Chester County, Tennessee Genealogy

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

Description
Chester County was named for Colonel Robert I. Chester, a quartermaster in the War of 1812, an early postmaster in Jackson, and a federal marshal. The county is located in the southwestern area of the state.

County Courthouse
Chester County Courthouse P.O. Box 292 133 East Main St. Henderson, TN 38340 County Website Phone: 731-989-2233 Clerk of Circuit Court Phone: 731-989-2454 Circuit Court Clerk Phone: 731-989-2454 Register of Deeds Phone: 731-989-4991 County Clerk Phone: 731-989-2233 Clerk Circuit Court has divorce and court records Register of Deeds has land records.

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Census Records
1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 Chester County federal population schedules 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.

1880  - See parent counties


 * 1810-1891 Tennessee, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1810-1891 at Ancestry ($)

1890 Lost


 * 1890 - substitutes are available:
 * Reed, Sue S. Enumeration of Male Inhabitants of Twenty-one Years of Age and Upward, Citizens of Tennessee, January 1, 1891, as Provided for by an Act of General Assembly of Tennessee, Passed January 15, 1891, and Approved January 22, 1891. 8 vols. Houston, Texas: S.S. Reed, 1989. . Johnson County is included in Vol. 7.
 * Sistler, Byron H. and Barbara Sistler. 1890 Civil War Veterans Census, Tennessee. Evanston, Ill.: Byron Sister and Associates, 1978..

1891 Male Voters


 * 1891 Tennessee Enumeration of Male Voters 1891 at Ancestry.com ($)

Church Records
List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places

Court Records
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.

Genealogies
General


 * Chester County, Tennessee, 1882-1995, History and Families. Paducah, Ky.: Turner Pub. Co., 1995..

Bibliography


 * Baird - See McConnell.
 * Barber - See McConnell.
 * Martin - See McConnell.
 * McCall - See McConnell.
 * McConnell - McConnell, Newton Whitfield. Genealogical History of the Families of McConnells, Martins, Barbers, Wilsons, Bairds, McCalls and Morris. [Tennessee? : N.W. McConnell, 190-?]. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library.
 * Morris - See McConnell.
 * Wilson - See McConnell.

Land and Property Records
Chester County Register of Deeds has Land Records from 1891 and is located at Courthouse, P.O. Box 205, Henderson, TN 38340-0205; Telephone: (901) 989-2233. Land and property records include transfer of real estate or personal property, mortgages, leases, surveys, and entries.

The FamilySearch Library has Chester County deeds 1891-1899.

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Maps of Tennessee (1777-1985)
 * FamilySearch Places: Cities and Towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Military Records
War of 1812 There were no War of 1812 pensioners or widows of pensioners living in Chester County on 2 January 1883.

Civil War

Online Records
 * 1861-1865 at FamilySearch- How to Use this Collection
 * 1861-1865 at FamilySearch- How to Use this Collection
 * 1861-1865 - U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry
 * 1861-1865 - U.S., Union Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry
 * 1891-1965 at FamilySearch- How to Use this Collection
 * Civil War Research Database
 * Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System

Confederate Soldiers


 * 13th Regiment, Tennessee Infantry - CSA - Company I.
 * 21st Regiment, Tennessee Cavalry (Wilson's) - CSA - Companies C, D, F, and 2nd H.
 * 51st Regiment, Tennessee Infantry - CSA - Companies F and H.
 * 55th Regiment, Tennessee Infantry (Brown's) - CSA - Company E.

Additional sources for Civil War soldiers from Chester County:


 * Tennessee State Library and Archives, Tennessee Confederate Pension Applications: Chester County. Index 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. Chester County, page 325.
 * Genealogy Trails, The Blue &amp; Gray of Chester County Tennessee. Chester County was not formed until after the Civil War was over.The men who fought in the war were from surrounding counties. These are the men and/or their wives who filed for pensions.

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 Chester County click on the following city:


 * Henderson
 * 1794-1851 - Lucas, Silas Emmett. Marriages from Early Tennessee Newspapers 1794-1851. Easley, S.C.: Southern Historical Press, 1978..
 * 1847-1851 - 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.

