Coffee County, Tennessee Genealogy

United States   Tennessee    Coffee County





Middle Tennessee county established in 1836.

County Courthouse
Coffee County Courthouse 300 Hillsboro Blvd. Manchester, Tennessee 37355 Phone: 931-723-5106

Coffee County Clerk Marriage and Probate records 1327 McArthur Street Manchester, TN 37355 Phone: 931-723-5106

Coffee County Register of Deeds Land records 1341 McArthur Street, Suite 2 Manchaster, TN 37355 Phone: 931-723-5130

Coffee County Circuit Court Clerk Court records P.O. Box 629 Manchaster, TN 37349 Phone: 931-723-5110

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

History
The county is named after "John Coffee (1772–1833), frontiersman, planter, and veteran of Creek War and War of 1812."

Parent County
1836--Coffee County was created 2 May 1836 from Warren, Franklin, and Bedford Counties. County seat: Manchester

Record Loss
1870 -- Courthouse burned and many records were damaged.

For further information on researching in burned counties, see the following:


 * Burned Counties Research in FamilySearch Wiki
 * Michael John Neill, Burned Counties in Family History Circle

Neighboring Counties

 * Bedford
 * Cannon
 * Franklin
 * Grundy
 * Moore
 * Rutherford
 * Warren

Research Guides

 * Genealogical "Fact Sheets" About Tennessee Counties: Coffee 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.)
 * "Coffee County Genealogical Research," The Middle Tennessee Journal of Genealogy and History, Vol. 6, No. 2 (Fall 1992). For possible FHL and online access, as well as indexes, see Periodicals.

Cemeteries
For a list of Coffee county cemeteries, click here.

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


 * [Chapman] Chapman, Clifford J. The Chapman Family Unknown: Unknown, 1966. Available at FHL FAM HIST Book 929.273 C366cc and FHL US/CAN Film 896942 Item 3; 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.

Local Histories

 * The Goodspeed Histories of Cannon, Coffee, DeKalb, Warren and White Counties: With Biographical Sketches and Aboriginal Map of Tennessee. McMinnville, TN: B. Lomond Press, 1972. Reprint. Originally published: Nashville, TN: Goodspeed Pub. Co., 1887. Available at FHL US/CAN Film 924077 Item 2. Digital version available at World Vital Records ($). Available for purchase at Quintin Publications.
 * Fairbanks, George Rainsford. History of the University of the South, at Sewanee, Tennessse. Jacksonville, Florida: H.&amp;W. B. Drew Co., 1905. Free digital copy.

Military
Civil War


 * Head, Thomas A. Campaigns and battles of the Sixteenth Regiment, Tennessee Volunteers, in the war between the states, with incidental sketches of the part performed by other Tennessee troops in the same war.1861-1865. Nashville, Tennessee: Cumberland Presbyterian Publishing House, 1885. Free digital copy

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 Coffee 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 Coffee 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 Coffee 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 Middle Tennessee Journal of Genealogy and History

Several genealogical articles with abstracts of records of Coffee County, Tennessee have been published in The Middle Tennessee Journal of Genealogy and History, the quarterly of the Middle Tennessee Genealogical Society (23+ Vols.). To view a list of these articles, visit their online Index to Articles (1988-2005). Surname indexes are also available online for Vols. 2-22. The website also offers back issues for sale in paper and on CD. The Family History Library has a complete collection of this quarterly FHL US/CAN Book 976.85 D25m.

Prisons
Learn if your Coffee County ancestors went to prison!


 * 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: Tennessee State Library and Archives.

Taxation
The following Coffee County tax records have been abstracted:


 * [1836] Duncan, Ruth Henley G. "Coffee County Tax List 1836," Ansearchin' News, Vol. 43, No. 1 (Spring 1996):15-19. For possible FHL and online access, as well as indexes, see Periodicals.
 * [1862] Direct Tax Assessments, 1862, Coffee County Historical Society Quarterly. Manchester TN: Jun 1990. Vol. 20 Iss. 1-2.
 * [1865-1870] Revenue Docket, 1865-70, Coffee County Historical Society Quarterly. Manchester TN: Jun 1990. Vol. 20 Iss. 1-2.
 * [1866] Tax List, 1866, Civil District 13, Coffee County Historical Society Quarterly. Manchester TN: 1997. Vol. 24 Iss. 1-4.
 * [1882] Tax List, 1882, Manchester, Coffee County Historical Society Quarterly. Manchester TN: Sep 1998. Vol. 25 Iss. 4.

Societies and Libraries
Coffee County Historical Society 101 W. Fort St. Box 2 Manchester, TN 37355-7502 Telephone (931)728-0145 or 728-9890

Family History Centers
Tullahoma Tennessee Old Shelbyville Hwy 130 Tullahoma, Coffee, Tennessee, United States Telephone: 913-455-5230

This is not a mailing address. Due to limited staff, Family History Centers are unable to respond to mail inquiries.

Web Sites

 * Coffee County, TN Family History and Genealogy Message Board (Ancestry)
 * Coffee County, TN Genealogy Forum (GenForum)
 * Coffee County, TNGenWeb (USGenWeb)
 * Family History Library Catalog (FamilySearch)
 * RootsWeb Mailing List: TN-SOUTHCENTRAL-L (South Central Tennessee List)