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Step-by-Step Tennessee Research, 1850-1910



Step-by-Step Tennessee Research, 1850-1910
1. Contact living relatives.
2. Online census records.
3. Death records, obituary and cemetery records online.
4. Births and marriages online.
5. Military records online.
6: Look for church records online.
7. Wills and probate.
8. Immigration and naturalization records online.
9. Land records online.
10. Printed local histories or biographies online.
11. Historical or genealogical societies.
12: Use other FamilySearch tools.
13: Study the Research Wiki pages for any county in Tennessee.
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Some online records have restrictions, due to contractual agreements, allowing them to be used only at FamilySearch Centers or FamilySearch Affiliate Library. This pop-up warning has links to lists of addresses of the many affiliate libraries that are available throughout the world.

Subscription websites such as Ancestry.com, FindMyPast, and MyHeritage and many others offer complimentary service at these affiliate libraries and at most local libraries.

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Step 1: Find out everything possible from living relatives and their family records.

Every good genealogy project starts with finding all the clues that can be gathered from living relatives — both from their memories and from documents or memorabilia in their homes.

What are the best questions to ask?

In order to extend research, ask for names, dates, and places. Everything about who a relative was and when and where they lived is a clue to a new record search. For ideas, see :

What documents should be collected or copied?

Because these records cover names, dates, places, and relationships, they are a valuable source of clues. Look for them in your home, your parents' home, and ask living grandparents to check for them.

  • Announcements of births, weddings,
    and anniversaries
  • Baby and wedding books
  • Certificates
  • Deeds, and property records
  • Family Bibles
  • Family reunion notices and records
  • Fraternal or society records
  • Insurance policies
  • Journals and diaries
  • Letters and cards
  • Licenses (business, marriage,
    fishing, driving)
  • Naturalization documents
  • Newspaper clippings and obituaries
  • Medical records
  • Military service and pension documents
  • Occupational awards
  • Passports
  • Personal histories and biographies
  • Photograph albums
  • Printed Notices and Announcements
  • Programs (graduation, award ceremonies, funerals)
  • School records
  • Scrapbooks
  • Wills and trusts


Step 2: Find ancestors in every possible census record, 1850-1950, online.

  • A census is a count and description of the population for a given date. A census took a "snapshot" of a family on a certain day.
  • For each person living in a household (depending on the year), their name, age, birthplace, relationship to head of household, place of birth for father and mother, citizenship status, year of immigration, mother of how many children and number of children living, native language, and whether they were a veteran of the military can be listed.
  • Searching for a family in census records every ten years can identify all the children in a family.
  • Searching in earlier census records to find someone as a child can identify parents.


Example of a census record.

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Look for ancestors in as many censuses as possible. Use the clues from each census for hints where to find families in both earlier and later census records.

For more information, see Tennessee Census and United States Census.

Step 3: Try to find additional details in death certificates, Social Security, obituary and cemetery records online.

When a person dies, several records will be created: death certificates, Social Security records, obituaries, and cemetery records.

  • Death certificates can give birth information for people born before actual birth registration began. Death certificates frequently give the birth date and place, parents' names, and birth places of parents.
  • The Social Security Death Index includes those who had a Social Security number and/or applied for benefits. The index entries give the person's full birth date, last known residence, and residence at the time they first enrolled.
  • The Social Security Applications and Claims Index provides information filed in the application or claims process, including valuable details such as birth date, birth place, and parents’ names.
  • Cemetery records can be as simple as the information on the headstone or, in some FindAGrave records, they can report more thorough information about birth, parents, spouses, children, and siblings.

Example of a death index entry.

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Example of a full original death certificate.

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Example of a Social Security Death Index entry:

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Example of a Social Security Application and Claims Index Entry:

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Example of a FindAGrave cemetery record.

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Example of an obituary.

KNOXVILLE NEWS-SENTINEL, THE (TN) | 29 OCTOBER 1998 OBITUARIES CHAMBERS, PHYLLIS G. (TRUDY) - age 86, of Kingston, passed away Tuesday, October 27, 1998, at Roane Medical Center in Harriman. She was a member of the Kingston United Methodist Church. Survivors include: daughter, Mattie Lou Pierce of Kingston; granddaughters, Lisa Brennan and husband, Mark of Evansville, Ind., Leigh Anne Isham and husband, Scott; great-granddaughters, Reiley and Allena of Harriman; step-daughters, Pattie Brannam and husband, Gene and their children, Amanda and Matt of Cincinnati, Ohio, Bobbie Suttles and husband, David and their children, Robbie and Julie and her husband, Albie Saunders of Cleveland, Tenn.; step-son, Jim Chambers and wife, Brenda and their children, Brynn and Al of Broken Arrow, Okla.; beloved nephew, Larry Sills and wife, Judy of Harriman; great-nephew, Dr. Scott Sills and wife, Carol and their children, Chaz and Ann-Marie of Brentwood, Tenn.; beloved niece, Lynna Blackburn and husband, Ennis and their daughters, Louanna and Trudy of Conway, S.C. Funeral 8 p.m., Thursday in Kyker Chapel with the Rev. Reed Shell officiating. Burial 11 a.m., Friday at Wartburg Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 6-8 p.m., Thursday at Kyker Funeral Home in Kingston. Copyright (c) 1998 The Knoxville News-Sentinel

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Gather information from as many death related records as possible.



