Chatham County, Georgia
Named for Earl of Chatham
County Seat is Savannah
Laid Out in 1777

Neighboring Counties:
Effingham ~ Bryan

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Featured Books

Savannah's Laurel Grove Cemetery When we come to our final resting place, we may be remembered by an elaborate mausoleum, a block of stone, a wooden post, or perhaps nothing at all. Such is the manner in which those resting under the trees of Laurel Grove Cemetery are memorialized. Established in 1850 out of the property of Springfield, one of Savannah’s earliest plantations, Laurel Grove Cemetery is one of the most mysterious and intriguing cemeteries in all of the city. Through her gates lie individuals who have made their mark locally and worldwide. In this beautiful sanctuary rest such notable individuals as Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts of America; Florence Martus, who became more popularly known as the Waving Girl; James Pierpont, author of “Jingle Bells,” the popular Christmas carol; and more than 600 Confederate soldiers.

Historic Bonaventure Cemetery: GA Historical Society All cemeteries are history made tangible. Each neatly laid out plot, each lichen-dotted headstone, each lovingly crafted monument, is a representation of a personal history. While each cemetery has its own collection of stories to tell, Bonaventure Cemetery has more stories than most. For more than 150 years, citizens of Savannah have buried their loved ones at Bonaventure Cemetery. Among its grounds, monuments bearing the names of such famous people as Johnny Mercer lie alongside markers bearing names of those known only to their family. Bonaventure’s stately beauty seems the perfect setting for a cemetery. Historic Bonaventure Cemetery illustrates the development of Bonaventure as a Victorian-style cemetery and the transformation from a private estate to a public cemetery. Historic Bonaventure Cemetery, the first book solely about Bonaventure, includes images of Bonaventure and Greenwich—the two plantations that became Bonaventure—and provides information about the people and the monuments there.

Anchored Yesterdays: the Log Book of Savannah's Voyage Across a Georgia Century

AniMap Plus Version 2.6
Start finding those old towns and counties. Just about every researcher deals with the problem of finding an old town that has long-since disappeared from the map. Or, you have a known location but it was not in the same county 100 or 200 years ago. AniMap Plus now has solutions to these problems. AniMap Plus version 2.6 will display over 2,300 maps to show the changing county boundaries for each of the 48 adjacent United States for every year since colonial times. It includes all years, not just the census years. Maps may be viewed separately, or the program can set them in motion so you can automatically view the boundary changes.

Chatham 1777

Chatham 1924

Bonaventure Cemetery: Some Burials, Monuments, and Gravestones

Fort Pulaski National Monument, Georgia
Also includes Cockspur Island history.

Georgia Crime & Criminals

Georgia Dutch: From the Rhine and Danube to the Savannah, 1733 - 1783
This extremely detailed chronicle of the various German-speaking groups who settled in the colony of Georgia traces their movements from Europe to settlements on the Savannah River, then describes the failure of their communities and their dispersion throughout the continent after the American Revolution.

Georgia Vital Records: Marriages 1775-1900
This CD contains records from five databases of Georgia marriage records, roughly spanning the years between 1775 and 1900. Each record contains at least two names, making this CD a valuable aid to researchers with Georgia ancestors. Counties included: Baldwin, Bibb, Bulloch, Butts, Camden, Campbell, Carroll, Cass, Chatham, Cherokee, Clarke, Columbia, Coweta, Crawford, Decatur, Dekalb, Early Effingham, Elbert, Fayette, Floyd, Forsyth, Franklin, Gilmer, Greene, Habersham, Hall, Hancock, Harris, Henry, Houston, Irwin, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Jones, Laurens, Liberty, Lincoln, Lumpkin, Madison, Marion, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Murray, Muscogee, Newton, Oglethorpe, Pauling, Pike, Pulaski, Putnam, Rabun, Randolph, Richmond, Screven, Stewart, Talbot, Taliaferro, Tattnal, Telfair, Thomas, Troup, Union, Upson, Walton, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Wilkes, and Wilkinson. The CD is indexed and searchable by name, date, place, and keyword or phrase. On Sale NOW!

