Fentress County, TennesseeEdit This Page

Middle Tennessee county.

The county is named after "Tennessee state legislator James Fentress."^[3]

Parent County

1823--Fentress County was created 28 November 1823 from Overton and Morgan Counties.
County seat: Jamestown^[4]

County Pronunciation

1. Hear it spoken^[5] (female)
2. Hear it spoken^[6] (male)

Boundary Changes

"Rotating Formation Tennessee County Boundary Maps" (1777-1985) may be viewed for free at the My Tennessee Genealogy website. They rely on AniMap 3.0 software.

Record Loss

1905 -- Courthouse burned and many records were damaged.

• Lost census: 1890
• Lost marriages: 1823 and 1904
• Lost probate: 1823 to 1904

For further information on researching in burned counties, see the following:

• Arlene Eakle, When the Records are Gone in Tennessee Genealogy Blog
• Burned Counties Research in FamilySearch Wiki
• Michael John Neill, Burned Counties in Family History Circle

Places/Localities

Populated Places

Cities and Towns:

Neighboring Counties

• Cumberland
• Morgan
  
• Overton
• Pickett
• Putnam
• Scott

Resources

Getting Started

Use the free Search for Surnames at Mountain Press's website to quickly search a variety of published Fentress County census, court, land, and tax records. To determine which books are being searched, or to search each publication's index individually, click here. You are now equipped with a checklist of books to pull off the shelves at a genealogy library, or a wish list for your personal book collection.

Research Guides

• Genealogical "Fact Sheets" About Tennessee Counties: Fentress County, courtesy: TSLA. (Identifies published county histories, published local records, census records, newspapers and local records on microfilm, and select manuscripts.)

African American

United States African Americans Tennessee African Americans

Cemeteries

Tennessee cemetery records often identify birth, death, relationship, and military information, as well as religious affiliation.

One of the best places to start searches for Fentress County cemetery records is:

• Wheeler, Mable Rushton. Cemetery Records, Fentress County, Tennessee. Columbia, Tenn.: Woodward and Stinson, 1988. FHL US/CAN 976.869 V3w. Free lookups available!. More Free Lookups Available!

The following websites may contain Fentress County cemetery records:

• Find A Grave can be searched by the name of a person or family to find where a person is buried. Usually gives birth and death dates often with a picture of the tombstone. May give obituaries, names of family members and links to their information in Find A Grave.

• Find A Grave also gives a list of cemeteries in Fentress County linking to the information about the people buried there,

• Fentress County, TN Cemetery Records, part of the TNGenWeb Cemetery Database, lists many cemeteries in the county, often with indexes and transcripts of the burials.

• Fentress County, Tennessee, USGenWeb Tombstone Transcription Project lists many cemeteries in the county and has transcripts of the tombstones arranged by cemetery.

• Fentress County cemetery information with transcriptions on TNGenweb Project 
• The Family History Library Catalog lists some records of cemeteries in Fentress county. Some of the books or others may be on Google Books or available at public libraries.

• ePodunk list of Fentress County cemeteries

Census

1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 federal population censuses of Fentress County are available online. For tips on accessing census records online, see Tennessee Census. If you're having trouble finding your ancestors in online indexes, try checking printed indexes. Created by local experts familiar with the area's families, these indexes are often transcribed more accurately than nationwide online indexes.

See Tennessee Population Schedule Indexes: Fiche, Film, or Book for more information about statewide printed indexes.

1830

• Sistler, Byron H. 1830 Census, East Tennessee. Evanston, Ill.: n.p., 1969. FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 X2p 1830.
• Hatfield, Wanda S. Early Records, Fentress County, Tennessee: 1830, 1840, 1850 Census; 1833 Enumeration. Signal Mountain, Tennessee: Mountain Press, 1988. FHL 976.869 X2h

1833

• Hatfield, Wanda S. Early Records, Fentress County, Tennessee: 1830, 1840, 1850 Census; 1833 Enunmeration. Signal Mountain, Tennessee: Mountain Press, 1988. FHL 976.869 X2h

1840

• Hatfield, Wanda S. Early Records, Fentress County, Tennessee: 1830, 1840, 1850 Census; 1833 Enunmeration. Signal Mountain, Tennessee: Mountain Press, 1988. FHL 976.869 X2h

1840 Pensioners

• A Census of Pensioners for Revolutionary or Military Services: With their Names, Ages, and Places of Residence, as Returned by the Marshalls of the Several Judicial Districts, Under the Act for Taking the Sixth Census. 1841; reprint, Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing, 1967. FHL US/CAN Book 973 X2pc 1840; FHL US/CAN Film 2321. 1841 edition digitized by the U.S. Census Bureau and Google Books et. al. [See Tennessee, Middle District, Fentress County on page 155.]

