Gordon County, Georgia Genealogy

United States

Georgia

Gordon County

Guide to Gordon County, Georgia ancestry, genealogy and family history, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Georgia Online Genealogy Records

County Facts County seat: Calhoun Organized: February 13, 1850 Parent County(s): Bartow, Floyd Neighboring Counties Bartow  • Cherokee  • Floyd  • Gilmer  • Murray  • Pickens  • Walker  • Whitfield See County Maps Courthouse Location Map Adoption This page is available for adoption

County Information

Description

The County was named for William Washington Gordon (1796–1842), the first Georgian to graduate from West Point and first president of the Central of Georgia Railroad. The County is located in the northwestern area of the state.

County Courthouse

Gordon County Courthouse
101 Boston Road
Calhoun, GA 30701-2244
Phone: 706-629-3795
Gordon County Website

Clerk of the Superior Court has divorce and court records from 1864 as well as land records.
Probate Court has birth, marriage, death, burial and probate records.

Gordon County, Georgia Record Dates

Information for this chart was taken from various sources, often containing conflicting dates. This information should be taken as a guide and should be verified by contacting the county and/or the state government agency.

Known Beginning Dates for Major County Records
Birth*	Marriage	Death*	Court	Land	Probate	Census
1919	1864	1919	1864	1850	1856	1850
*Statewide registration of births and death began in 1919. General compliance for births by 1928 and deaths by 1922.

Record Loss

1864 - Courthouse fire. Early marriage records lost, some other records destroyed or damaged. Many records survive. 1888 - The Courthouse in Calhoun was partially destroyed by a tornado on 20 March 1888. On 23 October 1888 a fire spread through several businesses and threatened the temporary courthouse, but citizens carried the endangered records to safety. For suggestions about research in places that suffered historic record losses, see: Burned Counties. By Michael John Neill at 24-7 Family History Circle. When the Records are Gone. By Arlene Eakle at Arlene Eakle's Tennessee Blog. Burned Counties Research in the FamilySearch Research Wiki.

Boundary Changes

1850--Gordon County was created February 13, 1850 from Cass (named changed to Bartow County December 6, 1861) and Floyd Counties. County seat: Calhoun Multiple small boundary changes from 1852-1877. Involved Cass/Bartow, Floyd, Murray, Pickens, and Walker Counties. For animated maps illustrating Georgia county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Georgia County Boundary Maps" (1758-1932) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Populated Places

For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Cities
Calhoun (county seat) Fairmount	Plainville
Towns
Ranger Resaca
Unincorporated communities
Audubon Blackwood Cash Colima Crane Eater Damascus Decora Farmville	Fidelle Hill City Lewis Corner Lily Pond McDaniels New Town Nickelsville Oakman	Oostanaula Petersburg Red Bud Reeves Ryo Sonoraville Soapstick Sugar Valley

Resources

Cemeteries

Cemeteries of Gordon, Georgia online and in print
Tombstone Transcriptions Online	Findagrave.com GAGenWeb GAGenWeb Archives Tombstone Project Billion Graves
TombstoneTranscriptions in Print (Often more complete)	Family History Library WorldCat
List of Cemeteries in the County	Findagrave.com Billion Graves Gordon County Cemeteries Georgia Cemetery Records FamilySearch Places
See Georgia Cemeteries for more information

• Interment.net Georgia cemetery records

Census Records

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1850	5,984	—
1860	10,146	69.6%
1870	9,268	−8.7%
1880	11,171	20.5%
1890	12,758	14.2%
1900	14,119	10.7%
1910	15,861	12.3%
1920	17,736	11.8%
1930	16,846	−5.0%
1940	18,445	9.5%
1950	18,922	2.6%
1960	19,228	1.6%
1970	23,570	22.6%
1980	30,070	27.6%
1990	35,072	16.6%
2000	44,104	25.8%
2010	55,186	25.1%
Source: "Wikipedia.org".

Church Records

Church records and the information they provide vary significantly depending on the denomination and the record keeper. They may contain information about members of the congregation, such as age, date of baptism, christening, or birth; marriage information and maiden names; and death date. For general information about Georgia denominations, see the Georgia Church Records wiki page.
List of Churches and Church Parishes

• FamilySearch Places

Ethnic, Political, and Religious Groups

African Americans

• African American historical and genealogical resources available at the Georgia Archives.
• African American Marriages 1908-1965. Microfilmed images available free online in the Georgia Virtual Vault
• Marriage Log Gordon County, Georgia: Listed by Brides & Grooms, Includes Colored Marriages. By Patsy Payne Hall and Frances Martin Stubbs. Oak Park, Ill: Glyph Notes, 2002.

