Welcome to Burke County
Georgia AHGP

Burke County, Georgia History

Burke County, Georgia was created in 1777. The parent counties from which Burke County was organized from were St George Parish. U.S. Census reports are available for this county from1820 to 1920. The county seat is Waynesboro. Burke County Georgia Courthouse was burned twice once in 1825, second in 1856.

Burke is rich in history. A few white settlers began to move into this area as early as the 1740's. In 1763 there was the Cession by the Indians of more territory to the Crown. This cession treaty also clarified the rigth to white settlement in all of St. George's Parish. Famous men who spent time in Burke County are Dr Lyman Hall, signer of the Declaration of Indepence who is buried here. George Washington was to have spent the night in Waynesborough in 17 May 1791, Eli Whitney had 3 cotten gins here and also the massive Union Troops which marched through here on the way to the coast. It has been said they burned the courthouse but as you can see from the dates this is not true.

A chronology of documented historic events:

1759 - Some Salzburgers moved up from Ebenezer into St George's Parish and established New Goettingen, now a dead town.

1763 - The first Courthouse in St George's was erected.

1765 - John Bartram, a British scientist, with his son, visited Shell Bluff to study the fascinating large oryster shell formations, which come to be known as "Ostrea georgiana."

Following the Revolutionary War a substantial migration flowed from such states as Maryland,Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Many new settlers took up land in Burke took up lands and lived out there time in Burke County , but the next generation moved westward. Counties taken from Burke are Screven in 1793; Jefferson in 1796 and Jenkins in 1905.


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Burke County Genealogical Society
Check out this page for the new Cemetery Book

Burke County Links
Burke County Lookups
Burke Co. GA Surnames
Burke County Queries


Burke Co. GA list
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1850 Burke Co. Census
Beech Branch Baptist Church Membership 1803-1845
Early Burke Co. GA Marriages
Burke Co GA Marriages A - C
Burke Co. GA Marriages D - F
Burke Co.GA Marriages G - I
Burke Co. GA Marriages J - L
Burke Co.GA Marriages L - Z

African-American Marriages Burke Co. GA
A | B | C-D | E-F | G-H | I-J-K | L-M | N-O-P-Q | R-S | T-U-V | W | Y-Z
Georgia's Slave Population in Legal Records: Where and How to Look (an introduction to courthouse resources)

Burke County Wills
1860 African American Slave Schedules (Partial)
Burke County Cemeteries
Georgia Books
Historical maps

Augusta Georgia Obituraries
Richmond County Library
Richmond County
Jefferson Co.
Jenkins Co.
Candler Co.
South Carolina Census Records
War of the Rebellion
US GenWeb Archives Civil War Pensions Project-Georgia
Georgia Lookups
Census-Online
The Buffalo Barracks Historical Web Site
Migration Web Site
Korean Casualties
Topographical Map Site


Faith Baptist Church


Georgia Links

Georgia Master County Index
Gene Stark's Index of Names (Includes all Burke County lines.)

Burke County Links

Sites On the Web Relating to Burke County Genealogy (Lycos)

Other Georgia Links

Georgia County Map Northern Counties are shown in various colors.
Georgia County Map Southern Counties are shown in various colors.
U. S. Gazetteer
Georgia Genealogical Society
GA State Archives
Georgia Master County Index
Georgia Books We Own
Burke Families of ELLISON, DIXON, KYLE, LONG, & POYTHRESS
Warren Family of Burke Co.GA
Utley Family of Burke Co.GA

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Last updated: 3 Dec 2015

My name is Tim Stowell, the person responsible for Burke County. If you would like to contribute your information to this page, please let me know.
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Copyright Marge Braswell 1998-2002

Tim Stowell 2006-2017


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