Lake County, Tennessee Genealogy

Guide to Lake County, Tennessee ancestry, genealogy and family history, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, and military records.

Description
Lake County was named for Reelfoot Lake and is located in the northwestern area of the state.

County Courthouse
Lake County Courthouse 229 Church Street Tiptonville,TN 38079-1162 County Courthouse Phone: 731-253-8926 County Clerk Phone: 731-253-7582 Register of Deeds Phone: 731-253-7462 Circuit Court Clerk Phone: 731-253-7137

County Clerk has probate records from 1870 and marriage records from 1883 Clerk Chancery and Circuit Court have divorce records Registrar and Tax Assessor have land records.

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

History Timeline
Additional Information

West Tennessee county. Established 1870.

The county is named after Reelfoot Lake.

Biographies

 * Douthat, James L. Lake County, Tennessee Biographies. 1887; reprint, Signal Mountain, Tenn.: Mountain Press. Free Surname Index and purchase details at Mountain Press website.
 * Family Biographies from The History of Lake County, Tennessee (1887) published by Goodspeed are availableon the My Genealogy Hound website.

Business, Commerce, and Occupations

 * West Tennessee's Forgotten Children: Apprentices from 1821 to 1889. 2006. By Alan N. Miller. Baltimore, Md.: Clearfield Company. . Online at MyHeritage ($). Includes Lake County.

Cemeteries
Additional Cemetery Resources
 * Tennessee Cemeteries - Hometown Locator

Census Records
1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, and 1940 federal population censuses of Lake 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.

1810-1891


 * Tennessee, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1810-1891 at Ancestry ($)

See Tennessee Population Schedule Indexes: Fiche, Film, or Book

1880


 * Sistler, Samuel D. 1880 census Lake County, Tennessee Nashville, Tennessee Byron Sistler and Associates, 2002

1890 Lost

Substitutes are available:


 * 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. 8 vols. Houston, Texas: S.S. Reed, 1989. . Lake County is included in Vol. 3.
 * Sistler, Byron H. and Barbara Sistler. 1890 Civil War Veterans Census, Tennessee. Evanston, Ill.: Byron Sister and Associates, 1978..

1891 Male Voters


 * 1891 Tennessee Enumeration of Male Voters 1891 at Ancestry ($)

Church Records
List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places

Court Records
Law and Legislation


 * Tennessee State Library and Archives, Acts of Tennessee 1796-1850: Index to Names. 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. Online searchable index at TSLA.

Genealogies
General


 * As of August 2010, a query for persons born in Lake, Tennessee at World Connect, results in more than 2,500 entries.
 * TNGenWeb has histories of several families. Scroll down to "Families."
 * Lake County Historical Society. History and Families Lake County, Tennessee: 1870-1992. Paducah, Ky.: Turner Pub. Co., 1993..

Bibliography


 * Shull - Algee, Isabelle Rogers. The Shull Family of Lake County, Tennessee and Allied Families. n.p.: I.R. Algee, 1998..

Land and Property Records

 * Lake County Register of Deeds has Land Records from 1870 and is located at Courthouse, 116 S. Court, Tiptonville, Tennessee 38079; Telephone: (731) 253-7582. Land and property records include transfer of real estate or personal property, mortgages, leases, surveys, and entries
 * The FamilySearch Library has microfilmed copies on deeds 1870-1914 with indexes 1870-1969; and land entry books 1893-1929.

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Maps of Tennessee (1777-1985)
 * Map of 1888 Lake County, Tennessee with numerous small settlements. (My Genealogy Hound)
 * FamilySearch Places: Cities and Towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Military Records
War of 1812 There were no War of 1812 pensioners or widows of pensioners living in Lake County on 2 January 1883.

Civil War

Online Records
 * 1861-1865 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
 * 1861-1865 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
 * 1861-1865 - U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry
 * 1861-1865 - U.S., Union Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry
 * 1861-1865 U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865 at Ancestry
 * 1891-1965 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
 * Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System

Confederate Soldiers


 * 1st Regiment, Tennessee Heavy Artillery (Jackson's) - CSA
 * 15th Regiment, Tennessee Infantry - CSA - Company E.
 * 18th Regiment, Tennessee Cavalry (Newsom's) - CSA - Company D.
 * 33rd Regiment, Tennessee Infantry - CSA - Company G.

Additional sources for Civil War soldiers from Lake County:


 * Tennessee State Library and Archives, Tennessee Confederate Pension Applications: Lake County. Includes soldier's name, county, pension #, unit or widow.
 * United States Pension Bureau, List of Pensioners on the Roll January 1, 1883: Giving the Name of Each Pensioner, the Cause for... (Washington Printing Office; 1883). Online at Internet Archive. Lake County, page 356.
 * Tennessee Civil War Preservation Association, The Civil War in Lake County.

Civil War Battle The following Civil War Battle was fought in Lake County.
 * February 28-April 8, 1862 - New Madrid/Island No. 10.
 * Battles of the American Civil War maps - filter by state or by battle name.