Land and Property Records

Land and property records can place an ancestor in a particular location, provide economic information, and reveal family relationships. Land records include deeds, abstracts and indexes, mortgages, leases, grants and land patents.

See Georgia Land and Property for additional information about early Georgia land grants from the government. After land was transferred to private ownership, subsequent transactions (generally buying and selling deeds) were usually recorded at the county courthouse and where records are currently housed.

Local Histories

Local histories are available for Gordon County, Georgia Genealogy. County histories may include biographies, church, school and government history, and military information. For more information about local histories, see the wiki page section Georgia Local Histories.

• Pitts, Lulie. History of Gordon County, Georgia. Calhoun, Ga.: Press of the Calhoun Times, c1934. Digital version at Ancestry ($).
• Reeve, Jewell B. Climb the Hills of Gordon: Stories of Gordon County and Calhoun, Georgia. Easley, S.C.: Southern Historical Press, 1979.

Maps and Gazetteers

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• FamilySearch Places:Cities and Towns- How to Use FS Places
• Maps of Georgia (1758-1932)

Military Records

• Georgia USGenWeb Archives Project

Civil War

Online Records

• 1861-1865 Georgia Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865 at FamilySearch — index
• 1861-1865 Georgia Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers, 1861-1865 at FamilySearch — index
• 1861-1865 U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry — index (free)
• 1861-1865 U.S., Union Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry — index (free)
• 1861-1865 Confederate Enlistment Oaths and Discharges at Georgia Archives Virtual Vault- images and alphabetical index
• 1861-1865 Confederate Muster Rolls at Georgia Archives Virtual Vault- images; filter by commanding officer, service branch and regiment
• 1861-1865 Confederate Pension Application Supplements - images and alphabetical index; filter by county
• 1864 Militia Enrollment Lists, 1864 - images; filter by county
• 1867-1868 Georgia, Reconstruction Registration Oath Books, 1867-1868 at FamilySearch — index
• 1879-1920 Georgia, Confederate Pension Rolls, 1879-1920 at FamilySearch — index
• 1879-1960 Confederate Pension Applications - images and alphabetical index; filter by county

Regiments. Service men in Gordon County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are companies that were specifically formed in Gordon County:

- 4th Regiment, Georgia Infantry (Confederate), Company F

- 8th Battalion, Georgia Infantry (Confederate),

- 18th Regiment, Georgia Infantry (Confederate), Company E

- 21st Regiment, Georgia Infantry (Confederate), Company G

- 23rd Regiment, Georgia Infantry (Confederate), Company H

- 40th Regiment, Georgia Infantry (Confederate), Companies D and E

- Georgia USGenWeb Archives Project

• Bartow County Genealogical Society (Ga.). 1995. Bartow County, Georgia heritage book. Cartersville, Ga: The Society. (page 12 - 8th Battalion Companies A and B from Bartow, Gordon, and Floyd counties) FHL Collection Other Libraries
• Bell, Burton J., and Lulie Pitts. 1976. 1976 Bicentennial history of Gordon County, Georgia. Calhoun, Ga: Gordon County Historical Society. (page 114-149) 975.8362 H2b
• Pitts, Lulie. 1933. History of Gordon County, Georgia. Calhoun, Georgia: Calhoun Times. (page 132-171) 975.836 H2p
• Georgia. Superior Court (Gordon County). 1966. Confederate roster, 1861-1864. Salt Lake City, Utah: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah. film 424597
• Georgia. Court of Ordinary (Gordon County). 1966. Confederate pension roll, 1890-1906, 1931-1933. Salt Lake City, Utah: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah film 422603

Civil War Battle
The following Civil War battles were fought in Gordon County:

• May 13-15, 1864 Resaca
• May 17, 1864 Adairsville
• Map showing Civil War battles in Georgia.

Spanish-American War

• 1898 Spanish-American War Service Summary Cards - images and alphabetical index; filter by residence, muster location and unit

World War I

• 1914-1918 World War I Casualties Scrapbooks - images and alphabetical index
• 1920-1929 Georgia, World War I, Statement of Service Cards, 1920-1929 at FamilySearch — index and images

World War II

• 1940-1942 Georgia World War II Draft Registration Cards 1940-1942 at findmypast - index ($))

