Tennessee Genealogy - Ancestry Research & Family History
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Welcome to Tennessee Genealogy

Research in Tennessee can be an exciting and rewarding experience. With records available for more than 200 years of the state's history, your family is sure to be found in a variety of records available online and at the many archives and libraries located throughout the state.

Hire a Genealogist

African-American Genealogy

Arcadia Publishing - African Americans in Rutherford County

Google Books - 1790-1865 The Negro in Tennessee


TNGenWeb Project - ​Newspaper Clips from the 1800s

Archives and Libraries

Albert Gore Research Center - Murfreesboro, Tennessee

Eagleville Bicentennial Library - Eagleville, TN

FamilySearch - Family History Center Locator: Rutherford County

FamilySearch Catalog - Rutherford County, Tennessee

Linebaugh Public Library - Murfreesboro, TN

Myrtle Glanton Lord Learning Center/Library - Murfreesboro, TN

Rutherford County Archives - Rutherford County, TN

Smyrna Library - Smyrna, Tennessee

Tennessee Secretary of State - Rutherford County, Tennessee

USGenWeb Archives - Rutherford County, Tennessee

Bible Records

TNGenWeb Project - ​Rutherford County, Ransom Family Bible
​

USGenWeb Archives - Rutherford County, Tennessee

Bibliography

Arcadia Publishing - African Americans in Rutherford County

Tennessee Secretary of State - Bibliography of Tennessee Local History Sources > Rutherford County

Biographies

Genealogy Trails History Group - Rutherford County, Tennessee

Tennessee Encyclopedia - Griffith Rutherford

TNGenWeb Project - Rutherford County Biographies

TNGenWeb Project - ​Rutherford County, Calvin C. Lowe
​
TNGenWeb Project - ​Rutherford County, Martha Ready

USGenWeb Archives - Rutherford County, Tennessee

Wikipedia.org - ​Griffith Rutherford

Cemeteries

Cyndi's List - Rutherford County, TN Cemeteries

ePodunk - Rutherford County, Tennessee

Find A Grave - Rutherford County, Tennessee

Genealogy Trails History Group - Rutherford County, Tennessee

The Political Graveyard - Rutherford County, Tennessee

TNGenWeb Project - ​Cemeteries Moved to Create Percy Priest Lake
​
TNGenWeb Project - ​Confederate Circle Heroes Evergreen Cemetery Murfreesboro, Tennessee

TNGenWeb Project - ​Rutherford County, Jamison Cemetery

TNGenWeb Project - ​Rutherford County, Stolen Gravestones Back Home

USGenWeb Archives - Rutherford County, Tennessee

USGenWeb Tombstone Project - Rutherford County, Tennessee

Census Records

Census Finder - Tennessee Census Records

Census Tools - Electronic Census Spreadsheet

Genealogy Trails History Group - Rutherford County, Tennessee

TNGenWeb Project - Information Provided on Each Census Year Schedule

USGenWeb Archives - Rutherford County, Tennessee

Church Records

TNGenWeb Project - ​1812 Murfree Spring Church

Court Records

Rutherford County Clerk of Circuit Court - Murfreesboro, TN

TNGenWeb Project - 1813 Old Court Records from Rutherford County

TNGenWeb Project - ​Tennessee Law, the Early Days

TNGenWeb Project - ​Tennessee Record Collections at FamilySearch

TNGenWeb Project - ​1804 Rutherford County Index Records

USGenWeb Archives - Rutherford County, Tennessee

Estate Records

Genealogy Trails History Group - Rutherford County, Tennessee

TNGenWeb Project - ​Tennessee Record Collections at FamilySearch

Family Trees

TNGenWeb Project - ​The Coleman and Related Families

TNGenWeb Project - ​DNA Projects Links

TNGenWeb Project - ​Genealogy Calculators
​
TNGenWeb Project - ​The Heirs of Rebecca Alexander

TNGenWeb Project - ​Rutherford County, Family Group Sheets

TNGenWeb Project - ​USGenWeb Lineage Researcher Page

General Resources

Census Tools - Electronic Census Spreadsheets

FamilySearch Wiki - Rutherford County, Tennessee

RootsWeb - The Association for Gravestone Studies

RootsWeb - Create a timeline of History

RootsWeb - Deciphering Old Handwriting

RootWebs - Epidemics in the United States

RootsWeb - ​Historical Collections of Tennessee

RootsWeb - Search the DAR Library Catalog

Rutherford County Government - Rutherford County, Tennessee

TNGenWeb Project - ​19th Century Medical Terminology

TNGenWeb Project - ​Rutherford County, Tennessee Search Engines

Yesterday's Perry Co. - Introduction to the Resources of Tennessee

History

Genealogy Trails History Group - Rutherford County Clubs & Organizations

Genealogy Trails History Group - 1873 Rutherford County Epidemic 

Genealogy Trails History Group - Rutherford County, Tennessee

Tennessee Encyclopedia - Rutherford County, Tennessee

TNGenWeb Project - ​Freedmen's Bureau Indenture Bonds for Rutherford County

TNGenWeb Project - ​Goodspeeds Rutherford County, Tennessee

TNGenWeb Project - 1851 ​Initial Stockholders of the Murfreesboro and Liberty Turnpike Company