1850

• Carpenter, V.K.Seventh Census of the United States, 1850, Fentress County, Tennessee. Huntsville, Arkansas: Century Enterprises, Genealogical Service, 1969. FHL 976.869 X2p 1850
• Hatfield, Wanda S. Early Records, Fentress County, Tennessee: 1830, 1840, 1850 Census; 1833 Enunmeration. Signal Mountain, Tennessee: Mountain Press, 1988. FHL 976.869 X2h
• Peden, Eva C. 1850 Census of Fentress County, Tennessee.Glasgow, Kentucky, Gorin Genealogical Publishing, 1992. FHL 976.869 X2pe 1850
• Robbins, Kathleen W.1850 Fentress County Census. Huntsville, Tennessee: Scott County Historical Society, 19-?FHL 976.869 X2s 1850

1860

• Robbins, Kathleen W.1860 Fentress County Census. Huntsville, Tennessee: Scott County Historical Society, 198-?FHL 976.869 X2s 1860

1870

• Hatfield, Wanda S. 1870 Federal Census Fentress County, Tennessee. Pall Mall, Tennessee: W.S. Hatfield, 1992. FHL 976.869 X2h 1870

1880

• Hatfield, Wanda S. 1880 Federal Census Fentress County, Tennessee. S.I.:s.n., 1986? FHL 976.869 X2f
• Sistler, Byron H. and Barbara Sistler. 1880 Census Fentress County, Tennessee. Nashville, Tennessee: B. Sistler and Associates, 1993. FHL 976.869 X22s 1880

1890 - Lost, but substitutes are available:

• Reed, Sue S. Enumeration of Male Inhabitants of Twenty-one Years of Age and Upward, Citizens of Tennessee, January 1, 1891, as Provided for by an Act of General Assembly of Tennessee, Passed January 15, 1891, and Approved January 22, 1891. 8 vols. Houston, Texas: S.S. Reed, 1989. FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 X2r v. 5 1891. [Fentress County is included in Vol. 5.]
• Sistler, Byron H. and Barbara Sistler. 1890 Civil War Veterans Census, Tennessee. Evanston, Ill.: Byron Sister and Associates, 1978. FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 X2s 1890.

1900

• Hatfield, Wanda S. 1900 Federal Census of Fentress County, Tennessee. Pall Mall, Tennessee: W.S. Hatfield, 1991 FHL 976.869 X2h 1900
• Minton, Vestina L.Fentress County Census, Tennessee,1900.Harrogate, Tennessee: T. and V. Minton, 1990. FHL 976.869 X2m 1900

1910

• Hatfield, Wanda S. 1910 Federal Census of Fentress County, Tennessee. Signal Mountain, Tennessee: Mountain Press, 1989 FHL 976.869 X2h 1910

1920

• Ramsey, Gerald R.1920 Census of Fentress County, Tennessee.Signal Mountain, Tennessee: Mountain Press, 1994. FHL 976.869 X29f 1920

Church

Court

Court records began in 1842

Genealogy

More than a dozen genealogies have been published about Fentress County, Tennessee families. To view a list, visit Fentress County, Tennessee Genealogy.

"This Personal Ancestral File database contains genealogies of nearly every family to live in Fentress County from its foundation." (Info file):

• York, Bruce E. Fentress County, Tennessee Genealogy Database. Gilbert, Arizona: B.E. York, 2006. FHL CD-ROM no. 2701.

Land

• Fentress County Register of Deeds has Land Records from 1820 and is located at Courthouse, Main St., Jamestown, TN 38556; (931) 879-8615. Land and property records include transfer of real estate or personal property, mortgages, leases, surveys, and entries.
• The organization Strictly By Name provides free online indexes to early Fentress County land records. They offer a research service to photocopy and transcribe microfilm copies of the original documents for a small fee. Available indexes:

1. Deed Book A: 1820-1838
2. Deed Book B: 1837-1843

• The Family History Library has microfilm copies of deeds 1820-1901 with indexes 1820-1904; land entry books 1824-1901.