Newspapers

• Calhoun Times - 1,511 issues spanning 1983-2008 freely available via Google News Archive. Note there are three issues listed under 1924, these are actually from 2003.
• Calhoun Times - 1870 to 1976 available on microfilm from the Georgia Newspaper Project
• Calhoun Times and Gordon County News - 957 issues spanning 1967-2006 available via Google News Archive
• Cherokee Phoenix (New Echota) - 1829 to 1834 (prior to county creation) available online as part of Georgia Historic Newspapers
• The Confederate Flag - 13 November 1861 available at Chicago Historical Society Library, 20 November 1861 available at Emory University
• Democratic Platform, 8 September 1859 and Georgia Platform, 9 September 1858 available on microfilm from the Georgia Newspaper Project
• Gordon County Citizen - 1894 to 1895 available on microfilm from the Georgia Newspaper Project
• Gordon County News - 1940 to 1976 available on microfilm from the Georgia Newspaper Project
• The Southern Statesman - 5 April 1855 available at the American Antiquarian Society
• Gordon County Obituaries clippings search from Digital Library of Georgia
• Bartow Press - 900 issues spanning 1983-2006 freely available via Google News Archive
• Georgia Pioneer, The Standard, and Cassville Standard - newspapers from Cassville (parent county) covering 1840-1845, and 1852 to 1860 available on microfilm from the Georgia Newspaper Project
• The Standard (Cassville) - 1852, 1853, 1857, 1858, 1859 extracts available online at Bartow County GenWeb
• Published clippings. Kilbourne, Elizabeth Evans. Gordon County, Georgia, Newspaper Clippings. Two volumes, 1870-1877 and 1878-1882. See WorldCat for libraries that have this item.

Obituaries

• Gordon County Obituaries clippings search from Digital Library of Georgia

Other Records

Voting Records

• 1867-1868 Georgia, Reconstruction Registration Oath Books, 1867-1868 at FamilySearch — index

Probate Records

Colonial courts kept some early probate records.  From 1777 to 1798 and since 1852, the court of ordinary or register of probates has kept probate and guardianship records.  The inferior court handled probate and guardianship matters from 1798 to 1852.

Many probate records to the 1930s and 1940s are at the Georgia Department of Archives and History and the Family History Library on microfilm.

Content: Probate Records may give the decedent's date of death, names of his or her spouse, children, parents, siblings, in-laws, neighbors, associates, relatives, and their place of residence.

Record types: Wills, estates, guardianships, naturalizations, marriage, adoption, and birth and death records (not all years).

Online Probate Records

• 1742-1990 Georgia Probate Records, 1742-1990 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1742-1992 Georgia Wills and Probate Records 1742-1992 at Ancestry — index and images ($)
• 1856-1884 Digital images of Gordon County Wills 1856-1884. See testators. Georgia Pioneers ($)

Social Security Records

• 1935-2014 United States Social Security Death Index at FamilySearch - How to use this collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
• 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry ($) — index, click here for more information.

Tax Records

Taxes were levied on free white males over 21 and all slaves up to age 60. These persons are referred to as "polls." Tax listings, or digests, of a county generally list the taxable landowners and other polls and the amount of tax. The records for each county are divided by militia district.

Learn more about Georgia Tax Records at the Georgia Archives website. This FAQ includes info on pre-1850 tax laws which may affect the genealogical use of tax records.

The Georgia Archives published An Index to Georgia Tax Digests. Check WorldCat for libraries with a copy.

• 1851 - Microfilm available from the Georgia Archives, Morrow, Georgia. Microfilmed tax digests have a separate card catalog drawer from county records, make sure to look for it when visiting the microfilm reading area. Also available at FHL, film #422604.
• 1852 - Digital image of original book available at Ancestry.com in "Georgia, Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892" ($). Also on microfilm at the Georgia Archives and FHL (film #159150, item 1).
• 1853 - Digital image of original book available at Ancestry.com in "Georgia, Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892" ($). Also on microfilm at the Georgia Archives and FHL (film #159150, item 2).
• 1854–1862 - Microfilm available from the Georgia Archives, Morrow, Georgia. Microfilmed tax digests have a separate card catalog drawer from county records, make sure to look for it when visiting the microfilm reading area. Also available at FHL, film #422604.
• 1863 - Microfilm available from the Georgia Archives, Morrow, Georgia. Microfilmed tax digests have a separate card catalog drawer from county records, make sure to look for it when visiting the microfilm reading area.
• 1872–1877 - Originals available from the Georgia Archives, Morrow, Georgia.
• 1878–1882 - Digital image of original books available at Ancestry.com in "Georgia, Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892" ($). These were digitized without the covers/title pages making it necessary to flip through the collection to verify the year an image is for. Not all years represented in a range are guaranteed to be available.
• 1888–1890 - Digital image of original books available at Ancestry.com in "Georgia, Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892" ($) These were digitized without the covers/title pages making it necessary to flip through the collection to verify the year an image is for. Not all years represented in a range are guaranteed to be available.
• 1891–1956 and 1958–1978 - Originals available from the Georgia Archives, Morrow, Georgia.
• 1787-1900 Georgia, Tax Digests, 1787-1900 at FamilySearch — How to use this collection, index and images

Vital Records

Vital Records consist of births, adoptions, marriages, divorces, and deaths recorded on registers, certificates, and documents. A copy or an extract of most original records can be purchased from the Georgia State Department of Health , the County Clerk's office of the county where the event occurred or order electronically online.

