Find Worth County Genealogy

Worth County genealogy records date back to 1854, the year after this county was formed from parts of Dooly and Irwin counties in southwest Georgia. The Probate Court and Superior Court Clerk in Sylvester maintain marriage records, wills, estate files, land deeds, and court cases that cover over 170 years of local family history. Worth County sits in the heart of Georgia's agricultural region, and its courthouse records document the families who settled and farmed this part of the state through the antebellum era, the Civil War, Reconstruction, and beyond.

Worth County Probate Court Records

The Worth County Probate Court is the main source for marriage and estate records. Marriage licenses go back to 1854. 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 wills, estates, guardianships, and marriage licenses in Worth County.

You can request records in person or by mail at the courthouse in Sylvester. Send a written request that includes the full name of the person, the type of record, and the approximate date. Include a self-addressed stamped envelope along with a check or money order for the fees. Copy fees are typically $1 per page. Certified copies cost more. Always call the clerk first to confirm current prices. Staff at the Probate Court can help you find older records, but you need to give them enough detail to narrow the search. Records from the 1850s and 1860s may be harder to locate because the county was new and record-keeping was still being set up.

Note: Worth County was created in 1853 but the earliest records begin in 1854, when the county government was organized and courts began operating.

Worth County Online Genealogy Records

The Worth County GAGenWeb page is a free volunteer genealogy resource with cemetery transcriptions, census data, and family records contributed by other researchers.

This site lets you connect with people working on Worth County family lines. Volunteers share records from courthouses, libraries, and archives. It is a good starting point if you are new to research in this county.

The E-Access portal from the Georgia court system lets you search court records from participating counties online. Check this portal for Worth County records before making a trip to Sylvester. Not every county is fully online yet, but the database grows each year as more records are added to the system.

Free online resources 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 with obituaries, legal notices, and family announcements that can help with Worth County research.

Worth County Superior Court Genealogy

The Worth County Superior Court Clerk holds land records, divorce files, and civil and criminal case records from 1854 forward. Deed books show property sales, gifts, and transfers between family members. Land records in rural counties like Worth are often the best way to trace where your ancestors lived and who their neighbors were. Plat maps attached to deeds can show the exact plot of land a family owned.

Under O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70, most court records in Worth County are open to the public. You can visit the clerk's office in the courthouse in Sylvester during business hours to search deed indexes and case files. Divorce records are a useful genealogy tool. They often list children by name, give ages or birth dates, and describe property. Tax digests at this office list property owners each year and serve as a census substitute when the federal count is missing or incomplete.

Court minutes from the Superior Court sometimes contain information about naturalization proceedings, road petitions with the names of local residents, and grand jury presentments that list conditions in the county. All of these can place your ancestors in Worth County at a specific time.

Vital Records for Worth County

Statewide vital records in Georgia did not begin until 1919 under O.C.G.A. § 31-10-9. For Worth County births and deaths before that year, check church registers, cemetery records, and family Bibles. The Virtual Vault has death certificates from 1919 to 1943 available online for free. These are searchable by name and county.

Birth certificates cost $25 for the first copy and $5 for each additional copy. Death certificates have the same price. 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 are available to more people, which makes them easier to get for genealogy work. The Georgia Department of Public Health handles requests at the state level.

Worth County marriage records start in 1854. The Probate Court in Sylvester keeps these on file. State-level marriage records exist only for 1952 to 1996. For marriages before or after that range, you must contact Worth County directly. Call the Probate Court first to confirm what they have and what the fees are.

Research Tips for Worth County

Start with what you know. Write down all names, dates, and places for your Worth County family and work backward. Census records are the logical next step. Worth County first appears in the 1860 federal census. The 1850 census would have covered this area under Dooly or Irwin counties, so check both if your family was here before 1853.

Worth County was created from Dooly and Irwin counties in 1853. If your ancestors were in southwest Georgia before that year, look in those parent counties. Georgia has 159 counties, and boundaries shifted often during the 1800s. The Virtual Vault has a free resource called "Georgia Counties: Their Changing Boundaries" that shows which county covered a specific area in any given year. This is especially useful for Worth County because the borders in southwest Georgia changed multiple times as new counties were carved from older ones.

The Georgia Archives in Morrow holds pre-1900 Worth County records on microfilm. The collection includes marriage records, estate files, deed books, and court minutes. The search room gives free access to Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.org, and Fold3. Staff can help you find the right microfilm reels for Worth County. The archives are at 5800 Jonesboro Road, Morrow, GA 30260, open Tuesday through Saturday from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

Under O.C.G.A. § 50-18-71, the Georgia Open Records Act caps copy fees at 10 cents per page for standard documents at public agencies. Court records may have their own fee schedules set by local rules. Always confirm the total cost before you pay.

• Check cemetery records and tombstone inscriptions when vital records are not available
• Search church records for baptisms, marriages, and burials
• Look at Family Bible records on microfilm at the Georgia Archives
• Use the Vanishing Georgia photo collection for Worth County images
• Review estate records when key dates are unknown
• Check Dooly and Irwin County records for pre-1853 family history

Cities in Worth County

Worth County includes Sylvester, the county seat, along with smaller communities like Poulan, Warwick, and Sumner. All genealogy records for these areas are maintained at the Worth County Probate Court and Superior Court Clerk in Sylvester. No cities in this county meet the population threshold for a dedicated city page.

Nearby Counties

These counties border Worth County. If your ancestors moved within southwest Georgia, check neighboring county records as well. Families in this area often had connections across several counties.