Hamblen County, Tennessee Genealogy

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

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

County Courthouse


Hamblen County Courthouse 511 W 2nd N Street Morristown, TN 37814 Phone: 423.586.9112 County Clerk has marriage and probate records from 1870. Clerk and Master has divorce records. Clerk Circuit Court has court records. Register of Deeds has land records.

Hamblen County Courthouse 511 West Second North Street Morristown, TN 37814 Phone: 1-423-586-9112

Hamblen County Clerk Marriage records 511 West Second North St. Administrative Building, 2nd floor Morristown, TN 37814 Phone: 1-423-586-1993

Hamblen County Chancery Court Clerk Probate records 511 West Second North St. Morristown, TN 37814 Phone: 1-423-586-9112

Hamblen County Circuit Court Clerk Court records Hamblen County Justice Center 510 Allison St. Morristown, TN 37814 Phone: 1-423-586-5640

Hamblen County Register of Deeds Land records 511 West Second North St. Administrative Building, 3rd floor Phone: 1-423-586-2505

Hours: Mon.-Thurs. 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Fri. 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

History


East Tennessee county established in 1870. From 1784 to 1788, this land was claimed by the abortive, and short-lived State of Franklin.

Hamblen County is named after Tennessee pioneer Hezekiah Hamblen.

The land which eventually became Hamblen County was first organized by the State of Franklin in March 1786 from parts of Greene and Sullivan counties under the name of Spencer later Hawkins County, and from part of Greene County under the name Caswell County.)., However, the Franklin statehood effort faded by 1789. Spencer and Caswell counties existed only briefly, their legality is questionable, and little trace remains.

The records of lost Spencer County are now found on the Wiki The records of lost Caswell County are now found on the Wiki

North Carolina and the Southwest Territory did not recognize any of Franklin's new counties. Later in 1786 the North Carolina legislature created a parallel-county of Franklin's Spencer County and called it Hawkins County. It was known by both county names while Frankln's statehood efforts lasted up to 1788. Since then the land on which the lost county of Spencer County was located has been called Hawkins County, Tennessee.

In 1792 the Southwest Territory using land from its Greene and Hawkins counties erected a new county named Jefferson County. In 1796 all these lands also became part of the new State of Tennessee, and Grainger County was split off from Hawkins County.

In 1870 Tennessee used parts of Hawkins, Grainger, and Jefferson counties to form Hamblen County.

Parent County
1870--Hamblen County was created 8 June 1870 from parts of Grainger, Jefferson, and Hawkins Counties. County seat: Morristown

County Pronunciation

 * 1) Hear it spoken (female)
 * 2) Hear it spoken (male)

Boundary Changes
For animated maps illustrating Tennessee county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Tennessee County Boundary Maps" (1777-1985) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Record Loss
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Getting Started
Use the free Search for Surnames at Mountain Press's website to quickly search a variety of published Hamblen County biography, cemetery, and marriage records. To determine which books are being searched, or to search each publication's index individually, click here. You are now equipped with a checklist of books to pull off the shelves at a genealogy library, or a wish list for your personal book collection.

Research Guides

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

African American
United States African Americans Tennessee African Americans

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

Additional Cemetery Resources


 * Tennessee Cemeteries Hometown Locator

Census
1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, and 1940 federal population censuses of Hamblen 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.

1810 - 1891


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

1880


 * Scanned census images. USGenWeb Archives


 * Sistler, Byron and Barbara Sistler. 1880 Census Hamblen County, Tennessee. Nashville, Tenn.: B. Sistler &amp; Associates, 1993..

1891 Male Voters


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

Church
Baptist


 * DeBoard, George Mitchell et al. Personal Records of a Minister: Rev. George Mitchell DeBoard, Grainger County, Tennessee; Includes Many People from Hancock, Hawkins and Hamblen Counties, Tennessee). Dallas, Texas: H.P. Garner, 2001?..

Family Histories
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

As of August 2010, a query for persons born in Hamblen, Tennessee at World Connect, results in more than 6,800 entries.

