Montgomery County, Tennessee Genealogy

United States   Tennessee    Montgomery County





Middle Tennessee county established in 1796. The eastern half of the county belonged to the pioneer Cumberland Settlements.

County Courthouse


Montgomery County Courthouse 350 Pageant Lane Clarksville, TN 37040 Phone: 931-648-5700

Montgomery County Archives 350 Pageant lane, Suite 101-D Clarksville, TN 37040 Phone: 931-553-5159

Hours: Monday - Friday 9 am - 4 pm

History
The county is named after "John Montgomery (c. 1750–1794), leader of the Nickajack Expedition."

Parent County
1796--Montgomery County was established 9 April 1796. Originally organized as Tennessee County, North Carolina and the name was susequently changed to Montgomery County when Tennessee became a State. County seat: Clarksville

From 1788 to 1796 people living in what is now Montgomery County were in extinct Tennessee County. Their records for that period are now found in Robertson County, Tennessee.

Record Loss
1878, 1900--Fires damaged records

1999--Tornado damaged records


 * Lost censuses: 1800, 1810, 1890
 * Lack of marriage records: 1796 to 1837

Although these are not burned records, applying strategies used for burned counties may aid in compensating for their loss. For further information on researching in burned counties, see the following:


 * Arlene Eakle, When the Records are Gone in Tennessee Genealogy Blog
 * Burned Counties Research in FamilySearch Wiki
 * Michael John Neill, Burned Counties in Family History Circle

Research Guides

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

African Americans

 * Waldrep, G.C. "'Free Colored' Heads of Household in the 1820 Tennessee Census," available online, courtesy: Free African Americans website. [Includes free African Americans in this county.]

Cemeteries
Cemetery records often include birth, death, relationship, and military information. Local volunteers through Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness offer to take photographs of headstones found in Montgomery County cemeteries.

Census
1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 federal population censuses of Montgomery 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.

1800 - Lost, but a substitute is available, see Taxation.

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. FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 X2s 1810.

1820


 * Beach, Ursula S. and Ann E. Alley. 1798 Property Tax List and 1820 Census of Montgomery County, Tennessee. Clarksville, Tenn.: Beach &amp; Alley, 1969.
 * Bentley, Elizabeth P. Index to the 1820 Census of Tennessee. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1981.
 * Waldrep, G.C. "'Free Colored' Heads of Household in the 1820 Tennessee Census," available online, courtesy: Free African Americans website. [Includes free African Americans in this county.]

1820 Manufactures

The original manufactures schedules for the Eastern and Western Districts of Tennessee are kept at the NARA, Washington, D.C. FHL copies: FHL US/CAN Films 1024517-1024518.

The following book is a useful aid for finding the original records. A free online index, provided by Lineages, will help researchers determine if this resource can be of assistance:


 * National Archives. Indexes to Manufactures Census of 1820. 1920; reprint, Knightstown, Ind.: Bookmark, 1977. FHL US/CAN Book 973 X2m 1820; digital version at Lineages. [Covers this county.]

1850


 * Alley, Ann E. and Ursula Beach. 1850 Federal Census of Montgomery County, Tennessee. Clarksville, Tenn.: Alley and Beach, 1971.

1850 Agricultural Census


 * Green, Linda L. Tennessee 1850 Agricultural Census. 2 vols. Woodbridge, Va.: L.L. Green, 2000. FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 X2g v. 1 [Montgomery County is included in Vol. 1.]

1880


 * Sistler, Byron and Samuel Sistler. 1880 Census Montgomery County, Tennessee. Nashville, Tennessee : Byron Sistler &amp; Associates, 1998.

Court

 * Willis, Laura and Doris Dublin. Montgomery County, Tennessee County Court Minutes, December 1805 - December 1807. Available at FHL US/CAN Book 976.845 P2wL. Digital version available at World Vital Records ($).

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


 * Masters, Jack and Bill Puryear. Founding of the Cumberland Settlements: The First Atlas 1779-1804: Showing Who Came, How They Came, and Where They Put Down Roots. Gallatin, Tenn.: Warioto Press, 2009. FHL US/CAN Large Q Book 976.8 E7d. Supplements: FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 E7d supp. 1 ff. Purchase at Cumberland Pioneer Settlers.
 * Montgomery County Historical Society. Montgomery County, Tennessee Family History Book. Paducah, Ky.: Turner Pub. Co., 2000. FHL US/CAN Book 976.845 H2m.
 * Whitley, Edythe Johns Rucker. Red River Settlers: Records of the Settlers of Northern Montgomery, Robertson, and Sumner Counties, Tennessee. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1980. Available at FHL US/CAN Book 976.84 D2w. Digital versions available at Ancestry ($) and World Vital Records ($).