Georgia's Landmarks, Memorials, and Legends
Items covered in this volume include Light Horse Harry Lee’s bivouac, the true story of Jefferson Davis’s arrest at Irwinville, the Old Creek Indian Agency, and historical outlines, original settlers, and distinguished residents of the following counties: Appling, Baker, Baldwin, Banks, Bartow, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bibb, Bleckley, Brooks, Bryan, Bulloch, Burke, Butts, Calhoun, Camden, Campbell, Carroll, Catoosa, Charlton, Chatham, Chattahoochee, Chattooga, Cherokee, Clarke, Clay, Clayton, Clinch, Cobb, Coffee, Colquitt, Columbia, Coweta, Crawford, Crisp, Dade, Dawson, Decatur, DeKalb, Dodge, Dooly, Dougherty, Douglas, Early, Echols, Effingham, Elbert, Emanuel, Fannin, Fayette, Floyd, Forsyth, and Franklin.

Historic Bonaventure Cemetery: GA Historical Society
All cemeteries are history made tangible. Each neatly laid out plot, each lichen-dotted headstone, each lovingly crafted monument, is a representation of a personal history. While each cemetery has its own collection of stories to tell, Bonaventure Cemetery has more stories than most. For more than 150 years, citizens of Savannah have buried their loved ones at Bonaventure Cemetery. Among its grounds, monuments bearing the names of such famous people as Johnny Mercer lie alongside markers bearing names of those known only to their family. Bonaventure’s stately beauty seems the perfect setting for a cemetery. Historic Bonaventure Cemetery illustrates the development of Bonaventure as a Victorian-style cemetery and the transformation from a private estate to a public cemetery. Historic Bonaventure Cemetery, the first book solely about Bonaventure, includes images of Bonaventure and Greenwich—the two plantations that became Bonaventure—and provides information about the people and the monuments there.

History of Savannah and South Georgia

Index to Georgia Wills
This is an index to the earliest surviving will books of Georgia counties formed before the 1832 Land Lottery. It is not based on original wills, since many of these have been lost or destroyed, but on verbatim copies of wills found in county will books. Designed to simplify the research process, this index contains the names, in alphabetical order, of about 20,000 testators, the name of the county in which the will was filed, and the designation of the book in which the complete will can be located. A smaller proportion of entries derive from miscellaneous estate records such as appraisals, inventories, divisions, letters of administration, and guardian bonds, and are identified by an appropriate reference.

Index to the United States Census of Georgia for 1820
Genealogists will recognize this work as an index to the earliest complete census of Georgia. This index identifies about 30,000 heads of families, alphabetically arranged, along with their counties of residence.

Jews and Gentiles in Early America: 1654-1800
Pencak approaches his topic from the perspective of early American, rather than strictly Jewish, history. Rich in colorful narrative and animated with scenes of early American life, Jews and Gentiles in Early America tells the story of the five communities-New York, Newport, Charleston, Savannah, and Philadelphia-where most of colonial America's small Jewish population lived.

List of the Early Settlers of Georgia
This is a list not only of the early settlers of Georgia but of the first settlers of Georgia, and it is apparently a complete list of all those who were sent by the Trustees for Establishing the Colony of Georgia in America under Oglethorpe and the Earl of Egmont. Based on the Egmont manuscripts, now in the possession of the University of Georgia, this list of settlers is given under two headings: first, those who went from Europe to Georgia at the Trustees' expense; and, second, those who went on their own account. Covering the period from 1732 to 1741, these two lists together contain the names and details of 3,000 immigrants, most of whom were assigned lots in Savannah and Frederica and a good number of whom would soon leave the colony for the Carolinas.

The Moravians in Georgia, 1735-1740
The Moravian Brethren are one of the most notable of the pietistic sects to emerge from the Protestant Reformation. Persecuted during the religious wars of the 17th century, the Brethren left their native Moravia, and later their protected status under Count Zinzendorf of Saxony, in favor of the more tolerant environs of England, Holland, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and, in the instance of this work, the settlement of Savannah, Georgia. Mrs. Fries here documents the brief history of the Moravian community in Georgia, commencing with an overview of the sect and continuing through the negotiations between Brethren leader August Spangenburg and Georgia founder General James Oglethorpe, establishment of the Brethren community in Savannah, discussions with the Wesley brothers (founders of the Methodist Church in America), missionary work among the Creeks, and the departure of the Moravians for England, Pennsylvania, and other locations. The Moravians ultimately vacated Savannah because their pacifist credo prevented them from serving in the colony's defense against a threatened invasion from Spanish Florida. In addition to the author's running account of these developments, genealogists will find numerous references to transfers of land involving the Moravians, settlement maps, passenger lists of Moravian arrivals, a brief list of Moravian deaths in Georgia, and a name index to the persons mentioned in the text. Search the full text of this book. On sale now! Only $15.25


Old Burying Ground: Colonial Park Cemetery, Savannah Georgia, 1750-1853
Customer Review: "This book is an absolute treasure trove of information for those seeking not only information about those buried in Colonial Park Cemetery, but also for those looking for an insight into the early years of Savannah's history."

