Haywood County, Tennessee Genealogy

United States   Tennessee    Haywood County





West Tennessee county. Established 1823.

County Courthouse


Haywood County Courthouse 1 North Washington Street Brownsville, TN 38012-2561 Phone: 731-772-2362

County Clerk has marriage and probate records Phone: 731-772-2362

Register of Deeds has Land records Phone: 731-772-0332

Circuit Court Clerk has Court records Phone: 731-772-1112

Hours: Monday - Friday 8:30 am - 5 pm

History
The county is named after "Judge John Haywood (1762-1826), called 'the father of Tennessee history.'"

Parent County
1823--Haywood County was created 3 November 1823 from Chickasaw Indian Lands. County seat: Brownsville

Record Loss

 * Lost marriages: 1823 to 1858

Although these records are not lost due to burning, the same strategies for researching in burned counties can apply to record loss for other reasons. 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

 * Crockett
 * Fayette
 * Hardeman
 * Lauderdale
 * Madison
 * Tipton

Research Guides

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

African Americans

 * Free African Americans Enumerated in the 1850 and 1860 Haywood County, Tennessee Census, available online, courtesy: Christine's Genealogy Website: Who are Your People?

Cemeteries
Tennessee cemetery records often identify birth, death, relationship, and military information, as well as religious affiliation. A local volunteer through Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness offers to take photographs of headstones found in Haywood County cemeteries.

The following websites may contain Haywood County cemetery records:


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


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


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


 * Haywood County cemetery information with transcriptions on TNGenweb Project


 * The Family History Library Catalog lists some records of cemeteries for Haywood County. Some of the books or other books may be on Google Books or available at public libraries.


 * Some cemetery transcriptions for Haywood County are on Interment.net


 * ePodunk list of Haywood County cemeteries


 * For free lookups of Haywood county cemeteries, obituaries and Bells/Brownsville Funeral Home records (1940's-1970's) click here.

Census
1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 federal population censuses of Haywood 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 Haywood County, TN census assignments, including links to transcribed files. [The USGenWeb Census Project®]

1840 Pensioners


 * A Census of Pensioners for Revolutionary or Military Services: With their Names, Ages, and Places of Residence, as Returned by the Marshalls of the Several Judicial Districts, Under the Act for Taking the Sixth Census. 1841; reprint, Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing, 1967. FHL US/CAN Book 973 X2pc 1840; FHL US/CAN Film 2321. 1841 edition digitized by the U.S. Census Bureau and Google books et. al. [See Tennessee, Western District, Haywood County on page 159.]

1850


 * Carpenter, Mrs. V.K. Seventh Census of the United States, 1850, Haywood County, Tennessee : free population schedules Huntsville, Arkansas : Century Enterprises, c1970 FHL US/CAN book 976.8223 X2

1880


 * Sistler, Barbara 1880 census Haywood County, Tennessee Nashville, Tennessee : Byron Sistler and Associates, 2001 FHL US/CAN book 976.8223 X2

Directories

 * Brownsville City Directory 1872-1873 Free lookups available!

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

Bibliography


 * [Hughes] Hughes, V. Jean. Hughes Trav[e]lers from Bertie to Haywood County, Tennessee. 2 vols. Senatobia, Miss.: V.J. Hughes, 1997. FHL FAM HIST Book 929.273 H874hvj v. 1 ff.
 * [Moore] Fritz, Marcine Moore William Moore and his descendants Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1993 Available at the Family History Library] FHL film 1750756 item 12 with a digitized version through BYU Family History Archives
 * [Taylor] Tabernacle Historical Committee. The Taylors of Tabernacle. Brownsville, TN: Tabernacle Historical Committee, 1957. 2 volumes. Available at FHL FAM HIST Book 929.273 T212ta; digital version at Heritage Quest Online ($).

Land

 * Haywood County Register of Deeds has Land Records from 1820 and is located at the Courthouse, 1 N. Washington St., Brownsville, TN 38012-2561; Telephone: (731) 772-2362. Land and property records include transfer of real estate or personal property, mortgages, leases, surveys, and entries.
 * The Family History Library has microfilmed copies of deeds 1823-1893 with indexes 1823-1905; and land grants and land entries 1793-1834

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 Tennessee State Library and Archives 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 Tennessee State Library and Archives; another version is available at World Vital Records.

Military
Revolutionary War


 * A Census of Pensioners for Revolutionary or Military Services: With their Names, Ages, and Places of Residence, as Returned by the Marshalls of the Several Judicial Districts, Under the Act for Taking the Sixth Census. 1841; reprint, Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing, 1967. FHL US/CAN Book 973 X2pc 1840; FHL US/CAN Film 2321. 1841 edition digitized by the U.S. Census Bureau and Google books et. al. [See Tennessee, Western District, Haywood County on page 159.]