Bibliography


 * [Bishop] Gray, John W. The life of Joseph Bishop, the Celebrated Old Pioneer in the First Settlements of Middle Tennessee. Nashville, Tennessee: s.p., 1858. Free digital copy.
 * [Haggard] Haggard, David D. History of the Haggard Family in England and America, 1433 to 1899. Bloomington, IL: Unknown, 1899. Available at FHL US/CAN Film 982126 Item 3; digital versions at BYU Family History Archives; Ancestry ($); and Heritage Quest Online ($).
 * [Hutchison] Winthurst, Phyllis. The Hutchison Chronicles: Some Stories of the Nine Generations of Descendants of John and Margaret Hutchison, Prince William and Shenandoah Counties, Virginia and Montgomery County, Tennessee. Tucson, Ariz.: P.R. Winthurst, 1998. FHL FAM HIST Book 929.273 H975w.
 * [Jameson] See Jamison.
 * [Jamison] Jamison, Henry Downs. The Jamison Family, 1647-1960: Genealogical Records and Memoranda. Nashville, TN: Unknown, 1960. Available at FHL FAM HIST Book 929.273 J245ja; FHL US/CAN Film 854155 Item 2; digital versions at Ancestry ($); and Heritage Quest Online ($).
 * [Spain] See Jamison.
 * [Trotter] Trotter, Susie Eager. Trotter Genealogy: The Virginia-Tennessee-Mississippi Trotter Line, 1725-1948. Louisville, KY: Press of Mayes Print. Co., 1948. Available at FHL US/CAN Film 1401448; digital versions at Ancestry ($); and Heritage Quest Online ($).

Land
Deeds


 * Willis, Laura. Montgomery County, TN, Deeds. Melber, Kentucky: Simmons Historical, 1996. 5 volumes. Available at FHL US/CAN Book 976.845 R29w. Digital versions of selected volumes available at World Vital Records ($): Volume 1 1796-1800; Volume 4 1805-1809; and Volume 5 1808-1812. All volumes available for purchase at Simmons Historical Publications.

Land Grants


 * Free index to 1500+ Pioneer Cumberland Settlements Land Grants, available online, courtesy: Cumberland Pioneer Settlers. The Cumberland Settlements region covered what is now this county. To view the land grants platted on maps, purchase the books described on this site, or access those available at the Family History Library FHL US/CAN Large Q Book 976.8 E7d.

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. To read more about this valuable resource Click here. The searchable index is available at TSLA; another version is available at World Vital Records.

Local Histories

 * Albright, Edward. Early History of Middle Tennessee. Nashville, Tennessee: Brandon Printing Co., 1909. Free digitzed copy.
 * Montgomery County Tennessee. Clarksville, Tennessee: c1900. Booklet advertising the amenities of Montgomery county in 1900. Free digitzed copy.

Maps

 * [1870] Ruger, A. Bird's Eye View of the City of Clarksville, Montgomery County, Tennessee. Originally published 1870. Purchase at ReevesMaps.com; website includes a scaled-down version of the map.
 * [1877] Map of Montgomery County, TN. Originally published 1877. Purchase at ReevesMaps.com; website includes a scaled-down version of the map.

Military
Spanish American War


 * Hale, Will T. The First Tennessee Regiment, United States Volunteers. Nashville, 1899. Free digital copy.

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 Montgomery County click on the following city:


 * Clarksville

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 Montgomery 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 Montgomery County, Tennessee records 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.

The Corn Sheller

The Family History Library has Volume 14, no 2 (Feb. 1991) FHL US/CAN 976-845 D25c See Montomgery County Historical Society website for further information: http://www.mchsociety.org/

Family Findings

Several genealogical articles with abstracts of Montgomery 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 Montgomery 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.

