Tipton County, Tennessee Genealogy

Tipton County, Tennessee ancestry, family history, and genealogy research page. Guide to Tipton County (established 1823) genealogy, history, and courthouse sources including birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, wills, deeds and land records, Civil War records, Revolutionary War records, family histories, cemeteries, churches, tax records, newspapers, and obituaries.

Description
The County was named for Jacob Tipton, 18th-century soldier. The County is located in the southeast area of the state.

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

County Courthouse


Tipton County Courthouse 100 Court Square P O box 528 Covington, TN 38019 Phone: 1-901-476-0209 - 2438

County Clerk has marriage records from 1840. General Sessions Court has divorce records from 1823 and court records. Clerk Chancery Court has probate records from 1823. Register of Deeds has land records.

Tipton County Clerk Marriage, probate and court records P.O. Box 528 220 Hwy. 51 N., Suite 2 Covington, TN 38019 Phone: 1-901-476-0207

Tipton County Register of Deeds Land records P.O. Box 626 Room 105 Courthouse 100 Court Square Covington, TN 38019 Phone: 1-901-476-0204

Hours: Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

History
West Tennessee county.

The county was named after "Jacob Tipton, father of Armistead Blevins, who supervised the organization of Shelby County; Tipton was killed by Native Americans in 1791 in a conflict over the Northwest Territory."

Parent County
1823--Tipton County was established 29 October 1823 from Chickasaw Indian Lands. County seat: Covington

County Pronunciation

 * 1) Hear it spoken (female)
 * 2) Hear it spoken (male)

Boundary Changes
For animated maps illustrating Tennessee county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Tennessee County Boundary Maps" (1777-1985) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Record Loss
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.


 * Lack of marriage records: 1823 to 1839

Getting Started
Use the free Search for Surnames at Mountain Press's website to quickly search a variety of published Tipton County biography, tax, and WPA records. To determine which books are being searched, or to search each publication's index individually, click here. You are now equipped with a checklist of books to pull off the shelves at a genealogy library, or a wish list for your personal book collection.

Research Guides

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

African American
United States African Americans Tennessee African Americans

The Runaway Slave Blog is a free online resource where runaway slaves listed in pre-1865 West Tennessee newspapers are identified. Some of the runaway ads appeared in Tipton County newspapers.

Biographies
All of the family biographies from the History of Tipton County, Tennessee (1886) by Goodspeed are available free online at My Genealogy Hound.

Cemeteries
Additional Cemetery Resources


 * Tennessee Cemeteries - Hometown Locator
 * Tipton Co. TN Cemetery Records, part of the TNGenWeb Cemetery Database, lists many cemeteries in the county, often with indexes and transcripts of the burials.

Census
1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 Tipton County federal population schedules 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.

1810 - 1891
 * Tennessee, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1810-1891 at Ancestry.com — index $

1840 Pensioners


 * A Census of Pensioners for Revolutionary or Military Services: With their Names, Ages, and Places of Residence, as Returned by the Marshalls of the Several Judicial Districts, Under the Act for Taking the Sixth Census. 1841; reprint, Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing, 1967. . 1841 edition digitized by the U.S. Census Bureau and Google books et. al. See Tennessee, Western District, Tipton County on page 159.

1850


 * Carpenter, Mrs. V.K. Seventh census of the United States, 1850, Tipton County, Tennessee, free population schedules Searcy, Arkansas : L.E. Presley, 1979

1860


 * Felldin, Jeanne Robey and Tucker, Charlotte Magee 1860 United States census, Tipton County, Tennessee, surname index Tomball, Texas : Genealogical Publications, c1976

1880


 * Sistler, Byron H. and Samuel D. 1880 census, Tipton County, Tennessee Nashville, Tennessee : B. Sistler and Associates, 1992

1891 Male Voters


 * 1891 Tennessee Enumeration of Male Voters 1891 at Ancestry.com — index $

Family Histories
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

As of August 2010, a query for persons born in Tipton, Tennessee at World Connect, results in more than 15,000 entries.


 * Hayes, Sallie. Tipton County, Tennessee Family Histories &amp; Cemetery Records. n.p.: S. Hayes, 199-. . Includes information about surnames: Ruffin, Craddock, Hyde, Sasser and Sherman.
 * Matthews, Paul A. Early Families of the Memphis Area: Profiles of 135 Families of Fayette, Shelby and Tipton Counties in Tennessee, Crittenden County, Arkansas and DeSoto and Marshall Counties in Mississippi: With Historical Time Lines and Photogrpahs of Those Counties. Memphis, Tennessee: Descendants of Early Settlers of Shelby and Adjoining Counties, 2008..

