Tennessee, Jackson County Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Record Description
This collection includes digital images of marriage records, 1888-1974 and records of the Chancery and Circuit Courts,1801-1962 from Jackson County, Tennessee. Additional records are available at the Jackson County Archives, P.O. Box 193, Gainesboro, TN 38562.

Citation for This Collection
The following citation refers to the original source of the information published in FamilySearch.org Historical Record collections. Sources include the author, custodian, publisher and archive for the original records.

Record Content
Key genealogical facts in marriage records usually include:


 * First name of bride
 * Maiden name of bride
 * First name of groom
 * Last name of groom
 * Place of marriage

Key genealogical facts in court records usually include:


 * Names of involved individuals
 * Court date
 * Name of court
 * Location of court
 * Details of the dispute or case
 * Monies assessed or exchanged
 * Names of witnesses

How to Use the Record
When searching the marriage records, it is helpful to know the following:


 * The name of the bride and groom
 * The approximate marriage date and place
 * The name of the intended spouse

When searching the court records, it is helpful to know the following:


 * The place of residence
 * The court date
 * The names of involved individuals

Identify the record to be searched
From the Record Description list, identify the kind of record you would like to search (marriages or court records) and click on the title link to select it.

Find the image
Start searching individual images or pages that you have listed. Compare the information in the records to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct person. You may need to compare the information of more than one person to make this determination.

Using the Information
When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details. Add this new information to your records of each family. The information may also lead you to other records about your ancestors. The following examples show ways you can use the information:


 * Use the residence and names to locate church and census records.
 * Use the marriage date and place as the basis for compiling a new family group or for verifying existing information.
 * Use the birth date or age along with the place of birth of each partner to find a couple's birth records and parents' names.
 * Use the parents’ birth places to find former residences and to establish a migration pattern for the family.
 * The name of the officiator is a clue to their religion or area of residence in the county. However, ministers may have reported marriages performed in other counties.
 * Occupations listed can lead you to other types of records such as employment records or military records.
 * Search for records of people in the county who shared a surname. These may have been the couple’s parents, uncles, or other relatives. Your ancestor may have been an heir who sold inherited land that had belonged to parents or grandparents.
 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.

Tips to Keep in Mind

 * Some counties were subdivided or the boundaries may have changed. Consider searching neighboring counties as well since that courthouse may have been more convenient for the person.
 * When searching land records, one deed does not usually give sufficient information about a couple and their children. A careful study of all deeds for the person or the family will yield a richer return of information.
 * For each parcel of land owned, you should obtain two documents: 1) the deed that documents when ownership transferred to the individual or the family and 2) the deed that documents when ownership was transferred to someone else.
 * Earlier records may not contain as much information as the records created after the late 1800s.
 * There is also some variation in the information given from one marriage record to another record.

If you are unable to find the ancestors you are looking for, try the following:


 * Check for variant spellings of the names.
 * Check for an index. There are often indexes at the beginning of each volume.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby counties.

Additional Information About The Records
Marriages were recorded by the clerk of the district court for each county from the time the county was formed. Persons desiring to marry obtained a license that they presented to the minister or other person authorized to marry, such as a justice of the peace. Once the marriage was performed, the officiator sent a return to the clerk confirming that the marriage had occurred.

Wills usually mention the names of heirs and frequently specify how those heirs are related. Wills may also list names of children and married names of daughters. Probate records may not give an exact death date, but the death most often occurred within a few months of the date of probate.

Probate records have been kept by the probate court since the counties were created. These courts have records of estate, guardianship, and juvenile cases. The Gandrud and Jones Alabama Records Collection includes some of these records.

Why the Record Was Created
Civil marriage records were created to legalize marital relationships and to protect the interests of the wife and other heirs to legal claims on property.

Court records were created with the intent to determine lawful ownership of family possessions and estates in the event of death or divorce.

Record Reliability
The marriage date, place, residence of the bride and groom, and occupations are relatively reliable. Other information depends on the knowledge, memory, and accuracy of the informants.

The death date, residence, and other facts that were current at the time are quite reliable, though there is still a chance of misinformation. The records may omit the names of deceased family members and those who have previously received an inheritance, or the spouse mentioned may not be the parent of the children mentioned.

Related Websites

 * Jackson County Tennessee Genweb Project
 * TEVA - Tennessee Virtual Archive

Related Wiki Articles

 * Jackson County, Tennessee
 * Tennessee Vital Records