Fayette County, Tennessee Genealogy

United States   Tennessee    Fayette County

West Tennessee county. Established 1824.





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

County Courthouse


Fayette County Courthouse P.O. Box 218 1 Court Square Somerville, TN 38068-0218 Phone: 1-901-465-5219

Fayette County Clerk Birth and Death 1925-1929 Marriage from 1838 except 1918 - 1925 lost in fire P.O. Box 218 1 Court Square, Room 101 Somerville, TN 38068 Phone 1-901-465-5213

Fayette County Register of Deeds Land records P.O. Box 99 1 Court Square Somerville, TN 38068 Phone: 1-901-465-5251

County Chancery Court-Clerk and Master Court records P.O. Box 220 Somerville, TN 38068 Phone: 1-901-465-5217

Hours: Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

History


The county is named after Revolutionary War hero, the Marquis de Lafayette (1757-1834).

Parent County
1824--Fayette County was created 29 September 1824 from Hardeman and Shelby Counties. County seat: Somerville

County Pronunciation


Did we get the accent right? If not, contact Nathan W. Murphy, [mailto:murphynw@familysearch.org murphynw@familysearch.org].

Record Loss
1925 -- Courthouse burned and many records were damaged.


 * Lack of marriage records: 1824 to 1837
 * Lost probate records: 1824 to 1836

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

Populated Places
For a list of locations in this county and information about each location online, through some helpful websites, please click on Populated Places Table for Fayette County

Neighboring Counties

 * Benton County, Mississippi
 * Hardeman
 * Haywood
 * Marshall County, Mississippi
 * Shelby
 * Tipton

Research Guides

 * Genealogical "Fact Sheets" About Tennessee Counties: Fayette County, courtesy: TSLA (Identifies published county histories, published local records, census records, newspapers and local records on microfilm, and select manuscripts.)
 * Fayette County, Tennessee: A Partial Bibliography (updated 12/30/2002), available online, courtesy: TNGenWeb.

African American
United States African Americans Tennessee African Americans

The Runaway Slave Blog is a free online resource where runaway slaves listed in pre-1865 West Tennessee newspapers are identified. Some of the runaway ads appeared in Fayette County newspapers.

Cemeteries

 * Find A Grave 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 list of cemeteries in Fayette County linking to the information about the people buried there,


 * Fayette County, TN Cemetery Records, part of the TNGenWeb Cemetery Database, lists many cemeteries in the county, often with indexes and transcripts of the burials.


 * Fayette County, Tennessee, USGenWeb Tombstone Transcription Project lists many cemeteries in the county and has transcripts of the tombstones arranged by cemetery.


 * Fayette County cemetery information with transcriptions on TNGenweb Project


 * The Family History Library Catalog lists some records about Fayette county. Some of the books or others may be on Google Books or available at public libraries.
 * Transcriptions of some cemeteries in Fayette County are at Interment.net


 * ePodunk list of Fayette County cemeteries

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

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. FHL US/CAN Book 973 X2pc 1840; FHL US/CAN Film 2321. 1841 edition digitized by the U.S. Census Bureau and Google books et. al. [See Tennessee, Western District, Fayette County on page 158.]

1850


 * Carpenter, Mrs. V.K. Seventh census of the United States, 1850 : Fayette County, Tennessee, free population schedules Huntsville, Arkansas : Century Enterprises, 1969 FHL US/CAN book 976.821 X2

1860


 * Felldin, Jeanne Robey and Tucker, Charlotte Magee 1860 United States census, Fayette County, Tennessee, surname index Tomball, Texas : Genealogical Publications, c1976 FHL US/CAN book 976.8 A1

1880


 * Sistler, Samuel D. 1880 census, Fayette County, Tennessee Nashville, Tennessee : Byron Sistler and Associates, 2003 FHL US/CAN book 976.821 X22

Church
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.


 * Fayette County Church Records


 * - Family History Library Catalog - Fayette County Church Records


 * Church histories tell when a church started in the area, who the early members were, give data about church leaders, etc.


 * - Family History Library Catalog - Fayette County Church History


 * 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 Fayette County are:


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


 * In 1936, a helpful guide to early Fayette County church records was published by the Works Project Administration.  Use this guide to locate which church records exist and where they are housed.