Bibliography


 * Flagg - Descendants of Josiah Flagg of Berkeley County, W. Va.; with Sketches of the Flagg, Keyes, Foss, Shively, Hughes, Slemons and Campbell Ancestries. Boston: Press of T.R. Marvin, 1920. Free digital copy, courtesy: Internet Archive.
 * King - History of the King Family of Hamblen County, Tennessee. Typescript, TSLA, Nashville, Tenn. Microfilmed in 1939..
 * Lee - Lee Family Collection, ca. 1613-1924. Typescript..
 * Miller - Wine, Cecil J. The Michael Miller Family. Radford, VA: Commonwealth Press, 1964. Available at FHL FAM HIST Book 929.273 M612w; digital version at Heritage Quest Online ($).

Land
The original Hamblen County Deed Books are held at the County Courthouse. In the 1970s, the TSLA microfilmed Deed Books 1-10 (1870-1891) and Indexes (1870-1952). Copies of their films are available at the Family History Library:.

Maps

 * Maps of Tennessee (1777-1985)

Revolutionary War

 * Russellville, Brief History of Soldiers, 1776+, Tennessee Ancestors, Vol. 18, No. 2 (Aug. 2002).

War of 1812

 * Embry, Hermione D. "War of 1812 - Tennessee Pensioners on List - January 2, 1883," Ansearchin' News, Vol. 7, No. 3 (Jul. 1960):65-68. ; digital version at journal website. [Includes Hamblen County pensioners (p. 66)]

Civil War
Online Records
 * 1861-1865 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1861-1865 - at FamilySearch — index
 * Civil War Research Database $
 * Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System

Regiments. Civil War service men from Hamblen County served in various regiments. Men often joined a regiment or a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are the military units that were formed in or had many men from Hamblen County:

Confederate Soldiers


 * 12th Battalion, Tennessee Cavalry (Day's) - CSA - Company D.
 * 59th Regiment, Tennessee Mounted Infantry (Cooke's) (Eakin's 1st Battalion) - CSA - Company I.
 * 60th Regiment, Tennessee Mounted Infantry (Crawford's) (79th Infantry) - CSA - Company H.
 * 61st Regiment, Tennessee Mounted Infantry (Pitts') (81st Infantry) - CSA - Company G.

Union Soldiers


 * 8th Regiment, Tennessee Cavalry - Company D.

Additional sources for Civil War soldiers from Hamblen County:


 * TNGenWeb, Hamblen County Civil War Page.
 * USGenWeb Archives, Hamblen County Tennessee Archives. Civil War Records.
 * CWSAC Battle Summaries, Bull's Gap. Located in Hamblen and Greene Counties.
 * Tennessee State Library and Archives, Tennessee Confederate Pension Applications: Hamblen 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). Online at Internet Archive. Hamblen County, page 340.
 * The Civil War &amp; Morristown.

Civil War Battles
The following Civil War battle was fought in Hamblen County:


 * November 11-13, 1864 = Bull's Gap


 * Map showing Civil War battles in Tennessee.

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. For a list of newspapers available at the archives for Hamblen County click on the following cities or towns:


 * Morristown
 * Whitesburg

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 Hamblen County.]
 * Blomquist, Ann Kicker Cheek's Cross Roads, Tennessee, store journal 1802-1807 Baltimore, Maryland : Gateway Press, c2001 . Digital version available at.

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 records of Hamblen 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
 * East Tennessee Roots
 * A genealogical article with abstracts of Hamblen County, Tennessee records has been published in East Tennessee Roots (10 vols.). A subject index to this publication's articles is available online. Surname indexes to Volumes 9 and 10 are also available online. The Family History Library has collected most issues of East Tennessee Roots.
 * Hamblen Heritage
 * Family History Library has Volume 1 - 13 (1986 - 1998) Hamblen Heritage is indexed in PERiodical Source Index (PERSI)

Private Papers

 * Diary and Scrapbook of Catherine (Kate) Livingston, 1857-1868, Hamblen County, Tennessee. Typescript, Tennessee State Library, Nashville, Tenn..

Probate Records
The original Hamblen County Loose Wills are held at the County Archives. In 2007, the Genealogical Society of Utah microfilmed these records, date range: 1870 to 1974:.