Law and Legislation

• Tennessee State Library and Archives, Acts of Tennessee 1796-1850: Index to Names. January 25, 2005. [In addition to creating new laws, legislative acts were often required to obtain a divorce, grant legitimacy to a child, or for appointments to or grant payments for public service.] The TSLA has created an index to names that appear in these acts covering the years 1796 to 1850. To read more about this valuable resource Click here. The searchable index is available at the TSLA; another version is available at World Vital Records.

Local Histories

• Hogue, Albert Ross. History of Fentress County, Tennessee: The Old Home of Mark Twain's Ancestors. Nashville, Tenn.: Press of Williams Printing Co., 1916. Digital version at Google Books. 1975 reprint: FHL US/CAN Book 976.869 H2ha.

Maps

Military

Revolutionary War

The following Fentress County Revolutionary War records are available online through TNGenWeb:

• 1835 Pension Roll
• 1852 Rejected or Suspended Pensions
• Select Revolutionary War Pension Applications

Additional resources include:

• A Census of Pensioners for Revolutionary or Military Services: With their Names, Ages, and Places of Residence, as Returned by the Marshalls of the Several Judicial Districts, Under the Act for Taking the Sixth Census. 1841; reprint, Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing, 1967. FHL US/CAN Book 973 X2pc 1840; FHL US/CAN Film 2321. 1841 edition digitized by the U.S. Census Bureau and Google Books et. al. [See Tennessee, Middle District, Fentress County on page 155.]
• Rejected or Suspended Applications for Revolutionary War Pensions. Washington, D.C., 1852. Reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1969, and 1991. Reprints include "an Added Index to States." Digital version at Ancestry ($). Tennessee entries abstracted online at Tennesseans in the Revolutionary War, courtesy: TNGenWeb. [Includes veterans from this county; Tennessee section begins on page 381.]

War of 1812

• Embry, Hermione D. "War of 1812 - Tennessee Pensioners on List - January 2, 1883," Ansearchin' News, Vol. 7, No. 2 (Apr. 1960):40-45. FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 B2a v. 7 (1960); digital version at journal website. [Includes Fentress County pensioners (p. 44)]
• Transcription typed and formatted by Harold Keisling. Third? Regiment Tennessee Militia, Capt. Wiley Huddelston's Company  Raised from men who were from Overton, Pickett and Fentress County, Tennessee. Courtesy: TNGenWeb

Civil War

• Civl War Research Database $
• Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System

Civil War service men from Fentress County served in various regiments. Men often joined a regiment or a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are the military units that were formed in or had many men from Fentress County.

Confederate Soldiers

• 4th Regiment, Tennessee Cavalry (Murray's) - CSA - Company F.
• 8th Regiment, Tennessee Cavalry (Smith's) - CSA - Company I.
• 8th Regiment, Tennessee Infantry - CSA - Company F.

Union Soldiers

• 1st Regiment, Tennessee Mounted Infantry - Company D.
• 2nd Regiment, Tennessee Infantry - Companies B and D.
• Beaty's Company, Tennessee Independent Mounted Scouts - Organized in Fentress County.

Additional sources for Civil War soldiers from Fentress County:

• Tennessee State Library and Archives, Tennessee Confederate Pension Applications : Fentress County, (accessed 30 Jan 2012). Includes soldier's name, county, pension #, unit or widow.
• United States Pension Bureau, List of Pensioners on the Roll January 1, 1883: Giving the Name of Each Pensioner, the Cause for ... (Washington Printing Office; 1883), (accessed 30 Jan 2012). Online at Internet Archive. Fentress County, page 333.
• 1890 Census for Pickett, Fentress, & Clay Counties, (accessed 30 Jan 2012). Here is a listing of all Union Civil War veterans and their wives. It lists name, rank, company, town they lived in, any ailments, and county.
• Fentress County Tennessee Civil War Heros, (accessed 30 Jan 2012).

Newspapers

Many Tennessee newspapers are filmed and available at the TSLA. Most of these newspapers may be accessed by interlibrary loan to libraries within Tennessee, although there are some newspapers which are not available in or outside of Tennessee. For further information regarding interlibrary loan policies and newspapers not available for interlibrary loan click here. For a list of newspapers available at the archives for Fentress County click on the following cities:

• Allardt
• Jamestown

Occupations

• Tennesse Bureau of Agriculture, Statistics and Mines. Coal Mines and Mining--Tennessee. Nashville, Tennessee: A.B. Travel, 1883. Free digital copy.

