Tennessee Newspapers

United States   Tennessee    Newspapers

Newspapers publish notices of marriage, divorce, death, funerals, obituaries, and wartime casualty lists. Notices include names of the persons involved, the date of the event, and may contain maiden names, names of parents, and other relatives.

Newspapers also publish articles of local interest, including religious and social events in the community, with the names of those involved. Some newspapers serve several communities and devote columns to the everyday happenings in the area.

Newspapers also include legal notices, estate sales, and advertising for local businesses.

Inventories on the Internet
More than 6,000 newspapers have been identified for the Tennessee Newspaper Project. Their Internet site has a database you can search to find a newspaper’s title, town, life span, and repository:

Tennessee Newspaper Project in the University of Tennessee—Knoxville Libraries. http://www.lib.utk.edu/spcoll/newspaper/tnphome.htm

Contact the repository for further details. Many allow you to borrow microfilm copies through interlibrary loan.

The Tennessee State Library and Archives has an extensive collection of almost all Tennessee newspapers. For a list of what is at the Tennessee State Library and Archives, see their Internet site:

Newspapers on Microfilm at the Tennessee State Library and Archives at http://state.tn.us/tsla/history/newspapers/tn-paper.htm.

Published Newspapers
The Family History Library has some Tennessee newspapers and newspaper extracts on microfilm; for example:

Creekmore, Pollyanna. Tennessee Newspaper Extracts and Abstracts. Knoxville, Tennessee: Clinchdale Press, 1995–. This is a work in progress. Two volumes have been published covering the years 1816–1839. A third volume covering 1840–1849 is being prepared.

Eddlemon, Sherida K. Genealogical Abstracts of Tennessee Newspapers. Bowie, Maryland: Heritage, 1988. (Family History Library book 976.8 D2e.) Three Volumes. Volume 1 covers 1791–1808, volume 2 covers 1803 to 1812, and volume 3 covers 1821–1828.

The Christian Advocate is a Methodist newspaper. Death records from this publication have been abstracted:


 * 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.]

See the “Newspapers” and “Obituaries” sections of the United States Research for help in locating other newspapers published in Tennessee. See also the “Obituaries” section of this outline for help in finding obituaries.

For more resources regarding local newspapers for Tennessee, use the Place Search of the Family History Library Catalog under:

TENNESSEE - NEWSPAPERS

TENNESSEE, [COUNTY], NEWSPAPERS

TENNESSEE, [COUNTY], [TOWN] -

NEWSPAPERS

TENNESSEE - OBITUARIES

TENNESSEE, [COUNTY] - VITAL RECORDS