Pickett County, Tennessee Genealogy

United States  Tennessee   Pickett County 

Pickett County, Tennessee genealogy and family history research page. Guide to Pickett County (established 1879) 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.

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

County Courthouse
&lt;img src="ef=" _fck_mw_filename="" alt="Pickett County Courthouse, Byrdstown, Tenn" /&gt;

&lt;a href="http://www.tax-rates.org/tennessee/pickett_county_property_tax"&gt;Pickett County Courthouse&lt;/a&gt; 1 Courthouse Square Byrdstown, TN 38549 Phone: 1-931-864-3359

County Health Department has birth records. County Clerk has marriage and probate records from 1935. Clerk and Master and Clerk Circuit Court has divorce records. Clerk Circuit Court has court records. Register of Deeds has land records.

&lt;a href="http://www.dalehollow.com/Government.htm#electedofficials"&gt;Pickett County Clerk&lt;/a&gt; Marriage and probate records 1 Courthouse Square, Suite 201 Byrdstown, TN 38549 Phone: 1-931-864-3879

&lt;a href="http://www.dalehollow.com/Government.htm#electedofficials"&gt;Pickett County Register of Deeds&lt;/a&gt; Land records 1 Courthouse Square, Suite 204 Byrdstown, TN 38549 Phone: 1-931-864-3316

&lt;a href="http://www.dalehollow.com/Government.htm#electedofficials"&gt;Pickett County Circuit Court Clerk&lt;/a&gt; Court records 1 Courthouse Square, Suite 100 Byrdstown, TN 38549 Phone: 1-931-864-3958

Hours: Mon., Tues., Thurs., and Fri. 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Wed. and Sat. 8 a.m.-noon

History
Middle Tennessee county.

The county is named after "Tennessee state legislator Howell L. Pickett."

Parent County
1879--Pickett County was established 27 February 1879 from &lt;a href="Overton County, Tennessee"&gt;Overton&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="Fentress County, Tennessee"&gt;Fentress&lt;/a&gt; Counties. Early records may be found under Overton and Fentress Counties. County seat: Byrdstown

County Pronunciation

 * 1) &lt;a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TNPickettWeller.ogg"&gt;Hear it spoken&lt;/a&gt; (female)
 * 2) &lt;a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TNPickett.ogg"&gt;Hear it spoken&lt;/a&gt; (male)

Boundary Changes
"Rotating Formation Tennessee County Boundary Maps" (1777-1985) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website. They rely on AniMap 3.0 software.

Record Loss
&lt;img _fck_mw_template="true" _fckrealelement="33" _fckfakelement="true" src="https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/extensions/FCKeditor/fckeditor/editor/images/spacer.gif" class="FCK__MWTemplate"&gt; 1934--Fire damaged records


 * Lost census: 1890
 * Lost marriages: 1879 to 1933
 * Lost probate; 1879 to 1932

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


 * &lt;a href="http://tnblog.arleneeakle.com/2009/04/13/when-the-records-are-gone/"&gt;Arlene Eakle, When the Records are Gone in Tennessee Genealogy Blog&lt;/a&gt;
 * &lt;a href="Burned Counties Research"&gt;Burned Counties Research in FamilySearch Wiki&lt;/a&gt;
 * &lt;a href="http://blogs.ancestry.com/circle/?p=2424"&gt;Michael John Neill, Burned Counties in Family History Circle&lt;/a&gt;

Resources
&lt;img src="/learn/wiki/en/images/b/b5/Tnpickett.png" _fck_mw_filename="Tnpickett.png" _fck_mw_location="right" _fck_mw_width="400" _fck_mw_type="thumb" alt="Tnpickett.png" class="fck_mw_frame fck_mw_right" style="width: 400;" /&gt;

Research Guides

 * &lt;a href="http://www.tn.gov/tsla/history/county/factpickett.htm"&gt;Genealogical "Fact Sheets" About Tennessee Counties: Pickett County&lt;/a&gt;, courtesy: &lt;a href="http://www.tennessee.gov/tsla/"&gt;TSLA&lt;/a&gt;. (Identifies published county histories, published local records, census records, newspapers and local records on microfilm, and select manuscripts.)

African American
&lt;a href="African American Research"&gt;United States African Americans&lt;/a&gt; &lt;img src="/learn/wiki/en/images/b/b1/Gotoarrow.png" _fck_mw_filename="Gotoarrow.png" alt="go to" /&gt; &lt;a href="African-American Resources for Tennessee"&gt;Tennessee African Americans&lt;/a&gt;

Cemeteries
&lt;img _fck_mw_template="true" _fckrealelement="31" _fckfakelement="true" src="https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/extensions/FCKeditor/fckeditor/editor/images/spacer.gif" class="FCK__MWTemplate"&gt;

Tennessee cemetery records often identify birth, death, relationship, and military information, as well as religious affiliation.