Periodicals

Tap into the minds of local experts. Editors of genealogical periodicals publish unique sources that researchers who are new to their area would not likely discover. This type of material may be found in local, regional, or statewide genealogical society journals. The following periodicals cover this county:

Ansearchin' News

Genealogical articles with abstracts of Fentress County, Tennessee records have been published in Ansearchin' News, the quarterly magazine of the Tennessee Genealogical Society. To view a list of these articles, visit their county index. To read digitized versions of the first 36 years of articles (Vols. 1-36), browse their archive or conduct a surname search. The Family History Library has a complete collection of the Ansearchin' News quarterly FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 B2a.

Fentress County Historical Society Newsletter

The Fentress County Historical Society was established in 1968. For further information regarding the newsletter and Society, see their website: www.fentresscountyhistorical society.org.

The Middle Tennessee Journal of Genealogy and History

Genealogical articles with abstracts of records of Fentress County, Tennessee have been published in The Middle Tennessee Journal of Genealogy and History, the quarterly of the Middle Tennessee Genealogical Society (23+ Vols.). To view a list of these articles, visit their online Index to Articles (1988-2005). Surname indexes are also available online for Vols. 2-22. The website also offers back issues for sale in paper and on CD. The Family History Library has a complete collection of this quarterly FHL US/CAN Book 976.85 D25m.

Overton County, Tennessee Kin

"This newsletter, although called “Overton County,” covers all the area in Overton, Fentress, and Pickett County, TN along with Monterey in Putnam County, and Clinton, Wayne and Cumberland County in Kentucky”—Vol. 7, no. 4, p. 2.
The Family History Library has vol. 1, issues 1-4; vol. 2, issues 1-4; vol. 3, issues 1-4; vol. 4, issues 1-4; vol. 5, issues 1-4; vol. 6, issue 1; vol. 7 issue 4, vol. 8, issue 2. FHL US/CAN 976.8684 B2n.
Indexed in the PERiodical Source Index (PERSI).

The Pellissippian

Genealogical articles with abstracts of Fentress County, Tennessee records were published in the The Pellissippian (25 vols., 1980-2004), the quarterly of the Pellissippi Genealogical and Historical Society. The society has posted tables of contents for all 25 volumes on their website. They also have back issues available for purchase. The Family History Library has acquired the first 20 volumes FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 D25p.

Prisons

Learn if your Fentress County, Tennessee ancestors went to prison!

• Inmates of the Tennessee State Penitentiary 1831-1850, free index available online through TSLA.
• Inmates of the Tennessee State Penitentiary 1851-1870, free index available online through TSLA.

Probate

The Fentress County Court has responsibility for the probate records, which began in 1905.

Taxation

The following Fentress County tax records have been abstracted:^[7]

• [1833] Barham, Eleanor R. and Elizabeth R. Nichols. "1833 Enumeration, Fentress County, Tennessee," Ansearchin' News, Vol. 27, No. 1 (Spring 1980):9-12. For FHL and online access, as well as indexes, see Periodicals. (600 names)
• [1833] York, Bruce. "1833 Fentress County Tax List," available online, courtesy: TNGenWeb.
• [1865] Tax List, 1865, Fentress County Historical Society Newsletter. Jamestown TN: Fall 1992. Vol. 4 Iss. 3.
• [1872] Tax Books, 1872, Fentress County Historical Society Newsletter. Jamestown TN: Summer 1989. Vol. 1 Iss. 2; Fall 1989. Vol. 1 Iss. 3; Winter 1989. Vol. 1 Iss. 4; Spring 1990. Vol. 2 Iss. 1; Summer 1990. Vol. 2 Iss. 2; Fall 1990. Vol. 2 Iss. 3; Winter 1990. Vol. 2 Iss. 4; Spring 1991. Vol. 3 Iss. 1.
• [1872] Hatfield, Wanda S. 1872 Tax Records, Fentress County, Tennessee. Signal Mountain, Tennessee : Mountain Press, 1991. FHL 976.869 R4h; online: free surname index and purchase details. 
• [1875] Dog Tax, 1875, Fentress County Historical Society Newsletter. Jamestown TN: Spring 1992. Vol. 4 Iss. 1.
• [1892] Tax Book, 1892, Fentress County Historical Society Newsletter. Jamestown TN: Spring 1989. Vol. 1 Iss. 1.
• [1892] Delinquent Tax List, 1892, Fentress County Historical Society Newsletter. Jamestown TN: Fall 1992. Vol. 4 Iss. 3.