Online Records


 * 1779 - 2008 Tennessee Wills and Probate Records 1779-2008 at Ancestry.com — index and images $


 * Wills 1870-1974

Taxation
The original Hamblen County Tax Books 1877-1889 (gaps) are held at the County Courthouse. In the 1970s, the [[Tennessee_State_Library_and_Archives|TSLA] ]microfilmed these records. A copy of their film is also available at the Family History Library:.

The following Hamblen County tax resources have been abstracted:


 * 1860 - Morristown Property Tax, 1860, Hamblen Heritage. Morristown TN: Spring 2000. Vol. 15 Iss. 2.
 * 1890 - 1890 Tax Book - Hamblen County, Tennessee. Purchase through Hamblen County Archives.
 * 1896 - Delinquent Tax Payers Notice, 1896, Hamblen Heritage. Morristown TN: Summer 2007. Vol. 22 Iss. 3.

Vital Records
See also How to order Tennessee Vital Records or order electronically online.

Birth

 * 1828 - 1939 at FamilySearch.org — index


 * 1869 - 1909 Tennessee Delayed Birth Records 1869-1909 at Ancestry.com — index and images $

Marriage

 * 1625-1966 - Tennessee, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
 * 1871 - 1895 - Hamblen County Marriage Index 1871-1895 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free.


 * 1780 - 2002 Tennessee State Marriages 1780-2002 at Ancestry.com — index $


 * 1780 - 2002 at FamilySearch.org— index


 * 1790 - 1950 at FamilySearch.org — index and images


 * 1796 - 1950 at FamilySearch.org — index


 * 1851 - 1900 Tennessee Marriages 1851-1900 at Ancestry.com— index and images $

Divorce
In 1940 and 1941, W.P.A. workers pinpointed the location of Hamblen County divorce papers in diverse manuscript collections, see the following:


 * W.P.A. Guide to Public Vital Statistics in Tennessee. Nashville, Tenn.: The Tennessee Historical Records Survey, 1941. FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 A3gp.

Death

 * 1874 - 1955 - at FamilySearch.org — index


 * 1908 - 1958 - Tennessee Death Records 1908 - 1958 at Ancestry.com — index and images $


 * 1914 - 1966 - at FamilySearch — index and images


 * Tennessee Death Certificates 1908-1952 Free lookups available
 * Williams, Marguerite White and Hamblen County Genealogical Society. Death Records of Hamblen County, Tennessee, 1902-1950. Morristown, Tenn.: Hamblen County Genealogical Society, 1995..

For deaths of Methodists in Hamblen County (or what later became Hamblen County) between the 1830s and the 1920s, try searching the following records:


 * 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.

Societies and Libraries
See also a List of Tennessee Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical &amp; Genealogical Societies

Hamblen County Genealogical Society P.O. Box 1213 Morristown, TN 37816-1213 Phone: 423-586-1961

East Tennessee Historical Society 601 S. Gay Street P.O. Box 1629 Knoxville, Tennessee 37901-1629 Phone: 865-215-8824 Email: eths@east-tennessee-history.org

Morristown-Hamblen Public Library 417 West Main Street Morristown, TN 37814 Phone: 423-586-6410 Hours: Mon., Wed., Fri., Sat. 9 am - 5:30 pm Tuesday and Thursday 9 am - 8 pm

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to Family History Centers


 * Morristown Tennessee Family History Center 6301 Hiawatha Rd Morristown, Hamblen, Tennessee, United States Telephone: 423-586-0901 Hours: Wed 6pm-8:30pm;

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

Websites

 * (FamilySearch) — The catalog is genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications)  This catalog is different than the indexed Historical Records.
 * Hamblen County, TN Family History and Genealogy Message Board (Ancestry)
 * Hamblen County, TNGenWeb (USGenWeb)
 * RootsWeb Mailing List: TNHAMBLE-L (Hamblen County, Tennessee List)
 * RootsWeb Mailing List: ETN-L (East Tennessee List)
 * RootsWeb Mailing List: ETN-OZ-L (East Tennessee Migrants to Ozarks Region List)
 * RootsWeb Mailing List: FRANKLIN-STATE-L (State of Franklin 1784-1788 List)
 * RootsWeb Mailing List: UPPEREASTTN-L (Upper East Tennessee List)