Haywood County, Tennessee Genealogy

United States   Tennessee    Haywood County





West Tennessee county established in 1823.

County Courthouse


Haywood County Courthouse 1 North Washington Street Brownsville, TN 38012-2561 Phone: 731-772-2362

County Clerk has marriage and probate records Phone: 731-772-2362

Register of Deeds has Land records Phone: 731-772-0332

Circuit Court Clerk has Court records Phone: 731-772-1112

Hours: Monday - Friday 8:30 am - 5 pm

History
The county is named after "Judge John Haywood (1762-1826), called 'the father of Tennessee history.'"

Parent County
1823--Haywood County was created 3 November 1823 from Chickasaw Indian Lands. County seat: Brownsville

Neighboring Counties

 * Crockett
 * Fayette
 * Hardeman
 * Lauderdale
 * Madison
 * Tipton

Research Guides

 * Genealogical "Fact Sheets" About Tennessee Counties: Haywood 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.)

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


 * [Hughes] Hughes, V. Jean. Hughes Trav[e]lers from Bertie to Haywood County, Tennessee. 2 vols. Senatobia, Miss.: V.J. Hughes, 1997. FHL FAM HIST Book 929.273 H874hvj v. 1 ff.
 * [Taylor] Tabernacle Historical Committee. The Taylors of Tabernacle. Brownsville, TN: Tabernacle Historical Committee, 1957. 2 volumes. Available at FHL FAM HIST Book 929.273 T212ta; digital version 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.

Military
Civil War

Lynn, H.M. ''H.M. Lynn Papers, 1858-1882. ''Southern Historical Collection, Manuscripts Dept., Wilson Library, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Free digital copy. 9th Tennessee Regiment, Company C.

Occupations

 * Miller, Alan N. West Tennessee's Forgotten Children: Apprentices from 1821 to 1889. Baltimore, Md.: Printed for Clearfield Company, Inc., by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2006. FHL US/CAN 976.8 U2man. Purchase at Genealogical.com. [Includes Haywood 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 Haywood 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 Haywood 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.

West Tennessee Historical Society Papers

Family History Library has Volumes 1 - 16 and 30 FHL US/CAN Book 976.81 B5w. The West Tennessee Historical Society Papers are indexed in PERiodical Source Index (PERSI) To view Table of Contents and complete articles from 1947 - 2005 see Shelby County Register of Deeds

Prisons
Learn if your Haywood 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.

Probate
The organization Strictly By Name provides free online indexes to early Haywood 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 1: 1826-1839
 * 2) Will Book 2: 1839-1841

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


 * [1826-1861] 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.]
 * [1826-1841] Strictly By Name (see above).

Taxation
The original Haywood County Tax Books 1834-1888 are kept at the County Courthouse. In 1976, the Tennessee State Library and Archives microfilmed these records. Copies of their films are also available at the Family History Library: FHL US/CAN Films 1007525-1007529.

The following Haywood County tax records have been abstracted:


 * [1836] Haywood Co., Tenn., Tax List 1836, District #1, Family Findings, Vol. 3, No. 4 (Oct. 1971). For possible FHL and online access, as well as indexes, see Periodicals.
 * [1836] "Haywood County, Tennessee - 1836 Civil Districts," Ansearchin' News, Vol. 37, No. 4 (Winter 1990):164. For possible FHL and online access, as well as indexes, see Periodicals.
 * [1836] Douthat, James L. 1836 Haywood County, Tennessee Civil Districts &amp; Tax List. Signal Mountain, Tenn.: Mountain Press, 2003. FHL US/CAN Book 976.8223 R4d.

Vital Records
Death


 * Hays, Tony. West Tennessee Death Records [ca. 1823-1852]. 2 vols. n.p.: Kitchen Table Press, 1987. FHL FAM HIST Book 976.8 V2ht v. 1-2. [Haywood County is included in Vol. 2]

For deaths of Methodists in Haywood 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.]

Web Sites

 * Family History Library Catalog (FamilySearch)
 * Haywood County, TN Family History and Genealogy Message Board (Ancestry)
 * Haywood County, TN Genealogy Forum (GenForum)
 * Haywood County, TNGenWeb (USGenWeb)
 * RootsWeb Mailing List: TNHAYWOO-L (Haywood County, Tennessee List)
 * RootsWeb Mailing List: WEST-TNCHAT-L (West Tennessee Chat List)
 * RootsWeb Mailing List: WESTTN-L (West Tennessee List)