Bibliography


 * Baskerville - Baskerville, P. Hamilton (Patrick Hamilton), 1848 - 1925. Baskerville Family. Richmond : W.M. Ellis Jones' Sons, Inc. 1912. Free digital copy.
 * Bird - Embry, Iola. Bird History. Typescript..
 * Cox - Bush, Lorena W. They followed the sun: some ancestors and descendants of Zachary Taylor Cox and Elizabeth Jane Hitt. Unknown: unknown, 1979. Available at ; ; digital version at Ancestry ($); Heritage Quest Online ($).
 * Cullum - Cullum, David and Ed Cullum. Cullums Synonymous: The Descendants of Reverend Marcus Hiram Collum and Elizabeth Jane Davis (North Carolina--Tennessee--Texas). Dallas, Texas: Cullums Synonymous, 1984..
 * Cullum - Cullum, David and Ed Cullum. Cullums Synonymous [Newsletter]: A Cullum Family Newsletter. Dallas, Texas: Cullums Synonymous, 1984-1994..
 * McCain- Lynn, E. Elizabeth. McCain Family Members: From the Waxhaws, Tipton County, Tennessee, and Elsewhere. Montreat, North Carolina: E.E. Lynn, 1984..
 * Mitchell - Goggans, Helen Mitchell, Mavis P. Kelsey and Billie Mitchell Langford. The Mitchell Family of Tipton County, Tennessee: Their Antecedents in Colonial Southside Virginia Including Jones and Bishop and Their Numerous Descendents. Kingsland, Arkansas: H.M. Goggans, A. Mitchell, &amp; B.M. Langford, 1990..
 * Pace - Pace, William Carroll and Doris Pace Resner. Pace's, Smith's, Baucom's. 2 vols. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: W.C. Pace, [1990?]. ff.
 * Pullen - Archibald Pullen Family Bible Records, 1777-1851 and Pedigree Chart, 1762-1923..
 * Trobaugh - Kennedy, Chester C. Konawa, I.T.: Two Pioneer Families, Hammons and Trobaugh. Konawa, Oklahoma: C.C. Kennedy, 1993..
 * Wood - Wood, McFarland W. Descendants of Josiah Wood through his son David Wood, Albermarle County, Virginia. [microform]. Hopkinsville, KY: Unknown, 1947. Digital version at Heritage Quest Online ($). One branch of the family went to Tipton County.

Land

 * Tipton County Register of Deeds has Land Records from 1824 and is located at the Courthouse, P.O. Box 528, Covington, Tennessee 38019-0528; Telephone: 901-476-0204.Land and property records include transfer of real estate or personal property, mortgages, leases, surveys, and entries.
 * The Family History Library has microfilmed copies of deed records 1824-1896 with indexes 1824-1900; land entry books 1820-1870; and land surveys 1821-1903.

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 TSLA 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 TSLA; another version is available at  World Vital Records.

Local Histories

 * Beasley, Gaylon Neil True Tales of Tipton County, Tennessee The History Press : Charleston, SC 2007. Free lookups available!
 * Williams, Joseph S. Old Times in West Tennessee: Reminiscences, Semi-historic, of Pioneer Life and the Early Emigrant Settlers in the Big Hatchie Country. Memphis, Tenn.: W.G. Cheeney, 1873. . Digital version available through

Maps

 * Maps of Tennessee (1777-1985)
 * Map of 1888 Tipton County, Tennessee with numerous small settlements. (My Genealogy Hound)

Revolutionary War
The following Tipton County Revolutionary War records are available online through TNGenWeb:

Tennesseeans in the Revolutionary War: Tipton County

Additional resources include:


 * A Census of Pensioners for Revolutionary or Military Services: With their Names, Ages, and Places of Residence, as Returned by the Marshalls of the Several Judicial Districts, Under the Act for Taking the Sixth Census. 1841; reprint, Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing, 1967. . 1841 edition digitized by the U.S. Census Bureau and Google books et. al. [See Tennessee, Western District, Tipton County on page 159.]
 * Rejected or Suspended Applications for Revolutionary War Pensions. Washington, D.C., 1852. Reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1969, and 1991. Reprints include "an Added Index to States." Digital version at Ancestry ($). Tennessee entries abstracted online at Tennesseans in the Revolutionary War, courtesy: TNGenWeb. Includes veterans from this county; Tennessee section begins on page 381.