 * &lt;a href="http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gs&amp;"&gt;Find A Grave&lt;/a&gt; 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 &lt;a href="http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=csr&amp;CScn=&amp;CScntry=4&amp;CSst=45&amp;CScnty=2495"&gt;list of cemeteries in Pickett County&lt;/a&gt; linking to the information about the people buried there,


 * &lt;a href="http://www.tngenweb.org/records/cemeteries/index.php?function=county&amp;s_county=pickett"&gt;Pickett Co. TN Cemetery Records&lt;/a&gt;, part of the TNGenWeb Cemetery Database, lists many cemeteries in the county, often with indexes and transcripts of the burials.


 * &lt;a href="http://www.usgwtombstones.org/tennessee/pickett.html"&gt;Pickett County, Tennessee, USGenWeb Tombstone Transcription Project&lt;/a&gt; lists many cemeteries in the county and has transcripts of the tombstones arranged by cemetery.


 * The &lt;a href="https://www.familysearch.org/#form=catalog"&gt;Family History Library Catalog &lt;/a&gt;lists some &lt;img _fck_mw_template="true" _fckrealelement="29" _fckfakelement="true" src="https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/extensions/FCKeditor/fckeditor/editor/images/spacer.gif" class="FCK__MWTemplate"&gt;. Some of the books or others may be on &lt;a href="http://books.google.com/advanced_book_search"&gt;Google Books&lt;/a&gt; or available at public libraries.


 * &lt;a href="http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/localList.php?local=12612&amp;locTGroup=Cemeteries&amp;direction=down&amp;sec=0&amp;qty=45&amp;stateAbbv=&amp;stateName="&gt;ePodunk list of Pickett County cemeteries&lt;/a&gt;


 * Charles A. Reeves Jr. has created a detailed map showing the locations of Putnam County cemeteries. It may be purchased for a small fee through his &lt;a href="http://reevesmaps.com/map_catalog_cems.htm"&gt;website&lt;/a&gt;.

Census
1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 federal population censuses of Pickett County are available online. For tips on accessing census records online, see &lt;a href="Tennessee Census"&gt;Tennessee Census&lt;/a&gt;. 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 &lt;a _fcknotitle="true" href="Tennessee Population Schedule Indexes: Fiche, Film, or Book"&gt;Tennessee Population Schedule Indexes: Fiche, Film, or Book&lt;/a&gt; for more information about statewide printed indexes.

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. &lt;img _fck_mw_template="true" _fckrealelement="27" _fckfakelement="true" src="https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/extensions/FCKeditor/fckeditor/editor/images/spacer.gif" class="FCK__MWTemplate"&gt;. [Pickett County is included in Vol. 6.]
 * Sistler, Byron H. and Barbara Sistler. 1890 Civil War Veterans Census, Tennessee. Evanston, Ill.: Byron Sister and Associates, 1978. &lt;img _fck_mw_template="true" _fckrealelement="25" _fckfakelement="true" src="https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/extensions/FCKeditor/fckeditor/editor/images/spacer.gif" class="FCK__MWTemplate"&gt;.

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 &lt;a href="Elizabeth Shown Mills"&gt;Elizabeth Shown Mills&lt;/a&gt;, about an ancestor's "FAN Club" [Friends, Associates, and Neighbors]

General

As of August 2010, a query for &lt;a href="http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=Search&amp;includedb=&amp;lang=en&amp;ti=&amp;surname=&amp;stype=Exact&amp;given=&amp;bplace=Pickett+Tennessee&amp;byear=&amp;brange=0&amp;dplace=&amp;dyear=&amp;drange=0&amp;mplace=&amp;myear=&amp;mrange=0&amp;father=&amp;mother=&amp;spouse=&amp;skipdb=&amp;period=All&amp;submit.x=Search"&gt;persons born in Pickett, Tennessee&lt;/a&gt; at &lt;a href="World Connect"&gt;World Connect&lt;/a&gt;, results in more than 16,000 entries.


 * History and Genealogy of Families in Pickett County, Tennessee. [Tenn.]: Pickett County Book Committee, 1991. &lt;img _fck_mw_template="true" _fckrealelement="23" _fckfakelement="true" src="https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/extensions/FCKeditor/fckeditor/editor/images/spacer.gif" class="FCK__MWTemplate"&gt;.