Baptist


 * [1832-1901] Mt. Pisgah Primitive Baptist Church Records. Fayette County, 1832-1901. Manuscript. TSLA Reel #361
 * [1832-1900] Sistler, Byron and Barbara Sistler. Vital Statistics from 19th Century Tennessee Church Records.Nashville: Sitler and Associates, 1979.  vol.2   Index to original Mt. Pisgah Primitive Baptist Church Records. Fayette County, 1832-1901.

Methodist


 * [1890-1970] Moscow Methodist Church Records. Fayette County, 1890-1970. Typescript. TSLA Reel #360
 * [1890-1900] Sistler, Byron and Barbara Sistler. Vital Statistics from 19th Century Tennessee Church Records.Nashville: Sitler and Associates, 1979. vol.2  Index to original Moscow Methodist Church Records. Fayette County, 1890-1970.
 * Historical Records Project. Immanuel Episcopal Church Minutes, La Grange, Tennessee.Typescript. Includes index.
 * Historical Records Project. St. Thomas Episcopal Church Minutes and history, Somerville, Tennessee. Typescript. Item 1

Presbyterian


 * [1847-1935] Church Records 1847-1935. Mount Pleasant Cumberland Presbyterian Church (Fayette County, Tennessee). Manuscript. TSLA Reel #225 Item 2

DNA
DNA has been collected from men claiming descent from the following Fayette County residents. Attempts have not been made to verify the lineages of those tested.


 * [Brown] Descendant of Robert Brown, b. 1790s, d. 1833 Fayette County, Tennessee. Y-DNA 67 Marker Test, FTDNA (Kit 15512). Genetic signature available online (labeled Group No. 29), genealogical description available online, courtesy: Brown/Browne/Braun DNA Study. Matches have been found.

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


 * Matthews, Paul A. Early Families of the Memphis Area: Profiles of 135 Families of Fayette, Shelby and Tipton Counties in Tennessee, Crittenden County, Arkansas and DeSoto and Marshall Counties in Mississippi: With Historical Time Lines and Photographs of Those Counties. Memphis, Tennessee: Descendants of Early Settlers of Shelby and Adjoining Counties, 2008. FHL US/CAN Book 976 D2m.

Bibliography


 * [Alexander] Irwin, Frank Lewis. The Irwins and Their Kinfolk the Alexanders and Crawfords Who were Early Settlers (1837) in Fayette County, Tennessee. MSS., Fayette County Library.
 * [Allen] Moore, Elizabeth Allen. The Allens of Fayette County, Tennessee and Related Families. 1980.
 * [Burrows] Burrows, George H. Burrows. Memphis, Tenn.: G.H. Burrows, [1996?]. FHL FAM HIST Book 929.273 B946bg.
 * [Crawford] Irwin, Frank Lewis. The Irwins and Their Kinfolk the Alexanders and Crawfords Who were Early Settlers (1837) in Fayette County, Tennessee. MSS., Fayette County Library.
 * [Irwin] Irwin, Frank Lewis. The Irwins and Their Kinfolk the Alexanders and Crawfords Who were Early Settlers (1837) in Fayette County, Tennessee. MSS., Fayette County Library.
 * [Ivy] Hamilton, Hance H. The Genealogy of the Ivy/Ivey Family of Hickory With, Tennessee. 1998.
 * [Jones] Shaw, Dan. Mange and Jennie Jordan Jones: The Saga of a Fayette County Couple. 1995.
 * [McCraw] McCraw, Carol J., Joy Rushing, and Joyce AuBuchon. It is McCraw Not McGraw. Bountiful, Utah: Family History Publishers, Inc., 1998.
 * [Reeve] See Rives.
 * [Rives, Rivers] Morris, Whitmore. The Descendants of William Christopher Rives and Mary Rivers. San Antonio, TX: Unknown, 1934. Available at FHL US/CAN Film 873458; digital version at Heritage Quest Online ($).
 * [Rogers] Rogers, Robert W. Rogers Genealogy with Ancestry of Rogers Families at Belmont; District 4, Fayette County, Mason, Tennessee. 1982. Available at Fayette County Library.
 * [Thurman] Thurman, John P. John P. and Sallie Ecklin Thurman Papers1884-1896. Southern Historical Collection, Manuscripts Department, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Free digital copy.
 * [Wharton] Wharton, Richard. Richard Wharton papers, 1863 - 1906. Book contributor: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A diary, letters and other writings including his service in the Confederate Army, letters relating to family matters, a genealogy of the Wharton family, poems and speeches. Free digital copy, courtesy: Internet Archive.

