1864 Census for Re-Organizing the Georgia Militia

The 1864 Census for Re-organizing the Georgia Militia is a statewide census of all white males between the ages of 16 and 60 who were not at the time in the service of the Confederate States of America. Based on a law passed by the Georgia Legislature in December 1863 to provide for the protection of women, children, and invalids living at home, it is a list of some 42,000 men--many of them exempt from service--who were able to serve in local militia companies and perform such homefront duties as might be required of them.

In accordance with the law, enrollment lists were drawn up by counties and within counties by militia districts. Each one of the 42,000 persons enrolled was listed by his full name, age, occupation, place of birth, and reason (if any) for his exemption from service. Sometime between 1920 and 1940 the Georgia Pension and Record Department typed up copies of these lists. Names on the typed lists, unlike most of the originals, are in alphabetical order, and it is these typed lists which form the basis of this new work by Mrs. Nancy Cornell.

Checking the typed lists against the original handwritten records on microfilm in the Georgia Department of Archives & History, Mrs. Cornell was able to add some information and correct certain misspellings. She also points out that no lists were found for the counties of Burke, Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Dooly, Emanuel, Irwin, Johnson, Pulaski, and Wilcox.

This is a supurb and totally unique body of information, virtually unknown to all but the most experienced Georgia genealogists. It is available now in print for the first time, and with a single alphabetical index!