For some online statewide indexes, see the FamilySearch Historical Record Collections for Georgia.

Birth

• 1870-1960 Georgia, County Delayed Birth and Death Records, 1870-1960 at FamilySearch — index, and some images

Marriage

• 1560-1993 Georgia, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index ($)
• 1699-1944 Georgia Marriages 1699-1944 at Ancestry— index ($)
• 1754-1960 Georgia Church Marriages, 1754-1960 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1785-1950 Georgia County Marriages 1785-1950 at FamilySearch.org — index and images
• 1787-1962 Georgia, Church Marriages, 1787-1962 at FamilySearch — index
• 1808-1967 Georgia Marriages 1808-1967 at FamilySearch — index
• 1828-1978 Georgia Marriage Records from Select Counties 1828-1978 at Ancestry — index and images ($)
• 1864-1870 Gordon County Marriage Index 1864-1870. Batch M002545 at FamilySearch.
• 1864-1870 Hageness, MariLee Beatty.Marriage Licenses, 1864-1870, Gordon County, Georgia. Anniston, AL: MLH Research, 1999.
• 1864-1880 Gladney, Robert Hoyt.Gordon County, Georgia, Marriage Book A, 1864-1880: An Index. Adairsville, Ga: Oothcaloga Chapter, Georgia Society Daughters of the American Revolution, 1984.
• 1864-1884 Ingmire, Frances Terry.Gordon County, Georgia Marriage Records, 1864-1884. St. Louis, Mo: F.T. Ingmire, 1985.
• 1864-1892 Gordon County Marriage Books A and B Index 1864-1892. Batch M712941 at FamilySearch.
• 1864-1935 and African American 1908 - 1965 - microfilmed images available free online in the Georgia Virtual Vault.
• 1893-1895 Gordon County Marriage Index 1893-1895. Batch M712942 at FamilySearch.
• Marriage Log Hall, Patsy Payne, and Frances Martin Stubbs. Marriage Log Gordon County, Georgia: Listed by Brides & Grooms Includes Colored Marriages. Oak Park, Ill: Glyph Notes, 2002.
• Gordon County Marriages Forsythe, Donald Forbes. Gordon County, Georgia Marriages: Books A, B, & C (White). Georgetown, Tex: D.F. Forsythe, 1994. Available free online from Family History Books.

Death

• 1869-70, 1879-80 Gordon County, Georgia Genealogy Mortality Schedules at Ancestry ($).
• 1870-1960 Georgia, County Delayed Birth and Death Records, 1870-1960 at FamilySearch — index, and some images
• 1914-1927 Georgia Deaths 1914-1927 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1919-1998 Georgia Deaths 1919-1998 at Ancestry — index ($)
• 1919-1930 Georgia Death Certificates at Georgia Archives Virtual Vault - index and images
• 1928-1930 Georgia Non-Indexed Death Certificates at Georgia Archives Virtual Vault - images
• 1928-1942 Georgia Deaths, 1928-1942 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1933-1998 Georgia Death Index 1933-1998 at FamilySearch — index

Research Facilities

Archives

Listed below are archives in Gordon County. For state-wide archival repositories, see Georgia Archives and Libraries.

Family History Centers

Family History Centers provide one-on-one assistance, free access to center-only databases, and to premium genealogical websites.
FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries have access to most center-only databases, but may not always have full services normally provided by a family history center.

• Family History Center and Affiliate Library Locator

Local Centers and Affiliate Libraries

Libraries

Listed below are libraries in Gordon County. For state-wide library facilities, see Georgia Archives and Libraries.

Societies

Listed below are societies in Gordon County. For state-wide genealogical societies, see Georgia Societies.

• Gordon County Historical Society, Inc.
  James Lay, President
  335 South Wall Street
  Calhoun, GA 30701
  Phone: 706-629-1515 or 706-629-2093
  Website
  Meetings are held quarterly on the fourth Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the Calhoun Depot.

Websites

• Gordon County, GA History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
• Georgia Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
• Gordon County GAGenWeb - free genealogical resources; part of the national USGenWeb Project
• GAGenWeb Archives
• Gordon County, Georgia Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
• Georgia Pioners ($)
• FamilySearch Catalog - The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection. Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records

This website requires a paid subscription for full access.

Family History Library