibles for earlier dates.

Under O.C.G.A. § 31-10-26, certified birth certificates can only go to the person named, parents, grandparents, adult siblings, adult children, spouses, or legal guardians. Death certificates are easier to get for genealogy work. The state charges $25 for a birth or death certificate, plus $5 for each extra copy. You can order through the Georgia Department of Public Health or visit the local health department in Ellaville.

For death records between 1919 and 1943, check the Georgia Archives Virtual Vault online for free. FamilySearch has Georgia death records from 1914 to 1943 indexed at no cost as well.

Schley County Land and Court Genealogy

The Schley County Superior Court Clerk holds land records, divorce files, and civil and criminal case records from 1857 to the present. Land deeds are extremely useful for genealogy. They show where ancestors lived, name neighbors, and often list family members in the deed itself. Deed books and plat maps are open to the public under O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70.

Divorce records are filed here as well. These files can list children, property, ages, and birth dates that help confirm family connections. Under O.C.G.A. § 50-18-71, the Georgia Open Records Act caps copy fees at 10 cents per page for standard documents from public agencies. Court records may have different fees set by local rules, so check with the clerk before placing an order.

Tax digests are another helpful source. They list heads of household with property values and can fill in gaps when census records are missing. For pre-1900 land records, the Georgia Archives also has microfilm copies.

Note: Schley County is in the Southwestern Judicial Circuit, which also includes Lee, Sumter, and Terrell counties.

Schley County GAGenWeb Genealogy

The Schley County GAGenWeb page is a free volunteer-run genealogy resource. It has cemetery transcriptions, census data, family trees, and other records posted by researchers working on Schley County lines.

This site connects you with other people researching Schley County families. Volunteers share records found at courthouses, libraries, and archives across Georgia.

Other free online tools 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 Georgia newspapers. The Virtual Vault has death certificates from 1919 to 1943 available online for free searching.

Research Tips for Schley County Genealogy

Start with what you know. Write down every name, date, and place you have for your Schley County family. Then work backward one generation at a time. Census records are often the best next step.

Federal census data is available from 1820 to 1940 at the Georgia Archives through Ancestry.com, which is free in the search room. The 1790, 1800, 1810, and 1890 federal census records for Georgia were destroyed. For those gaps, use Schley County tax digests to locate ancestors. The 1850 census was the first to name every person in the household. Since Schley County started in 1857, check Marion and Sumter county census records for earlier decades.

Pre-1900 Schley County records are on microfilm at the Georgia Archives at 5800 Jonesboro Road, Morrow, GA 30260. They are open Tuesday through Saturday, 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Free access to Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.org, and Fold3 is available in the search room. For post-1900 records, contact the courthouse in Ellaville.

• Check cemetery records when vital records are missing
• Search church records for baptisms and burials
• Look at Family Bible records on microfilm at the Georgia Archives
• Review estate records when birth or death dates are unknown

Note: Use the Virtual Vault "Georgia Counties: Their Changing Boundaries" tool to verify which county your ancestors were counted in for any given year.

Cities in Schley County

Schley County's main town is Ellaville, the county seat. All genealogy records for the county are maintained at the Probate Court and Superior Court Clerk in Ellaville. No cities in Schley County meet the population threshold for a separate city page.

Nearby Counties

These counties border Schley County. Families in this part of southwest Georgia often moved between these counties, so check neighboring records when you hit a dead end. Schley was formed from Marion and Sumter counties, making those two especially important for pre-1857 research.