Overton County, Tennessee Genealogy

United States   Tennessee    Overton County Middle Tennessee county. Established 1806.





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

County Courthouse
Overton County Courthouse 317 East University St. Livingston, TN 38570 Phone: 1-931-823-2536

Overton County Clerk Marriage and probate records 317 E. University St., Room #22 Livingston, TN 38470 Phone: 1-931-823-2631

Overton County Register of Deeds Land records 317 E. University St. Livingston, TN 38570 Phone: 1-931-823-4011

Overton County Circuit Court Clerk Court records 317 E. University St. Livinston, TN 38570 Phone: 1-931-823-2312

Hours: Mon.,Tues., Thurs., Fri. 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Wed. and Sat. 8 a.m.-Noon

History
The county is named after "John Overton (1766–1833), one of the cofounders of Memphis, Tennessee."

Parent County
1806--Overton County was established 11 September 1806 from Jackson County. Early records may be found under Jackson County. County seat: Livingston

County Pronunciation

 * 1) Hear it spoken (female)
 * 2) Hear it spoken (male)

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
1865--Fire damaged records


 * Lost censuses: 1810, 1890
 * Lost marriage records: 1806 to 1866
 * Lost probate records: 1806 to 1869

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

Getting Started
Use the free Search for Surnames at Mountain Press's website to quickly search a variety of published Overton County land, military, and tax 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: Overton County, courtesy: TSLA. (Identifies published county histories, published local records, census records, newspapers and local records on microfilm, and select manuscripts.)

African American
United States African Americans Tennessee African Americans


 * Waldrep, G.C. "'Free Colored' Heads of Household in the 1820 Tennessee Census," available online, courtesy: Free African Americans website. [Includes free African Americans in this county.]


 * African American Poll Tax, 1867, Overton County Historical Society Newsletter, Vol. 5, No. 1 (Spring 2001).

Cemeteries
Tennessee cemetery records often identify birth, death, relationship, and military information, as well as religious affiliation.


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


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


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


 * The Family History Library Catalog lists an and some . Some of the books or others may be on Google Books or available at public libraries.


 * ePodunk list of Overton County cemeteries


 * Charles A. Reeves Jr. has created a detailed map showing the locations of Overton County cemeteries. It may be purchased for a small fee through his website.

Census
1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 federal population censuses of Overton 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 Overton County, TN census assignments, including links to transcribed files and scanned images of census microfilm. [The USGenWeb Census Project®].

1810 - Lost, but a substitute is available:


 * Sherrill, Charles A. The Reconstructed 1810 Census of Tennessee: 33,000 Long-lost Records from Tax Lists, Court Minutes, Church Records, Wills, Deeds and Other Sources. Mt. Juliet, Tenn.: C.A. Sherrill, 2001..

1820


 * Bentley, Elizabeth P. Index to the 1820 Census of Tennessee. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1981.
 * Houston, Martha Lou. 1820 Census of Overton County Tennessee. Washington, D.C.: M. L. Houston, 1900. Free digitized book.
 * Waldrep, G.C. "'Free Colored' Heads of Household in the 1820 Tennessee Census," available online, courtesy: Free African Americans website. [Includes free African Americans in this county.]

1830


 * Sistler, Byron H. 1830 Census, East Tennessee. Evanston, Ill.: n.p., 1969..

1840 Revolutionary War 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. . 1841 edition digitized by the U.S. Census Bureau and Google books et. al. [See Tennessee, Middle District, Overton County on page 157.]
 * "Overton County, Tennessee, Soldiers, Continental Line, Census 1840," The Upper Cumberland Researcher, Vol. 15, No. 4 :139-. For access, see Periodicals.

1850 Agricultural Census


 * Green, Linda L. Tennessee 1850 Agricultural Census. 2 vols. Woodbridge, Va.: L.L. Green, 2000. ff. [Overton County is included in Vol. 1.]

1890 - Lost, but 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. . [Overton County is included in Vol. 5.]
 * Sistler, Byron H. and Barbara Sistler. 1890 Civil War Veterans Census, Tennessee. Evanston, Ill.: Byron Sister and Associates, 1978..

1920


 * Young, Denise, ed. Overton County, Tennessee Census, 1920 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 1999. Available at Ancestry ($).

