Much of this collection's
importance stems from the fact that (although several early attempts were made
to record vital events) statewide registration of births, marriages, and deaths
were not maintained until the late 1920s.
Many early Tennessee settlers
migrated from the Carolinas and Virginia while others were Revolutionary War
soldiers who were granted land in Tennessee as a result of their service. Because
families sometimes stopped in Tennessee on their journey westward, you may find
record of your family in Tennessee although they never settled there.
Among the unique resources
included here, you'll find a virtual first census of Tennessee (in the book
1770-1790 Census of the Cumberland Settlements), as well as a tombstone-by-tombstone
account of early Tennessee's local cemeteries (in Tennessee Records: Tombstone
Inscriptions and Manuscripts).
Copyright information for
each volume can be found on its copyright page. If you wish to cite information
found in one of this data set's volumes, we recommend using the following format:
Author's Last Name, Author's
First Name. Book Title. Place of publication: Publisher. Copyright Date.
Page Numbers. Reproduced on Genealogy.com's Online Data Set #511 (Early Tennessee
Settlers, 1700s-1900s).
Books Included
in this Data Set
Tennessee Records:
Bible Records and Marriage Bonds
Jeannette Tillotson Acklen
In this veritable encyclopedia of Tennessee genealogy, you'll find information
on births, marriages, and deaths for almost 15,000 individuals from Dickson,
Knox, Lebanon, and Wilson counties.
Tennessee Records:
Tombstone Inscriptions and Manuscripts
Jeannette Tillotson Acklen
A companion volume to Tennessee Records: Bible Records And Marriage Bonds,
this is an exhaustive cemetery-by-cemetery listing of Tennessee mortuary inscriptions.
It also includes more than 100 pages devoted to biographical and historical
sketches and includes a comprehensive index of 12,500 entries.
Tennessee Soldiers
in the Revolution: A Roster of Soldiers Living During the Revolutionary War
in the Counties of Washington and Sullivan
Penelope Johnson Allen
Much of the book is a list of Revolutionary soldiers taken from the Revolutionary
Army Accounts of North Carolina in the State Archives at Raleigh, showing claims
against North Carolina for service by men of the western-most counties of Washington
and Sullivan, later Tennessee. However, there are also sections solely devoted
to wills of Washington County, sections on marriages of Blount and Davidson
counties, and a final section on Revolutionary grants in Davidson County.
Some Tennessee Heroes
of the Revolution
Zella Armstrong
Here, the author identifies hundreds of Tennessee veterans of the Revolutionary
War and lists their:
- Name
- Age
- Service
- Residence
- Date of pension application
- Date and place of birth
- Service record
- Names of family members
- Place(s) of migration
to, from, or within Tennessee
Twenty-Four Hundred
Tennessee Pensioners Revolution and War of 1812
Zella Armstrong
An alphabetical list of 2,400 Tennessee pensioners, this list was compiled from
published government Pension Lists of 1816, 1818, 1828, 1832, and the U.S. Census
of 1840. Here, you'll find:
- Name
- Age
- Service
- Residence
- Source of the data
- Widows who drew on
their husbands' claims
Index to the 1820
Census of Tennessee
Elizabeth Petty Bentley
The fourth federal census, taken in 1820, is the earliest census for the Tennessee
for which enumerations of most counties survive (although several eastern Tennessee
counties are missing). Here, you'll find an alphabetical index to 35,000 heads
of households, with reference to the individual's county of residence and the
page number of the census schedule where you'll find information on that person's
household and its occupants.
1770-1790 Census of
the Cumberland Settlements: Davidson, Sumner, and Tennessee Counties
Richard C. Fulcher
Official enumerations taken by the federal government didn't include the Cumberland
Settlements. Here, you'll find a reconstruction of the census of the three Cumberland
River counties now in Tennessee. Record of inhabitants of these settlements
have been especially difficult to locate since the counties were originally
a part of North Carolina. As new counties were formed and subdivided, the early
settlers were often caught in changing jurisdictions. Often, you'd have to search
in several jurisdictions for ancestral records (even though the ancestor may
never have moved).
The author abstracted from public records all references to individuals living
in the jurisdiction between 1770 and 1790. From wills, deeds, court minutes,
marriage records, military records, and many related items, he has put together
a carefully documented list of inhabitants - this work is virtually the "first"
census of Tennessee.
Record of Commissions
of Officers in the Tennessee Militia, 1796-1815
Mrs. John Trotwood Moore
The records extracted for this book were originally listed in a series of manuscript
books, beginning with the creation of the State in 1796 and extended for many
years thereafter. You will learn the following information about an individual
listed here:
- Name
- County associated with
the individual
- Rank of commission
- Date of commission
The contents of this book
were originally published in the Tennessee Historical Quarterly.
