Bibb

Bibb County Probate Records and Genealogy

Bibb County was created on Dec. 9, 1822, from portions of Jones, Monroe, Twiggs, and Houston Counties. It was named for Dr. William Bibb, the first elected governor of Alabama. Dr. Bibb lived in Elbert County and served in the U.S. House of Representatives in the U.S. Senate. He was appointed governor of the Territory of Alabama in 1816 and became the first elected governor of that state. In 1823 Macon was incorporated, named after Senator Nathaniel Macon of North Carolina. Researchers in Bibb County should also research the Jones County Records. The amount of surviving records in Bibb County is surprising. However, only a little when one peruses the area and discovers the thriving town of Macon during the 19th and 20th centuries.

Find your Ancestors in the Georgia Bible Records

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Abstracts of Wills

  • Wills 1823-1855
  • Wills 1851-1864

Online Images of Wills 1823 to 1840

Testators: Asbury, Jonathan; Beall, Robert Augustus; Burnett, John; Burton, Robert ;Chambless, Henry; Church, Redman; Crockett, David ;Cutland, Redden; Daniel, William; Darragh, Archibald; Dixon, Thomas ;Fluker, Baldwin; Fort, Robert; Godfrey, Francis; Harrell, Hardy ;Howard, John; Huff, Edward; Jemison, Henry ;Jeter, Andrew; Johnston, William; King, John; Lamar, Benjamin; Lanier, John; Napier, Thomas; Nixon, William; Owens, Benjamin; Rogers, William ;Sapp, Henry; Scott, John ;Sigueux, Peter ;Smith, Henry ;Smith, James ;Summerlin, Sarah ;Tharp, John; Victory, Thomas ;Weed, Joseph ;Wells, Nicholas ;Williams, John; Williams, John D.

Online Images of Bibb County Wills 1851 to 1865

Testators:Alexander, Elam;Allen, David;Bailey, James;Bailey, John;Ballard, C. M.;Blackshear, Albert;Blake, Eleanor;Bond, Joel;Bond, Joseph;Bonds, Penelope;Brewer, Edward Ebenezer;Brown, Turner;Busbee, W. R.;Boren, Alfred;Bowman, John;Brown, Eliza;Campbell, Watson;Carey, Martha Ann;Castlen, John;Champion, Elizabeth;Colbert, Frederick;Coleman, Robert;Collins, Charles;Collins, Robert;Collins, William; Cray, Mary; Damour, James;Daniel, Clarissa;Dean, William;Dempsey, Dermot;Dillard, Colin;Dillard, Olive;Eaves, John;Ernest, Asa;Evans, Rufus;Farrell, John;Feagin, Robert;Franklin, Marcus;Freerman, Robert;Gamble, William;Gilbert, Edward;Gorman, Thomas;Grierson, George;Griffin, James W.;Griffin, Larkin; Graybill, Midas;Groce, Margaret;Hazlehurst, Robert;Hughes, Frances;Huguenin, Edward, Colonel;Huguenin, Edward;Huguenin, Julia;Hunter, George R.;Irwin, John;Johns, Isaac;Johnson, Henry;Johnson, William J.;Jordan, Absalom;Kearney, Arthur;Kelly, Francis;Kelly, Julia;Kenedy, Nancy; Kilpatrick, William;Kunz, John Michael;Lamar, John;Lamar, John B.;Leslie, Ann;Lunsford, Priscilla;Malden, Caleb;Malone, Cherry;Massey, William;Mathews, Martha;May, Benjamin;McCall, Eleazer;McEver, Robert;McGuire, Martha;McMichael, John;Mitchell, Alexander;Munroe, Nathan;Newsom, Henry;Newsom, Henry (2);Norman, Sarah;Parker, Burwell;Peterson, John;Powers, Abner Parrott;Powers, Julia;Pye, Andrew;Raines, Cadwell;Ramsey, Mary;Rea, James;Reynolds, S. O.;Roach, Patrick;Ross, William A.;Shad, Elias;Simmons, Mary;Sims, Susan;Smith, James;Stevens, Elijah;Stevens, Simon;Stotesbury, Louisa;Stotesbury, Robert;Stubbs. James;Stubbs, Peter; Sullivan, John; Summerlin, Elison;Tharp, Elizabeth;Thomas, Merrel;Thomas, Micajah;Thomas, S. L.;Thomas, William;Thompson, Charles;Towns, George W.;Usher, Sarah; Wakeman, James;Ward, E. B.;Watts, Adelaide;Weed, Henry;White, Joseph;Wiley, Ann;Wiley, John B.;Wood, Lewis;Woolfolk, Thomas;Yearly, Thomas