TNGenWeb Project - Tennessee State Claims Index

TNGenWeb Project - Petition Requesting Establishment of Rutherford County

TNGenWeb Project - ​Pre-1796 East Tennessee

TNGenWeb Project - ​Pre-1796 Middle Tennessee

USGenWeb Archives - Rutherford County, Tennessee

Wikipedia.org - ​Rutherford County, Tennessee

Historical Places

Bradley Academy Museum - Murfreesboro, TN

Cannonsburgh Village - Murfreesboro, TN

David Crockett Birthplace State Historic Park - Limestone, TN

National Register of Historic Places - Rutherford County, Tennessee

Oaklands Historic House Museum - Murfreesboro, TN

Rutherford County Historic Courthouse - Murfreesboro, TN

Sam Davis Home and Museum - Smyrna, TN

Stones River National Battlefield - Murfreesboro, TN

TNGenWeb Project - Rutherford County Historical Sites

Wikipedia.org - National Register of Historic Places Listings in Rutherford County, Tennessee

Land Records

Genealogy Trails History Group - Rutherford County, Tennessee

Rutherford County Register of Deeds - Murfreesboro, TN

TNGenWeb Project - 1804 - 1819 Rutherford County Land Records 

TNGenWeb Project - ​No. 296 William W. Searcy; To Deed of Trust; Beverly Randolph

USGenWeb Archives - Rutherford County, Tennessee

Maps

My Genealogy Hound - Rutherford County, Tennessee
​

TNGenWeb Project - Goodspeed’s 1886 Tennessee Map

TNGenWeb Project - Old Rutherford County, Tennessee Maps​

TNGenWeb Project - Maps by Charles Reeves

TNGenWeb Project - 1878 ​Rutherford County, Tennessee ​

TNGenWeb Project - ​Tennessee Census Maps

TNGenWeb Project - 1818 Tennessee Map

TNGenWeb Project - ​The Maps Our Ancestors Followed

TNGenWeb Project - Three Grand Divisions of Tennessee

Military Records

Genealogy Trails History Group - Rutherford County, Tennessee

RootsWeb - Tennessee Civil War Sourcebook

RootsWeb - War of 1812

National Archives - WWII Army Casualties: Tennessee

Tennessee Encyclopedia - ​Battle of Stones River

TNGenWeb Project - ​A Salute To Our Fallen Heroes

TNGenWeb Project - Goodspeed Regimental Sketches

TNGenWeb Project - ​Hidden Ancestors Veteran Project

TNGenWeb Project - ​American Civil War

TNGenWeb Project - ​Civil War Soldiers

TNGenWeb Project - ​1927 Civil War Vets Reunion

TNGenWeb Project - ​Confederate Circle Heroes Evergreen Cemetery Murfreesboro, Tennessee 

