Tennessee Census

A census is a count and description of the population of a country, territory, state, county, or city. Using a well-indexed census is one of the easiest ways to locate the specific places where your ancestors lived and to identify the dates when they lived there. You can also find family information, particularly in more recent censuses. Use the information with caution, however, since the information may have been given to a census taker by any member of the family or by a neighbor.

Federal Censuses
Population Schedules (1790–1930). Many federal census records are at the Family History Library, the National Archives, and other federal and state archives. The United States Research Outline  provides detailed information regarding these records.

U.S. federal censuses of Tennessee were taken every ten years from 1810 to 2000. For 1810 only the Rutherford County census survived, and for 1820 only the censuses of Tennessee’s eastern counties survived. The 1890 census was destroyed. The 1890 Union veterans schedule and index for most of the state is available. All other federal censuses through 1920 are available to the public.

The easiest way to search the census is by using a statewide or multi-state index. If no index is available, use the other research aids listed below.

Statewide indexes represent every household in the Tennessee censuses. For most families, they index only the first person listed in each household, who was usually the father or head of the house. Many families, however, had relatives or friends with a different surname living with them when the census was taken. In those cases, the first person of each surname in the household is included in the index.

Statewide surname indexes for the 1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, and 1870 censuses have been published. There is a SOUNDEX (phonetic) index on microfilm for part of the 1880 census and all of the 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 censuses. A reconstructed 1890 federal census index using tax lists is at the Memphis/Shelby County Public Library.

Multi-state indexes are composite master indexes of several census years, states, and census types:

FamilyFinder™ Index and Viewer. Version 4.0.

FamilyTreeMaker Archives, index. [Novato, California]: Brøderbund Software, 1997. (FHL compact disc no. 9 1997 index.) This does not circulate to Family History Centers. It is a single composite index to Tennessee 1810–1860 federal censuses, 1850 and 1860 slave schedules, and 1870 and 1880 mortality schedules.

An Internet edition of this index is also available in FamilyTreeMaker.com, which you can use for free:

Internet FamilyFinder. It displays the census year and state for each name matching the search and may also list many vital records and genealogical collection citations. www.familytreemaker.com/allsearch.html

Once you know the census year and state, you must use the original index on compact disc, fiche, or book to obtain enough data to easily find the name in the original census schedules.

The FamilyFinder Index includes the Jackson indexes listed below.

Similar index information is also available for a subscription fee from Ancestry.com: www.Ancestry.com/census/

Jackson, Ronald Vern. AIS fiche Indexes of U.S. Census and Other Records. Bountiful, Utah: Accelerated Indexing Systems International, 1984. (No FHL fiche number but at many Family History Centers.) A composite mortality schedule index is on Search 8. Separate Tennessee 1790, 1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, and 1850 indexes are on other searches. For further instructions see the Accelerated Indexing Systems, U.S. Census Indexes (on fiche) Resource Guide.

Other research aids can help you search a census when indexes are not available or omit a name. For large cities, try to learn the person’s address by searching the city directory for the same year as the census. See the “Directories” section. Then look for that address on the original census schedules.

Reference tools that help determine which census schedule and enumeration district to search for specific addresses include:

Census Descriptions of Geographic Subdivisions and Enumerations Districts, (1880–1920). National Archives Microfilm Publications, T1224 and T1210. Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Service, 1977–1978. The descriptions were prepared by the United States Bureau of the Census. The Family History Library film numbers are:

Maps are good tools to use with censuses because of the many boundary changes over the years. A publication that shows boundary changes during census years in Tennessee is:

Thorndale and Dollarhide’s Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Censuses, 1790–1920, cited in the “Maps” section of the United States Research Outline under “Locating Township and County Boundaries.” Tennessee is represented on pages 314–325.

Slave Schedules. Slave schedules for the 1850 and 1860 censuses list the names of slave owners but do not normally list the names of the slaves. The numbers of slaves, whether male or female, and the slaves’ age-ranges are given. Tennessee slave schedules at the Family History Library are cataloged with the population schedules. The 1850 and 1860 mortality schedules list the names of slaves who died during the twelve months preceding 30 June 1850 and 30 June 1860.

