Genealogy

The Bledsoe County Public Library is recognized by the Tennessee State Library and Archives as the Bledsoe County Archives and Historical Records Repository. Our genealogy and Tennessee history collection includes research materials for the Sequatchie Valley as well as adjoining counties. Library Director Carolyne Knight is a Certified Archives Manager.

The library maintains many published family histories and a family histories file. Also of interest are the Cherokee and Melungeon books and files, and the Soldiers’ Pension Lists of 1792-1795, 1812, 1820 and 1890.

In the library archives and special collections are:

  1. Bledsoe County Chancery Court Loose Papers, 1840-1940.

  2. Bledsoe County Circuit Court Minute and Docket Books, 1853-1912.

  3. Bledsoe County Board of Education Minute Books, 1919-1928.

  4. Bledsoe County Warrant Book, 1856-1872.

  5. Farmers Union Telephone Company Directors and Stockholders Book, 1912-1915.

  6. Quarterly Conference Records, Methodist, Pikeville Circuit, 1866-1874.

  7. First Families of Bledsoe County Files (courtesy of the Bledsoe County Historical and Genealogical Society)

  8. Civil War Soldiers from Bledsoe County Pension and Record Files.

  9. John A. Murrell File and Book Collection

  10. Early area maps

  11. Early Bledsoe County births, deaths and marriage records (compiled from official sources)

  12. Bledsoe County Eleventh Census Special Schedule - 6th Civil District 1890

  13. Letters and Broadsides 1882-1893

CENSUS RECORDS -

  • Census on microfilm for Bledsoe County: 1850, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1850 Slave Census

  • State-wide census index in book form: 1830-1880

  • Bledsoe County census records in book form: 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930

COUNTY HISTORIES -

  • Bledsoe County at the Bicentennial 1976: A Short History of Bledsoe County, Tennessee 1807-1976 (Robnett, 1977)

  • Bledsoe County, Tennessee, A Pictorial History ( Bledsoe County Historical and Genealogical Society, 1998)

  • Bledsoe County, Tennessee, A History (Robnett, 1993)

  • History of Bledsoe County, 1807-1957 [thesis] (Robnett, 1957)

PUBLISHED LOCAL RECORDS -

  • 1840 Census, Sequatchie Valley, Bledsoe-Marion Counties (Douthat, 1982)

  • 1870 Census of Bledsoe County, Tennessee (Kirkeminde, 1982)

  • 1880 Census, Tennessee, Transcription for Bledsoe County (Sistler, 1978)

  • Bledsoe County Court Letter Book Containing Minutes from Jan. 1847-Mar. 1852 Index (Swift, 1995)

  • Bledsoe County Court Minutes, April 1856-March 1860 Index (Swift, 1995)

  • Bledsoe County, Tennessee, 1836, Tennessee Civil Districts and Tax Lists (Douthat, 1993)

  • Bledsoe County, Tennessee, Baptist Church Minutes, 1882-1938 (WPA, 1938)

  • Bledsoe County, Tennessee, Chancery Court Loose Papers, 1840-1940 (Hobbs, 1999)

  • Bledsoe County, Tennessee, Chancery Court Minute Book, Vol. II, 1836-1847 (WPA, 1938)

  • Bledsoe County, Tennessee, Circuit Court Execution Docket, 1810-1824 (WPA, 1938)

  • Bledsoe County, Tennessee, Deed Book [6 vols. 1807-1826, 1929-1854] (WPA, 1937)

  • Bledsoe County, Tennessee, Deed Books A-D, Abstracts (Goins, 1994)

  • Bledsoe County, Tennessee, Tombstone Inscriptions (WPA, 1939)

  • Bledsoe County, Tennessee, Vital Statistics, 1914 through 1925 (Wiefering, 1993)

  • Collier Cemetery, Bledsoe County, Tennessee (Hobbs, 1991)

  • County Court Minutes (Abstract), Bledsoe County, Tennessee [1841-1846] (Hobbs, 1990)

  • A Collection of Obituaries, Vol. I-III (Goins & Hobbs, 1995)

  • Pikeville Cemetery and Obituaries (Goins & Hobbs)

  • Worthington Cemetery, 1858-2001 (Brenda Burgess, 2001)

  • Bledsoe Chancery Court Loose Papers Index (1840-1940)

  • Fourth Survey District of Tennessee, 1808-1820: John McClellan-surveyor, Anderson, Bledsoe, Campbell, Knox, Overton, Rhea, Roane Counties, TN (Douthat, 1988)

  • Marriage Records of Bledsoe County, Tennessee [Vol. 1 1908-1917; Vol. 2 1917-1924] (Goins & Hobbs Genealogy Service, 1988-)

  • Minutes of the Circuit Court of Bledsoe County, 1834-1841 (WPA, 1941)

  • Population Schedule of the United States Census of 1850 for Bledsoe County, Tennessee (Hutcherson, 1963)

  • Records of Bledsoe County, Tombstone Inscriptions (Madewell, 1982)

  • Sequatchee Valley News Gossip Columns (Harris, 19??-)

  • Sequatchie Valley Bible Records (Douthat, 1985)

  • Tennessee Fourth Surveyor’s District Land Surveys 1814-1824: Anderson, Bledsoe, Campbell, Morgan, Overton, Rhea and Roane Counties, Tennessee (Bailey, 1996)

  • Sequatchie Families (Douthat, 1983)

  • Tennessee, Records of Bledsoe County: County Court Minute Book [1841-1846] (WPA, 1939)

LOCAL RECORDS ON MICROFILM -

  • Marriages from 1908

  • Wills from 1883

  • Deed index from 1797

  • Chancery Court minutes from 1836

  • County Court minutes from 1841

  • Circuit Court minutes from 1845

  • Tax books from 1888

  • Bledsoe County Revenue Ledger, 1882-1889

  • Bledsoe County Land Grant Survey, 1807-1890

  • Bledsoe County Chancery Court Loose Papers, 1840-1940

NEWSPAPERS ON MICROFILM -

Bledsonian-Banner, 1926-1958 and 1975

Other years available on Interlibrary Loan

SELECTED MANUSCRIPTS MATERIAL -

  • Tolletts Mills (Bledsoe County, Tenn.) Ledgers, 1839-1879 (Microfilm Manuscript #1650, 1 reel)

Here are favorite websites:

TNGENWeb Bledsoe County

The USGenWeb Project

WorldConnect Project-Roots Web.Com

South Pittsburg, Tennessee Historic Preservation Society

Tennessee Civil War Sourcebook