TNGenWeb Project - ​1929 Home Journal, 55 Old Soldiers Here for Reunion

TNGenWeb Project - ​1929 Home Journal, Old Soldiers Tell of Forrest's Raid

TNGenWeb Project - Kate Carney Civil War Diary

TNGenWeb Project - ​Rutherford County, Tennessee Confederate Home Applications

TNGenWeb Project - ​Tennessee and the Civil War

TNGenWeb Project - ​Tennesseans in the Revolutionary War

TNGenWeb Project - ​Tennesseans in the War of 1812

TNGenWeb Project - ​Tennesseans in World War I

USGenWeb Archives - Rutherford County, Tennessee

Wikipedia.org - ​Battle of Stones River

Wikipedia.org - Tennessee in the American Civil War

Native American Genealogy

Museum of the Cherokee Indian - Cherokee, NC

RootsWeb - 1730-1842 Southeastern Native American Documents

The Chickasaw Nation - Ada, Oklahoma

TNGenWeb Project - Cherokee By Blood

TNGenWeb Project - First People of Tennessee and the American Southeast

TNGenWeb Project - The Intruder

Newspapers

Genealogy Trails History Group - Rutherford County, Tennessee

RootsWeb - Abstracts from Tennessee Newspaper

TNGenWeb Project - ​The Case of Thankful Taylor

TNGenWeb Project - ​Newspaper Clips from the 1800s

TNGenWeb Project - ​1929 Rutherford County, Home Journal Deaths 

YouTube - Rutherford County Magazine

Obituaries

Genealogy Trails History Group - Rutherford County, Tennessee

USGenWeb Archives - Rutherford County, Tennessee

Photographs

National Archives - Rutherford County, Tennessee

Tennessee Encyclopedia - Battle of Stones River Slideshow

Tennessee Encyclopedia - Rutherford County Slideshow

USGenWeb Archives - Rutherford County, Tennessee

Queries & Mailing Lists

TNGenWeb Project - ​Pre-1796 East Tennessee 

TNGenWeb Project - ​Pre-1796 Middle Tennessee

School Records

Rutherford County Education - Murfreesboro, TN

TNGenWeb Project - ​1923 Smyrna High School 

TNGenWeb Project - ​1921- 22 Smyrna Seminary School ​

Societies

Bradley Academy Museum and Cultural Center - Murfreesboro, TN

Middle Tennessee Genealogical Society - Nashville, Tennessee

Middle Tennessee Museum of Natural History - Murfreesboro, TN

Rutherford County Historical Society - Murfreesboro, TN

Tennessee Society Daughters of the American Revolution - Rutherford County, TN

​Towns, Cities & Townships

City of Murfreesboro - Murfreesboro, TN

TNGenWeb Project - ​1806 - 1986 The Blackman Community

TNGenWeb Project - ​Rutherford County, Old Jefferson History

Wikipedia.org - ​Eagleville, Tennessee

Wikipedia.org - ​La Vergne, Tennessee

Wikipedia.org - ​Murfreesboro, Tennessee

Wikipedia.org - ​Smyrna, Tennessee

Vital Records

Genealogy Trails History Group - 1908-1912 Rutherford County Death Records

Genealogy Trails History Group - 1914-1925 Rutherford County Death Records

Rutherford County Clerk - Murfreesboro, TN

Shelby County Register of Deeds - 1949-2014 Death Records Index 

Shelby County Register of Deeds - 1980-2014 Divorce Records Index 

Shelby County Register of Deeds - 1980-2014 Marriage Records Index

TNGenWeb Project - ​1878 Marriage Contract between Queen, Wm. J. & Miller, Mary S. 

TNGenWeb Project - ​1904 - 1925 Rutherford County Death Certificates 

TNGenWeb Project - ​1804 - 1881 Rutherford County Marriages

TNGenWeb Project - ​Tennessee Record Collections at FamilySearch

USGenWeb Archives - Rutherford County, Tennessee

VitalChek - Tennessee Vital Records

​Vitalrec.com - Tennessee Vital Records
Many Tennessee family records can be found online and at various archives and libraries located throughout the state of Tennessee. Many millions of records aren't yet available online, though, and many of these are awaiting your discovery at the local level at county courthouses, historical societies, churches, county clerks' offices, cemeteries, and elsewhere in Tennessee. To find these and other records, click on the links below to find more information about the specific counties where your ancestors lived in Tennessee. You'll find information on these pages that will lead you to the specific documentation you're searching for.

It is important to keep in mind when doing research that the names and boundaries of certain counties in Tennessee have changed over the past two hundred years. Your ancestors may have lived on a certain farm in one county and when borders were redrawn records relating to your family history might have been located in another area entirely. When searching for land, court, tax, and other records it is also a good idea to search for these records in adjacent counties. Following is a complete list of Tennessee's 95 counties along with their formation dates, county seats, and names of parent counties.
County