Death Indexes

Writing for Full Death Certificates

The full original certificate will contain information not contained in the index. Although it costs money, consider sending for the full original certificates, particularly for direct line ancestors (grandparents, great-grandparents, etc).

U.S. Social Security Records

  • The U.S. Social Security program began in 1935 but most deaths recorded in the index happened after 1962.
  • The Social Security Death index includes those who had a Social Security number and/or applied for benefits.
  • You can search these records online at
  • If you find an ancestor in the SSDI index, you can order a copy of their original Social Security application (SS-5). If you can prove the individual has died (by sending an obituary or copy of their cemetery headstone), the application will also give the deceased's parents' names, if listed.

Obituaries

Cemeteries

For more information, see Tennessee Obituaries and Tennessee Cemeteries.

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Study any new information in these records for clues leading to more census searches.

Step 4: Search for county birth and marriage records online.

Vital records registration of births and marriages at the state level started in 1915. Prior to that the individual counties kept some records. The starting dates of those records vary from county to county, depending on when the county was formed.

Example of a county birth index entry.

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Example of an indexed county marriage entry.

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Online Records

Births


Marriages

Records at the County Courthouse.

These records were originally created by county clerks, and then copies were sent to the state. County clerks can be willing to help find all the birth records for one family or perform other searches that the state would not do. To contact county clerks by e-mail or telephone, go to the Wiki article for each county. Links to the county Wiki articles are found at the end of this page or by clicking here: Tennessee Counties.

For more information on birth, marriage, and death records in Tennessee, see How to Find Tennessee Birth Records, How to Find Tennessee Marriage Records, and How to Find Tennessee Death Records.

Step 5: Search military records: World War I and II draft cards.

There are many different types of military records: draft records, enlistment records, service records, pension records, etc. Information in military records can vary from a simple lists of name, age, and residence, to more detailed records including name, residence, age, occupation, marital status, birthplace, physical description, number of dependents, pensions received, disabled veterans, needy veterans, widows or orphans of veterans, and other information.

Example of a World War I draft card.
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Example of a World War II draft card.
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Search the World War I and World War II Draft Collections for male relatives.



Civil War Pensions

Pensions were given to Union Civil War soldiers who sustained war-related disabilities from the Federal Government. There are several Civil War pension indexes online:



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For more information and additional collections, see Tennessee Military Records.

Step 6: Look for church records.

Church records function as vital records.

  • An infant christening or baptism record documents a birth.
  • Many, if not most, people are married in a church, and then a record is created by the minister.
  • Likewise, ministers presided over funerals, then creating a burial record, which documents a death.

Church records are particularly helpful prior to the advent of civil registration.

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Search for church records that can provide additional birth, marriage, and death information.


FamilySearch

Ancestry.com

Baptist

Lutheran

Presbyterian

Other Collections

Step 7: Search for online wills and probate packets.

  • County probate records include probate proceedings, petitions, affidavits, orders for sales, reports of sales, administrators' and executors' bonds, guardianship papers, wills, and letters of administration.
  • In a will book, usually just a transcription of the will is recorded. But all of these other records are kept in a probate packet.
  • Administrations are probate proceedings that handled an estate if no known will existed.



Example of probate records.

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Search these indexes and images for probate records.



Probate Information in County Wiki Articles

Each Tennessee county Research Wiki page lists additional probate sources, including where to write for records: Tennessee Counties

For more information, see Tennessee Probate Records and United States Probate Records.

Step 8: If any ancestor was an immigrant, search immigration and naturalization records online.

The census records may show that your ancestor was born in another country. It will be necessary to try to find the town or city they were born in to continue research in the country of origin. Searches of immigration records (usually passenger lists) and naturalization (citizenship) records are the next goal. Immigration refers to people coming into a country, such as the United States, and emigration refers to people leaving a country to go to another. Usually these records are passenger lists of the ships they sailed on. A typical record will show name, age, and country of origin, but in ship lists after 1906 you can find the actual town of birth, the next of kin still living in the old country and their residence, and the names of relatives in the place they are traveling to.