Online Images of Wills and Estates 1870 to 1891

Indexes to Probate Records

  • Wills and Estates (1823-1855)
  • Wills and Estates (1851-1871)
  • Wills and Estates (1870, 1891, 1914)
  • Wills and Estates (1891-1907)

Images of Wills, Estates, Annual Returns

  • Book A, 1822 to 1837
  • Book B, 1837 to 1844
  • Book C, 1843 to 1851
  • Book D, 1851 to 1854
  • Book E, 1853 to 1857

Marriages

  • Marriage Book A 1831-1839
  • Marriages from newspapers 1885-1886

Maps

  • 1846 county map
  • 1855 county map
  • 1864 county map
  • Map of Macon, founded 1823. Bibb County.
  • Map of Macon, South from the Public Reserve. Bibb County

Miscellaneous Will Images

  • Calhoun, Elbert Estate
  • Chambliss, Christopher Estate
  • Chambliss, Henry Estate
  • Edmonds Estate
  • Gilbert, Edmund, LWT (1858)
  • Jemison, Robert W., minor
  • Johns, C. P. H. Estate
  • Lamar, Mrs. Mary Louisa Lamar, admx for the estate of John Lamar, deceased
  • Lamar, John Estate
  • McLeod, Roderick Estate
  • Moore, J. G. Estate
  • Odum Orphans

Books

  • Bibb Notes by Jeannette Holland Austin
  • Memoirs of Georgia

Church Records

Indexes to Deed Records

  • 1823 to 1826

Church Records

  • First Baptist Church Members 1830-1874

City Directories

  • 1890 to 1891

Tax Digests

  • 1815

Macon Volunteers Armory

This was the home of the Macon Volunteers, a militia unit which was founded in 1825. The building was completed in 1885 and when it was restored in 2005, it doubled as a civic organization and social club. The Macon volunteers fought in every war up to World War II when they were absorbed into the Georgia National Guard. When Texas called for militia in 1836, Macon answered the call for freedom from Mexico, carrying with them a flag of white silk with a centered blue star made by Joanna Troutman of Bibb County.
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Downtown Macon in 1900

The region was featured in a major newspaper and was situated near the old Creek Agency run by Colonel Hawkins; Macon was the hub of pioneer development during the 19th century. During the Fall of 1862, Henry L. Jewett came from Connecticut to Macon and purchased the old Macon Hotel, and was appointed as the Treasurer of the Georgia Southern Railroad.

The Ocmulgee Archaeological Excavations

The dig near the Ocmulgee and the surrounding area is one of the largest in American history. A significant excavation occurred between 1933 and 1936, with over 800 men working under the direction of Dr. Arthur R. Kelly of the Smithsonian Institute. They uncovered 2.5 million artifacts: pottery, pottery sherds, metals, arrowheads, spear points, stone tools, pipes, bells, jewelry, seeds, bones, etc. Some of these items are on display in the Ocmulgee National Monument Museum. It was determined that people lived on the Macon Plateau between 12,000 BC and 1800 AD.
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Traced Genealogies: Bibb County Families

  • Ammons
  • Armstrong
  • Bailey
  • Beddingfield
  • Berkner
  • Bond
  • Braswell
  • Brincefield
  • Carr
  • Chambliss
  • Clark
  • Clements
  • Conner
  • Dent
  • Gilbert
  • Goodall
  • Holleman
  • Holt
  • Jemison
  • Kibbee
  • Lanier
  • Massey
  • McCardle
  • McElroy
  • McKinney
  • Napier
  • Norman
  • Smith
  • Thompson
  • Valentine

Student at Wesleyan

Lizzie Smith Clements attended during 1870s. She was among the first ladies to study music at Wesleyan and was a daughter of Colonel Davis Smith and Elizabeth of Monroe County – Jane Smith. Although the names of all graduating classes did not survive or are not offered to the public, it is a family tradition that Jane Smith was a graduate during the early part of the 1850s. Later, Jane sent her daughter, Lizzie Smith Clements, to Wesleyan, who then passed the tradition down to her daughter, Mary Brent Chambliss. The search for names of Wesleyan graduates in the Georgia Graduates Database.
The first class graduated in 1840, its first graduate being Miss Catherine Elizabeth Brewer. When the Georgia Conference of the Methodist Church assumed responsibility in 1843, it was renamed Wesleyan Female College. In 1917 the word “female” was eliminated from its title. Wesleyan was the birthplace of the first two Greek societies for the Adelphean Society in 1851 (now Alpha Delta Pi) and the Philomathean Society in 1852.
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