Perry County, Tennessee Genealogy

United States   Tennessee    Perry County





County Courthouse
Perry County Courthouse P.O. Box 16 121 East Main Street Linden, Tennessee 37096-0016 Phone: (931) 589-2216

Hours: Mon.-Tues and Thurs.-Fri. 8 am - 4 pm Saturday 8 am - noon Closed Wednesday

History


The county is named after U.S. Naval hero Oliver Hazard Perry (1785-1819).

Parent County
1818--Perry County was established 14 November 1818 from Hickman County. County seat: Linden

Record Loss
1863, 1928--Fires damaged records

Neighboring Counties

 * Benton
 * Decatur
 * Hickman
 * Humphreys
 * Lewis
 * Wayne

Research Guides

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

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

Bibliography


 * [Denton] Whitley, Edythe Johns Rucker. Some of the Descendants of Rev. Richard Denton. McMinnville, TN: Womack Print. Co., 1959. Available at Heritage Quest Online ($).
 * [Whitfield] Whitfield, Vallie Jo Fox. Whitfield History and Genealogy of Tennessee. [Walnut Creek, CA: Unknown,, 1964. Available at FHL US/CAN Film 879642 Item 1; digital version available at Heritage Quest Online ($).

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 Tennessee State Library and Archives 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 Tennessee State Library and Archives; another version is available at World Vital Records.

Occupations

 * Miller, Alan N. Middle Tennessee's Forgotten Children: Apprentices from 1784 to 1902. Baltimore, Md.: Printed for Clearfield Company, Inc., by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2004. FHL US/CAN 976.8 U2ma. Purchase at Genealogical.com. [Includes Perry County.]

Periodicals
Ansearchin' News

Several genealogical articles with abstracts of Perry 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.

Family Findings

Several genealogical articles with abstracts of Perry County, Tennessee records have been published in Family Findings, the quarterly of the Mid-West Tennessee Genealogical Society (42+ vols.). The Family History Library has most issues of this quarterly FHL US/CAN 976.8 B2f.

Tables of contents for some volumes are available online, courtesy: TNGenWeb Project:


 * Volumes 1-10 (1969-1978)
 * Volumes 11-20 (1979-1988)
 * Volumes 21-24 (1989-1992)
 * Volumes 32-35 (2000-2003)

Many articles from this publication have been reproduced on the TNGenWeb Project website, try this specialized Google search.

The River Counties

Several genealogical articles with abstracts of Perry County, Tennessee records were published in The River Counties Quarterly, (14 vols.) edited by Jill K. Garrett. The Family History Library has a complete collection FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 B2rc.

Prisons

 * Inmates of the Tennessee State Penitentiary 1831-1850, free index available online, courtesy: Tennessee State Library and Archives.
 * Inmates of the Tennessee State Penitentiary 1851-1870, free index available online, courtesy: [http://www.state.tn.us/tsla/ Tennessee State Library and Archives

Web Sites

 * Perry County, TN Family History and Genealogy Message Board (Ancestry)
 * Perry County, TNGenWeb
 * Family History Library Catalog