Monroe County, Tennessee Genealogy

Guide to Monroe County, Tennessee ancestry, genealogy and family history, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, and military records.

Description
Monroe County was named for President James Monroe, who was an American statesman, lawyer, diplomat and Founding Father who served as the 5th president of the United States. The county is located in the southeastern area of the state.

County Courthouse
Monroe County Courthouse 103 College St. Madisonville, TN 37354 County Courthouse Phone: 423-442-5940 County Clerk Phone: 423-442-2220 County Register of Deeds Phone: 423-442-2440

County Clerk has marriage record from 1838, probate records from 1833 and court record from 1868. Register of Deeds has land records.

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

History Timeline
Additional Information

East Tennessee county. Established 1819.

The county is named after President James Monroe (1758-1831).

Bible Records
The Tennessee State Library and Archives at website has digitized a large collection of family bible records. The images show the handwritten entries that provide birth, death, and marriage information. The images are available for download in pdf format. The records are indexed by the principle surnames.

Biographies
Monroe County Biography Indexes available online at TNGenWeb.

Business, Commerce, and Occupations

 * East Tennessee's Forgotten Children: Apprentices from 1778 to 1911. 2000. By Alan N. Miller. Baltimore, Md.: Clearfield Company. . Online at MyHeritage ($). Includes Monroe County.

Cemeteries
Additional Cemetery Resources
 * Tennessee Cemeteries - Hometown Locator

Census Records
1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, and 1940 federal population censuses of Monroe 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 Monroe TN census assignments, including links to transcribed files. The USGenWeb Census Project®.

1810-1891


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

1820 Manufactures

The original manufactures schedules for the Eastern and Western Districts of Tennessee are kept at NARA, Washington, D.C. FHL copies:.

The following book is a useful aid for finding the original records:


 * National Archives. Indexes to Manufactures Census of 1820. 1920; reprint, Knightstown, Ind.: Bookmark, 1977..
 * 1820 Census of Manufactures: Monroe County, East Tennessee Roots, Vol. 5, No. 4 :180. For availability, see Monroe.

1830


 * Sistler, Byron H. 1830 Census, East Tennessee. Evanston, Ill.: n.p., 1969..

1840


 * McConkey, Lynn. 1840 Monroe County, Tennessee, Census. Vonore, Tenn.: Datis, Inc., 1986..

1840 Revolutionary War 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, Eastern District, Monroe County on page 153.

1850


 * Snow, Joy L. 1850 Monroe County, Tennessee Federal Census: With Index. Marshfield, Missouri: J.L. Snow, 200-?..

1880


 * Sistler, Byron and Barbara Sistler. 1880 Census, Monroe County, Tennessee. Nashville, Tenn.: Byron Sistler &amp; Associates, 1991..

1891 Male Voters


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

1920


 * Wolfe, Violet Kirkpatrick, Kathleen Miller, Jim Steed, Carolyn Snider, and Vonore Historical Society. 1920 Monroe County, TN Census. 2 vols. Vonore, Tenn.: Vonore Historical Society, 2000. ff.

Church Records
List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places

Church records include baptisms, marriages and burials, as well as information about family members and clues about family migration. For additional information about church records, religions, and religious archives in Tennessee, see Tennessee Church Records.


 * Monroe County Church Records


 * - FamilySearch Catalog -


 * If the records you need are not in the Family History Library collection, contact the church(es) in the area where your ancestor lived. Two sites that give information about churches in Monroe County are:


 * - List of Monroe County churches with addresses and phone numbers (Yellowbook)
 * - List of Monroe County churches (TN HomeTownLocator)

In 1936, a helpful guide to early Monroe County church records was published by the Works Project Administration. Use this guide to locate which church records exist and where they were housed in 1936. The Tennessee State Library and Archives has filmed some of these records. To locate which records are available at the TSLA, go to the Genealogical Fact Sheet About Monroe County on the TSLA Web site and scroll down to "selected manuscript material". All filmed church records at the TSLA for Monroe County are listed. Many of these filmed records are also available at the Family History Library.

