Carter County, Tennessee Genealogy

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

Description
The County was named for General Landon Carter, the son of John Carter of Virginia, who was "chairman of the court" of the first majority-rule system of American democracy, known as the Watauga Association of 1772. The County is located in the northeast area of the state.

County Courthouse
Carter County Courthouse 801 E Elk Avenue Elizabethton, TN 37643 Carter County Website County Clerk Phone: 423-542-1814

Carter County Clerk of Circuit Court 900 E Elk Ave Ste 906 Elizabethton, TN 37643 Clerk of Circuit Court Phone: 423-542-1835

County Clerk has probate records from 1800. Chancery and Circuit Court has divorce and court records. Register of Deeds has land record. County Pronunciation
 * 1) Hear it spoken (female)
 * 2) Hear it spoken (male)

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

The county is named after Landon Carter (1710-1778), Speaker of the State of Franklin senate.

The land of Carter County was first organized by the State of Franklin in March 1786 from part of Washington County under the name Wayne (old). Wayne seems to have included at least the present area of Carter and Johnson Counties. However, the Franklin statehood effort collapsed by 1789. Wayne (old) County existed only briefly, its legality is questionable, and little trace remains. It was not recognized by the subsequent North Carolina, Southwest Territory, or Tennessee governments.

In 1796 the first county reconstituted by the new State of Tennessee was Franklin's Wayne (old) County, only it was called Carter County. Now the land on which the lost county of Wayne (old) County was located is known as Carter County and Johnson.

East Tennessee county established in 1796. Originally part of the pioneer Watauga Settlements, from 1785 to 1789, this land was also claimed by the abortive, short-lived State of Franklin.

Business, Commerce, and Occupations

 * Miller, Alan N. East Tennessee's Forgotten Children: Apprentices from 1778 to 1911. Baltimore, Md.: Printed for Clearfield Company, Inc., by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2000. . Digital version at World Vital Records ($). Purchase at Genealogical.com. Includes Carter County.
 * Medical Licenses 1889-1928. Southeastern Genealogy ($)

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

Tennessee, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1810-1891 -  Ancestry ($)

Lost

1800 Lost, but a substitute is available, see Carter.

1810 Lost, but a substitute is available:


 * Sherrill, Charles A. The Reconstructed 1810 Census of Tennessee: 33,000 Long-lost Records from Tax Lists, Court Minutes, Church Records, Wills, Deeds and Other Sources. Mt. Juliet, Tenn.: C.A. Sherrill, 2001..

1820 Lost

1810-1891


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

1820 Manufactures

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

These records have also been abstracted:


 * National Archives. Indexes to Manufactures Census of 1820. 1920; reprint, Knightstown, Ind.: Bookmark, 1977..

1820 Census of Manufactures


 * 1820 Census of Manufactures: Carter County, East Tennessee Roots, Vol. 7, No. 3 :114. For availability, see Carter.

1830


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

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, Carter County on page 152.

1850


 * Bishop, Brenda C. 1850 Census, Carter County, Tennessee. Elizabethton, Tenn.: B.C. Bishop, 1988..

1860


 * Bishop, Brenda C. 1860 Census, Tennessee, Carter County Transcription. Elizabethton, Tenn.: B.C. Bishop, 1985..

1880


 * Sistler, Byron and Barbara Sistler. 1880 Census - Tennessee: Transcription for Carter County. Easley, S.C.: Southern Historical Press, 198-?..

1890 Lost, but substitutes are available:


 * Reed, Sue S. Enumeration of Male Inhabitants of Twenty-one Years of Age and Upward, Citizens of Tennessee, January 1, 1891, as Provided for by an Act of General Assembly of Tennessee, Passed January 15, 1891, and Approved January 22, 1891. 8 vols. Houston, Texas: S.S. Reed, 1989. . Carter County is included in Vol. 7.
 * Sistler, Byron H. and Barbara Sistler. 1890 Civil War Veterans Census, Tennessee. Evanston, Ill.: Byron Sister and Associates, 1978..

1891 Voters


 * Tennessee Enumeration of Male Voters 1891 at Ancestry $

Church Records
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.

Baptist
 * Sinking Creek. Typescript of church minutes (1783-1879) is available online.

Carter County Church Records


 * - FamilySearch Catalog -


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


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


 * In 1936, a helpful guide to early Carter 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 appropriate "county fact sheet" on the TSLA Web site and scroll down to "selected manuscript material". All filmed church records at the TSLA for Carter county are listed.

Court Records
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.

Emigration and Immigration
During the War of 1812, American officials reported finding a total of 3 British aliens, some of whom had families, living in Carter County. This information was found in:
 * Kenneth Scott. British Aliens in the United States During the War of 1812. Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1979, 372-378 (see East Tennessee). FHL US/CAN 973 W4s; digital version at Ancestry ($)

Genealogies
More than 30 genealogies have been published about Carter County families. For more information visit Carter County, Tennessee Compiled Genealogies.

