Access Stewart County Genealogy Records

Stewart County genealogy records date to 1830, when the county was created from Randolph County in southwest Georgia. The Probate Court in Lumpkin holds marriage licenses, wills, estate inventories, and guardianship papers from that year forward. Land deeds, court cases, and divorce files are at the Superior Court Clerk office. Stewart County was a prosperous plantation area before the Civil War, and its courthouse records hold detailed information on the families who lived here. Lumpkin, the county seat, is also home to the Bedingfield Inn, one of the oldest structures in southwest Georgia.

Stewart County Probate Court Records

The Stewart County Probate Court is the main source for marriage and estate records. Marriage licenses date to 1830. The court also holds wills, letters of administration, guardianship papers, and estate inventories. Under O.C.G.A. § 15-9-30, the Probate Court has jurisdiction over wills, estates, guardianships, conservatorships, and marriage licenses.

You can visit the courthouse at 176 Franklin Street in Lumpkin. The phone number is 229-838-6220. For mail requests, include names, dates, and a check or money order for the search fee. Certified copies cost more than plain copies. Call ahead for current fees and hours.

Estate records from Stewart County are important for genealogy. Wills name heirs and describe property. Inventories list what a person owned at death. For the antebellum period, these records sometimes list enslaved people, making them a key source for African American genealogy in southwest Georgia.

Note: Before 1974, the Court of Ordinary managed probate matters. All older files were transferred to the Probate Court.

Stewart County Superior Court Genealogy

The Superior Court Clerk holds land records, divorce files, and court cases from 1830 onward. Deed books document property transfers over time. Plat maps show land parcels. These records help trace where your ancestors lived and who their neighbors were in Stewart County.

Divorce records often list children, property, ages, and birth dates. Under O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70, most court records are open to the public. You can get copies in person or by mail.

Tax digests list property owners each year. Georgia lost the 1790, 1800, 1810, and 1890 censuses. Stewart County tax records fill those gaps. Parts of Stewart County were used to form Quitman and Webster counties, so check those counties too if your family seems to disappear from Stewart records at some point.

Vital Records for Stewart County Genealogy

Georgia began statewide vital records in 1919 under O.C.G.A. § 31-10-9. Birth and death certificates from that year forward are at the Stewart County Probate Court or the Georgia Department of Public Health. Certified copies cost $25 for the first and $5 for each extra.

Under O.C.G.A. § 31-10-26, certified birth certificates are restricted to close family members. Death certificates are easier to get for genealogy. The Virtual Vault has death certificates from 1919 to 1943 online for free. FamilySearch has Georgia death records from 1914 to 1943 at no cost.

For records before 1919, check church records, cemetery inscriptions, or Family Bible entries. In rural areas like Stewart County, church and cemetery records are often the only vital records available before statewide registration began.

Stewart County Genealogy Records Online

The Georgia Probate Courts Directory provides contact details and service information for the Stewart County Probate Court and all other probate courts in Georgia.

From the directory you can find phone numbers, addresses, and office hours for every probate court in the state.

You can also search Stewart County records through the state's E-Access to Court Records system. Registration is free and basic case data costs nothing. If you need documents, the first page is $2.50 and each additional page is $1.00.

Other free resources include FamilySearch with 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.

Research Tips for Stewart County

Start with what you know. Write down names, dates, and places. Then work backward. Census records from 1830 to 1940 cover Stewart County and are at the Georgia Archives through Ancestry.com (free in the search room).

Stewart County was formed from Randolph County in 1830. Parts of it later became Quitman and Webster counties. The Virtual Vault has "Georgia Counties: Their Changing Boundaries" to help track jurisdictions.

The Georgia Archives at 5800 Jonesboro Road, Morrow, GA 30260 has pre-1900 Stewart County records on microfilm. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Under O.C.G.A. § 50-18-71, copy fees are capped at 10 cents per page for standard public records.

• Check cemetery records when vital records are missing
• Search church records for baptisms, marriages, and burials
• Review Family Bible records at the Georgia Archives
• Use tax digests for years when census records were destroyed
• Check Quitman and Webster County records for families after 1858

Cities in Stewart County

Stewart County includes Lumpkin, Richland, and a few small towns. All genealogy records are maintained at the Stewart County Probate Court and Superior Court Clerk in Lumpkin. No cities in this county meet the population threshold for individual pages.

Nearby Counties

These counties border Stewart County. If your ancestors lived near county lines, check neighboring records. Several of these counties were formed from Stewart County land.