Transcribed Monroe County church histories and membership lists are available online at TNGenWeb


 * St. Paul's Luthern Church
 * Chestua Baptist Church
 * Hiwassee Baptist Association (including Sweetwater Association)
 * Williamsburg Baptist Church
 * Bethlehem Baptist Church
 * Hickory Grove Church

Baptist


 * 1824-1860 - Pond Creek Baptist Church. Church minutes, 1824-1860. Nashville, Tennessee: Historical Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, 196-? Manuscript. Item 2
 * 1853-1972 - Notchey Creek Baptist Church Records. Madisonville, 1853-1972. TSLA Reel #428
 * 1853-1900 - Sistler, Byron and Barbara Sistler. Vital Statistics from 19th Century Tennessee Church Records. Nashville: Sitler and Associates, 1979. vol.2 Index to Notchey Creek Baptist Church Records. Madisonville, 1853-1972.

Court Records

 * Monroe County TN, Chancery Court Records- 1832 - 1887 from the Monroe County GenWeb Archives, website.

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.] TSLA has created an index to names that appear in these acts covering the years 1796 to 1850. Online searchable index at TSLA.

Funeral Homes

 * Monroe County Funeral Home Records - from the Tennessee State Archives, website.

Genealogies
General

As of August 2010, a query for persons born in Monroe, Tennessee at World Connect, results in more than 50,000 entries.


 * Monroe County Heritage Book Committee. Monroe County, Tennessee Heritage, 1819-1997: Established 1819, Monroe County, Tennessee. Salem, W.Va.: Walsworth Pub. Co., 1997.
 * Vonore Historical Society. Vonore Families: Yesterday and Today. 2 vols. Vonore, Tenn.: Vonore Historical Society, 1996-1997.