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


 * [Brown] Descendant of Samuel Brown, b. abt 1790 North Carolina, d. abt 1845 Overton County, Tennessee. Y-DNA 37 Marker Test, FTDNA (Kit 109827). Genetic signature available online (labeled Group No. 93), genealogical description available online, courtesy: Brown/Browne/Braun DNA Study. Matches have been found.
 * [Parrett] Descendant of James Forrester Parrett (1830-1868) of Overton County, Tennessee. Y-DNA 37 Marker Test, FTDNA (Kit 67049). Genetic signature available online (labeled Fr-1), genealogical description available online, courtesy: The Doss DNA Project, World Families. Matches have been found with Doss surname.

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 Overton, Tennessee at World Connect, results in more than 115,000 entries!


 * Gray, Shawn. Overton Co., TN Kin, Family Trees: Family Trees Compiled from 1994-1998. 2 vols. Muncie, Ind.: S. Gray, 1998. ff.
 * Whitley, Edythe Johns Rucker. Tennessee Genealogy Records: Overton County. Available at ; digital versions available at Ancestry ($) and World Vital Records ($).

Bibliography


 * [Bates] Bates, Madison C. Bates, a Brief History and Genealogy of Joseph Harrison Bates. Galesburg, Ill.: Wagoner Printing Co., 1915. FHL/VAULT US/CAN Film 1145782 Item 3; digital version at Google Books.
 * [Bilbrey] Eldridge, Charles S. History, Tennessee, My People and Me. Dayton, Ohio: C.S. Eldridge, 1991. FHL FAM HIST Book 929.273EL24ec.
 * [Carlock] Carlock, Marion Pomeroy. History of the Carlock Family and Adventures of Pioneer Americans: Including the Kimbrough, Goodpasture, Hoyl, Fite, Fancher, Lee, Wells, Judy, Tracy, Settles, Gaddis, Rowell, Moore, Cornelison, Harrold, Brown and other Connecting Families. Los Angeles, CA: M. P. Carlock, 1929. Available at ; ; digital versions at Ancestry ($); and Heritage Quest Online ($).
 * [Copeland] Orpha Halssell and Charlcie Pauline Carlton Fletcher Ancestors and descendants of Solomon Addison Copeland Oklahoma City, Oklahoma : P.C. Fletcher, 1988 Digital version available at BYU Family History Archives.
 * [Crawford] Edward Crawford's Family: With Special Emphasis on those Descendants Who Lived in or Passed through Macoupin County, Illinois: With Eventual Concentrations in Illinois, Missouri, Oregon, Texas, Tennessee. n.p.: Crawford Family Book Committee, 1988. FHL FAM HIST Book 929.273 C856.
 * [Dale] Edgerly, Dorthea Roach and Raymond Henry William Dale (1783-1857)of Lawrence County, Indiana Oceanside, California : D.R. Edgerly .Digital version available at BYU Family History Archives.
 * [Garrett] Parke, Iris Garrett. Garrett Family of Buckingham County, Virginia and Overton County, Tennessee. Typescript, microfilmed in 1980..
 * [Gerlach] See Carlock.
 * [Goodpasture] Bates, Madison C. Bates, a Brief History and Genealogy of Joseph Harrison Bates. Galesburg, Ill.: Wagoner Printing Co., 1915. FHL/VAULT US/CAN Film 1145782 Item 3; digital version at Google Books.
 * [Goodpasture] Goodpasture, Robert Abraham. The Goodpastures of Iowa and Washington: With Related Families. Georgetown, Calif.: R.A. Goodpasture, 1978. FHL FAM HIST Book 929.273 G624gra.
 * [Gregg] Rucker, Frank. Josiah Gregg. Independence, Missouri: Independence Examiner, 1949. FHL FAM HIST Book 921.73 A1 no. 108.
 * [Hammons] Williams, Sharon Ruth Hammons. Descendants of Hammons brothers John Milton and Elcanah C., 1820-1990. Chillicothe, Ohio: S.H. Williams, 1990. FHL FAM HIST Book 929.273 H184w.
 * [Harp] Smith, Mattie Benson. Harp Strings. Broken Arrow, Oklahoma: M.B. Smith, [1986?]. FHL FAM HIST Book 929.273 H23s.
 * [Huddleston] Huddleston, George. Huddleston Family Tables. Concord, NH: Rumford Press, 1933. Available at ; ; digital version at Ancestry ($); and Heritage Quest Online ($).
 * [Kimbrough] See Carlock.
 * [Goodpasture] See Carlock.
 * [Lovell] Pompey, Sherman Lee. Some Descendants of William Lovell of Overton County,Tennessee. Clovis, Calif.: S.L. Pompey, 1970..
 * [Parrott] Kelsey, Mavis P. Benjamin Parrott c. 1795-1839 and Lewis Stover 1781-1850/60 of Overton County, Tennessee and Their Descendants. Houston, Texas: M.P. Kelsey, 1979..
 * [Phillips] Sroka, John. A Workbook on the Phillips Families of Overton County, Tennessee. South Jordan, Utah: J. Sroka, 2006..
 * [Robbins] Gray, Shawn Descendants of Isaac Robbins Muncie, Indiana : S. Gray, [2003] Digital version available at BYU Family History Archives.
 * [Smith] Smith, Oma Ivadell. Smith-Garrett and Allied Families of Overton, Fentress and Pickett Counties, Tennessee: The Genealogy of Joseph Albert Smith and Nova Catherine Garrett. Jacksonville, Fla.: O. Smith, 1979..
 * [Stover] Kelsey, Mavis P. Benjamin Parrott c. 1795-1839 and Lewis Stover 1781-1850/60 of Overton County, Tennessee and Their Descendants. Houston, Texas: M.P. Kelsey, 1979..
 * [Vaughn] Vaughn, Charles P. and Bernice Elizabeth Hoke Vaughn. The Vaughn Genealogy: from Wake County, North Carolina, to Jackson and Overton Counties, Tennessee. Ventura, Calif.: B.E. Vaughn, 1990..

