Grundy County, Tennessee Genealogy

United States Tennessee Grundy County Middle Tennessee county in the Sequatchie Valley. Established 1844.







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

County Courthouse


Grundy County Courthouse Courthouse Circle, Grundy St. Altamont, TN 37301 Phone: 1-931-692-3455

Grundy County Clerk Marriage records P.O. Box 215 Altamont, TN 37301 Phone: 1-931-692-3622

Grundy County Chancery Court Clerk Probate records P.O. Box 274 Altamont, TN 37301 Phone: 1-931-692-3455

Grundy County Circuit Court Clerk Court records P.O. Box 161 Altamont, TN 37301 Phone: 1-931-692-3368

County Register of Deeds Land records P.O. Box 35 Altamont, TN 37301 Phone: 1-931-692-3621

Hours: Mon.-Fri. 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Sat. 8:30 a.m.-noon

History


The county is named after U.S. Attorney General Felix Grundy (1777-1840).

Parent County
1844--Grundy County was created 29 January 1844 from Coffee and Warren Counties. County seat: Altamont

County Pronunciation


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

Boundary Changes
"Rotating Formation Tennessee County Boundary Maps" (1777-1985) may be viewed for free at the My Tennessee Genealogy website. They rely on AniMap 3.0 software.

Record Loss
1853 and 1990 -- Courthouse burned and many records were damaged.


 * Lost census: 1890
 * Lost marriages: 1844 to 1849

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

Neighboring Counties

 * Coffee
 * Franklin
 * Marion
 * Sequatchie
 * Warren

Getting Started
Use the free Search for Surnames at Mountain Press's website to quickly search a variety of published Grundy County biography, cemetery, court, marriage, probate, and WPA records. To determine which books are being searched, or to search each publication's index individually, click here. You are now equipped with a checklist of books to pull off the shelves at a genealogy library, or a wish list for your personal book collection.

Research Guides

 * Genealogical "Fact Sheets" About Tennessee Counties: Grundy County, courtesy: TSLA. (Identifies published county histories, published local records, census records, newspapers and local records on microfilm, and select manuscripts.)
 * "Grundy County Genealogical Research," The Middle Tennessee Journal of Genealogy and History, Vol. 5, No. 4 (Spring 1992). For possible FHL and online access, as well as indexes, see Periodicals.

African American
United States African Americans Tennessee African Americans

Cemetery

 * 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 Grundy County linking to the information about the people buried there,


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


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


 * Grundy County cemetery information with transcriptions on TNGenweb Project


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


 * For a list of known cemeteries in Grundy County go to ePodunk.com

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

1850


 * Goins, Sara A. and Norma D. Hobbs. 1850 Census, Grundy County, Tennessee.Dunlap, Tennessee: Goins and Hobbs Genealogy Service, 1986.
 * Sherrill, Charles A. Grundy County, Tennessee, Special Census records 1850-1880 : Agricultural schedules, Slave population schedules, Mortality Schedules, Products of Industry Schedules. Nashville, Tennessee: C.A. Sherrill, 1996.

1860


 * Sherrill, Charles A. Grundy County, Tennessee, Special Census records 1850-1880 : Agricultural schedules, Slave population schedules, Mortality Schedules, Products of Industry Schedules. Nashville, Tennessee: C.A. Sherrill, 1996.
 * Wihelm, Mae K. United States Census, Grundy County, Tennessee, 1860.Dulap, Tennessee: Goins and Hobbs Genealogy Service, 19--?

1870


 * Sherrill, Charles A. Grundy County, Tennessee, Special Census records 1850-1880 : Agricultural schedules, Slave population schedules, Mortality Schedules, Products of Industry Schedules. Nashville, Tennessee: C.A. Sherrill, 1996.
 * United States Census, Grundy County, Tennessee, 1870.Dunlap, Tennessee: Goins and Hobbs Genealogy Service, 19--?.

1880


 * Scanned census images [in the USGenWeb Archives]
 * Sherrill, Charles A. Grundy County, Tennessee, Special Census records 1850-1880 : Agricultural schedules, Slave population schedules, Mortality Schedules, Products of Industry Schedules. Nashville, Tennessee: C.A. Sherrill, 1996.

1890 Lost, but a subtitute is available:


 * Sistler, Byron H. and Barbara Sistler. 1890 Civil War Veterans Census, Tennessee. Evanston, Illinois: Byron Sistler and Associates, 1978.

1900


 * Wilhelm, Mae K. United States Census, Grundy County, Tennessee, 1900.Dunlap, Tennessee : Goins and Hobbs Genealogy Service, 19--?.