The Montgomery County Genealogical Journal

The Family History Library has Volume 1 - 10 (1972 - 1981)FHL US/CAN 976.845 B2m Indexed in PERiodical Source Index (PERSI)

The River Counties

Several genealogical articles with abstracts of Montgomery County, Tennessee records were published in The River Counties Quarterly, (14 vols.) edited by Jill K. Garrett. The Family History Library has a complete collection FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 B2rc.

Prisons
Learn if your Montgomery County ancestors went to prison!


 * Inmates of the Tennessee State Penitentiary 1831-1850, free index available online, courtesy: TSLA.
 * Inmates of the Tennessee State Penitentiary 1851-1870, free index available online, courtesy: TSLA.

Probate
The organization Strictly By Name provides free online indexes to early Montgomery County probate records. They offer a record retrieval service to photocopy and transcribe microfilm copies of the original documents for a small fee. Available indexes:


 * 1) Will Book A: 1796-1809
 * 2) Will Book B: 1810-1818
 * 3) Will Book C: 1819-1821
 * 4) Will Book D: 1818-1826
 * 5) Will Book E: 1826-1829
 * 6) Will Book F: 1829-1834

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


 * [1795-1861] 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.]
 * [1796-1834] Strictly By Name (see above).
 * [1796-1826] Willis, Laura. Montgomery County, Tennessee Wills and Administrations [1796-1826]. Melber, KY: Simmons Historical Pub., c1995. All 14 volumes (1796-1830) are available for purchase at Simmons Historical Publications. 10 volumes available at FHL US/CAN Book 976.845 P2w. Digital versions of select volumes available at World Vital Records ($):



Taxation
The following Montgomery County tax records have been abstracted:


 * [1789] Cumberland Settlements, Tax List, 1789, The Middle Tennessee Journal of Genealogy and History, Vol. 4, No. 2 (Fall 1990). For possible FHL and online access, as well as indexes, see Periodicals.
 * [1798] Beach, Ursula S. and Ann E. Alley. 1798 Property Tax List and 1820 Census of Montgomery County, Tennessee. Clarksville, Tenn.: Beach &amp; Alley, 1969.
 * [1798] O'Hara, Virginia G. "Taxable Property in the County of Montgomery (Tennessee) - 1798," Ansearchin' News, Vol. 11, No. 2 (April 1964):63-68; Vol. 11, No. 3 (July 1964):127-132. For FHL and online access, as well as indexes, see Periodicals.
 * [1798] Sistler, Byron and Barbara Sistler. Index to Early Tennessee Tax Lists. Evanston, Ill.: B. &amp; B. Sistler, 1977. FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 R4s. [Includes 1798 tax list.]
 * [1798] Tax List, 1798, Tennessee Genealogy and History, Vol. 2, No. 1 (Apr. 1998).
 * [1798] Douthat, James L. Montgomery County, Tennessee 1798 Tax List. Signal Mountain, Tenn.: Mountain Press, 200-?. FHL US/CAN Book 976.845 R4d.
 * [1798] "1798 Montgomery County Tax List (partial - companies later part of Stewart County)," available online, courtesy: TNGenWeb.
 * [1799] "1799 Unpaid Montgomery County TN taxes," available online, courtesy: TNGenWeb. [Source: Tennessee Gazette, 23 June 1802.]
 * [1800] Tax List, 1800, Montgomery County Genealogical Journal, Vol. 4, No. 2 (Dec. 1974).
 * [1800] Tatum, Ausborn C. "Montgomery County, Tennessee Tax List 1800," Ansearchin' News, Vol. 31, No. 2 (Summer 1984):77-82. For FHL and online access, as well as indexes, see Periodicals. Free digital version at Montgomery Co., TNGenWeb.
 * [1801] "Unpaid 1801 Montgomery County Taxes," available online, courtesy: TNGenWeb. [Source: Tennessee Gazette, 1 Jan. 1803.]
 * [1802] "1802 Unpaid Montgomery County Taxes," available online, courtesy: TNGenWeb. [Source: Tennessee Gazette, 7 Sep. 1803.]
 * [1804] Tax List and Delinquents, 1804, Montgomery County Genealogical Journal, Vol. 1, No. 2 (Dec. 1971).
 * [1817] "U.S. Holds 1817 Public Sale of Federal Tax-Delinquent Properties in Tennessee," Ansearchin' News, Vol. 43, No. 2 (Summer 1996):63-68. For possible FHL and online access, as well as indexes, see Periodicals. [Includes Montgomery County.]
 * [1818] Public Sale for Delinquent Property Tax, 1818, Montgomery County Genealogical Journal, Vol. 7, No. 2 (Dec. 1977).
 * [1826] Tax Collectors, 1826, Montgomery County Genealogical Journal, Vol. 3, No. 2 (Dec. 1973).
 * [1836] Tax List, 1836, Montgomery County Genealogical Journal, Vol. 4, No. 3 (Mar. 1975); Vol. 4, No. 4 (Jun. 1975); Vol. 5, No. 1 (Sep. 1975).
 * [1841] Tax Credits Issued, 1841, Montgomery County Genealogical Journal, Vol. 8, No. 1 (Sep. 1978).
 * [1842] Delinquent Taxes, 1842, Montgomery County Genealogical Journal, Vol. 10, No. 2 (Dec. 1980).
 * [1858-1861] Tax Sales for Districts 18 and 19, 1858-61 (sel.), Duck's Old Time Journal (Jan. 2002).
 * [1859-1860] Property Assessment List, 1859-60, Montgomery County Genealogical Journal, Vol. 1, No. 3 (Mar. 1972).
 * [1865] "Montgomery County Land Sold for Unpaid 1865 Taxes," Ansearchin' News, Vol. 46, No. 2 (Summer 1999):17. For possible FHL and online access, as well as indexes, see Periodicals.
 * [1867] Tax Sales, Districts 16-20, 1867, Duck's Old Time Journal (Aug. 2003).
 * [1882] Tax Assessors List, 1882, Duck's Old Time Journal (Feb. 2000).
 * [1919] Automobile Tax Increase, 1919, Duck's Old Time Journal (Jan. 2006).

