Murray County was formed in 1832 at the time of the Cherokee Land Lottery and began to be settled in the late 1830’s. Many of my family members live or have lived in Murray County, Georgia; some were among those first settlers. The current count is 138 individuals who lived, died, or had events in Murray County. Common Murray County surnames from my family tree are Butler, Ellis, Hemphill, Kendrick, McEntire, Roberts, Stroud, Tucker, West, and Whitener.
I’ve put together a list of the resources that I have found helpful in researching my Murray County connections.
Offline Resources:
Murray County Heritage: read a review of the book here.
Murray County Probate Court: 115 Fort Street, Chatsworth, GA 30705. Has marriage records from 1842 to present and probate records from 1840 to present.
Chatsworth-Murray County Library: 706 Old Dalton-Ellijay Road, Chatsworth, GA 30705. Has a good genealogy section and the staff is very knowledgeable about the area’s history and families.
Online Resources:
GA Murray Mailing List Archives at Rootweb: messages from May 1990 to present.
DaltonDailyCitizen.com: regional newspaper website with online archives.
Murray County Cemeteries: selected cemetery transcriptions.
Murray County, Georgia USGenWeb Archives: Military Records, Census transcriptions, and more.
Georgia’s Virtual Vault: online images of Murray County death certificates from 1919 to 1927 (plus much, much more).
Murray County Museum: site devoted to Murray County history with a wide variety of content (including a portion of the above-mentioned Murray County Heritage).
Find-a-Grave – Murray County Cemetery List.
Murray County Message Board at Ancestry.
Murray County Genealogy Forum at GenForum.
And last, but certainly not least, various U. S. Federal Census records.