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 Lake County click on the following towns:


 * Ridgley
 * Tiptonville


 * 1794-1851 - Lucas, Silas Emmett. Marriages from Early Tennessee Newspapers 1794-1851. Easley, S.C.: Southern Historical Press, 1978..
 * 1847 - 1851 - 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. 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. (Largely Methodist?)

Prisons

 * 1831-1850 Inmates of the Tennessee State Penitentiary 1831-1850 at Tennessee State Library and Archives
 * 1851-1870 Inmates of the Tennessee State Penitentiary 1851-1870 at Tennessee State Library and Archives

Periodicals

 * Family Findings: Quarterly of the Mid-West Tennessee Genealogical Society. For tables of contents and online access to issues, see TNGenWeb Project. Also try this specialized Google search..
 * West Tennessee Historical Society Papers: Occasional publication of the West Tennessee Historical Society. . To view Table of Contents and complete articles from 1947 - 2005 see Shelby County Register of Deeds

Probate Records
The County Court has responsibility for the probate records of Lake County.

Online Records and Indexes
 * 1779-2008 Tennessee Wills and Probate Records 1779-2008 at Ancestry ($)
 * 1871-1943 Lake County portion of at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; handwritten indexes may be found at the front or back of some volumes.

Social Security Records

 * 1935-2014 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.


 * 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry ($) — index, click here for more information.

Tax Records
The original Lake County Tax Books 1878-1879 are kept at the County Courthouse. In 1976, TSLA microfilmed these records. FS Library copy:.

Book Abstracts and Indexes


 * 1891 Moore, Leslie. "Lake County, Tennessee 1891 Voter's List," Districts 1-4 available online, courtesy TNGenWeb. Scroll down to "Census and Voter's Lists"

Birth

 * 1828-1939 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
 * 1869-1909 Tennessee Delayed Birth Records 1869-1909 at Ancestry ($)
 * 1908-1912 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection

Marriage
Online indexes and Records


 * 1625-1966 Tennessee, United States Marriages at Findmypast ($)
 * 1780-2002 Tennessee State Marriages 1780-2002 at Ancestry ($)
 * 1780-2002 - at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
 * 1790-1962 [1790-1962] - at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection. Covers all counties in Tennessee.
 * 1796-1950 (Indexes only) at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
 * 1838-1888 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
 * 1883-1895 - Lake County Marriage Index 1883-1895 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch
 * 1851-1900 Tennessee Marriages 1851-1900 at Ancestry ($)
 * 1980-2014 Marriage Records Index 1980-2014 at Shelby County Register of Deeds - index
 * 1949-2014 Death Records Index 1949-2014 at Shelby County Register of Deeds - index

Death

 * 1874-1955 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
 * 1908-1933 Tennessee Deaths, 1908 - 1933 at MyHeritage ($) — index
 * 1908-1958 Tennessee Death Records 1908 - 1958 at Ancestry ($)
 * 1908-1912 Tennessee Death Records 1908-1912 at Tennessee State Library & Archives - index
 * 1914-1933 Tennessee Death Records 1914-1933 at Tennessee State Library & Archives - index
 * 1914-1966 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection

Divorce

 * 1796-1850 Acts of Tennessee 1796-1850 at Tennessee State Library & Archives - index
 * 1980-2014 Divorce Records Index 1980-2014 at Shelby County Register of Deeds - index

FamilySearch Centers

 * Fulton Kentucky FamilySearch Center
 * Jackson Tennessee FamilySearch Center
 * Trenton Tennessee FamilySearch Center
 * Chester County Public Library - an affiliate library.
 * Dunklin County Library - Missouri - an affiliate library.
 * Graves County Public Library - Kentucky - an affiliate library.

Libraries
Ridgely Public Library 134 N Main St. Ridgley, TN 38080 Phone: 731-264-5809 Email: [mailto:ridgelylibrary58@bellsouth.net ridgelylibrary58@bellsouth.net] Website Facebook Tiptonville Public Library 126 Tipton St. Tiptonville, TN 38079 Phone: 731-253-7391 Email: [mailto:tipvle@bellsouthnet tipvle@bellsouthnet] Website Facebook West Tennessee Heritage Study Center Paul Meek Library 10 Wayne Fisher Dr. Martin, TN 38238 Phone: 731-881-7065 Website Houses a variety of genealogical resources including materials relating to the following counties in 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 (KY), Fulton (KY), and Hickman (KY) counties in Kentucky.

Societies
Lake County Tennessee Genealogy & History 655 Lake Drive Tiptonville, TN 38079 Email: [mailto:randy@reelfootfoundation.org randy@reelfootfoundation.org] Website Facebook

Websites

 * Lake County, TNGenWeb (USGenWeb)
 * Lake County TN Genealogy   (ldsgenealogy.com)
 * – The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records.

Research Guides

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