Pickett County, Tennessee Genealogy

United States   Tennessee    Pickett County

Middle Tennessee county. Established 1879.





Quick Dates
Pickett County's civil records start the following years:

County Courthouse
Pickett County Courthouse 1 Courthouse Square Byrdstown, TN 38549 Phone: 931-864-3359

Pickett County Clerk Marriage and probate records 1 Courthouse Square, Suite 201 Byrdstown, TN 38549 Phone: 931-864-3879

Pickett County Register of Deeds Land records 1 Courthouse Square, Suite 204 Byrdstown, TN 38549 Phone: 931-864-3316

Pickett County Circuit Court Clerk Court records 1 Courthouse Square, Suite 100 Byrdstown, TN 38549 Phone: 931-864-3958

Hours: Mon.-Tues. and Thurs.-Fri. 8 am - 4 pm Wed. and Sat. 8 am - noon

History
The county is named after "Tennessee state legislator Howell L. Pickett."

Parent County
1879--Pickett County was established 27 February 1879 from Overton and Fentress Counties. Early records may be found under Overton and Fentress Counties. County seat: Byrdstown

Record Loss
1934--Fire damaged records


 * Lost census: 1890
 * Lost marriages: 1879 to 1933
 * Lost probate; 1879 to 1932

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

Research Guides

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

African American
The following have information concerning African American research. Both should be used:


 * African American Research (US) has more information about the kinds of records


 * African American Research for Tennessee is specific for Tennessee

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


 * 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 Putnam County linking to the information about the people buried there,


 * Putnam Co. TN Cemetery Records, part of the TNGenWeb Cemetery Database, lists many cemeteries in the county, often with indexes and transcripts of the burials.


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


 * The Family History Library Catalog lists some records of cemeteries in Putnam county. Some of the books or others may be on Google Books or available at public libraries.


 * ePodunk list of Putnam County cemeteries


 * Charles A. Reeves Jr. has created a detailed map showing the locations of Putnam County cemeteries. It may be purchased for a small fee through his website.

Census
1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 federal population censuses of Pickett 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.

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. 6 1891. [Pickett County is included in Vol. 6.]
 * 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.

DNA
DNA has been collected from men claiming descent from the following Pickett County residents. Attempts have not been made to verify the lineages of those tested.

Family Histories
It is anticipated that this bibliography will eventually identify all known family histories published about residents of this county. Use this list to:


 * Locate publications about direct ancestors
 * Find the most updated accounts of an ancestor's family
 * Identify publications, to quote Elizabeth Shown Mills, about an ancestor's "FAN Club" [Friends, Associates, and Neighbors]

General


 * History and Genealogy of Families in Pickett County, Tennessee. [Tenn.]: Pickett County Book Committee, 1991. FHL US/CAN Book 976.8687 D2h.

Bibliography


 * [Huddleston] Huddleston, George. Huddleston Family Tables. Concord, NH: Rumford Press, 1933. Available at FHL FAM HIST Book 929.273 H866h 1973; FHL US/CAN Film 928072; digital version at Ancestry ($); and Heritage Quest Online ($).
 * [Smith] Smith, Oma Ivadell. Smith-Garrett and Allied Families of Overton, Fentress and Pickett Counties, Tennessee: The Genealogy of Joseph Albert Smith and Nova Catherine Garrett. Jacksonville, Fla.: O. Smith, 1979. FHL FAM HIST Book 929.273 Sm61e.
 * [Swann] de Place, Velma LeeVerne. One Swann Family of America. Typescript, microfilmed in 1968. FHL US/CAN Film 547150 Item 1.

Military
War of 1812


 * Embry, Hermione D. "War of 1812 - Tennessee Pensioners on List - January 2, 1883," Ansearchin' News, Vol. 8, No. 2 (Apr. 1961):49-52. FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 B2a v. 8 (1961); digital version at journal website. [Includes Pickett County pensioners (p. 50).]
 * 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

Newspapers
Many Tennessee newspapers are filmed and available at 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 Pickett County click on the following town:


 * Byrdstown

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 Pickett 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.
 * Overton County Historical Society Newsletter
 * "This newsletter, although called 'Overton County,' covers all the area in Overton, Fentress, and Pickett County, Tennessee." - Vol. 7, no. 4 p. 2 Family History Library has volume 1 - 8 FHL US/CAN 976.8684 B2n. Indexed in PERiodical Source Index (PERSI) For further information see Overton County Historical Society website: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~tnoverto/OCHS/index.htm

Probate
Probate records are court records created after an individual’s death that relate to a court’s decisions regarding the distribution of the estate to the heirs or creditors and the care of any dependents. You may find the names of married daughters or other relatives and their residences; or information about the adoption or guardianship of minor children and dependents. Probate records do not always give an exact date of death, but the death usually occurred within four months of probate. These documents are important to family history researchers because they usually exist for time periods before civil birth and death records were kept.

The Pickett County Court has responsibility for the probate records.

Marriage
The original Pickett County marriage records are kept at the County Courthouse. Due to fire, the marriage records of Pickett County are lost until 1934.

The following Pickett County marriage records are microfilmed:


 * [1934-1995] Available at the TSLA.
 * [1934-1961] Available at the Family History Library. Some volumes are indexed. Includes index.

The following Pickett County marriage records are abstracted and/or indexed:


 * RecordSearch at FamilySearch now includes indexed Tennessee marriages. This is a free pilot site and still under construction.  At this time, it is best to search from the home page, Discover Your Ancestors: indicate a surname, marriage "event", no date, and a county name (i.e. Pickett, Tennessee).  Browse through the results for that surname. You may need to supply any variant spellings of the surname in separate searches.
 * 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 many counties.

Pickett County is not included in Sistler's Early Middle Tennessee Marriages.

Death


 * Tennessee Deaths and Burials 1874-1955 at Record Search Pilot at FamilySearch. 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 Pickett 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 and Libraries
Pickett County Public Library 1331 Beason Rd. Byrdstown, TN 38549

Middle Tennessee Genealogical Society PO Box 330948 Nashville, TN, USA 37203-7507 The society serves the 40 counties of middle Tennessee of which Pickett 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

Web Sites

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