MANY GENEALOGISTS HAVE CONNECTIONS TO THE State of Tennessee. Records from the Volunteer State vary from region to region and county to county, but are rich in genealogical and historical detail.
To tap into that valuable information, you’ll need an understanding of Tennessee’s history and the various repositories that have documented its residents. Read on for how to find your Tennessee ancestors.
TITANS OF HISTORY
Several indigenous tribes lived in what is now Tennessee prior to European or US settlement, notably the Cherokee in the southeast and the Chickasaw in the west. Other tribes included the Shawnee and Yuchi.
American Indian influence remains in many Tennessee place names: Etowah, Sewanee, Chattanooga, Hiwassee, Chickamauga, Nickajack, Tellico and Tullahoma, to name a few. The state’s name, too, comes from “Tanasse,” the name of a Cherokee village.
Tennessee was part of North Carolina beginning in 1663, with that colony’s claim extending all the way to the Mississippi River. France also claimed some land east of the Mississippi, but conceded it