Bibliography


 * Bell - Buland, Geraldine Joy Brown. Silas Bell of Wayne County, Kentucky (1787-186-): Blount and Monroe Counties, Tennessee; Murray County, Georgia; Titus County, Texas [and] Sons and Daughters to Dade and Lawrence Counties, Missouri; Pawnee County, Oklahoma; and Fayette County, Texas: Allied Lines [of] Aley, Byerly, Carter, Hall, Harrell, Loy, Mashburn, Wilson. Sepulpa, Oklahoma: Buland, Geraldine Joy Brown, 1978..
 * Bent - See Carson.
 * Blankenship - Blankinship, Leslie C. The Blankenship Family History. New Orleans, La.?: J. Q. Blankinship, 1967. Available at FHL FAM HIST Book 929.273 B611bL; digital version at Heritage Quest Online ($).
 * Blankensop - See Blankenship.
 * Blankingship - See Blankenship.
 * Boggs - See Carson.
 * Carson - McClung, Quantrille D. Carson-Bent-Boggs Genealogy. Denver: Denver Public Library, 1962. Available at FHL FAM HIST Book 929.273 C239; digital version at Heritage Quest Online ($).
 * Davis - Shepard, Kelly Rae Wilson. The Descendants of Clem Davis and Rachel Emaline Peak: with an Emphasis on the Descendants of James Ervin Davis and the Connecting Lines of John C. Payne, Thomas C. E. Davis, William Robert Daniell and Henry Lenderman. The Colony, Texas: K. Shepard, 1997.
 * Day - Day, James Edward. Descendants of Christopher Day of Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Los Angeles?: J.E. Day, 1958. Available at FHL FAM HIST Book 929.273 D33d; FS Library US/CAN Film 978076; digital versions at Ancestry ($); and Heritage Quest Online ($).
 * Dodd - Austin, Kim The Descendants of George Berry Dodd and Martha Lavinna Teffteller S.I. s.n., 1995 . Digital version available at.
 * Harmon - Banes, Verna Baker. Harmon Family Research: Taken from the Verna Baker Banes Genealogical Collection. MSS., microfilmed 1996. Item 4
 * Hart - Hart, Charles Coffin. Joseph Hart and His Descendants. St. Louis, Mo.: R.P. Studley &amp; Co., 1901. Item 4. Free digital version online.
 * Henderson - Mitchell, Reba Henderson. The Family of Samuel Henderson (1786-1867) of Monroe County, Tennessee: A Genealogical and Historical Record of Samuel Henderson and His Wife, Nancy Blair, Their Twelve Children and Their Descendants to the Present Generation. Manisonville, Tenn.: R.H. Mitchell, 1980..
 * Hensley - Schreibman, Laura and Laura Hensley. The Hensleys of Ballplay, Monroe County, Tennessee. Hazel Park, Michigan: L. Schreibman, 199-?..
 * Jones - Hall, Evelyn Cook and William C. Hall. The Jefferson Thomas Jones Genealogy: Being a History of Jefferson Thomas Jones, Born 14 Aug. 1828 near Madisonville, Monroe Co., Tenn. and Later Living in Park, Greene Co., Ind. and His Descendants of Tennessee, Indiana, Iowa, etc.: Also Allied Families. Nevada, Iowa: E.C. Hall, 1985..
 * Moser - Corder, Lula Lee and Pauline Moser Shook. Moser Family History, Monroe County, Tenn.: Descendants of Leonard Moser, c1716-1782. 2 vols. Sandpoint, Idaho: P.M. Shook, 1983. ff.
 * Moses - Ward, Edith Croft. The Moses Families of Big Creek: The Family Pages of Joshua and Sarah Samples Moses and Related Families, Monroe County, Tennessee. Clinton, Tenn.: E.C. Ward, 1995..
 * Peak - Shepard, Kelly Rae Wilson. The Descendants of Clem Davis and Rachel Emaline Peak: with an Emphasis on the Descendants of James Ervin Davis and the Connecting Lines of John C. Payne, Thomas C. E. Davis, William Robert Daniell and Henry Lenderman. The Colony, Texas: K. Shepard, 1997.
 * Wolfe - Feezell, Mina Belle Wolfe and Violet Kirkpatrick Wolfe. John Peeler Wolfe: Ancestors and Descendants, 1765-1992. [Englewood, Tenn.]: M. Feezell, [1993]. ; digital version at BYU Family History Archives.

Land and Property Records
TSLA microfilmed the original Monroe County Deed Books A to Z (1820-1892), Trust Deed Books A to D (1868-1894) and Indexes to both (1820-1910). FHL copies:.

Local Histories

 * Craddock, Charles Egbert, 1850-1922. The Story of Old Fort Loudon. New York, London The Macmillan company,1899.Free digital copy.

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Maps of Tennessee (1777-1985)
 * Hiwassee District 1851, Range &amp; Township Map available at tngenweb.org/monroe/morange.htm

A township measures 36 square miles and contains 36 sections of one square mile each. A section of one square mile is equal to 640 acres. A quarter section divides the section into 4 equal parts containing 160 acres. For a full description of the Public Land Survey System see this webpage: website
 * FamilySearch Places: Cities and Towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Military Records
Indian Wars
 * Narrative of Capt. Handly, Capture, 1793, American Historical Magazine, Vol. 2, No. 1 (Jan. 1897).

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


 * 1835 Pension Roll
 * 1852 Rejected or Suspended Pensions
 * Monroe County, Tennessee Revolutionary War Pensioners List

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, Eastern District, Monroe County on page 153.]
 * 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. 1 (Jan. 1961):20-23. FS Library US/CAN Book 976.8 B2a v. 8 (1961); digital version at journal website. [Includes Monroe County pensioners (p. 23).]
 * Monroe County, Tennessee War of 1812 Pensioners Courtesy TNGenWeb

Civil War

Online Records
 * 1861-1865 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
 * 1861-1865 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
 * 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)
 * 1861-1865 U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865 at Ancestry
 * 1891-1965 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
 * Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System