Vital Records
Birth

Marriage

Marriages were not officially recorded in Montgomery 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 Montgomery County marriage records have been abstracted and/or indexed:


 * [1838-1870] Lucas, Silas Emmett and Ella Lee Sheffield. 35,000 Tennessee Marriage Records and Bonds 1783-1870. 3 vols. Easley, S.C.: Southern Historical Press, 1981. FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 V2t v. 1 ff. [Abstracts include names of brides, grooms, bondsmen, marriage bond dates, and officiators for weddings in this county for the roughly specified years. Marriage data taken from an index card file at TSLA. Authors do not specify whether or not the card index completely indexes this county's marriages.]
 * [1838-1867] Sistler, Byron and Barbara Sistler. Early Middle Tennessee Marriages. 2 vols. Nashville, Tenn.: B. Sistler &amp; Associates, 1988. FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 V2sb v. 2 ff. [Indexes names of brides and grooms, and marriage dates for weddings in this county for the specified years.]
 * [1838-1869] Montgomery County, Tennessee, Marriage Records. 3 vols. (1838-1874). Purchase at Simmons Historical Publications. Select digitized volumes are available at World Vital Records ($):


 * Vol. 1 Grooms (1838-1857)
 * Vol. 2 Brides (1858-1869)
 * Vol. 2 Grooms (1857-1869)

Death

For deaths of Methodists in Montgomery 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.]

Societies and Libraries
Montgomery County Historical Society 189 10th Street Clarksville, TN 37040-6323 Phone: 931-553-2486 P.O. Box 262 zip 37041-0262 Email: mchs@mchsociety.org

Middle Tennessee Genealogical Society PO Box 330948 Nashville, TN, USA 37203-7507 The society serves the 40 counties of middle Tennessee of which Montgomery 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

Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library 350 Pageant Lane Clarksville, TN 37040 Phone: 931-648-8826 Hours: Monday - Thursday 9 am - 8 pm Friday - Saturday 9 am - 6 pm Sunday 1 pm - 5 pm Library has a nice genealogy section with an index of what is available in the library as well as online sources.

Family History Centers
Clarksville Tennessee 3242 Hwy 41-A S Clarksville, Montgomery, Tennessee, United States Telephone: 931-358-5264

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

Web Sites

 * Cumberland Pioneer Settlers Cumberland Compact Signers, Pioneer Land Grant Recipients, Publication Descriptions, Free Book Indexes
 * Family History Library Catalog (FamilySearch)
 * Montgomery County, TN Family History and Genealogy Message Board (Ancestry)
 * Montgomery County, TN Genealogy Forum (GenForum)
 * Montgomery 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)