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


 * 1) Deed Book A: 1806-1809
 * 2) Deed Book B: 1801-1809
 * 3) Deed Book C: 1811-1813


 * Whitley, Edythe Johns Rucker. Tennessee Genealogy Records: Overton County. Available at ; digital versions available at Ancestry ($) and World Vital Records ($).

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.] 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 TSLA; another version is available at World Vital Records.

Military
Revolutionary War

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


 * 1835 Pension Roll
 * 1852 Rejected or Suspended Pensions

Additional resources include:


 * 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. . 1841 edition digitized by the U.S. Census Bureau and Google books et. al. [See Tennessee, Middle District, Overton County on page 157.]
 * Rejected or Suspended Applications for Revolutionary War Pensions. Washington, D.C., 1852. Reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1969, and 1991. Reprints include "an Added Index to States." Digital version at Ancestry ($). Tennessee entries abstracted online at Tennesseans in the Revolutionary War, courtesy: TNGenWeb. [Includes veterans from this county; Tennessee section begins on page 381.]

War of 1812


 * Embry, Hermione D. "War of 1812 - Tennessee Pensioners on List - January 2, 1883," Ansearchin' News, Vol. 8, No. 2 (Apr. 1961):49-52. FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 B2a v. 8 (1961); digital version at journal website. [Includes Overton County pensioners (p. 49).]
 * Transcription typed and formatted by Harold Keisling. Third? Regiment Tennessee Militia, Capt. Wiley Huddelston's Company Raised from men who were from Overton, Pickett and Fentress County, Tennessee. Courtesy: TNGenWeb

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 Overton County click on the following town:


 * Livingston

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. . Purchase at Genealogical.com. [Includes Overton 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 Overton County, Tennessee records 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


 * Overton County Historical Society Newsletter


 * Family History Library has volume 1 - 8 . Indexed in PERiodical Source Index (PERSI) For further information see Overton County Historical Society website: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~tnoverto/OCHS/index.htm


 * The Upper Cumberland Researcher


 * Genealogical articles with abstracts of records of Overton County, Tennessee have been published in The Upper Cumberland Researcher, the journal of the Upper Cumberland Genealogical Association, Inc. To view a list of the first 17 years of these articles, visit their online Seventeen Year Index to The Upper Cumberland Researcher (Vols. 1-17, 1975-1992). The Index contains a "Counties" section beginning on page 19. The Family History Library has most issues through the present (1975-1993) and  (1994-present).

Prisons
Learn if your Overton County ancestors went to prison!


 * Inmates of the Tennessee State Penitentiary 1831-1850, free index available online, courtesy: TSLA.
 * 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 Overton County Court has responsibility for the probate records.