Gordon Aronhime (1911-1983) collected information on hundreds of Southwest Virginia and East Tennessee pioneers. His note cards, which reference more than 4,000 early settlers of the Holston-Clinch River area and East Tennessee (1770s-1790s), are held at the Library of Virginia. The cards have been digitized and made available online.

Land and Property Records
Deeds

The original Carter County Deed Books are held at the Courthouse]. In the 1970s, the [[Tennessee State Library and Archives|TSLA microfilmed Deed Books A to T (1796-1884), indexes, and Trust Deed Book 1874-1892. Copies of their microfilms are also available at the Family History Library:.

The organization Strictly By Name provides online indexes to early Carter County land records. They offer a research service to photocopy and transcribe microfilm copies of the original documents for a small fee. Available indexes:


 * Deed Book A: 1796-1806
 * Deed Book B: 1806-1815
 * McIver, Mary. Abstracts of Carter County, Tennessee Deeds, 1796-1825. Privately published, 1985. LC 84-90648
 * See Southeastern Genealogy ($) for Deeds Book A, 1796-1806; Book B, 1806-1815; Book C, 1814-1825; Book D, 1825-1836; Book E, 1836-1841; Book F, 1837-1838; Book G, 1838-1841; Book H, 1838-1840; Book J, 1841-1843; Book K, 1843-1847; Book M, 1851-1854; Book N, 1854-1859; Book O, 1858-1866

Local Land Entries Issued by North Carolina

The original Carter County land entries issued by North Carolina are kept at the North Carolina State Archives in Raleigh. On their website, users can bring up a list of land entries issued in Carter County, both before and after it became a part of the state of Tennessee. Years covered: 1801-1820.

Instructions:


 * 1) Follow this link to conduct a "Call Number Search" using the MARS Catalog on their site.
 * 2) Using the pull down window, change "Call Numbers starting" to "A MarsID matching."
 * 3) Type 12.14.1 (Windows Vista users may need to include a period after the last digit, for example 12.14.1.) and click Search. This is the specific MarsID for Carter County.
 * 4) Click on the entry that is returned: "Tennessee, Carter County."
 * 5) In the window that pops up, click Show List of Child Records and a list of Carter County land entries will be produced. Browse to find abstracts of the original records.

N.B. You can also search by name through the Basic Search, but it lacks soundex capabilities.
 * Land Entries, Districts 1-13; Land Entries 1824-1828; 1828-1887; Land Surveys 1822-1849; 1824-1828;1849 -1923 Southeastern Genealogy ($)

Local Histories

 * Carter County History Book Committee. Carter County, Tennessee, and its People, 1796-1993. Elizabethton TN: Carter County Book Committee, PO Box 176, Elizabethton, TN, 1993. LC 93-60910
 * Co-operative Town Company of Tennessee. The New Co-Operative Town of Tennessee. Knoxville, Tennessee, 1890. Free digital copy.
 * Depew, Michael and Lanette. Images of America. Elizabethton [Tennessee]. Charleston SC: Arcadia Pub., 2004. A pictorial history of Elizabethton, Tennessee.
 * Nave, Robert T. A History of the Iron Industry in Carter County to 1860. Privately published: RT Nave, 509 Woodhaven Dr., Johnson City, TN 37604, 1998. Also includes iron works in now Johnson County.
 * Turner, Francis Marion. Life of General John Sevier New York: The Neale Publishing Co., 1910. Free digital copy.

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Maps of Tennessee (1777-1985)
 * 1796 Reeves, Charles A. Carter County [Tennessee] - Created April 1796 from Washington County. Published 2000. Purchase at ReevesMaps.com; website includes a scaled-down version of the map.

Military Records
Revolutionary War The following Carter County Revolutionary War records are available online through TNGenWeb:


 * 1835 Pension Roll
 * 1852 Rejected or Suspended Pensions

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, Carter County on page 152.
 * "Carter County Tennessee -- Pensioners 1835," available online, courtesy: TNGenWeb.
 * Census of Pensioners, 1840, Eastern District (sel.), Sullivan County Genealogical Society Journal, Vol. 8, No. 1 (Spring 2004).
 * 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.
 * Rejected or Suspended Rev. War Pensions, June 7, 1832, Watauga Association of Genealogists Bulletin, Vol. 36, No. 1 (2007).
 * Watauga Story, Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine, Vol. 108, No. 2 (Feb. 1974).

War of 1812
 * Embry, Hermione D. "War of 1812 - Tennessee Pensioners on List - January 2, 1883," Ansearchin' News, Vol. 7, No. 1 (Jan. 1960):13-16; Vol. 7, No. 2 (Apr. 1960):40-45. ; digital version at journal website. [Includes Carter County pensioners 7(1):16, 7(2):40.]