Land
Fayette County Register of Deeds has Land Records from 1825 and is located at Courthouse, P. O. Box 99, Somerville, Tennessee 8068-0218; Telephone: (901) 465-5251. Land and property records include transfer of real estate or personal property, mortgages, leases, surveys, and entries.

The Family History has microfilm copies od deed books 1825- 1890 and land entries 1821-1881.

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.

Military
Revolutionary War

The following Fayette County Revolutionary War records are available online through TNGenWeb:


 * 1835 Pension Roll
 * 1852 Rejected or Suspended Pensions
 * Index to Fayette County, TN Revolutionary Soldiers as taken from History of Fayette County, Tennessee 1986.

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. FHL US/CAN Book 973 X2pc 1840; FHL US/CAN Film 2321. 1841 edition digitized by the U.S. Census Bureau and Google books et. al. [See Tennessee, Western District, Fayette County on page 158.]
 * 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.]

War of 1812


 * Embry, Hermione D. "War of 1812 - Tennessee Pensioners on List - January 2, 1883," Ansearchin' News, Vol. 7, No. 2 (Apr. 1960):40-45. FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 B2a v. 7 (1960); digital version at journal website. [Includes Fayette County pensioners (pp. 43-44)]

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.
 * Thurman, John P. John P. and Sallie Ecklin Thurman Papers1884-1896. Southern Historical Collection, Manuscripts Department, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Tennessee 3rd and 4th Calvary. Free digital copy.

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 Fayette County click on the following towns:


 * LaGrange
 * Somerville

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 Fayette 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
 * Genealogical articles with abstracts of records of Fayette 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
 * Genealogical articles with abstracts of Fayette 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 Fayette 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
Probate records are court records created after an individual’s death that relate to a court’s decisions regarding the distribution of the estate to the heirs or creditors and the care of any dependents. You may find the names of married daughters or other relatives and their residences; or information about the adoption or guardianship of minor children and dependents. Probate records do not always give an exact date of death, but the death usually occurred within four months of probate. These documents are important to family history researchers, because they usually exist for time periods before civil birth and death records were kept.

The County Court has responsibility for the probate records of Fayette County.

The following Fayette County probate records have been indexed:


 * [1836-1861] 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.]

Taxation
The following Fayette County tax records have been abstracted:


 * [1836] West, Betsy F. "Fayette County, Tennessee Tax List - 1836," Ansearchin' News, Vol. 22, No. 1 (Spring 1975):30-35; Vol. 22, No. 2 (Summer 1975):90-95; Vol. 22, No. 3 (Fall 1975):140-144; Vol. 22, No. 4 (Winter 1975):188-192. For FHL and online access, as well as indexes, see Periodicals.
 * [1874] Taxpayers, 1874, Old Timer Press. Ripley MS: Mar 1982. Vol. 1 Iss. 9.

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


 * [1838-1857] Historical Records Project Marriage records, 1838-1857, Fayette County, Tennessee Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1939. FHL US/CAN Film 24645 items 3-6
 * [1838-1963] Fayette County (Tennessee) County Court Clerk Marriage records (Fayette County, Tennessee), 1838-1963 Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1976-1997. FHL US/CAN Films
 * [1838-1873] Sistler, Byron and Barbara Sistler. Early West Tennessee Marriages. 2 vols. Nashville, Tenn.: B. Sistler &amp; Associates, 1989. FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 V2sb v. 1 ff. [Indexes names of brides and grooms, and marriage dates for weddings in this county for the specified years.]
 * RecordSearch at FamilySearch now includes indexed Tennessee marriages. This is a free pilot site and still under construction.  At this time, it is best to search from the home page titled Discover Your Ancestors; indicate a surname, marriage "event" and a county name (i.e. Fayette, Tennessee).  Browse through the results for that surname. You may need to supply any variant spellings of the surname in separate searches.
 * 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 all counties.

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


 * 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

 * 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. [Fayette County is included in Vol. 2]

For deaths of Methodists in Fayette 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)
 * Fayette County, TN Family History and Genealogy Message Board (Ancestry)
 * Fayette County, TN Genealogy Forum (GenForum)
 * Fayette County, TNGenWeb (USGenWeb)
 * RootsWeb Mailing List: SW-TN-L (Southwest Tennessee List)
 * RootsWeb Mailing List: TNFAYETT-L (Fayette County, Tennessee List)
 * RootsWeb Mailing List: WEST-TNCHAT-L (West Tennessee Chat List)
 * RootsWeb Mailing List: WESTTN-L (West Tennessee List)