Genealogy at a Glance: Tennessee Genealogy Research

Description

Written by Michael A. Ports, this four-page laminated Genealogy at a Glance guide provides the information you’ll need to begin and proceed successfully with your Tennessee research.

Ports starts with a discussion of Tennessee’s settlement background, beginning in the late 1760s and early 1770s, when pioneers from Virginia and North Carolina settled in the Watauga, Nolichucky, and Holston river valleys. In 1796 Congress approved the admission of Tennessee as the sixteenth state, and settlers–including Scots-Irish from southwestern Virginia and Germans from Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia–poured into the state, bringing the population to over a million by 1860.

County formation began in 1777, with the creation of Washington County from the Washington District, North Carolina, and many of the records most useful to genealogy researchers are located at the county level. Therefore, a general rule of thumb, Ports states, is to begin research at the Tennessee State Library and Archives, which houses original and microfilm copies of most county records.

Included in this guide are critical details about the key record sources–vital, probate, military, tax, land, and county court records–as well as contact information for the major repositories and online resources that provide useful information for the Tennessee family researcher.

Along the way you’ll find research tips and references to key websites and publications, making Genealogy at a Glance: Tennessee Genealogy Research the most helpful four pages you’ll ever read on Tennessee genealogy.