War of 1812

 * Embry, Hermione D. "War of 1812 - Tennessee Pensioners on List - January 2, 1883," Ansearchin' News, Vol. 8, No. 3 (Jul. 1961):95-98. FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 B2a v. 8 (1961); digital version at journal website. [Includes Tipton County pensioners (p. 97).]

Civil War
Online Records
 * 1861-1865 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1861-1865 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1861-1865 - U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry — index (free)
 * 1861-1865 - U.S., Union Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry — index (free)
 * 1891-1965 - at FamilySearch — images
 * Civil War Research Database $
 * Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System

Regiments. Civil War service men from Tipton County served in various regiments. Men often joined a regiment or a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are the military units that were formed in or had many men from Tipton County:

Confederate Soldiers 


 * 1st Regiment, Tennessee Heavy Artillery (Jackson's) - CSA - Company C
 * 4th Regiment, Tennessee Infantry (Neely's) - CSA - Company I.
 * 7th Regiment, Tennessee Cavalry (Duckworth's) - CSA - Companies B and K.
 * 9th Regiment, Tennessee Infantry - CSA - Company C.
 * 12th Regiment, Tennessee Cavalry (Green's) - CSA - Companies C and G.
 * 15th Consolidated Regiment, Tennessee Cavalry - CSA - Companies I and K.
 * 16th Regiment, Tennessee Cavalry (Logwood's) - CSA - Company I.
 * 51st Consolidated Regiment, Tennessee Infantry - CSA- Companies G and H.
 * 51st Regiment, Tennessee Infantry - CSA - Companies A, G, and K.

Additional sources for Civil War soldiers from Tipton County:


 * Lynn, H.M. H.M. Lynn Papers, 1858-1882. Southern Historical Collection, Manuscripts Dept., Wilson Library, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Free digital copy. 9th Tennessee Regiment, Company C.
 * Genealogy Trails, Tipton County Tennessee Military.
 * Tennessee State Library and Archives, Tennessee Confederate Pension Applications: Tipton County. Includes soldier's name, county, pension #, unit or widow.
 * United States Pension Bureau, List of Pensioners on the Roll January 1, 1883: Giving the Name of Each Pensioner, the Cause for... (Washington Printing Office; 1883). Online at Internet Archive. Tipton County, page 379.
 * TNGenWeb, Tipton County Civil War Archives Index.

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 Tipton County click on the following cities or towns:


 * Covington
 * Munford
 * Randolph

Occupations

 * Miller, Alan N. West Tennessee's Forgotten Children: Apprentices from 1821 to 1889. Baltimore, Md.: Printed for Clearfield Company, Inc., by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2006. . Purchase at Genealogical.com. Includes Tipton County.

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 Tipton 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
 * Family Findings
 * Genealogical articles with abstracts of Tipton 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.
 * 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 to retrieve them.
 * West Tennessee Historical Society Papers
 * Family History Library has Volumes 1 - 16 and 30 . The West Tennessee Historical Society Papers are indexed in PERiodical Source Index (PERSI) To view Table of Contents and complete articles from 1947 - 2005 see Shelby County Register of Deeds

Probate Records
The County Court has responsibility for the probate records of Tipton County.

Online Records
 * 1779 – 2008 Tennessee Wills and Probate Records 1779-2008 at Ancestry.com — index and images $


 * Wills, 1824-1918 (Vols. A-C)
 * Bonds, Letters, 1835-1842; 1876-1901 (2 vols.)

The following Tipton County probate records have been indexed:


 * 1824-1861 - Sistler, Byron and Barbara Sistler. Index to Tennessee Wills &amp; Administrations 1779-1861. Nashville, Tenn. Byron Sistler &amp; Associates, Inc., 1990. . Includes an index to this county's probate records.

Taxation
The following Tipton County tax records have been abstracted:


 * 1836 - Douthat, James L. 1836 Tipton County, Tennessee, Civil Districts and Tax List. Signal Mountain, Tenn.: Mountain Press, 2001. ; online: free surname index and purchase details.
 * 1837 - Davis, Bettie Brandon. "1836 Map of Tipton County, Tennessee" and "Tipton County, Tennessee 1837 Tax List," Ansearchin' News. Vol. 40, No. 3 (Fall 1993):103-108; Vol. 40, No. 4 (Winter 1993):175-176. For possible FHL and online access, as well as indexes, see Periodicals.
 * 1837 - Tax List, 1837. Tennessee Genealogy and History, Vol. 4, No. 2 (2000).
 * 1837-1838 - Tipton County, Tennessee, Tax Rolls 1837-1838. Buffalo, Texas: Four Scribes, 1987..

