Toombs County Genealogy Records

Toombs County genealogy records start in 1905, the year the county was formed from Emanuel, Montgomery, and Tattnall counties in southeast Georgia. The Probate Court in Lyons 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. Toombs County is one of Georgia's newer counties, so researchers tracing family lines before 1905 will need to check the parent counties for earlier records. The courthouse in Lyons is the main source for everything after that date.

Toombs County Probate Court Records

The Toombs County Probate Court is the main source for marriage and estate records. Marriage licenses date to 1905. Wills, letters of administration, guardianship papers, and estate inventories are also held here. Under O.C.G.A. § 15-9-30, the Probate Court has jurisdiction over wills, estates, guardianships, conservatorships, and marriage licenses.

The courthouse is at 100 Courthouse Square in Lyons. The phone number is 912-526-3501. You can visit in person to search records or submit a mail request. Include names, dates, and a check or money order for the search fee. Certified copies cost more than regular copies. Call ahead for current fees and hours.

Estate records from Toombs County are useful for genealogy even though the county is relatively young. Wills name heirs. Inventories list property. These files can reveal family ties that other records miss. For ancestors before 1905, check Emanuel, Montgomery, and Tattnall county records.

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

Toombs County Superior Court Genealogy

The Superior Court Clerk holds land records, divorce files, and court cases from 1905 to the present. Deed books track property transfers. Plat maps show parcel locations. These records help you find where your ancestors lived in the Lyons area and who their neighbors were.

Divorce records are filed here. They often list children, property, ages, and birth dates. Under O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70, most court records are public. You can request copies in person or by mail. The clerk charges per-page fees for copies.

For land records before 1905, check Emanuel, Montgomery, and Tattnall counties. Your family may have owned the same property for years. Only the county lines changed. Tax digests list property owners each year and help fill census gaps from destroyed records.

Vital Records for Toombs 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 Toombs 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 the person named, parents, grandparents, adult siblings, adult children, spouses, or legal guardians. Death certificates have fewer limits. For records before 1919, check church records, cemetery inscriptions, or Family Bible entries.

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. These free resources are strong starting points for Toombs County genealogy.

Toombs County GAGenWeb Genealogy

The Toombs County GAGenWeb page is a free volunteer-run genealogy resource with cemetery transcriptions, census data, family trees, and documents shared by researchers working on Toombs County families.

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

Research Tips for Toombs County

Start with what you know. Write down names, dates, and places. Then work backward. For Toombs County, remember the county did not exist before 1905. Earlier records are in Emanuel, Montgomery, or Tattnall County.

Census records from 1910 to 1940 list Toombs County. For 1900 and earlier, look under the parent counties in census indexes. The Virtual Vault has "Georgia Counties: Their Changing Boundaries" to help track which county covered your family's area at any given time.

The Georgia Archives at 5800 Jonesboro Road, Morrow, GA 30260 has microfilm records for the area. Hours are 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. You can also use the E-Access to Court Records system. Under O.C.G.A. § 50-18-71, copy fees are capped at 10 cents per page.

• Check Emanuel, Montgomery, and Tattnall County records before 1905
• Search cemetery records when vital records are missing
• Review church records for baptisms, marriages, and burials
• Use tax digests for years when census records were destroyed
• Look at the Vanishing Georgia photo collection for local images

Cities in Toombs County

Toombs County includes Lyons, Vidalia (partly in Toombs), and Santa Claus. All genealogy records are maintained at the Toombs County Probate Court and Superior Court Clerk in Lyons. No cities in this county meet the population threshold for individual pages.

Nearby Counties

These counties border Toombs County. Emanuel, Montgomery, and Tattnall are parent counties with older records for this area.