Immigration records

The census records may show that an ancestor was born in another country. It will be necessary to try to find the town or city they were born in to continue research in the country of origin. Searches of immigration records (usually passenger lists) and naturalization (citizenship) records would be the next step.


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Look for immigrant ancestors in shipping lists and citizenship sources.



Immigration Records

Tennessee Naturalization and Citizenship Online Records

For more information, see Tennessee Emigration and Immigration and Tennessee Naturalization and Citizenship.

Step 9: Search land records online.

These records will give the

  • names of the buyer (grantee) and seller (grantor),
  • previous or new residence of the parties to the deed
  • the date they obtained the land,
  • the description of exact location of the land, sometimes mentioning neighbors.

They can contain clues to

  • family members who shared ownership of the land,
  • sold or gave land to a child, or
  • officially witnessed the sale.
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Search for any ancestor's land records.



For more information, see Tennessee Land and Property and United States Land and Property.

Step 10: Search for printed local histories or biography collections online.

Local Histories

  • Published histories of towns, counties, and states sometimes contain biographies and accounts of early or prominent families.
  • Here are several websites that feature online copies of printed county histories: Tennessee; that will bring up too many hits. Just use the name of the county and "county": for example, "Hyde County"

FamilySearch Collected Local Histories

  • Go to the FamilySearch Catalog.
  • In the "Place" field, type the name of your county and click "Search".
  • A list of subheadings for the county will appear. Local histories containing genealogies and biographies will be found under Biography, Genealogy, History, or History - Indexes.

Biographies

These collections of biographies can be searched online. Most have a table of contents and an index. Or use the "Find" function on a computer.

  • A History of Tennessee and Tennesseans : The Leaders and Representative Men in Commerce, Industry, and Modern Activities, by Hale, Will T. and Dixon L. Merritt. Chicago and New York: Lewis Publishing Company, 1913. Online at: Vol. 1 - HathiTrust; Vol. 2 - HathiTrust; Vol. 3 - HathiTrust; Vol. 4 - HathiTrust; Vol. 5 - HathiTrust; Vol. 6 - HathiTrust; Vol. 8 - HathiTrust; Also at: Ancestry — index & images ($)
  • County and Town Histories, Tennessee at LearnWebSkills — index & images
  • Notable Men of Tennessee. Personal and Genealogical, With Portraits, by Allison, Judge John. Atlanta, Ga.: Southern Historical Association, 1905. Online at: Vol. 1 - HathiTrust; Vol. 2 - HathiTrust
  • Sketches of Prominent Tennesseans, by Speer, William S. Nashville: Albert B. Tavel, 1888. Online at: HathiTrust; Also at: Internet Archive ($)
  • Some Representative Women of Tennessee, by Gilchrist, Annie Somers. Nashville, Tenn.: McQuiddy Publishing Company, 1902. Online at: HathiTrust
  • Tennessee and Tennesseans, by Oldham, Bethenia McLemore. Clarksville, Tenn.: W. P. Titus, 1903. Online at: HathiTrust
  • Tennessee Biographies by County at My Genealogy Hound

Step 11: Contact a local historical or genealogical society.

  • Historical societies have collections that are frequently little known and often overlooked.
  • Many have a surname file, where they have collected genealogies, newspaper clippings, old photographs, etc.
  • Many have a sort of "pioneer ancestor" program, where people can submit pedigrees to prove they are the descendants of an early resident of the area.
  • Most keep track of queries about families that once lived in the area from other distant relatives who may actually have more family memorabilia.
  • Find the society on the internet, and they may list their holdings. Or call them on the phone, find out what they have, and find out what arrangements can be made to search their collection. Frequently, one of their members can be hired to search the collection for you.

This online directory by GenealogyInc. lists historical and genealogical societies by county: Click on the map to select a county, then scroll down to the historical or genealogical society listings. Here is an example of an internet website for a local genealogical society.

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Step 12: Use other FamilySearch tools.

Historical Images

Records collected and digitized by FamilySearch can all be found through their Historical Images feature.


Tennessee Online Genealogy Records

Search any other online records listed in Tennessee Online Genealogy Records. The steps given here are intended to list record sources which can most efficiently identify descendants. Many other online records which might or might not mention descendants are listed in the Tennessee Online Genealogy Records page, including immigration records, land records, military records, newspapers, and probate records, and others. These can be records that cover a smaller group within the population, such as men who served in the military, etc.


Step 13: Study the Research Wiki pages for any county in Tennessee.

This article focused more on Tennessee state or state-wide records. There is a separate Wiki article for each county in Tennessee. These articles give information, office addresses, and links to county records.

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