Vital Records
See also How to order Tennessee Vital Records or order electronically online.

Birth

 * 1828-1939 - at FamilySearch.org — index


 * 1869-1909 - Tennessee Delayed Birth Records 1869-1909 at Ancestry.com — index and images $


 * 1908-1912 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Marriage
Marriages were not officially recorded in Tipton County until 1840, a few years after a law was passed mandating the practice. The following publication, based on early newspapers, helps to alleviate this genealogical obstacle:


 * 1625-1966 - Tennessee, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $


 * 1794-1851 - Lucas, Silas Emmett. Marriages from Early Tennessee Newspapers 1794-1851. Easley, S.C.: Southern Historical Press, 1978..

State Marriage Records


 * 1780-2002 - Tennessee State Marriages 1780-2002 at Ancestry.com — index $


 * 1780-2002 - at FamilySearch.org— index


 * 1790-1950 - at FamilySearch.org — index and images


 * 1796-1950 - at FamilySearch.org — index


 * 1838-1888 - at FamilySearch — index and images


 * 1851-1900 - Tennessee Marriages 1851-1900 at Ancestry.com— index and images $

The following Tipton County Courthouse marriage records have been indexed:


 * 1840-1895 - Tipton County Marriage Index 1840-1895 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch.org - free.


 * 1840-1874 - Sistler, Byron and Barbara Sistler. Early West Tennessee Marriages. 2 vols. Nashville, Tenn.: B. Sistler &amp; Associates, 1989. ff. Indexes names of brides and grooms, and marriage or marriage bond dates for weddings in this county for the specified years.


 * 1840-1860 - Historical Records Project (Tennessee) Marriage records, 1840-1860, Tipton County, Tennessee Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1940. FHL US/CAN Film 24841 item 1.
 * 1840-1860 - Hays, Tony Tipton County, Tennessee, marriages, 1840-1860 [S.I.]: Kitchen Table Press, 1987. FHL US/CAN Book 976.817 V2h
 * 1840-1900,1910-1912,1914-1958 - Tipton County, Tennessee County Court Clerk Marriage records (Tipton County, Tennessee), 1840-1900-, 1910-1912, 1914-1958 Nashville, Tennessee: Tennessee State Library and Archives, 1976-1988. FHL US/CAN Film 1010920-24, 1928840-49


 * 1864-1959 - Tennessee County Court (Tipton County) Marriage licenses, 1864-1959 and divorce records, 1911-1950 Salt Lake City, Utah: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1997. FHL US/CAN Film 2073905, 2073913, 2073978, 2074022-23, 2074073-75, 2074126-28, 2074218-20, 2074258 item 1

Divorce
In 1940 and 1941, W.P.A. workers pinpointed the location of Tipton County divorce papers in diverse County Courthouse records, see the following resources:


 * W.P.A. Guide to Public Vital Statistics in Tennessee. Nashville, Tenn.: The Tennessee Historical Records Survey, 1941. FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 A3gp.

Death

 * 1823-1852 - Hays, Tony. West Tennessee Death Records (ca. 1823-1852). 2 vols. n.p.: Kitchen Table Press, 1987. . Tipton County is included in Vol. 1


 * 1874-1955 - at FamilySearch.org — index


 * 1908-1958 - Tennessee Death Records 1908 - 1958 at Ancestry.com — index and images $


 * 1914-1966 - at FamilySearch — index and images

For deaths of Methodists in Tipton County between the 1830s and the 1920s, try searching the following records:


 * 1847-1914 - 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. ff; digital versions at David Donahue Memorial: Tennessee Records Repository. Website expands upon the publications and includes deaths from the 1830's, 1840's, 1910's and 1920's.

Societies and Libraries
See also a List of Tennessee Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical & Genealogical Societies

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to Family History Centers

Tipton County Tennessee Genealogy Websites

 * (FamilySearch) — The catalog is genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) This catalog is different than the indexed Historical Records.
 * Mailing List: SW-TN-L (Southwest Tennessee List)
 * Mailing List: TNTIPTON-L (Tipton County, Tennessee List)
 * Mailing List: WEST-TNCHAT-L (West Tennessee Chat List)
 * Mailing List: WESTTN-L (West Tennessee List)
 * Tipton County, TN Genealogy and History (American History and Genealogy Project)
 * Tipton County, TN Family History and Genealogy Message Board (Ancestry)
 * Tipton County, TN Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Tipton County, TNGenWeb (USGenWeb)
 * Tipton County TN Genealogy  (LDS Genealogy)