Confederate Soldiers


 * 2nd Regiment, Tennessee Cavalry (Ashby's) - CSA
 * 3rd Regiment, Tennessee Infantry - CSA - Company B, F, H, and 2nd K.
 * 3rd Regiment, Tennessee Mounted Infantry (Lillard's) - CSA - Companies B, F, H, and 2nd K.
 * 4th Battalion, Tennessee Cavalry (Branner's) - CSA - Company B.
 * 34th Regiment, Tennessee Infantry (4th Confederate Infantry)- CSA - Company E.
 * 39th Regiment, Tennessee Mounted Infantry (W. M. Bradford's) (31st Infantry) - CSA - Company K.
 * 59th Regiment, Tennessee Mounted Infantry (Cooke's) (Eakin's 1st Battalion) - CSA - Companies B, G, and E.
 * 62nd Regiment, Tennessee Mounted Infantry (Rowan's) (80th Infantry) - CSA - Companies C, D, and G.

Union Soldiers


 * 3rd Regiment, Tennessee Mounted Infantry - Companies C, D, and G.
 * 9th Regiment, Tennessee Cavalry - Company L.
 * 12th Regiment, Tennessee Cavalry - Company K.

Additional sources for Civil War soldiers from Monroe County:


 * USGenWeb Archives, Monroe County Tennessee Archives, (accessed 31 Jan 2012). Civil War Records.
 * Tennessee State Library and Archives, Tennessee Confederate Pension Applications: Monroe County, (accessed 30 Jan 2012). 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), (accessed 30 Jan 2012). Online at Internet Archive. Monroe County, page 365.
 * Robert B. Barker Civil War Research, (accessed 31 Jan 2012). Microfilmed by the C.M. McClung Historical Collection, abstracts by Joy Locke.
 * TNGenWeb, Monroe County Civil War Rosters, (accessed 31 Jan 2012).
 * Monroe County, Tennessee, Civil War Memorial, (accessed 26 Feb 2012).

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 Monroe County click on the following cities:


 * Madisonville
 * Sweetwater


 * 1794-1851 - Lucas, Silas Emmett. Marriages from Early Tennessee Newspapers 1794-1851. Easley, S.C.: Southern Historical Press, 1978..
 * 1847 - 1851 - 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 1830s, 1840s, 1910s and 1920s. (Largely Methodist?)

Prisons

 * 1831-1850 Inmates of the Tennessee State Penitentiary 1831-1850 at Tennessee State Library and Archives
 * 1851-1870 Inmates of the Tennessee State Penitentiary 1851-1870 at Tennessee State Library and Archives

Periodicals

 * Ansearchin' News: Quarterly magazine of the Tennessee Genealogical Society. For a keyword search, go to the county index. Read previous issues on their website;
 * East Tennessee Roots: Published by East Tennessee Roots The table of contents for some issues are available on their website;.
 * The Pellissippian: Published by the Anderson County Historical Society (formerly called, Pellissippi Genealogical and Historical Society). The table of contents for some issues are available on their website..

Probate Records
TSLA microfilmed the original Monroe County Will Books 1 to 4 (1833 to 1922). FHL copy:.

Online Records and Indexes
 * 1779-2008 Tennessee Wills and Probate Records 1779-2008 at Ancestry — index and images $
 * 1822-1922 Monroe County portion of  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; handwritten indexes may be found at the front or back of some volumes.
 * 1833-1860 Will Book 1: 1833-1860 Strictly By Name - Index only
 * 1833-1860; 1859-1872; 1873-1903; 1903-1922 SourtheasternGenealogy.com Images of Wills ($)
 * 1860-1922 Will Books 2, 3, 4: 1860-1922 Strictly By Name - Index only

Book Abstracts and Indexes
 * 1833-1861 - 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. Free Lookups Available!

Social Security Records

 * 1935-2014 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.


 * 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry ($) — index, click here for more information.

Tax Records
TSLA microfilmed the original Monroe County Tax Books 1868, 1874, 1899-1900. FHL copies:.

