Polk County, Tennessee Genealogy

United States   Tennessee    Polk County





County Courthouse
Polk County Courthouse P.O. Box 256 6239 Highway 411 Benton, Tennessee 37307-0256 Phone: (423) 338-4522

Hours: Monday - Friday 8:30 am - 4:30 pm

History


The county is named after President James Knox Polk (1795-1849).

Parent County
1839--Polk County was established 28 November 1839 from McMinn and Bradley Counties. Early records may be found under McMinn and Bradley Counties. County seat: Benton

Record Loss
1895, 1935--Fires damaged records

Neighboring Counties

 * Bradley
 * Cherokee County, North Carolina
 * Fannin County, Georgia
 * McMinn
 * Monroe
 * Murray County, Georgia

Research Guides

 * Genealogical "Fact Sheets" About Tennessee Counties: Polk 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


 * The Heritage of Polk County, Tennessee, 1839-1997. Benton, Tenn.: Polk County Historical and Genealogical Society (Tennessee), 1997. FHL US/CAN Book 976.8875 H2h.

Bibliography


 * [Baily] Baily Family Bible Records, ca. 1838-1958. MSS., FHL US/CAN Film 1697633 Item 8.
 * [Barnes] See Longley.
 * [Cantrell] See Longley.
 * [Curd]  See Longley.''
 * [Hildebrand] Clemmer, Sudie, J.D. Clemmer, and George F. Mellen. Nancy Ward and the Hildebrand Family of Polk County, Tennessee: Reprinted Newspaper Clippings from the J.D. Clemmer Scrapbooks. Benton, Tenn.: Polk County News, 1962. FHL US/CAN Film 908921 Item 7.
 * [Hood] Hood, Dellmann Osborne. The Tunis Hood Family. Portland, OR: Metropolitan Press, 1960. Available at Heritage Quest Online ($).
 * [Land] Land, Barbara and Gary Land. The Land's &amp; the Staige's. 2 vols. [Ukiah, Calif.: B. &amp; G. Land], 1994. FHL FAM HIST Book 929.273 L299L ff.
 * [Langley] See Longley.
 * [Longley] Matthews, Addah Longley. Genealogy, Curd-Longley, Cantrell-Barnes. North Newton, KS: Mennonite Press, 1966. Available at FHL FAM HIST Book 929.273 C922g; digital version at Heritage Quest Online ($).
 * [Quintrell] Quintrell: Family Bible Records, 1830-1941. MSS., FHL US/CAN Film 1307616 Item 61.
 * [Ward] Bell, Annie W.B. Military and Genealogical Records of the Famous Indian Woman Nancy Ward. Typescript, 1961. FHL US/CAN Film 875418 Item 2.
 * [Ward] Clemmer, Sudie, J.D. Clemmer, and George F. Mellen. Nancy Ward and the Hildebrand Family of Polk County, Tennessee: Reprinted Newspaper Clippings from the J.D. Clemmer Scrapbooks. Benton, Tenn.: Polk County News, 1962. FHL US/CAN Film 908921 Item 7.
 * [Ward] Holland, Hubert G. Nancy Ward A/K/A Cherokee Rose and Beloved Woman. Typescript, FHL US/CAN Film 1750757 Item 14.
 * [Whitson] McDuffee, Ted Ransom. Duff to McDuffee on One Leaf: The Family History James H. Duff-McDuffee and Nancy Ann Whitson with Ancestors and Descendants. Knoxville, Tenn.: Tennessee Valley Pub., 1999. FHL FAM HIST Book 929.273 D873m.
 * [Young] Stein, Carl F. Some Descendents of James Pickens Young 1815: of Polk, Rhea, Hamilton, Blount, &amp; Knox Counties, Tenn., Cherokee, &amp; Gaston Counties, North Carolina. Family Group Sheets. FHL US/CAN Film 2055385 Item 2.

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


 * Wiefering, Edna et al. Tennessee Union Soldiers: of Bradley, McMinn and Polk Counties Serving in the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 10th TN Cavalry 5th TN Infantry and 5th TN Mounted Infantry. Cleveland, Tenn.: Cleveland Public Library (Tennessee), 1996. FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 M28tus.

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. FHL US/CAN 976.8 U2m. Digital version at World Vital Records ($). Purchase at Genealogical.com. [Includes Polk County.]

Periodicals
Ansearchin' News

Several genealogical articles with abstracts of records of Polk 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.

East Tennessee Roots

Several genealogical articles with abstracts of Polk County, Tennessee records have been published in East Tennessee Roots (10 vols.). A subject index to these 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 FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 D25e.

The Pellissippian

Several genealogical articles with abstracts of Polk County, Tennessee records were published in the The Pellissippian (25 vols., 1980-2004), the quarterly of the Pellissippi Genealogical and Historical Society. The society has posted tables of contents for all 25 volumes on their website. They also have back issues available for purchase. The Family History Library has acquired the first 20 volumes FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 D25p.

Polk County Historical &amp; Genealogical Society Quarterly &amp; Newsletter

This quarterly has been in publication since 1995. For more information, visit the society's website. Most issues are available at the Family History Library: FHL US/CAN Book 976.8875 D25p.

Prisons

 * 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: [http://www.state.tn.us/tsla/ Tennessee State Library and Archives

Probate

 * Index to Polk County Wills 1894-1970, available online, courtesy: TNGenWeb Project.

Taxation
The original Polk County Tax Books 1893-1902 were microfilmed by the Tennessee State Library and Archives in 1970. Copies of their films are also available at the Family History Library: FHL US/CAN Films 1012150-1012151.

Web Sites

 * Family History Library Catalog (FamilySearch)
 * Polk County, TN Family History and Genealogy Message Board (Ancestry)
 * Polk County, TN Genealogy Forum (GenForum)
 * Polk County, TNGenWeb (USGenWeb)
 * RootsWeb Mailing List: TNPOLK-L (Polk 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: SE-TN-L (Southeast Tennessee List)