Pioneers of Davidson
County, Tennessee
Edythe R. Whitley
Here, you'll find lists of more than 5000 early Davidson County pioneers, taxpayers,
militiamen, Revolutionary and War of 1812 soldiers and pensioners, and grantees
of land in Tennessee.
This book includes:
- Settlers on the Cumberland
River, 1780
- North Carolina Land
Grants in Tennessee, 1784
- Davidson County Taxpayers,
1787
- Davidson County Militia,
1812
- Officers in the Tennessee
Militia, 1811
- Pension List for West
Tennessee, 1818
- Davidson County Pension
Lists for 1832, 1840, and 1883
The militia list of 1812, consisting of 2,235 free male inhabitants, is generally
considered the only practical alternative to the lost 1810 census of Davidson
County, and one might say that the entire work compensates for the absence
of a census for the first thirty-five years of the county's existence.
Overton County, Tennessee:
Genealogical Records
Edythe R. Whitley
Here, you'll find record of approximately 2,500 early Overton County inhabitants
within a great variety of records. This book includes:
- Abstracts of deeds
- Abstracts of wills
- Abstracts of grants
- Minutes from Overton
County Deed Books
- Legislative Petitions,
1801-1860
- Officers in the Tennessee
Militia, 1807-1811
- Pensioners in Overton
and Adjoining Counties, 1818-1883
- Index to Overton County
Will Books, 1870-1891
Red River Settlers:
Records of the Settlers of Northern Montgomery, Robertson, and Sumner Counties,
Tennessee
Edythe R. Whitley
This book covers the northern half of Montgomery, Robertson, and Sumner counties,
Tennessee. These counties were incorporated into the Mero District of North
Carolina in 1796. It consists of a collection of county, state, church, and
family records, and also contains genealogies of Red River families developed
from a wide variety of sources, including cemetery records, Bible records, military
records and private papers, as well as from records of deeds, wills and marriages.
This work is especially valuable because a substantial portion of the book was
taken from private family records which were subsequently lost or destroyed.
Among the resources collected in this book, you'll find genealogies of 95 families
with details of births, marriages, and deaths in successive generations. Besides
the genealogies this work contains valuable lists of militia officers, pensioners
and overseers of roads, as well as a lengthy chapter featuring numerous sketches
of early Methodist pioneers and pioneer families of Middle Tennessee.
Sumner County, Tennessee
Abstracts of Will Books 1 and 2 (1788-1842)
Edythe R. Whitley
When it was founded in 1786, Sumner County was still a part of North Carolina.
Most of its early settlers came from the Watauga region, although many came
directly from Virginia. Sumner County was a crossroads in the flow of westward
migration, and many families passed through leaving behind a wealth of genealogical
records. Some had come only recently from the battles of the Revolution; some
even from King's Mountain.
This book consists of abstracts of Will Books 1 and 2 in the county
courthouse in Gallatin, covering the years 1788-1842. Referencing some 3000
people, each abstract generally lists:
- Name of the testator
- Date of instrument
- Names of heirs (usually
wives and children)
- Nature of the bequest
- Names of witnesses
and executors
- Date of probate
- Page number on which
you'll find record in the original will book
Tennessee Genealogical
Records: Records of Early Settlers from State and County Archives
Edythe R. Whitley
From records in the State Archives in Nashville, and from more than twenty county
courthouses, the record abstracts collected in this volume reference in excess
of 18,000 early Tennessee settlers. Many of these came from the counties of
Bedford, Bledsoe, Carter, Davidson, Dyer, Franklin, Hawkins, Henry, Jackson,
Jefferson, Maury, Montgomery, Overton, Smith, Stewart, Sullivan, Sumner, Washington,
White, Williamson, and Wilson.Among the records, you'll find:
- Revolutionary warrants
- Grants and certificates
of survey
- Will abstracts
- Tombstone inscriptions
- Deed abstracts
- Marriages (including
the valuable Sumner County marriages, 1791-1813)
- Court orders and petitions
- Genealogical notes
on some two dozen families
Henry County, Tennessee
Old Time Stuff
Edythe R. Whitley
Henry County was formed from the Western District of Tennessee in November 1821.
The county is bounded by the State of Kentucky on the north, Stewart and Benton
counties on the east, Carroll County on the south, and Weakley County on the
west.
Here, you'll find a collection of abstracts or indexes to a number of the oldest
surviving genealogical source records pertaining to Henry County. Following
an informative historical introduction, you'll find:
- Henry pension lists
for 1840 and 1863
- Will abstracts and
indexes to will books (1856-1863 and 1879-1902)
- Estate abstracts
- Guardianship records
- Court orders
- Deed abstracts and
legislative petitions
- Early Henry County
marriages
- Brief sketches of prominent
citizens who resided in the civil districts of Henry County
