Chatham County Wills, Estates, Inventories, Annual Returns, Probate
The Site of Savannah was established and drawn out by General James Oglethorpe. This is the seat of the first English settlement in Georgia. 114 persons came with Oglethorpe on his first voyage and erected huts with saw-palm roofs. Within a year, over one hundred wooden homes were constructed, while vessels transported more settlers. Several parishes governed the area, viz: Christ Church, St. Andrews, and St. Marys. After the Revolutionary War, the parishes were dispensed with as boundaries and counties were established. Chatham was named for William Lord Pitt, Earl of Chatham. Many prominent citizens emerged from the first settlers into the settled gentry and political figures. During the American Revolution, Loyalists marked as traitors escaped into Florida and to Bermuda where they established plantations. If you have lost someone from this period, that is where to search!
THE FIRST LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT filed in Georgia! The Last Will and Testament of Button Gwinnett are digitized and available to members of Georgia Pioneers. Find your Ancestors in the Georgia Bible Records
Miscellaneous
- Chatham Wills 1781-1824 (abstracts)
- Chatham Misc. Wills (abstracts)
Online Images of Will Book B (1777-1787)
Online Images of Will Bk C (1788-1791)
Online Images of Will Bk D (1801-1807)
Online Images of Will Bk E (1791-1801)
Online Images of Will Bk G (1807-1817)
Online Images of Will Bk H (1817-1827)
Online Images of Will Bk I (1827-1840)
Online Images of Will Book K, 1839-1852
Online Images of Will Bk L (1850-1861)
Tax Digests
- 1788-1789
- 1793 Images
- 1798 Images
Indexes
- Inventories and Estates 1783-1788
- Inventories and Estates 1794-1805
- Wills, Book A, 1775-1801
- Wills, Book B, 1777-1787
- Index to Minute Book 1782 to 1793
Complete Card Index Files (typed) of All Wills, Estates, etc.
in Chatham County for Specific Surnames have been added to Georgia Pioneers. This is an excellent resource for locating the many, many estate records and references in Chatham County. All of the index file in the Chatham County Court House has been filmed, from A to Z, and is available on this website. This reference is a boom to those researching Chatham County and should be examined first because it contains so much information, viz: what Country (or other State) they came from, date of birth, date of death, and names of other heirs. All of Chatham County’s records have been preserved and thus are extensive. The old records have been placed in storage in a separate location and to examine them one must order them sent to the courthouse in advance.
Colonial Records
- Savannah Residents of 1738.
- Savannah Town Assistants.
- Savannah Bailiffs Officers.
- Savannah Baptisms 1735-1738.
- Martyn’s Map of Savannah.
- Savannah Conservators of the Peace.
- Savannah Town Constables.
- Savannah Malcontents of 1738.
- Savannah Store Keepers.
- Savannah Town Lots, 1745-7,1756.
- Savannah Lots Yamacraw Bluff, 1760.
- 1759 Savannah Wharf Lots, 1759.
- Immigrants from Great Britain to Georgia
- Georgia and Georgians by Lucian Lamar Knight
Online Indexes to Probate Records
- Wills and Estates, Surnames A to Z (1733 to 1838)
- Superior Court Records for 1804
Marriages
- 1806-1860
- Marriages from newspapers 1886-1887
Maps
- Savannah River Plantation
- Chatham County
- Topo Map of Bryan County and Savannah
Miscellaneous
- Origins of Early Residents from Notes of Jeannette Holland Austin
- 1898 City Directory of Savannah
- 1899 City Directory of Savannah
- Wayside Poor Home 1863 to 1864
Online Images of Miscellaneous Court House Documents
ASH, J. H. estate
BROWN. Ann Brown, administratrix of the estate of James Brown, deceased (1799 Letters of Administration
COPP. Letters of Administration of Mary and Dr. James Brown, exrs LWT of John Copp of Savannah
CROP. Inventory of Estate of John Crop (1796)
DELANNOY. Last Will and Testament of John D. Delannoy, 1876.
GRAHAM, John, Esq., Inventory of Slaves (image),Loyalist Claim in Great Britain 1774-1784
GWINNETT, Ann, LWT (1785) (image) of Charleston
McLEAN, John, Transcript of LWT (1775)
NORMENT. Deed of William and Elizabeth Norment to Slaughter Cowling 25 June 1795
SHEFTALL, Levi, LWT (1725),the image of the original document
Traced Genealogies: Chatham County Families
Barnard; Brantley; Butler; Chapeau; Clay; Gibbons; Gwinnett; Habersham; Hall; Harris; Jones; Lillibridge; Pratt; Rem; Richardson; Salter; Selkirk; Sheftall; Vanderplank; Wayne; Young; Zouberbuhler;
Military Records
- 1795 Military Muster