Vital Records

Birth

Birth records began in 1914

Marriage

The original Fentress County marriage records are kept at the County Courthouse. Marriages records before 1905 are lost. The following publication, based on early newspapers, helps to alleviate this genealogical obstacle:

• Lucas, Silas Emmett. Marriages from Early Tennessee Newspapers 1794-1851. Easley, S.C.: Southern Historical Press, 1978. FHL 976.8 V2L.

The following Fentress County marriage records are microfilmed:

• [1905-1986] Available at the TSLA. Marriages 1817-1899 are available for interlibrary loan.
• [1905-1963] Available at the Family History Library. Some volumes are indexed.FHL 978380

The following Fentress County marriage records have been abstracted and/or indexed:

• Tennessee County Marriages, 1790-1950 - covers all counties in Tennessee.
• Many county marriage records are indexed with images at Ancestry's Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002. ($)  Be aware that this index is not complete for all counties.

Death

Death records began in 1914

• Tennessee Deaths and Burials 1874-1955. Name index with extracted death certificate information.  Search by surname then browse through the results. You may need to supply variant spellings of the names.

For deaths of Methodists in Fentress County between the 1830s and the 1920s, try:

• Smith, Jonathan K.T. Genealogical Abstracts from Reported Deaths, the Nashville Christian Advocate. [1847-1914] 10 vols. [Jackson, Tenn.]: J.K.T. Smith, 1997-2003. FHL US/CAN Books 976.855/N1 V48s 1847-1851 ff; digital versions at David Donahue Memorial: Tennessee Records Repository. [Website expands upon the publications and includes deaths from the 1830s, 1840s, 1910s and 1920s.]

Societies

Fentress County Historical Society
PO Box 1431
Jamestown, TN 38556
Phone: 1-931-879-7622

Upper Cumberland Genealogical Society
Putnam Library
48 East Broad St.
Cookeville, TN 38501

Middle Tennessee Genealogical Society
PO Box 330948
Nashville, TN, USA 37203-7507
The society serves the 40 counties of middle Tennessee of which Fentress County is one. It publishes The Middle Tennessee Journal of Genealogy and History, a quarterly containing articles of genealogical and historical interest. Little-known Tennessee records are published and indexed, along with family genealogies, Bible records and material submitted by members. There is an alphabetical Index to articles in the Journal 1988-summer 2005

Libraries

Fentress County Public Library
306 South Main St.
Jamestown, TN 38556
Phone: 1-931-879-7512
Fax: 1-931-879-6984
E-mail: fcpublib@txlakes.net
Facebook
Hours: Mon.-Thurs. 8 a.m.-6 p.m.
Fri. 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Sat. 9 a.m.-2 p.m.
Genealogy Reference Material available

Family History Centers

• Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
• Jamestown Tennessee Family History Center
  Hwy 127 N
  Jamestown, TN
  Phone: 1-931-879-8708
  Hours: By appointment only

This is not a mailing address. Due to limited staff, Family History Centers are unable to respond to mail inquiries.

Web Sites

Wikipedia has more about this subject: Fentress County, Tennessee

• Family History Library Catalog (FamilySearch)
• Fentress County, TN Family History and Genealogy Message Board (Ancestry)
• Fentress County, TN Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
• Fentress County, TN Genealogy Forum (GenForum)
• Fentress County, TNGenWeb (USGenWeb)
• Fentress County, TN History, Records, Facts and Genealogy (MyTennesseeGenealogy)
• Mailing List: TN-ROOTWALKER-L (North Central Tennessee Genealogy List) (RootsWeb)
• Mailing List: TN-UPPER-CUMBERLAND-L (Upper Cumberland Tennessee Region Genealogy List) (RootsWeb)
• Rootwalker: Genealogy Pages for Northern Middle TN Free Genealogy Resources for the Region

References

1. ↑ "Earliest County Records," Tennessee State Library and Archives.
2. ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Fentress County, Tennessee page 639, At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 2002.
3. ↑ "List of counties in Tennessee," Wikipedia.
4. ↑ The Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, UT: Everton Publishers, 2002), 639. (FHL Collection Ref Book 973 D27e 2002). WorldCat entry.
5. ↑ Voice of Lynnae Weller, Kingsport, Tenn. (2010).
6. ↑ Voice of Gene Black, FamilySearch employee, former resident of Bristol, Tenn. (2010).
7. ↑ The Heritage Quest Online version of PERSI aided in the compilation of this list.

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