Guide
Tennessee Genealogy Search at a Glance
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.
Guide
Tennessee Genealogy
Tennessee statewide genealogy links
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Vital records for Tennessee family history
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.
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Tennessee archives, census and military records
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.
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County courthouse records in Tennessee
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.
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Federal & National Authoritative Sources
Straight answers
Tennessee Genealogy Search, questions
Is there a Tennessee death index?
Yes. The Tennessee State Library and Archives posts a free online index to deaths from 1908 to 1912 and 1914 to 1970, and death certificates become public after 50 years.
What are the Tennessee Civil War veterans' questionnaires?
Surveys sent to surviving Union and Confederate veterans from 1914 to 1922 asking about their families, property and service, held by the State Library and Archives and published in five volumes.
Where are Tennessee land grants?
At the State Library and Archives, which holds the North Carolina grants for Tennessee land and the Tennessee grants that followed, with an online index.