Mortality Schedules (1850–1880). Mortality schedules list persons who died during the twelve months before the 1850–1880 federal censuses were taken. In addition to providing the same information about the deceased person that the regular census schedules provided for the living, mortality schedules also state the month, cause of death, and the number of days ill. The Tennessee State Archives has these schedules, and the Family History Library has copies:

United States. Bureau of the Census. Federal Mortality Census Schedules and Related Indexes: Tennessee; 1850–1860 ; 1880. Washington, DC: National Archives and Record Service, 1962. (FHL films 422433-37.)

Tennessee Mortality Schedules. Nashville, Tennessee: Byron Sistler and Associates, 1984. (FHL book 976.8 X2t; film 1697901 item 5.) This record covers the census years 1850–1860 and 1880 in a combined format.

Veterans Schedules (1840 and 1890). The 1840 and 1890 federal censuses included a list of Revolutionary War and Civil War veterans, respectively. A book with the actual 1840 census information is:


 * A Census of Pensioners for Revolutionary or Military Service: With Their Names, Ages, and Places of Residence, as Returned by the Marshals of the Several Judicial Districts, Under the Act for Taking the Sixth Census. Washington DC: Printed by Blair and Rives, 1841. (FHL book 973 X2pc 1840; film 1064759 item 3.)

The following indexes these veterans for all states:

A General Index to a Census of Pensioners for Revolutionary or Military Service, 1840. Baltimore, Maryland.: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1965. (FHL book 973 X2pc 1965 index; fiche 6046771; film 899835 items 1–2.)

For the 1890 census of Tennessee Union Army veterans of the Civil War, see:

United States Census Office. 11th Census, 1890. Schedules Enumerating Union Veterans and Widows of Union Veterans of the Civil War. National Archives Microfilm Publications, M0123. Washington, DC: National Archives, 1948 (FHL films 338254–57). Some Confederate veterans are included.

For an index to the 1890 veterans schedules see:


 * Jackson, Ronald Vern. Tennessee 1890 Census Index. Salt Lake City, Utah: Accelerated Indexing Systems, 1990. (FHL book 976.8 X2j 1890.)

A resource for finding Tennesseans in Texas during the 1890 Civil War Veterans census is:


 * 1890 Civil War Veterans Census, Tennesseans in Texas. Evanston, Illinois: n.p., 1978. (FHL book 976.4 X2e 1890; fiche 6087374.)

Territorial and State Censuses
No state or territorial censuses were taken by Tennessee. Prior to becoming a state, the territory comprising the state of Tennessee was part of North Carolina. Two sources for censuses taken prior to Tennessee becoming a state are:


 * Fulcher, Richard C. 1770–1790 Census of the Cumberland Settlements: Davidson, Sumner and Tennessee Counties (In What is Now Tennessee). Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing, 1987. (FHL book 976.8 X2f.)
 * McGhee, Lucy Kate. Partial Census of 1787 to 1791 of Tennessee as Taken from the North Carolina Land Grants. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1990. (FHL films 1728882 item 4: parts 1 and 2; 1683130 item 3: part 3).

Special Censuses
At times the state, county, or city may have a census taken for various reasons. The Family History Library has copies of a few special censuses taken in Tennessee:

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. Houston, Texas: S.S. Reed, 1989. (FHL book 976.8 X2r 1891). Each of the eight volumes in the record is individually indexed for the counties listed. All counties not included in this work are on microfilm at the Tennessee State Library and Archives.

Marshall County, Tennessee Agricultural Census, 1857. Nashville, Tennessee: State Library and Archives (FHL film 977522). This record is arranged by districts within Marshall County and then alphabetically by surname.

Memphis, Tennessee Census, 1869 (3rd Ward), 1897. Nashville, Tennessee: Tennessee State Library and Archives (FHL film 375237 item 3: contains 1869, item 6: contains 1897).

Census Substitutes
Records that identify a person’s place of residence are often used as substitutes for censuses during times when censuses were not required or when censuses are missing. Some census substitutes include city directories, tax lists, and voting records, described in the “Directories,” “Taxation,” and “Voting Registers” sections. These records may be published as statewide census indexes, which often provide only vague references to the source of the information indexed.

Other Tennessee census sources can be found in the Place Search of the Family History Library Catalog under:

TENNESSEE - CENSUS

TENNESSEE - CENSUS - [YEAR]

TENNESSEE, [COUNTY] - CENSUS

UNITED STATES - CENSUS - INDEXES

Web Sites
http://www.state.tn.us/tsla/

http://www.archives.gov/