Tennessee Genealogy Search

Tennessee family history reaches back to the 1770s Watauga and Cumberland settlements, when the region was North Carolina's western district, and the earliest records are North Carolina land grants, the county court minutes from each county's founding and the tax lists. The Tennessee State Library and Archives in Nashville holds the state's records, the county records of 95 counties on microfilm, the Confederate pension applications and death records from 1908 to 1912 and 1914 onward with online indexes. Statewide vital registration began in 1914 after a false start from 1908 to 1912.

Tennessee took no state censuses, so the tax lists, the land grants and the federal censuses from 1810, of which most of the 1810 and 1820 schedules are lost, carry the early families.

Official sources on this page were checked on September 25, 2026.

Tennessee statewide genealogy links

• Tennessee Department of Health Office of Vital Records
• State Library and Archives Earliest County Records
• Tennessee State Library and Archives
• Statewide Tennessee Census Records at State Library
• Early Tennessee Tax Lists at State Library
• Tennessee Department of StateMilitary Records
• TNGenWeb ProjectSearch the State GenWeb Project
• Tennessee Genealogical Society

Tennessee began statewide birth and death registration in 1914, after keeping records from 1908 to 1912, with Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville and Chattanooga keeping records from the 1870s and 1880s, and the Tennessee Office of Vital Records in Nashville holds the certificates. Death certificates become public after 50 years, and the State Library and Archives holds them with a free online index to Tennessee deaths from 1908 to 1912 and 1914 to 1970, while birth records are restricted for 100 years. Marriage records were kept by each county clerk from the county's founding and are indexed statewide to 1950 at the Archives, and divorce records sit with the circuit or chancery clerk.

• Tennessee State Library and ArchivesDeath index 1908 to 1970, marriage index, county records and pensions, checked September 25, 2026
• Tennessee Office of Vital RecordsBirth, death, marriage and divorce certificates from 1914, checked September 25, 2026
• Tennessee Vital Records guideHow to order certificates and what is public

The State Library and Archives holds the North Carolina and Tennessee land grants with an online index, the county tax lists, Confederate pension applications from 1891 onward with an online index, Tennessee's Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Mexican War and Civil War records including the Civil War veterans' questionnaires of 1914 to 1922, the state penitentiary registers, county records on microfilm and the Tennessee Virtual Archive free online. The National Archives at Atlanta holds Tennessee's federal court, Freedmen's Bureau and Cherokee removal records, and the Chattanooga, Knoxville, Memphis and Nashville public libraries hold local genealogy collections.

• Tennessee Virtual ArchiveFree digitized Tennessee records, maps and photographs, checked September 25, 2026
• National Archives at AtlantaFederal court, Freedmen's Bureau and removal records for Tennessee, checked September 25, 2026
• FamilySearch Tennessee research guideFree indexed Tennessee records and images, checked September 25, 2026

Tennessee registers of deeds hold land records from each county's founding, county clerks hold marriage licenses, probate records sit with the county or chancery clerk depending on the county, and circuit and chancery clerks hold civil and divorce cases, with most registers posting online indexes. The State Library and Archives has microfilmed the older books of every county. Courthouse fires destroyed early records in Blount, Campbell, Cocke, Hancock, Hawkins, Jackson, Johnson, Marion, Sevier, Sumner and many other counties, so the land grants and tax lists are the substitutes.

• Tennessee County Public RecordsRegisters of deeds, county clerks and court clerks for all 95 counties
• Tennessee Court RecordsCircuit and chancery court case and probate searches

These federal and national sources complement Tennessee's state-level records. They are the authoritative sources you should cross-check when Tennessee state records are incomplete or out-of-state activity matters.

NARA, National Archives The federal government's primary archive. Holds the U.S. census (1790, 1950), ship passenger lists, naturalization records, military service files, and land entry files.

FamilySearch Free online genealogy platform operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Digitized microfilm copies of many county and state records worldwide.

Library of Congress, Local History & Genealogy The LoC's research guides, city directories, newspapers, and Civil War records, most accessible free online through loc.gov.