Anderson County

Bedford County

Benton County

Bledsoe County

Blount County

Bradley County

Campbell County

Cannon County

Carroll County

Carter County

Cheatham County


Chester County


Claiborne County

Clay County

Cocke County

Coffee County

Crockett County


Cumberland County


Davidson County

Decatur County

DeKalb County


Dickson County

Dyer County

Fayette County

Fentress County

Franklin County

Gibson County

Giles County

Grainger County

Greene County

Grundy County

Hamblen County

Hamilton County

Hancock County

Hardeman County

Hardin County

Hawkins County

Haywood County

Henderson County

Henry County

Hickman County

Houston County


Humphreys County

Jackson County

Jefferson County

Johnson County

Knox County

Lake County

Lauderdale County

Lawrence County

Lewis County


Lincoln County

Loudon County


Macon County

Madison County

Marion County

Marshall County


Maury County

McMinn County

McNairy County

Meigs County

Monroe County

Montgomery County

Moore County

Morgan County

Obion County

Overton County

Perry County

Pickett County

Polk County

Putnam County


Rhea County

Roane County

Robertson County

Rutherford County


Scott County


Sequatchie County

Sevier County

Shelby County

Smith County

Stewart County

Sullivan County

Tipton County

Trousdale County


Unicoi County

Union County


Van Buren County

Warren County


Washington County

Wayne County

Weakley County

White County

Williamson County

Wilson County
Formation Date

1801

1807

1835

1807

1795

1836

1806

1836

1821

1796

1856


1879


1801

1870

1797

1836

1871


1855


1783

1845

1837


1803

1823

1824

1823

1807

1823

1809

1796

1783

1844

1870

1819

1844

1823

1819

1786

1823

1821

1821

1807

1871


1809

1801

1792

1836

1792

1870

1835

1817

1843


1809

1870


1842

1821

1817

1836


1807

1819

1823

1836

1819

1796

1871

1817

1823

1806

1819

1879

1839

1854


1807

1801

1796

1803


1849


1857

1794

1819

1799

1803

1779

1823

1870


1875

1850


1840

1807


1777

1817

1823

1806

1799

1799
County Seat

Clinton

Shelbyville

Camden

Pikeville

Maryville

Cleveland

Jacksboro

Woodbury

Huntingdon

Elizabethton

Ashland City


Henderson


Tazewell

Celina

Newport

Manchester

Alamo


Crossville


Nashville

Decaturville

Smithville


Charlotte

Dyersburg

Somerville

Jamestown

Winchester

Trenton

Pulaski

Rutledge

Greeneville

Altamont

Morristown

Chattanooga

Sneedville

Bolivar

Savannah

Rogersville

Brownsville

Lexington

Paris

Centerville

Erin


Waverly

Gainesboro

Dandridge

Mountain City

Knoxville

Tiptonville

Ripley

Lawrenceburg

Hohenwald


Fayetteville

Loudon


Lafayette

Jackson

Jasper

Lewisburg


Columbia

Athens

Selmer

Decatur

Madisonville

Clarksville

Lynchburg

Wartburg

Union City

Livingston

Linden

Byrdstown

Benton

Cookeville


Dayton

Kingston

Springfield

Murfreesboro


Huntsville


Dunlap

Sevierville

Memphis

Carthage

Dover

Blountville

Covington

Hartsville


Erwin

Maynardville


Spencer

McMinnville


Jonesborough

Waynesboro

Dresden

Sparta

Franklin

Lebanon
Parent County

Knox and Grainger

Rutherford County

Humphreys County

Roane & Indian lands

Knox County

Indian lands

Anderson & Claiborne

Rutherford, Smith & Warren

Indian lands

Washington County

Davidson, Dickson, Montgomery, & Robertson

Henderson, McNairy & Madison

Grainger & Hawkins

Jackson & Overton

Jefferson County

Bedford, Warren & Franklin

Haywood, Madison, Dyer & Gibson

White, Bledsoe, Rhea, Morgan, Fentress & Putnam

Part of North Carolina

Perry County

Franklin, Cannon, Jackson & White

Montgomery and Robertson

Indian lands

Indian lands

Morgan, Overton & White

Rutherford & Indian lands

Indian lands

Indian lands

Hawkins & Knox counties

Washington County

Coffee, Warren & Franklin

Jefferson, Grainger & Greene

Rhea & Indian lands

Hawkins & Claiborne

Hardin & Indian lands

Indian Lands

Sullivan County

Indian lands

Indian lands

Indian lands

Dickson County

Dickson, Humphreys, Montgomery & Stewart

Stewart County

Smith County & Indian lands

Greene & Hawkins

Carter County

Greene & Hawkins

Obion County

Haywood, Dyer & Tipton

Hickman & Indian lands

Hickman, Lawrence, Maury & Wayne

Bedford County

Roane, Monroe, Blount & McMinn

Smith and Sumner counties

Indian lands

Indian lands

Giles, Bedford, Lincoln & Maury

Williamson & Indian lands

Indian lands

Hardin County

Rhea County

Indian lands

Tennessee County

Bedford, Lincoln & Franklin

Anderson & Roane

Indian lands

Jackson & Indian lands

Humphreys & Hickman

Fentress & Overton

McMinn & Bradley

Fentress, Jackson, Smith, White & Overton

Roane County

Knox & Indian lands

Tennessee & Sumner

Davidson, Williamson & Wilson

Anderson, Campbell, Fentress & Morgan counties

Hamilton, Marion & Warren

Jefferson County

Chickasaw Nation lands

Sumner & Indian lands

Montgomery County

Washington County

Shelby County

Wilson, Macon, Smith
& Sumner counties

Washington & Carter

Grainger, Claiborne, Campbell, Anderson & Knox

Warren & White

White, Jackson, Smith & Indian lands

Part of North Carolina

Hickman County

Indian lands

Jackson & Smith

Davidson County

Sumner County

USA State Resources

Follow the links below to find many other helpful resources available in the U.S. states where your ancestors lived in the past.

Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
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