Old News Across the South

Puritan Ancestors in America of Georgia Ann Eastman, Mrs. William Morris Bennett: Born, Savannah, Georgia, May 3, 1839, Married, Buffalo, N.Y., June 6, 1870, Died Jacksonville, Fla., Dec. 24, 1921
Contains the immigrant ancestors of Georgia Ann Eastman (Mrs. William Morris Bennett); Eastman -- First of the Name in America A. D. 1001; the birth of the first white child in America; and wills and inventories, Hartford district probate records.

Rebels, Saints, and Sinners: Savannah's Rich History and Colorful Personalities
Since its founding in 1733, Savannah, Georgia, has seduced visitors with its verdant beauty and its palpable sense of history. Rebels, Saints and Sinners reveals the true stories behind some of the city’s most notorious figures, including Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, who captured the city during the Civil War, and "Shoeless" Joe Jackson who spent a year playing minor league ball here, wintered in Savannah during the off season after he made the big leagues and later ran a small store in Savannah after he was banned from baseball due to the Black Sox scandal. These stories also highlight local heroes – for example, Savannah native Cynthia Jacobson, still trying to solve a 100-year old family murder and Dr. Richard Arnold, deemed the hero of the 1854 Yellow Fever epidemic. Villains are also portrayed as well – one example is political kingpin John Bouhan whose corruption so defiled city politics that it took a political revolution to usurp his power. From John Wesley, founder of Methodism, to rock-and-roll pioneer Elvis Presley, many notable figures have left their mark on the city, and most of them are chronicled here.

Reconstructed 1790 Census of Georgia
The compilers of this work extracted data found in wills, deeds, tax digests, court minutes, voters' lists, newspapers, and other contemporary records--records roughly contemporaneous with the 1790 census--and they have identified about 15,000 Georgians who were living at the time of the 1790 census, thus creating a "reconstructed" census from substitute records.

Savannah, 1733 to 2000
Covering just less than two-and-a-half square miles, Savannah's Historic District is a steadfast remnant of the Old South-even in times marked by fast-paced technology and bustling growth. The city air is still sweetened by the scent of tea olives and jasmine, her streets are still lined with the rich palettes of azaleas and camellias, and her people are generous and welcoming. Savannah has enchanted residents and visitors alike for more than two-and-a-half centuries with a rich architectural heritage and a remarkable natural beauty. Founded on February 12, 1733, by Gen. James E. Oglethorpe, Savannah has played an active role on the American stage, in times of war and hardship, as well as in times of peace and prosperity. The city's location at the mouth of the Savannah River created one of the largest seaports on the east coast, and her history is as colorful and varied as the numerous industries that made their way to her banks. Within these pages readers will visit Savannah's signature squares and parks, including Forsyth Park and Colonial Park Cemetery, as well as buildings long since vanished from the city's landscape, such as the old DeSoto Hotel and the City Market. Also showcased are some of Savannah's private homes and public buildings, such as the Telfair Museum of Art, the Chatham County Courthouses, and Christ Church, and such memorable events as the fire of 1889.

Savannah, Georgia Directories, 1888-91
Directories listing more than 72,200 names for Savannah, Georgia from 1888-91.

Savannah's Laurel Grove Cemetery
When we come to our final resting place, we may be remembered by an elaborate mausoleum, a block of stone, a wooden post, or perhaps nothing at all. Such is the manner in which those resting under the trees of Laurel Grove Cemetery are memorialized. Established in 1850 out of the property of Springfield, one of Savannah’s earliest plantations, Laurel Grove Cemetery is one of the most mysterious and intriguing cemeteries in all of the city. Through her gates lie individuals who have made their mark locally and worldwide. In this beautiful sanctuary rest such notable individuals as Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts of America; Florence Martus, who became more popularly known as the Waving Girl; James Pierpont, author of “Jingle Bells,” the popular Christmas carol; and more than 600 Confederate soldiers.

Some Early Tax Digests of Georgia
In the absence of the 1790, 1800, and 1810 censuses of Georgia, these early tax lists are a godsend, standing in as almost perfect substitutes for the missing enumerations and in many ways improving on the detail found in most old census records. The counties for which tax records are provided, are as follows: Camden, Chatham, Glynn, Hancock, Lincoln, Montgomery, Pulaski, Richmond, Warren, and Wilkes.

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Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God:
I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee
with the right hand of my righteousness.
Isaiah 41:10 KJV

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