Civil War

Lynn, H.M. ''H.M. Lynn Papers, 1858-1882. ''Southern Historical Collection, Manuscripts Dept., Wilson Library, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Free digital copy. 9th Tennessee Regiment, Company C.

Newspapers
A local volunteer through Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness is willing to do free obituary lookups in Haywood County newspapers.

Many Tennessee newspapers are filmed and available at 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 Haywood County click on the following city:


 * Brownsville

Occupations

 * Miller, Alan N. West Tennessee's Forgotten Children: Apprentices from 1821 to 1889. Baltimore, Md.: Printed for Clearfield Company, Inc., by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2006. FHL US/CAN 976.8 U2man. Purchase at Genealogical.com. [Includes Haywood County.]

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

Several genealogical articles with abstracts of records of Haywood 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.

Family Findings

Several genealogical articles with abstracts of Haywood County, Tennessee records have been published in Family Findings, the quarterly of the Mid-West Tennessee Genealogical Society (42+ vols.). The Family History Library has most issues of this quarterly FHL US/CAN 976.8 B2f.

Tables of contents for some volumes are available online, courtesy: TNGenWeb Project:


 * Volumes 1-10 (1969-1978)
 * Volumes 11-20 (1979-1988)
 * Volumes 21-24 (1989-1992)
 * Volumes 32-35 (2000-2003)

Many articles from this publication have been reproduced on the TNGenWeb Project website, try this specialized Google search.

West Tennessee Historical Society Papers

Family History Library has Volumes 1 - 16 and 30 FHL US/CAN Book 976.81 B5w. 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

Prisons
Learn if your Haywood County ancestors went to prison!


 * Inmates of the Tennessee State Penitentiary 1831-1850, free index available online, courtesy: Tennessee State Library and Archives.
 * Inmates of the Tennessee State Penitentiary 1851-1870, free index available online, courtesy: Tennessee State Library and Archives.

Probate
The organization Strictly By Name provides free online indexes to early Haywood County probate records. They offer a record retrieval service to photocopy and transcribe microfilm copies of the original documents for a small fee. Available indexes:


 * 1) Will Book 1: 1826-1839
 * 2) Will Book 2: 1839-1841

The following Haywood County probate records have been abstracted and/or indexed:


 * [1826-1861] 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.] Free lookups available!
 * [1826-1841] Strictly By Name (see above).

Taxation
The original Haywood County Tax Books 1834-1888 are kept at the County Courthouse. In 1976, the Tennessee State Library and Archives microfilmed these records. Copies of their films are also available at the Family History Library: FHL US/CAN Films 1007525-1007529.

The following Haywood County tax records have been abstracted:


 * [1836] Haywood Co., Tenn., Tax List 1836, District #1, Family Findings, Vol. 3, No. 4 (Oct. 1971). For possible FHL and online access, as well as indexes, see Periodicals.
 * [1836] "Haywood County, Tennessee - 1836 Civil Districts," Ansearchin' News, Vol. 37, No. 4 (Winter 1990):164. For possible FHL and online access, as well as indexes, see Periodicals.
 * [1836] Douthat, James L. 1836 Haywood County, Tennessee Civil Districts &amp; Tax List. Signal Mountain, Tenn.: Mountain Press, 2003. FHL US/CAN Book 976.8223 R4d.

Vital Records
Marriage

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


 * [1859-1878] Sistler, Byron and Barbara Sistler. Early West Tennessee Marriages. 2 vols. Nashville, Tenn.: B. Sistler &amp; Associates, 1989. FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 V2sb v. 1 ff. [Indexes names of brides and grooms, and marriage dates for weddings in this county for the specified years.]

Death


 * Hays, Tony. West Tennessee Death Records [ca. 1823-1852]. 2 vols. n.p.: Kitchen Table Press, 1987. FHL FAM HIST Book 976.8 V2ht v. 1-2. [Haywood County is included in Vol. 2]

For deaths of Methodists in Haywood 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
A local volunteer, through Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness, offers to do genealogy lookups and make photocopies at Haywood County's public library.

Web Sites

 * Family History Library Catalog (FamilySearch)
 * Haywood County, TN Family History and Genealogy Message Board (Ancestry)
 * Haywood County, TN Genealogy Forum (GenForum)
 * Haywood County, TNGenWeb (USGenWeb)
 * RootsWeb Mailing List: TNHAYWOO-L (Haywood County, Tennessee List)
 * RootsWeb Mailing List: WEST-TNCHAT-L (West Tennessee Chat List)
 * RootsWeb Mailing List: WESTTN-L (West Tennessee List)