(Formed 1832 from former Creek Indian territory and named for Colonel Thomas Hart Benton. Renamed Calhoun County in 1858, honor of John C. Calhoun of South Carolina)
Jones:
(Formed 1867, renamed Sanford County in 1868, Renamed Lamar County in 1877)
Alabama's history as a state began in 1819 when delegates gathered in a cabinetmaker's shop in Huntsville to write the Alabama Constitution. In 1819 construction began on what was later to be known as Fort Morgan at Mobile Point. On December 14, 1819 Alabama entered the union as the 22nd state. In 1846 the state capital was moved to Montgomery. Alabama was establisted on 14 December 1819, and the official state website is located at http://www.alabama.gov/.
The state of Alabama was named after the river. The Alabama River was named by early European explorers after the Indian tribe that lived in the territory and first appeared in 1540 spelled as "Alibamu", "Alibamo" and even "Limamu" in the journals of the Spanish explorer Hernando DeSoto (c.1500-1542). The origin of the name Alabama is thought to come from a combination of two Choctaw words; Alba and Amo. In Choctaw, "Alba" means vegetation, herbs, plants and "Amo" means gatherer or picker. "Vegetation gatherers" would be an apt description for the Alabama Indians who cleared much land for agricultural purposes. Learn more about Alabama History and Time-Line
County records vary widely from county to county in both quality and quantity. Some have been carefully preserved while others have been much abused and neglected. Some records have simply disappeared. Other scattered records are now preserved by the Alabama Department of Archives and History, the University of Alabama Library, and the Samford University Library.
Approximately one-half of all the counties in Alabama have had their courthouse to burn. Some of them were burned during the Civil War era of 1860-1865. Some have burned as many as four times.
The destruction of courthouses greatly affects genealogists in every way. No only are these historic structures torn from our lives, so are the records they housed: marriage, wills, probate, land records, and others. Once destroyed they are lost forever. Even if they have been placed on mircofilm, computers and film burn too. The most heartbreaking side of this is the fact that many of our courthouses are destroyed at the hands of arsonist. Ten Alabama counties have had significant destruction of records by fire. However, not all records were lost.
Below is a list of the Counties with the County seat and dates of Fires