Prisons

 * 1831-1850 Inmates of the Tennessee State Penitentiary 1831-1850 at Tennessee State Library and Archives
 * 1851-1870 Inmates of the Tennessee State Penitentiary 1851-1870 at Tennessee State Library and Archives

Periodicals

 * Ansearchin' News: Quarterly magazine of the Tennessee Genealogical Society. For a keyword search, go to the county index. Read previous issues on their website;


 * Family Findings: Quarterly of the Mid-West Tennessee Genealogical Society. For tables of contents and online access to issues, see TNGenWeb Project. Also try this specialized Google search..


 * West Tennessee Historical Society Papers: FamilySearch Library has Volumes 1-16 and 30 . 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

Probate Records
The County Court has responsibility for Chester County probate records.

Online Records


 * 1779-2008 Tennessee Wills and Probate Records 1779-2008 at Ancestry ($)
 * 1891-1938 Chester County portion of at FamilySearch - images only; handwritten indexes may be found at the front or back of some volumes.- How to Use this Collection

Social Security Records

 * 1935-2014 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.


 * 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry ($) — index, click here for more information.

Tax Records
The original Chester County Tax Books 1890-1894 are kept at the County Courthouse. In the 1970s, the TSLA microfilmed these records. FS Library copy:.

Birth

 * 1828-1939 at FamilySearch- How to Use this Collection
 * 1869-1909 Tennessee Delayed Birth Records 1869-1909 at Ancestry ($)
 * 1908-1912 at FamilySearch- How to Use this Collection

Marriage
Online Indexes and Record
 * 1625-1966 Tennessee, United States Marriages at Findmypast ($)
 * 1780-2002 Tennessee State Marriages 1780-2002 at Ancestry ($)
 * 1780-2002 at FamilySearch Index may not be complete for all counties.- How to Use this Collection
 * 1790-1962 - at FamilySearch. index and images. Covers all counties in Tennessee.- How to Use this Collection
 * 1796-1950 (Indexes only) at FamilySearch- How to Use this Collection
 * 1838-1888 at FamilySearch- How to Use this Collection
 * 1851-1900 Tennessee Marriages 1851-1900 at Ancestry ($)
 * 1891-1895 - Chester County Marriage Index 1891-1895 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch.
 * 1980-2014 Marriage Records Index 1980-2014 at Shelby County Register of Deeds - index

Death
For deaths of Methodists in Chester County (or what later became Chester County) between the 1830s and the 1920s, try:


 * 1874-1955 at FamilySearch- How to Use this Collection
 * 1908-1933 Tennessee Deaths, 1908 - 1933 at MyHeritage ($) — index
 * 1908-1958 Tennessee Death Records 1908 - 1958 at Ancestry ($)
 * 1908-1912 Tennessee Death Records 1908-1912 at Tennessee State Library & Archives - index
 * 1914-1933 Tennessee Death Records 1914-1933 at Tennessee State Library & Archives - index
 * 1914-1966 at FamilySearch- How to Use this Collection
 * 1949-2014 Death Records Index 1949-2014 at Shelby County Register of Deeds - index

Divorce
Online Records Online Titles
 * 1796-1850 Acts of Tennessee 1796-1850 at Tennessee State Library & Archives - index
 * 1980-2014 Divorce Records Index 1980-2014 at Shelby County Register of Deeds - index
 * W.P.A. Guide to Public Vital Statistics in Tennessee. Nashville, Tenn.: The Tennessee Historical Records Survey, 1941. FamilySearch Books Online.

FamilySearch Centers

 * Jackson Tennessee FamilySearch Center
 * Memphis Tennessee FamilySearch Center
 * Bolivar-Hardeman County Public Library - an affiliate library.
 * Chester County Public Library - an affiliate library.

Libraries
Chester County Library 1012 E Main St Henderson, TN 38340 731-989-4673 Email: [mailto:chester_library@bellsouth.net chester_library@bellsouth.net] Website The Chester County Library contains a Genealogy Room. West Tennessee Heritage Study Center Paul Meek Library 10 Wayne Fisher Dr. Martin, TN 38238 Phone: 731-881-7065 Website

Societies
Chester County Historical Society 1012 E. Main St. Henderson, TN 38340 Phone: 731-989-4673 Email: [mailto:chestercountymuseum@gmail.com chestercountymuseum@gmail.com] Facebook

Websites

 * Chester County, TN Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Chester County, TNGenWeb (USGenWeb)
 * Tennessee's Yesterday
 * Chester County Tennessee, Genealogy, History and Information (RootsWeb)
 * – The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records.

Research Guides

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