Tennessee Law and Legislation

Legislative Petitions
Index - by subject and names. Index "does not incude the hundreds of names that signed the Petitions."

Acts of Tennessee
Since its territorial days, the Tennessee state legislature has passed acts affecting the lives of individual citizens. The acts may include such things as divorces, legitimizing children, compensation for government service,and road and ferry authorization. These records make excellent substitutes for counties with heavy record loss.

TSLA has a online index to names found in the acts for the years 1796-1850. Copies of acts can be ordered through their website.

In 1940, the W.P.A. published a Check List of Acts and Codes of the State of Tennessee, 1792-1939. This survey is available at the Family History Library:.

Digitized Tennessee Act Books


 * Acts of the State of Tennessee, 1836. Nashville: S. Nye and Co., 1836.
 * Acts of the State of Tennessee, 1838. Nashville:  S. Nye and Co., 1838.
 * Acts of the State of Tennessee, 1839-1840. Nashville: J. Geo. Harris, 1840.
 * Acts of the State of Tennessee, 1841-1842. Murfreesboro: D. Cameron &amp; Co., 1842.
 * Acts of the State of Tennessee, 1846. Knoxville: James C. Moses, Register Office, 1846.
 * Acts of the State of Tennessee, 1847-1848. Jackson: Printed by Gates and Parker, 1848.
 * Acts of the State of Tennessee, 1850. Nashville: McKennie and Watterson, 1850.
 * Acts of the State of Tennessee, 1851-1852. Nashville: Bang &amp; McKennie, 1852.
 * Acts of the State of Tennessee, 1853-1854. Nashville: McKennie &amp; Brown, 1854.
 * Acts of the State of Tennessee, 1855-1856. Nashville: G.C. Torbett and Company, 1856.
 * Acts of the State of Tennessee, 1857-1858. Nashville: G.C. Torbett and Company, 1858.
 * Acts of the State of Tennessee, 1858. Nashville: G.C. Torbett and Company, 1858.
 * Acts of the State of Tennessee, 1859-1860. Nashville: Eastman &amp; Co., 1860.
 * Acts of the State of Tennessee, 1861. Nashville: J.G. Griffith and Co, 1861.
 * Acts of the State of Tennessee, 1861. Nashville: Eastman &amp; Co., 1861.
 * Acts of the State of Tennessee, 1861-1862. Nashville: Griffith, Camp &amp; Co., 1862.
 * Acts of the State of Tennessee, 1865. Nashville: S.C. Mercer, 1865.
 * Acts of the State of Tennessee, 1865-1866. Nashville: S.C. Mercer, 1866.
 * Acts and Resolutions of the State of Tennessee, July 1866. Nashville: S.C. Mercer, 1866.
 * Acts of the State of Tennessee, 1866-1867. Nashville: S.C. Mercer, 1866.
 * Acts of the State of Tennessee, 1867-1868. Nashville: S.C. Mercer, 1868.
 * Acts and Resolutions of the State of Tennessee, Extra Session, 1868. Nashville: S.C. Mercer, 1868.
 * Acts of the State of Tennessee, 1868-1869. Nashville: S.C. Mercer, 1869.
 * Acts of the State of Tennessee, 1869-1870. Nashville: Jones, Purvis &amp; Co., 1870.
 * Acts of the State of Tennessee, 1870-1871. Nashville: Jones, Purvis &amp; Co., 1871.
 * Acts of the State of Tennessee, 1871. Nashville: Jones, Purvis &amp; Co., 1871.
 * Acts of the State of Tennessee, 1873. Nashville: Jones, Purvis &amp; Co., 1873.
 * Acts of the State of Tennessee, 1875. Nashville: Tavel, Eastman &amp; Howell, 1875.
 * Acts of the State of Tennessee, 1877. Nashville: Tavel, Eastman &amp; Howell, 1877.
 * Acts of the State of Tennessee, 1879. Nashville: Tavel, Eastman &amp; Howell, 1880.
 * Acts of the State of Tennessee, 1881. Nashville: Tavel &amp; Howell, 1881.
 * Acts of the State of Tennessee, 1882. Nashville: Albert B. Tavel, 1882.
 * Acts of the State of Tennessee, 1885. Nashville: Albert B. Tavel, 1885.
 * Acts of the State of Tennessee, Extraordinary Session, 1885. Nashville: Marshall &amp; Bruce, 1885.
 * Acts of the State of Tennessee, 1887. Nashville: Marshall &amp; Bruce, 1887.
 * Acts of the State of Tennessee, 1889. Nashville: Marshall &amp; Bruce, 1889.
 * Acts of the State of Tennessee, 1891. Nashville: Albert B. Tavel, 1891.
 * Acts and Resolutions of the State of Tennessee, 1897. Nashville: Franc. M. Paul, 1897.
 * Acts of the State of Tennessee, 1898. Nashville: Marshall &amp; Bruce Co., 1898.
 * Acts of the State of Tennessee, 1901. Nashville: Brandon Printing Company, 1901.
 * Acts of the State of Tennessee, 1905. Nashville: Brandon Printing Company, 1905.
 * Acts of the State of Tennessee, 1909. Nashville: McQuiddy Printing Company, 1909.
 * Acts of the State of Tennessee, 1911. Nashville: McQuiddy Printing Company, 1911.
 * Acts of the State of Tennessee, 1913. Nashville: McQuiddy Printing Company, 1913. [Mislabeled 1911 at Internet Archive.]

Dower Law
"After the separation of Tennessee from North Carolina, and its organization under a distinct goverment, may of the laws of the latter State were re-enacted in the new territory. Among these are the North Carolina acts of 1715 and 1784, which indeed, form the basis of subsequent legislation in Tennessee on the subject of dower."