1910


 * Scanned census images [in the USGenWeb Archives]
 * Hobbs, Nora D. and Sara A Goins.United States Census, Grundy County, Tennessee, 1910.Signal Mountain, Tennessee : Mountain Press, 19-?.

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

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

As of August 2010, a query for persons born in Grundy, Tennessee at World Connect, results in more than 19,000 entries.


 * Grundy County Heritage Book. Free online index.
 * Tate, Dennis Armfield. Rebels, Saints and Sinners: An Ancestral History of the Southern States. Missoula, Montana: D. Tate, 2000. FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 D2td. Surnames include Savage, Tate, Hicks, Christian, Lockhart, Davison, Pope, Pace, Davison, Martin, Fortenberry, Lambert, Evans, Worsham, Lowe, Maycock/Maycocke, Harris, Fort, McKenney, Watts, Chamblis, Walton, Harris, West, Pitman, Jordan, Champion, English, Reynolds, Corker and Northcutt.

Bibliography


 * [Brown] Brown, Rex Erwin. Brown and White Family Histories. [Fort Huachuca, Arizona?]: R.E. Brown, 1988. FHL FAM HIST Book 929.273 B812bre.
 * [Killian] Killian, J. Yates. The History of the Killian Family in North Carolina. Unknown: Unknown, 1955. FHL US/CAN Fiche 6019000; digital versions at Ancestry ($); and Heritage Quest Online ($).
 * [Sanders] Patton, David and Margie Ramey. A Grundy County Family: Ralph and Ola Dykes Sanders. Digital version at BYU Family History Archive.
 * [Tosh] Tosh, Alice. Tosh Family Genealogical Record, ca. 1835-1978. Typescript, microfilmed 1992. FHL US/CAN Film 1697649 Item 2.
 * [Willis] Sherrill, Charles A. Peter Willis of Tennessee and His Descendants. Cleveland, Tenn.: C.A. Sherrill, 1986. FHL FAM HIST Book 929.273 W679s.

Land

 * Grundy County Register of Deeds has Land Records from 1852 and is located at the Courthouse, P.O. Box 215, Altamont, Tennessee 37301-0215; Telephone: (615) 692-3621. Land and property records include transfer of real estate or personal property, mortgages, leases, surveys, and entries.
 * The Family History Library has microfilm copies of a general index to deeds, trust deeds, and miscellaneous record books 1859-1952; deed books 1852-1925; estate settlement book 1852-1895; land entry books 1869-1898; and meeting minutes from the Board of Equalization 1912-1953.

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.

Local Histories

 * Raulston, J. Leonard and James Weston Livingood. Sequatchie: A Story of the Southern Cumberlands. Knoxville, Tenn.: University of Tennessee Press, 1974. FHL US/CAN Book 976.87 H2r.

Military
Revolutionary War

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


 * 1835 Pension Roll
 * Select Revolutionary War Soldiers of Warren County, Tennessee and Surrounding Counties. An alphabetical list of Revolutionary War soldiers, with short biographies, who resided in Warren and surrounding counties, including Grundy county.

War of 1812


 * Embry, Hermione D. "War of 1812 - Tennessee Pensioners on List - January 2, 1883," Ansearchin' News, Vol. 7, No. 3 (Jul. 1960):65-68. FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 B2a v. 7 (1960); digital version at journal website. [Includes Grundy County pensioners (pp. 65-66)]

Civil War


 * Blevins, Jerry. Sequatchie Valley Soldiers in the Civil War: Bledsoe, Grundy, Marion and Sequatchie Counties in Tennessee and Jackson County in Alabama. Huntsville, Ala.: J. Blevins, 1990. FHL US/CAN Book 976.87 M2b.

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 Grundy County click on the following towns:


 * Altamont
 * Tracy City

Occupations

 * Miller, Alan N. Middle Tennessee's Forgotten Children: Apprentices from 1784 to 1902. Baltimore, Md.: Printed for Clearfield Company, Inc., by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2004. FHL US/CAN 976.8 U2ma. Purchase at Genealogical.com. [Includes Grundy County.]
 * Tennesse Bureau of Agriculture, Statistics and Mines. Coal Mines and Mining--Tennessee. Nashville, Tennessee: A.B. Travel, 1883. Free digital copy.