Civil War


 * 1861-1865 - at FamilySearch
 * 1861-1865 - at FamilySearch
 * 1861-1865 - U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry
 * 1861-1865 - U.S., Union Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry
 * 1891-1965 - at FamilySearch
 * Civil War Research Database
 * Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System

Confederate Soldiers


 * 1st Regiment, Tennessee Cavalry (Carter's) - CSA - Company M.
 * 59th Regiment, Tennessee Mounted Infantry (Cooke's) (Eakin's 1st Battalion) - CSA - Company C.

Union Soldiers


 * 8th Regiment, Tennessee Cavalry - Companies E and F.
 * 13th Regiment, Tennessee Cavalry - Companies A, B, C, G, H, L and M.

Additional sources for Civil War soldiers from Carter County:


 * History of the Thirteenth Regiment, Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry, U. S. A ... By Samuel W. Scott and Samuel P Angel, has information, including some biographies of Carter County people. Available at ; digital version on Google Books or Internet Archive.
 * USGenWeb Archives, Carter County Tennessee Archives, (accessed 30 Jan 2012). Civil War Records.
 * Tennessee State Library and Archives, Tennessee Confederate Pension Applications: Carter 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), (accessed 30 Jan 2012). Online at Internet Archive. Carter County, page 323-324.

Newspapers
Many Tennessee newspapers are filmed and available at the 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.


 * Click Elizabethton For a list of newspapers available at the archives for Carter County.
 * 1908-1925 - Nikazy, Eddie M. Abstracts of Tennessee Death Records for Carter County, Tennessee, 1908-1925. Bowie, Md.: Heritage Books, 1992..
 * Nikazy, Eddie M. Carter County, Tennessee Death, Record Abstracts, 1926-1934. Bowie, Md.: Heritage Books, 1994..

For deaths of Methodists in Carter County between the 1830s and the 1920s, try:
 * 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 1830s, 1840s, 1910s and 1920s.

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;.


 * Watauga Association of Genealogists Bulletin: Published by Watauga Association of Genealogists. The table of contents for some issues are found on their website; ; Bulletin Subject Index: The First Thirty Years, 1972-2001 (Johnson City, Tenn.: Watauga Association of Genealogists, 2002).

Probate Records
Loose probate files exist at the Carter covering the years 1796 to 1915. They were microfilmed by GSU in 1999:.

Online Records
 * 1779-2008 - Tennessee Wills and Probate Records 1779-2008 at Ancestry $
 * 1794-1970 - Carter County portion of at FamilySearch - images only; handwritten indexes may be found at the front or back of some volumes.
 * 1794-1937 - Will Books 1-3: 1794-1937 at Strictly By Name They offer a record retrieval service to photocopy and transcribe microfilm copies of the original documents for a small fee.
 * 1794-1830 - Images of Carter County Wills 1794-1830. Southeastern Genealogy ($)
 * 1794-1830 - Index to Wills 1794-1830; Index to Wills before 1860. Southeastern Genealogy ($)
 * 1836-1872; 1886-1932 Wills 1836-72; Wills 1886-1932 at Southeastern Genealogy ($)
 * 1865-1876 Administrator Bonds 1865-1876 at Southeastern Genealogy ($)
 * 1856-1909 Settlements of Administrators and Guardians 1879-1909; Settlements of Administrators, Guardians, Bonds, Bastardy 1856-1899; Insolvent Estates 1836-1872 at Southeastern Genealogy ($)
 * 1876-1954 Bonds 1876-1924; 1878-1954; Administrators Bonds 1924-1938; Executors Bonds 1954-1969 at Southeastern Genealogy ($)
 * 1839-1855 Images of Inventories and Estates 1839-1855 at Southeastern Genealogy ($)

Book Abstracts or Indexes


 * 1794-1861 - 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!

Tax Records
TSLA microfilmed the original Carter County Tax Books 1860-1880 (gaps) in 1971. FHL copies:.

