Tennessee Biographies
Biographies provide useful genealogical information such as an individual’s birth date and place (including foreign birthplace where applicable); family members; occupation; education; and social, political, and religious affiliations. They may also contain a physical description, previous residences, and immigration information. Biographies are the product of family knowledge or previous research, often compiled on the early settlers and prominent citizens of the state, county, or town. Many lesser known individuals may have biographical sketches written about them, especially in local histories.
The Family History Library has a good collection of biographical sources. Representative biographical works for Tennessee include:
Allison, John Roy V. Notable Men of Tennessee: Personal and Genealogical with Portraits. Two Volumes. Atlanta, Georgia: Southern Historical Association, 1905. (FHL film 24567.) A surname index is included.
American Genealogical-Biographical Index. Volumes 1–198+. Middletown, Connecticut: Godfrey Memorial Library, 1952–. (FHL book 973 D22am ser. 2; on 31 films starting with 1698167.) This is a continuing series. An earlier edition of 48 volumes was published as The American Genealogical Index 1942–1951. The expanded edition consists of more than 198 volumes, indexing over 12 million brief citations (name, date, and source) to more than 1,150 manuscripts, periodicals, or books. This index is also available for a membership fee through Ancestry.com:
This index is also available on CD-ROM. To help interpret citations and to locate the original sources, use the colored pages in some volumes, or use:
Key Title Index to the American Genealogical Biographical Index: Register of Family History Library Call Numbers. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1990. (FHL book 973 D22am index; film 1698167 item 4; fiche 6088377.) This shows the call numbers for those sources that are at the Family History Library.
Speer, William S. Sketches of Prominent Tennesseans: Containing Biographies and Records of Many of the Families Who Have Attained Prominence in Tennessee. 1888. Reprint, Greenville, South Carolina: Southern Historical Press, 1997. (FHL book 976.8 D3s; FHL film 833388.) A surname index is included.
McBride, Robert M. Biographical Directory of the Tennessee General Assembly. Nashville, Tennessee: Tennessee State Library and Archives and the Tennessee Historical Commission, 1975. (FHL book 976.8 D3mc.) There are six volumes, each representing a specific time period between 1796 and 1991. A surname index is included in each volume.
Memorial and Biographical Record: An Illustrated Compendium of Biography, Containing a Compendium of Local Biography, Including Biographical Sketches of Prominent Old Settlers and Representative Citizens of Part of the Cumberland Region of Tennessee, with a Review of Their Life Work; Their Identity with the Growth and Development of This Region; Reminiscences of Personal History and Pioneer Life; and Other Interesting and Valuable Matter Which Should Be Preserved in History. Also a Compendium of Biography, Containing Biographical Sketches of Hundreds of the Greatest Men and Celebrities America Has Produced in Various Walks of Life, Including Great Statesmen, Lawyers, Jurists, Scientists, Editors, Poets, Writers, Financiers, Railroad Magnates, Army and Navy Officers, Inventors, Speculators, Scouts, Merchant Princes, Humorists, Manufacturers, Abolitionists, Explorers, All the Presidents, Etc. Chicago, Illinois: George A. Ogle and Company, 1898. (FHL film 1291.) A partial index is included in this record.
The Calvin M. McClung Collection, which is described in the “Archives and Libraries” section of this outline, contains biographical material for residents of Tennessee.
The Tennessee Library and Archives and the Memphis/Shelby County Public Library, listed in the “Archives and Libraries” section of this outline, maintain extensive card indexes to biographical sketches in histories and related works. The Tennessee Historical Society, listed in the “Societies” section of this outline, has an extensive family surname file and a large collection of personal and family histories.
See the United States Research Outline (30972) for information on nationwide biographical collections. See also the “History” and “Genealogy” sections of this outline for additional sources.
The Surname Search of the Family History Library Catalog will lead you to biographies and published family histories on specific surnames. Using the term “Tennessee” in the Keyword Search will narrow the search to families in Tennessee.
The Family History Library has many collected biographies and local or county histories with biographical sketches on residents. These can be found in the Place Search of the Family History Library Catalog under:
TENNESSEE - BIOGRAPHY
TENNESSEE, [COUNTY] - BIOGRAPHY
TENNESSEE, [COUNTY] - HISTORY
TENNESSEE, [COUNTY], [TOWN] - HISTORY