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 Grundy 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.
 * The Middle Tennessee Journal of Genealogy and History
 * Genealogical articles with abstracts of records of Grundy County, Tennessee have been published in The Middle Tennessee Journal of Genealogy and History, the quarterly of the Middle Tennessee Genealogical Society (23+ Vols.). To view a list of these articles, visit their online Index to Articles (1988-2005). Surname indexes are also available online for Vols. 2-22. The website also offers back issues for sale in paper and on CD. The Family History Library has a complete collection of this quarterly FHL US/CAN Book 976.85 D25m.
 * The Pathfinder
 * "Grundy County Historical Society was founded February 1988 in Tracy City, Tennessee. The Grundy County Historical Society will collect preserve, research, and interpret documents that connect us to the past." (web site). The Family History Library has volumes beginning in 1996. FHL US/CAN Book 976.878 H25p. To view a digital version of Volume 1, A.1 "Founding of Grundy County" click here To view a digital version of Volume 1, A "Marriages" click here. For further information see their website at: http://gchs.homestead.com/mainpage.html To view a digital version of Volumes 1-10 at BYU Family History Archives click here.

Prisons
Learn if your Grundy County ancestors went to prison!


 * 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 a few 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 Grundy County Court has responsibility for the probate records.

The following Grundy County probate records have been abstracted or indexed:


 * [1844-1900] Sherrill, Charles A. Grundy County, Tennessee Wills and Estates, 1844-1900. Chattanooga, Tennessee: C.A. Sherrill, 1986. Indexed. Contains wills, administrators and guardians settlements, estate settlements, and loose papers, with varying years for each record type. (FHL book 976.878 P28s.)
 * [1838-1861] 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.]

Vital Records
The following publication is a good substitute source for local vital records:


 * Tate, Dennis and Blanche Tate. Vital Records from Grundy County, Tennessee Newspapers. [Missoula, Montana: D. Tate, 1998?]. FHL US/CAN Book 976.878 V2t.

Marriage
The original Grundy County marriage records are kept at the County Courthouse. Because of fire, marriages are lost in Grundy County until April 1850. The following publications, 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..
 * Tate, Dennis and Blanche Tate. Vital Records from Grundy County, Tennessee Newspapers. Missoula, Montana: D. Tate, 1998.

The following Grundy County marriage records are microfilmed:


 * [1849-1986] Available at the TSLA. Marriages 1817-1899 are available for interlibrary loan.
 * [1850-1960] Available at the Family History Library. Some volumes are indexed.

The following Grundy County marriage records have been abstracted and/or indexed:


 * [1844-1880] Sherrill, Charles A. Grundy County, Tennessee, Marriage Records, 1844-1880. Cleveland Heights, Ohio: C.A. Sherrill, 1984.
 * [1844-1880] Sistler, Byron and Barbara Sistler. Early Middle Tennessee Marriages. 2 vols. Nashville, Tenn.: B. Sistler &amp; Associates, 1988. FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 V2sb v. 2 ff. [Indexes names of brides and grooms, and marriage dates for weddings in this county for the specified years.]
 * [1850-1874] Marriage Records, 1850-1874, Grundy County, Tennessee. Nashville: TSLA, Historical Records Project, 1939.  Typescript.  Item 2
 * 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, Discover Your Ancestors: indicate a surname, marriage "event", no date, and a county name (i.e. Grundy, 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 many counties.
 * ’’’[1850-1874]’’’ Marriage Records.
 * ’’’[1849-1850]’’’ Marriage Records: Early–1850.

Divorce
In 1940 and 1941, W.P.A. workers pinpointed the location of Grundy 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
For deaths of Methodists in Grundy 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.]

Societies and Libraries
Grundy County Historical Society P.O. Box 1422 465 Railroad Ave. Tracy City, TN 37387 Hours: Weekdays 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturdays by appointment

Middle Tennessee Genealogical Society PO Box 330948 Nashville, TN, USA 37203-7507 The society serves the 40 counties of middle Tennessee of which Grundy County is one. It publishes The Middle Tennessee Journal of Genealogy and History, a quarterly containing articles of genealogical and historical interest. Little-known Tennessee records are published and indexed, along with family genealogies, Bible records and material submitted by members. There is an alphabetical Index to articles in the Journal 1988-summer 2005

Altamont Public Library 1433 Main Street P.O. Box 228 Altamont, TN 37301 Phone: 1-931-692-2457

Tracy City Public Library Main Street Tracy City, TN 37387 Phone: 1-931-592-9714

Web Sites

 * Family History Library Catalog (FamilySearch)
 * Grundy County, TN Family History and Genealogy Message Board (Ancestry)
 * Grundy County, TN Genealogy Forum (GenForum)
 * Grundy County, TNGenWeb (USGenWeb)