Tennessee Research History in a Capsule First permanent settlement was established in the Watauga Valley by people from North Carolina and Virginia in 1769. In 1777, Washington County, N.C. was established to provide governmental jurisdiction over the Watauga settlements, which included all of present-day Tennessee. In 1779, Nashville was founded and an organized settlement of Middle Tennessee began. North Carolina ceded Tennessee to the federal government in 1784 and the Watauga settlers organized the short-lived State of Franklin, which was replaced by the Southwest Territory in 1790. In 1796 Tennessee became a state. It seceded from the union in 1861; was readmitted to the union in 1866. About its people Prior to statehood, most settlers came from Virginia and the Carolinas via the Cumberland Gap and other land routes. Some settlers from Pennsylvania and New England poled keelboats from the Ohio River up the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers. Ethnic roots: Mostly of English and Ulster Scottish (also called Scotch-Irish) origins; some German, Irish and French. Blacks composed about 10 percent of the population at the time of the first census in 1790. Most of the Chickasaws and Cherokees (natives of the area) were removed from the state by 1839. Up the River Some of Tennessee's settlers came through Memphis and other Mississippi River towns. New Orleans was the major port of entry for the Mississippi River; and passenger lists for this port exist from 1820 to 1952, with indices. Geography This long narrow state (about 430 miles in width) has three natural regions: east, middle and west. East Tennessee is the area between the peaks of the Unaka Mountains and the center line of the Cumberland Plateau. Middle Tennessee includes the region between the center line of the Cumberland Plateau and the northward-flowing Tennessee River. West Tennessee is the territory between the Tennessee and Mississippi rivers. Religion Prior to 1900 the largest religious groups in Tennessee were the Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian and Christian (Disciples of Christ) churches. As early as 1774, a Presbyterian meeting house was built near Blountville. In 1780, Samuel Doak, a Presbyterian minister, organized Salem Presbyterian Church near Jonesboro, and set up Martin Academy, which in 1795 became Washington College. By 1797 there were 26 Presbyterian churches in East Tennessee. Among the early Baptist preachers in East Tennessee (1775) were: Matthew Talbott at Watauga and Jonathan Mulkey in Carter's Valley. The first Baptist Church was the Buffalo Ridge Church organized in Washington County ca 1779. In 1786 the first Baptist church in Middle Tennessee was established. East Tennessee's first (1783) Methodist circuit rider was Jeremiah Lambert, and the first Methodist church in Tennessee -- Acuff's Chapel -- was built near Blountville in 1786. Many denominations have collected their records into central repositories. Many of the Episcopal, Presbyterian and Baptist church records have been microfilmed and are available through the Family History Library. Church Records Baptist Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives 901 Commerce, Suite 200 Nashville, TN 37203 Disciples of Christ (Christian Church) Disciples of Christ Historical Society 1101 19th Ave, South Nashville, TN 37212 Methodist Memphis Conference United Methodist Archives Luther L. Gobbel Library Lambuth College Lambuth Blvd Jackson, TN 38301 Presbyterian The Library Louisville Presbyterian Seminary 1044 Alta Vista Rd. Louisville, KY 40205 Manuscript Collections Tennessee Miscellaneous Family and Cemetery Records. The Tennessee Historical Records Survey did this in 1943. This collection of compiled family histories is available at the Tennessee State Library and Archives and also on microfilm at the Family History Library (FHL films #24,527-30). Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Collection. This consists of transcripts of Bible, cemetery and church records; marriages, deaths, obituaries and wills. Available at DAR Library in Washington, D.C., and on 122 films at the Family History Library. Volumes are generally arranged by county; many have individual indices. Calvin M. McClung Collection. It consists of 15,000 published volumes and 300,000 manuscripts. These are arranged in surname folders that contain correspondence, pedigrees, and abstracts of records. It is part of the Parham Papers found at the Lawson McGhee Library, 500 West Church Ave, Knoxville, TN 37902. The library will make copies of material concerning a surname -- for a fee, of course. The Edythe Rucker Whitley Collection. This collection is composed of 100,000 alphabetized surname folders and is located at the Williamson County Public Library, 611 W Main St., Franklin, TN 37064. The library does not offer research service via mail, but will advise you if a surname is in the collection and send you a list of researchers, if you provide a SASE (self-addressed stamped envelope). Court Records County Courts: Have jurisdiction over probates, guardianships and minor civil and criminal cases. Superior Courts of law and equity: Existed in larger counties; had jurisdiction over minor