Bibliography


 * [Huddleston] Huddleston, George. Huddleston Family Tables. Concord, NH: Rumford Press, 1933. Available at &lt;a href="http://fsbeta.familysearch.org/s/catalog/show?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fcatalog-search-api%3A8080%2Fwww-catalogapi-webservice%2Fitem%2F97171&amp;hash=rh2%2B403z7n4WII67nHOFMh25nvE%3D"&gt;FHL FAM HIST Book 929.273 H866h 1973&lt;/a&gt;; &lt;a href="http://fsbeta.familysearch.org/s/catalog/show?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fcatalog-search-api%3A8080%2Fwww-catalogapi-webservice%2Fitem%2F97171&amp;hash=rh2%2B403z7n4WII67nHOFMh25nvE%3D"&gt;FHL US/CAN Film 928072&lt;/a&gt;; digital version at &lt;a href="http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=16057"&gt;Ancestry&lt;/a&gt; ($); and &lt;a href="http://persi.heritagequestonline.com/hqoweb/library/do/books/results/image?urn=urn:proquest:US;glhbooks;Genealogy-glh17804674;2;-1;&amp;polarity=&amp;scale="&gt;Heritage Quest Online&lt;/a&gt; ($).
 * [Smith] Smith, Oma Ivadell. Smith-Garrett and Allied Families of Overton, Fentress and Pickett Counties, Tennessee: The Genealogy of Joseph Albert Smith and Nova Catherine Garrett. Jacksonville, Fla.: O. Smith, 1979. &lt;img _fck_mw_template="true" _fckrealelement="21" _fckfakelement="true" src="https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/extensions/FCKeditor/fckeditor/editor/images/spacer.gif" class="FCK__MWTemplate"&gt;.
 * [Swann] de Place, Velma LeeVerne. One Swann Family of America. Typescript, microfilmed in 1968. &lt;img _fck_mw_template="true" _fckrealelement="19" _fckfakelement="true" src="https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/extensions/FCKeditor/fckeditor/editor/images/spacer.gif" class="FCK__MWTemplate"&gt;.

Military
War of 1812


 * Embry, Hermione D. "War of 1812 - Tennessee Pensioners on List - January 2, 1883," Ansearchin' News, Vol. 8, No. 2 (Apr. 1961):49-52. FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 B2a v. 8 (1961); digital version at . [Includes Pickett County pensioners (p. 50).]
 * Transcription typed and formatted by Harold Keisling. Raised from men who were from Overton, Pickett and Fentress County, Tennessee. Courtesy:

Civil War


 * 1890 Census for Pickett, Fentress, &amp; Clay Counties (accessed 30 Jan 2012). Here is a listing of all Union Civil War veterans and their wives. It lists name, rank, company, town they lived in, any ailments, and county.
 * USGenWeb Archives, Pickett County Tennessee Archives (accessed 1 Feb 2012). Pensioners.
 * Tennessee State Library and Archives, Tennessee Confederate Pension Applications Pickett County, (accessed 1 Feb 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 1 Feb 2012). Online at Internet Archive. Pickett County, page 368.
 * TNGenWeb, Pickett County, Tennessee Military (accessed 1 Feb 2012).

Newspapers
Many Tennessee newspapers are filmed and available at 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

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 Pickett County, Tennessee records have been published in Ansearchin' News, the quarterly magazine of the . To view a list of these articles, visit their a 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 Overton County Historical Society Newsletter "This newsletter, although called 'Overton County,' covers all the area in Overton, Fentress, and Pickett County, Tennessee." - Vol. 7, no. 4 p. 2 Family History Library has volume 1 - 8 _Indexed in PERiodical Source Index Periodical Source Index (PERSI)For further information see Overton County Historical Society website: rootsweb

Probate
Pickett County Court has responsibility for the probate records.

Marriage
The original Pickett County marriage records are kept at the County Courthouse. Due to fire, the marriage records of Pickett County are lost until 1934. The following Pickett County marriage records are microfilmed: fckLR*[1934-1995] Available at the Tennessee.gov.


 * [1934-1961] Available at the Family History Library. Some volumes are indexed. Includes index.

The following Pickett County marriage records are abstracted and/or indexed:


 * This covers all counties in Tennessee.
 * Many county marriage records are indexed with images at Ancestry's . Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002($) Be aware that this index is not complete for many counties. Pickett County is not included in Sistler's Early Middle Tennessee Marriages.

Death


 * Tennessee Deaths and Burials 1874-1955 at Record Search Pilot at FamilySearch. Name index with extracted death certificate information. Search by surname then browse through the results. You may need to supply variant spellings of the names.

Deaths of Methodists in Pickett 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. digital versions at David Donahue Memorial: Tennessee Records Repository. (Website expands upon the publications and includes deaths from the 1830s, 1840s, 1910s and 1920s.)

Societies and Libraries
Pickett County Public Library 1331 Beason Rd. Byrdstown, TN 38549

Middle Tennessee Genealogical Society PO Box 330948 Nashville, TN, USA 37203-7507 The society serves the 40 counties of middle Tennessee of which Pickett County is one. It publishes The Middle Tennessee Journal of Genealogy and History, a quarterly containing articles of genealogical and historical interest. Little-known Tennessee records are published and indexed, along with family genealogies, Bible records and material submitted by members. There is an alphabetical Index to articles in the Journal 1988-summer 2005

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Web Sites

 * Pickett County, TN Family History and Genealogy Message Board (Ancestry)
 * Pickett County, TN History, Records, Facts and Genealogy (Familytree101)
 * Pickett County, TN Genealogy Forum (GenForum)
 * Pickett County, TNGenWeb (USGenWeb)
 * Rootwalker: Genealogy Pages for Northern Middle TN Free Genealogy Resources for the Region
 * RootsWeb Mailing List: TN-ROOTWALKER-L (North Central Tennessee Genealogy List)
 * RootsWeb Mailing List: TN-UPPER-CUMBERLAND-L (Upper Cumberland Tennessee Region Genealogy List)