Research Guides

Method-first guidance for Tennessee genealogy—jurisdiction, record types, and specialized research paths. Start with Start Here if you are new.

Start here

• Start Here: Researching Tennessee Ancestors featured
  A practical path from “I have a name and a place” to records that actually exist in Tennessee.

Jurisdictions & places

• Counties, Districts & Formation featured
  Why your ancestor is “missing” from a county that did not exist yet—and where to look instead.

Record types

• Census Research in Tennessee featured
  Federal schedules, gaps, and how to use census evidence with Tennessee jurisdictions.
• Vital Records (Birth, Marriage, Death) featured
  Statewide registration is late—here is how to prove life events in Tennessee.
• Land & Property Records featured
  Grants, entries, plats, deeds, and boundary language that place families on the ground.
• Probate, Estates & Guardianship featured
  Wills, administrations, inventories, and guardian bonds that name heirs and property.
• Military Records (Revolution through 20th Century) featured
  Tennessee paths for early wars, Civil War, and later conflicts.
• Church & Meeting Records
  Baptisms, marriages, burials, and membership lists when the state kept no vitals.
• Newspapers & Obituaries
  Marriages, obituaries, court notes, and community news across Tennessee titles.
• Cemeteries & Burial Research
  Markers, surveys, churchyards, and why absence of a stone is not absence of burial.

Specialized research

• African American Research in Tennessee featured
  Strategies for enslaved and free Black ancestors across East, Middle, and West Tennessee.
• Indigenous & Cherokee Research featured
  Respectful starting points for Cherokee and other Indigenous ancestry connected to Tennessee.
• DNA & Genetic Genealogy for Tennessee Families
  How DNA helps—and how endogamy and migration corridors complicate matches.
• Immigration & Migration Paths
  Wilderness Road, river valleys, and corridors into and out of Tennessee.

Repositories

• Tennessee Archives & Repositories (quick start) featured
  Quick orientation to TSLA, local clerks, and digital portals.
• Major Repositories & Libraries featured
  Where the big collections live—state, university, and national.