Thomas County Genealogy Search

Thomas County genealogy records go back to 1825, the year the county was created from Decatur and Irwin counties in south Georgia near the Florida border. The Probate Court in Thomasville holds marriage licenses, wills, estate inventories, and guardianship records from that year forward. Land deeds, court cases, and divorce files are at the Superior Court Clerk office. Thomasville became a popular winter resort town in the late 1800s, and the county's records reflect both the old plantation families and the new arrivals who came to the area. Researchers will find a strong set of records going back two centuries.

Thomas County Probate Court Records

The Thomas County Probate Court is the main source for marriage and estate records. Marriage licenses date to 1825. Wills, letters of administration, guardianship files, and estate inventories are held here. Under O.C.G.A. § 15-9-30, the Probate Court has jurisdiction over wills, estates, guardianships, conservatorships, and marriage licenses in Thomas County.

The courthouse is at 325 N. Madison Street in Thomasville. The phone number is 229-225-4100. You can visit in person to search records. Mail requests are accepted. Include names, dates, and a check or money order for the search fee. Certified copies cost more but are needed for legal use. Call ahead for current fees and hours.

Estate records from Thomas County are rich genealogy sources. Wills name heirs and divide property. Inventories detail what a person owned at death. Annual returns track estate management over time. For antebellum research, these records sometimes include enslaved people by name, which matters for African American genealogy in this part of Georgia.

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

Thomas County Superior Court Genealogy

The Superior Court Clerk holds land records, divorce files, and court cases from 1825 to the present. Deed books show property transfers. Plat maps give parcel locations. These records help trace where your ancestors lived in Thomas County and who their neighbors were.

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 request copies in person or by mail.

Tax digests list property owners each year. Georgia lost the 1790, 1800, 1810, and 1890 censuses, so tax records are important for those gaps. Thomas County land records from the late 1800s are especially interesting because of the large winter estates built by northern industrialists near Thomasville. These property records can reveal connections to both local and out-of-state families.

Vital Records for Thomas County Genealogy

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

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. For records before 1919, try church records, cemetery inscriptions, or Family Bible entries. Thomas County churches kept good records, and several cemeteries in the Thomasville area have well-documented inscriptions.

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.

Thomas County GAGenWeb Genealogy

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

Volunteers post records from courthouses, libraries, and archives around the state. You can submit your own research too. The site connects people tracing the same Thomas County lines.

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 for Thomas County research.

Research Tips for Thomas County

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

Thomas County was formed from Decatur and Irwin counties in 1825. Parts of it later became Brooks and Grady counties. If your ancestors vanish from Thomas County at some point, check those newer counties. The Virtual Vault has "Georgia Counties: Their Changing Boundaries" to help track where your family was counted.

The Georgia Archives at 5800 Jonesboro Road, Morrow, GA 30260 has pre-1900 Thomas County records on microfilm. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Thomas County is near the Florida border, so also check Leon County, FL records if your family moved between the two states. You can use the E-Access to Court Records system from home. Under O.C.G.A. § 50-18-71, copy fees are capped at 10 cents per page.

• 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 Brooks and Grady County records for families after those counties formed

Cities in Thomas County

Thomas County includes Thomasville, Boston, Coolidge, Meigs, Ochlocknee, and Pavo. All genealogy records are maintained at the Thomas County Probate Court and Superior Court Clerk in Thomasville. No cities in this county meet the population threshold for individual pages.

Nearby Counties

These counties border Thomas County. If your ancestors lived near county lines, check neighboring records. Thomas County also borders Florida to the south.