Lauderdale County, Tennessee Genealogy

United States   Tennessee    Lauderdale County





West Tennessee county. Established 1835.

County Courthouse


Lauderdale County Courthouse 100 Court Square Ripley, Tennessee 38063 Phone: (901) 635-2561

County Clerk has marriage and probate records Phone: 731-635-2561

Circuit Court Clerk has court records Phone: 731-635-0101

Register of Deeds has land records Phone: 731-635-2171

Hours: Monday - Friday 8 am - 4:30 pm

History
The county was named after "James Lauderdale, who was killed in the War of 1812."

Parent County
1835--Lauderdale County was created 24 November 1835 from Tipton, Haywood, and Dyer Counties. County seat: Ripley

Record Loss
1969--Fire damaged records


 * Lack of marriage records: 1835 to 1837

Research Guides

 * Genealogical "Fact Sheets" About Tennessee Counties: Lauderdale 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.)

Cemeteries

 * Find A Grave can be searched by the name of a person or family to find where a person is buried. Usually gives birth and death dates often with a picture of the tombstone. May give obituaries, names of family members and links to their information in Find A Grave.


 * Find A Grave also gives a list of cemeteries in Lauderdale County linking to the information about the people buried there,


 * Lauderdale County, TN Cemetery Records, part of the TNGenWeb Cemetery Database, lists many cemeteries in the county, often with indexes and transcripts of the burials.


 * Lauderdale County, Tennessee, part of USGenWeb Tombstone Transcription Project lists many cemeteries in the county and has transcripts of the tombstones arranged by cemetery.


 * Lauderdale County cemetery information with transcriptions on TNGenweb Project


 * The Family History Library Catalog lists some records for Lauderdale County. Some of the books or other books may be on Google Books or available at public libraries.


 * ePodunk list of Lauderdale County cemeteries

Census
1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 federal population censuses of Lauderdale County 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.

See Lauderdale County, TN census assignments, including links to transcribed files. [The USGenWeb Census Project®]

1840


 * Davis, Bettie B. Lauderdale County, Tennessee, 1840 Census, 1850 Census, and 1850 Mortality Schedule. Memphis, Tenn.: B.B. Davis, 1983. FHL US/CAN book 976.816 X2

1850


 * Davis, Bettie B. Lauderdale County, Tennessee, 1840 Census, 1850 Census, and 1850 Mortality Schedule. Memphis, Tenn.: B.B. Davis, 1983. FHL US/CAN book 976.816 X2

1850 Mortality Schedule


 * Davis, Bettie B. Lauderdale County, Tennessee, 1840 Census, 1850 Census, and 1850 Mortality Schedule. Memphis, Tenn.: B.B. Davis, 1983. FHL US/CAN book 976.816 X2

1880


 * Sistler, Samuel D. 1880 Census Lauderdale County, Tennessee. Nashville, Tenn.: Byron Sistler and Associates, 2002. FHL US/CAN book 976.816 X2

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


 * [Ellis] Benjamin F. Ellis Family, 1834-1952. MSS. FHL US/CAN Film 1685766 Item 7.
 * [Ellis] Ellis, Bill. George Richard Ellis: His Ancestors and Descendants. Friona, Texas: Ellis Publishing, 2002. FHL US/CAN Book 929.273 EL59ebi.
 * [Finch] Tuttle, Jacqulyn Davis. Finch, Pyland and Related Families of Lauderdale County, TN and Craighead County, AR. Grass Valley, Calif.: J.D. Tuttle, 1991?. FHL FAM HIST Book 929.273 F491tj.
 * [Holmes] Holmes, Raiford L. The John Holmes Family: of Montgomery and Carroll Counties, Mississippi. Bogalusa, Louisiana: R.L. Holmes, 197-?. FHL FAM HIST Book 929.273 H736h.
 * [Powell] De Veau, Katharine Lee. Benjamin and Ambrose Powell of Culpeper County, Virginia: With Many Descendants of Benjamin. Unknown: K.L. deVeau, 1941. Available at FHL US/CAN Film 548787; digital version 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.

Local Histories

 * 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. FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 H2wj 1975. Digital version available through BYU Family History Archives.

Military
Civil War

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.

Newspapers
Many Tennessee newspapers are filmed and available at the Tennessee State Library and Archives. 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 Lauderdale County click on the following cities and towns:
 * Halls
 * Ripley

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. FHL US/CAN 976.8 U2man. Purchase at Genealogical.com. [Includes Lauderdale 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

Several genealogical articles with abstracts of records of Lauderdale County, Tennessee 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 Lauderdale 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 to retrieve them.

West Tennessee Historical Society Papers

Family History Library has Volumes 1 - 16 and 30 FHL US/CAN Book 976.81 B5w. 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

Prisons
Learn if your Lauderdale County ancestors went to prison!


 * Inmates of the Tennessee State Penitentiary 1851-1870, free index available online, courtesy: Tennessee State Library and Archives.

Probate
The following Lauderdale County probate records have been abstracted and/or indexed:


 * [1837-1861] Sistler, Byron and Barbara Sistler. Index to Tennessee Wills &amp; Administrations 1779-1861. Nashville, Tenn. Byron Sistler &amp; Associates, Inc., 1990. FHL US/CAN 976.8 P22s. [Includes an index to this county's probate records.]

Taxation
Lauderdale County's original Tax Books covering 1852-1856 and 1873 to 1887 are held at the Lauderdale County Courthouse. The Tennessee State Library and Archives microfilmed these records in 1976. Copies of these films are available at the Family History Library FHL US/CAN Films 1008593-1008594.

The original Lauderdale County Roadwork Excuses and Poll Tax 1882-1927 are kept at the County Courthouse. The Genealogical Society of Utah microfilmed these records in 2008: FHL US/CAN Film 1670142 Item 8.

Vital Records
Marriage

Marriages were not officially recorded in Lauderdale County until 1838, when a law was passed mandating the practice. The following publication, based on early newspapers, helps to alleviate this genealogical obstacle:


 * Lucas, Silas Emmett. Marriages from Early Tennessee Newspapers 1794-1851. Easley, S.C.: Southern Historical Press, 1978. FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 V2L.

The following Lauderdale County Courthouse marriage records have been abstracted and/or indexed:


 * [1838-1867] Sistler, Byron and Barbara Sistler. Early West Tennessee Marriages. 2 vols. Nashville, Tenn.: B. Sistler &amp; Associates, 1989. FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 V2sb v. 1 ff. [Indexes names of brides and grooms, and marriage dates for weddings in this county for the specified years.]

Death


 * Hays, Tony. West Tennessee Death Records [ca. 1823-1852]. 2 vols. n.p.: Kitchen Table Press, 1987. FHL FAM HIST Book 976.8 V2ht v. 1-2. [Lauderdale County is included in Vol. 2]

For deaths of Methodists in Lauderdale County between the 1830s and the 1920s, try:


 * 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.]

Web Sites

 * Family History Library Catalog (FamilySearch)
 * Lauderdale County, TN Family History and Genealogy Message Board (Ancestry)
 * Lauderdale County, TN Genealogy Forum (GenForum)
 * Lauderdale County, TNGenWeb (USGenWeb)
 * RootsWeb Mailing List: TNLAUDER-L (Lauderdale County, Tennessee List)
 * RootsWeb Mailing List: WEST-TNCHAT-L (West Tennessee Chat List)
 * RootsWeb Mailing List: WESTTN-L (West Tennessee List)