Book Abstracts and Indexes
 * 1796 Taxpayers, 1796, East Tennessee Historical Society Publications. Knoxville TN: 1958. Vol. - Iss. 30.
 * 1796 Creekmore, Pollyanna. Early East Tennessee Taxpayers. Easley, S.C.: Southern Historical Press, 1980. and Silas Emmett Lucas's Revised Index . Includes 1796 tax list.
 * 1796, 1798 Sistler, Byron and Barbara Sistler. Index to Early Tennessee Tax Lists. Evanston, Ill.: B. &amp; B. Sistler, 1977. Includes 1796 and 1798 tax lists.
 * 1796, 1798 Curtis, Mary Barnett. Early East Tennessee Tax Lists. Fort Worth, Texas: Arrow Printing Company, 1964. . Includes 1796 and 1798 tax lists.
 * 1798-1798 Tax List, Carter County, East Tennessee Roots, Vol. 9, No. 4. For possible FHL and online access, as well as indexes, see Carter. Includes digital images of the original source.
 * 1799 Tax List, 1799, Watauga Association of Genealogists Bulletin. Johnson City TN: Summer 1972. Vol. 1 Iss. 2.
 * 1834 Tax List, 1834, Watauga Association of Genealogists Bulletin. Johnson City TN: 1979. Vol. 8 Iss. 1-2; 2000. Vol. 29 Iss. 2; 2001. Vol. 30 Iss. 1.
 * 1836 Douthat, James L. Carter County, Tennessee, 1836 Tennessee, Civil Districts and Tax Lists. Signal Mountain, Tenn.: Mountain Press, 1993. ; online: surname index and purchase details.
 * 1874-1877 - Nathaniel Edens Hyder Tax Collection Journal Excerpts, 1874-1877, Distr. 1-4, Watauga Association of Genealogists Bulletin. Johnson City TN: 2007. Vol. 36 Iss. 1.
 * Tax Digests, Land Entries, Districts 1-13; Land Entries 1824-1828; 1828-1887; Land Surveys 1822-1849; 1824-1828; 1849 -1923 Southeastern Genealogy ($)

Birth
Online Records
 * 1828-1939 - at FamilySearch
 * 1869-1909 - Tennessee Delayed Birth Records 1869-1909 at Ancestry $
 * 1881-1885 - Carter County Birth Index 1881-1885. Batch at FamilySearch
 * 1908-1912 - at FamilySearch
 * Births & Deaths 1881-1912 Southeastern Genealogy ($)

Marriage
'Online Indexes and Records
 * 1625-1966 - Tennessee, United States Marriages at FindMyPast
 * 1780-2002 - Tennessee State Marriages 1780-2002 at Ancestry $
 * 1780-2002 - at FamilySearch
 * 1790-1962 - - at FamilySearch. index and images. Covers all counties in Tennessee.
 * 1796-1950 - (Indexes only) at FamilySearch
 * 1838-1888 - at FamilySearch
 * 1851-1900 - Tennessee Marriages 1851-1900 at Ancestry $
 * Marriages-1790-1820; 1820-1829; 1830-39; 1840-1850; 1887-1892 (and index); 1896-1900 (and index); Southeastern Genealogy ($)

Book Abstracts and Indexes
 * 1796-1825 - "Carter County, TN - VITALS - Marriages, 1796 - 1825," available online,
 * 1796-1876 - Early East Tennessee Marriages. 2 vols..

Death
Online Records
 * 1874-1955 - at FamilySearch
 * 1908-1958 - Tennessee Death Records 1908 - 1958 at Ancestry $
 * 1914-1966 - at FamilySearch
 * 1881-1912 - Births & Deaths 1881-1912 Southeastern Genealogy ($)

Divorce

 * W.P.A. Guide to Public Vital Statistics in Tennessee. Nashville, Tenn.: The Tennessee Historical Records Survey, 1941. FamilySearch Digital Library; - Inventory stating where divorce records are housed.

Archives
Archives of Appalachia East Tennessee State University Sherrod Library, 4th floor P.O. Box 70295 Johnson City, TN 37614 Phone: 423-439-4338 Website
 * The Archives of Appalachia is a keeper of memories. Collect, preserve, and share the written words, sounds, and images of the people of Appalachia. House nearly 18 million manuscripts, 56,000 sound recordings, and 250,000 still and moving images.

Libraries
Elizabethton/Carter County Public Library 201 N. Sycamore St. Elizabethton, TN 37643 Phone: 423-547-6360 Fax: 423-542-1510 Website Facebook Page
 * Includes the Paty-McCellan-Dungan Archives Room which includes census records, city directories, county records, local history books. Volunteers are available to assist with research on the first Thursday night of each month from 6:30 p.m.-8 p.m.

Charles C. Sherrod Library East Tennessee State University P.O. Box 70665 Johnson City, TN 37614 Phone: Information desk Phone: 423-439-4307 Website
 * The Sherrod Library has genealogical information concerning the East Tennessee Region.

Societies
East Tennessee Historical Society 601 S. Gay St. P.O. Box 1629 Knoxville, TN 37901-1629 Phone: 865-215-8824 E-mail: eths@east-tennessee-history.org Website

Websites

 * Carter County, TN Family History and Genealogy Message Board (Ancestry)
 * Carter County, TN Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Carter County, TN Genealogy Forum (GenForum)
 * Carter County, TNGenWeb (USGenWeb)
 * – 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
Research Guides
 * Genealogical "Fact Sheets" About Tennessee Counties: Carter County, courtesy: TSLA. (Identifies published county histories, published local records, census records, newspapers and local records on microfilm, and select manuscripts.)