civil and equity cases until 1809. Chancery Courts: Have jurisdiction over property title disputes. Circuit Courts: Countywide courts with jurisdiction over criminal cases, divorces and adoptions. Court of Pleas, Quarter Sessions and Superior Court records: 1700s-1800s Check the Family History Library CatalogTM for what's available; many on film. Land Records Tennessee was a state-land state in which land was surveyed and distributed in odd-sized lots through various types of grants. These include: Tennessee General Grants, 1807-46. Grants by North Carolina, 1780-1818. These grants were in the counties of Davidson, Greene, Hawkins, Sullivan, Sumner, Tennessee, Washington, and the Eastern, Middle and Western Districts. The original records of the 5,500 grants are on Family History Library film #24,541. Watauga Purchase, 1775-82. Hiwassee, 1820-24. Middle Tennessee, 1827-1911. Mountain District, 1807-1902. Ocoee District, 1839-99. West Tennessee, 1826-79. Eastern District, 1808-1903. This series of land grant records is indexed on FHL films #1,002,725-47. North Carolina Revolutionary Warrants. In western Tennessee there was an area of land known as the Congressional Reservation. It was offered as bounty land to North Carolina veterans of the Revolutionary War. The records from 1783 to 1837 of North Carolina military bounty warrants to this land in Tennessee can be found at the Tennessee State Library and the Family History Library (films #1,013,361-75). Some warrants no longer exist, although the names are mentioned in various indices Cherokee Land By 1835 the only Indian land left in Tennessee was that belonging to the Cherokees, located in the southeast corner of the state. A minority of the 16,000 Cherokees in southeast Tennessee and the adjacent North Carolina and Georgia areas agreed to sell their land for $5 million plus 7 million acres of land in what would become Oklahoma. The majority of the tribe protested, but in 1838/9 they were forced to remove on the infamous Trail of Tears. When the formal cession of land occurred on 23 May 1836, the new counties of Bradley and Polk were created, and Hamilton County was extended. Ross Landing, a river site, eventually became Chattanooga. Tax Lists Few of our ancestors escaped the tax man and practically every Tennessee county from the year of its formation collected taxes from its residents annually. Many Tennessee tax lists have survived. Tax lists often provide only the name of the taxpayer, but in many cases will list the amount of property, its value and its location. The original tax records are in the courthouses of the respective counties, but microfilmed copies are available at the Tennessee State Library and Archives (TSLA) and at the Family History Library. At TSLA there is a large card index to most, but not all, Tennessee tax lists predating 1836. Territorial Papers If your ancestors were in this area prior to statehood when it was a U.S. Territory (1790-6), check Territorial Papers of the U.S., Volume 4. Territory South of the Ohio River, U.S. Department of State, Washington, D.C. These territorial papers contain numerous lists of territorial residents in the form of petitions and other official papers. County Problems Of Tennessee's 95 counties few have escaped loss of records. Courthouse fires have occurred in 65 of them -- 48 of these during the Civil War period. Counties that have suffered severe losses are: Cocke, Hancock, Jackson, Macon, Pickett, Polk and Sevier. Less severe losses have occurred in the counties of: Bedford, Bledsoe, Decatur, Grundy, Hamilton, Henderson, Hickman, Humphreys, McNairy, Marion, Morgan, Overton, Perry, Sullivan, Warren and Wayne. Two counties were abolished: Tennessee County, created in 1788, was dissolved in 1796. Its records are now included with those of Montgomery County. James County, created in 1871, had its records absorbed by Hamilton County in 1919. Suggested Reading Acklen, Jeannette Tillotson. Tennessee Records: Bible Records and Marriage Bonds Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1967. Allen, Penelope Johnson. Leaves from the Family Tree. Easley, SC.: Southern Historical Press, 1982. Folmsbee, Stanley John. History of Tennessee. 4 vols. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1960. Owsley, Harriet Chappell, ed., Guide to the Processed Manuscripts of the Tennessee Historical Society. Nashville: Tennessee Historical Society and Tennessee State Library and Archives, 1969 Ramsey, J. G. M. The Annals of Tennessee. Kingsport: 1891; reprinted, Knoxville: Tenase Company, 1969. Ray, Worth S. Tennessee Cousins: A History of Tennessee People. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1980. Schweitzer, George K. Tennessee Genealogical Research. Knoxville: 1986. Sneed, Adele Weiss. Bible Records of Families of East Tennessee and Their Connections from Other Areas. 3 vols., n.p, Knoxville Chapter of Daughters of the American Colonists and James White Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, 1959-60. Tennessee State Library and Archives. Guide to the Microfilm Holdings of the Manuscripts Section Tennessee State Library and Archives. Published by Tennessee State Library and Archives, revised second edition, 1978.