University of Tennessee at Martin Library

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Contact Information
E-mail: E-mail a Department form

Address:


 * University of Tennessee at Martin Paul Meek Library, Special Collections West Tennessee Heritage Study Center 554 University Street Martin, TN 38238

Telephone: Archives/Museum/Genealogy: 731-881-7094, or Reference: 731-881-7065

Hours and holidays: Hours of Operation

Map: Campus map

Internet sites and databases:


 * West Tennessee Heritage Study Center description, printed materials, Heritage Quest, microfilm collections, censuses, and Confederate soldier pension applications
 * Paul Meek Library catalog online searchable by keyword, author, title, subject, or call number. Also available in WorldCat.

Collection Description
The West Tennessee Heritage Study Center (WTHSC) focuses on the genealogy, social history, cultures, and family history of Tennessee and its counties. Their collection includes all of Tennessee but is more in-depth for northwest Tennessee. They also collect newspapers, regional county records, and have federal censuses for Tennessee 1780–1930. Their WTHSC Index is an important resource.

The Center holds a variety of genealogical resources including materials relating to the following counties of West Tennessee: Benton, Carroll, Chester, Crockett, Decatur, Dyer, Fayette, Gibson, Hardin, Haywood, Henderson, Henry, Houston, Humphreys, Lake, Lauderdale, Madison, McNairy, Obion, Perry, Shelby, Stewart, Tipton, Wayne, Weakley and Carlisle, Fulton, and Hickman counties in Kentucky.

Databases include Heritage Quest, ProQuest, and JSTOR.

Tips
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Guides
{''Optional: Internet or guide books describing this collection for genealogists. ''}

Alternate Repositories
If you cannot visit or find a source at the, a similar source may be available at one of the following.

Overlapping Collections


 * National Archives at Atlanta (i.e. Morrow), federal censuses, Ancestry.com, military, pensions, bounty-land, photos, passengers arrival indexes, naturalizations, Native Americans, African Americans, workshops.
 * Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, African Americans, vital records, censuses, county records, tax lists, local histories, school censuses, manuscripts, military records, Native Americans, newspapers, obituary lists, maps, state agency records, petitions, Tennessee postcards, city directories, prison inmates, and TN county historians.

Similar Collections


 * East Tennessee Historical Society, Knoxville, 67,000 books, newspapers, 3,000 genealogies, 14,000 TN first families, manuscripts, census, Knoxville city directories 1859-now, maps, photos, deeds, wills, marriages, military records, TN Confederate pensions, Ancestry.com, New England Ancestors, HeritageQuest, Sanborn maps.

Neighboring Collections

Repositories in surrounding counties in Tennessee: Carroll, Gibson, Henry, Obion, and in Kentucky: Fulton KY, Graves KY, and Hickman KY. Repositories in other surrounding states: Kentucky, Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri.
 * Weakley County Health Department, Dresden, births 1949-present, deaths 1908-present.
 * Weakley County Clerk, Dresden, marriage licenses.
 * Weakley County Register of Deeds, Dresden, 1826-present deeds, mortgages, military discharges, powers of attorney, plats, court decrees, liens, and releases.
 * Weakley County Clerk and Master - Probate and Chancery, Dresden, probates 1826-present, probate index 1939-2011, Chancery Court cases.
 * Weakley County Circuit Court Clerk, Dresden, divorces, civil, and criminal cases 1826-present.
 * Germantown Regional History and Genealogy Center, emphasizes the Mid-South, Eastern, and Southern States including genealogy, local history, politics, government, family histories, and personal papers.
 * The Hermitage Museum, home of President Andrew Jackson, Nashville, to learn about Tennesse lifestyles.
 * Memphis Public Library, microfilmed and indexed Memphis and Shelby County records, censuses, genealogies, periodicals, especially for the southern USA, passenger lists, Dawes Comm. index, DAR lineages, Ancestry.com.
 * Tennessee State University Library, Nashville, biography, ethnic studies, history, newspapers, JSTOR, Civil War.
 * University of Tennessee Knoxville Libraries documentary histories, ArchivesUSA, newspapers, and ProQuest.
 * Allen County Public Library (Indiana) has a premier genealogical periodical collection, genealogies, local histories, databases, military, censuses, directories, passenger lists, American Indians, African Americans, Canadians.
 * Bristol Public Library, Bristol, VA, not a big library, but important for finding families traveling the Great Valley Road into Tennessee and Kentucky.
 * Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research, Houston TX, newspapers, American Civil War, Biography and Genealogy Master Index, Black Studies, Ancestry.com, HeritageQuestOnline, Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.
 * Mid-Continent Public Library Midwest Genealogy Center, Independence, MO, national censuses/indexes, 80,000 family histories, 100,000 local histories, 565,000 microfilms, 7,000 maps, and extensive newspaper clippings.
 * State Library of North Carolina, Raleigh, family history, Bibles, marriages, deaths, newspapers, deeds, photos.
 * North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, census, military, courts, bond, deed, estate, vital record, tax, wills.
 * Santa Cruz Public Library Downtown, CA, holds the Tina Brayton Collection which is equivalent to the Draper Manuscript Collection  but larger and with a better index, and many compiled genealogies of Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia families.