Book Abstracts and Indexes


 * 1825 Sistler, Byron and Barbara Sistler. Index to Early Tennessee Tax Lists. Evanston, Ill.: B. &amp; B. Sistler, 1977. Includes 1825 tax list.
 * 1836 Douthat, James L. Monroe County: 1836 Tennessee Civil District and Tax Lists. Signal Mountain, Tenn.: Mountain Press, 200-?. Mountain Press provides online surname list..
 * 1861 McConkey, Lynn. Monroe Co. Tax List 1861.
 * 1874 McConkey, Lynn. 1874 Tax List.
 * 1899, 1912 - McConkey, Lynn. Tax Lists-1899 and 1912, Monroe County, Tennessee. n.p.: L. McConkey, 1991..

Birth

 * 1828-1939 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
 * 1869-1909 Tennessee Delayed Birth Records 1869-1909 at Ancestry — index and images $
 * 1881-1911 - Monroe County Birth Index 1881-1911 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch. Batch
 * 1908-1912 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection

Marriage
Online images and Records


 * 1625-1966 Tennessee, United States Marriages at Findmypast — index $
 * 1780-2002 - Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002 Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002 ($).
 * 1780-2002 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
 * 1790-1962 - at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection. Covers all counties in Tennessee.
 * 1796-1950 (Indexes only) at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
 * 1838-1899 - Monroe County Marriage Index 1838-1899 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch
 * 1838-1888 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
 * 1851-1900 Tennessee Marriages 1851-1900 at Ancestry— index and images $
 * 1980-2014 Marriage Records Index 1980-2014 at Shelby County Register of Deeds - index

Book Abstracts and Indexes


 * 1838-1870 - Early East Tennessee Marriages. 2 vols. Nashville, Tenn.: . Indexes names of brides, grooms, and marriage dates for this county forspecified years. Free Lookups Available!
 * Marriage County Indices - from the Monroe County Archives

Death

 * 1874-1955 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
 * 1908-1933 Tennessee Deaths, 1908 - 1933 at MyHeritage ($) — index
 * 1908-1958 Tennessee Death Records 1908 - 1958 at Ancestry — index and images $
 * 1908-1912 Tennessee Death Records 1908-1912 at Tennessee State Library & Archives - index
 * 1914-1933 Tennessee Death Records 1914-1933 at Tennessee State Library & Archives - index
 * 1914-1966 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
 * 1949-2014 Death Records Index 1949-2014 at Shelby County Register of Deeds - index

Divorce
Online Records Online Titles
 * 1796 - 1850 Acts of Tennessee 1796-1850 at Tennessee State Library & Archives - index
 * 1980-2014 Divorce Records Index 1980-2014 at Shelby County Register of Deeds - index
 * W.P.A. Guide to Public Vital Statistics in Tennessee. Nashville, Tenn.: The Tennessee Historical Records Survey, 1941. FamilySearch Books Online

Archives
Monroe County Archives 105 College Street, Suite 10 Madisonville, TN 37354 Phone: 423-420-0910 Website Monroe County's Tennessee Local History Network Archive Website

Family History Centers

 * Knoxville Tennessee Family History Center
 * Loudon Tennessee Family History Center
 * Maryville Tennessee Family History Center
 * Blount County Library - an affiliate library.
 * Cleveland Bradley County Public Library History Branch - an affiliate library.
 * Knox County Public Library - an affiliate library.

Libraries
Madisonville Public Library 4023 Hwy 411, North Unit C Madisonville, TN 37354 Phone: 423-442-4085 Website

Societies
The Vonore Historical Society C/O The Vonore Library 611 Church St. Vonore, TN 37885 Website

Websites

 * Monroe County, TNGenWeb (USGenWeb)
 * Monroe County's Tennessee Local History Network (American Local History Network) Resources to help you place your ancestors within the context of their local history.
 * Monroe County TN Genealogy (ldsgenealogy.com)
 * – The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records.

Research Guides

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