The following Overton County probate records have been abstracted, indexed, or both:


 * Whitley, Edythe Johns Rucker. Tennessee Genealogy Records: Overton County. Available at ; digital versions available at Ancestry ($) and World Vital Records ($).

Taxation
The following Overton County tax records have been abstracted:


 * [1814] "Direct Federal Tax-Delinquent Property Owners Listed for 1814," Ansearchin' News, Vol. 43, No. 3 (Fall 1996):115-120. For possible FHL and online access, as well as indexes, see Periodicals. [Includes Overton County.]
 * [1836] Tatum, Ausborn C. "Overton County, Tennessee 1836 Tax List," Ansearchin' News, Vol. 30, No. 1 (Spring 1983):15-20; Vol. 30, No. 2 (Summer 1983):80-82. For FHL and online access, as well as indexes, see Periodicals.
 * [1836] Douthat, James L. 1836 Overton County, Tennessee Civil Districts &amp; Tax List. Signal Mountain, Tenn.: Mountain Press, 2001..
 * [1836] Tax List and Civil Districts, 1836, Tennessee Genealogy and History, Vol. 5, Nos. 1-2 (2001).
 * [1836] Tax List, 1836, Overton County, Tennesse Kin, Vol. 9, No. 3 (Jul. 2003); Vol. 10, No. 1 (Jan. 2004).
 * [1836] County Tax Records, 1836 (sel.), Overton County Historical Society Newsletter, Vol. 8, No. 4 (Winter 2004).
 * [1860s] "Civil War Union Tax Assessments," The Upper Cumberland Researcher, Vol. 2, No. 2 (Dec. 1977):14-; Vol. 3, No. 1 (Feb. 1978):4-. For access, see Periodicals.
 * [1862] Tax List, 1862, Overton County, Tennessee Kin, Vol. 9, No. 3 (Jul. 2003); Vol. 9, No. 4 (Oct. 2003).
 * [1867] Released from Paying Tax, 1867, Overton County Historical Society Newsletter, Vol. 3, No. 4 (Winter 1999).
 * [1867] African American Poll Tax, 1867, Overton County Historical Society Newsletter, Vol. 5, No. 1 (Spring 2001).
 * [1874-1875] Sales of Land for Unpaid Taxes, 1874-1875, Overton County Historical Society Newsletter, Vol. 7, No. 1 (Spring 2003).
 * Men in Army Released from Poll Tax, Overton County Historical Society Newsletter, Vol. 5, No. 4 (Winter 2001).

Birth

 * TSLA. Overton County Vital Records. Nashville, Tennessee: Filmed by the TSLA, 1988.

Marriage
The original Overton County marriage records are kept at the County Courthouse. Dur to fire, marriages were lost in Overton County until 1867. The following publication, 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..

The following Overton County marriage records are microfilmed:


 * [1867-1994] Available at the TSLA.
 * [1867-1953] Available at the Family History Library. Each volume is indexed.

The following Overton County marriage records are abstracted and/or indexed:


 * [1867-1927] Gray, Shawn. Overton Co., Tn., Marriage Index, 1867-1927. Muncie, Indiana : S. Gray, 1996.
 * TSLA. Overton County Vital Records. Nashville, Tennessee: Filmed by the TSLA, 1988.
 * 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. Overton, 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.

Overton County is not included in Sistler's Early Middle Tennessee Marriages.

Divorce
In 1940 and 1941, W.P.A. workers pinpointed the location of Overton County divorce papers in diverse County Courthouse records, 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

 * [1914-1925] Gray, Shawn. Overton Co., Tn. Death Certificates. S.I.:s.n., 2002. 2 vols.
 * TSLA. Overton County Vital Records. Nashville, Tennessee: Filmed by the TSLA, 1988.
 * Tennessee Deaths and Burials 1874-1955

For deaths of Methodists in Overton 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. 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
Overton County Historical Society P.O. Box 753 Livingston, TN 38570 Phone: 1-931-403-0909

Middle Tennessee Genealogical Society PO Box 330948 Nashville, TN, USA 37203-7507 The society serves the 40 counties of middle Tennessee of which Overton 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

Millard Oakley Public Library 107 East Main St. Livingston, TN 38570 Phone: 1-931-823-1888

Web Sites

 * (FamilySearch)
 * Overton County, TN Family History and Genealogy Message Board (Ancestry)
 * Overton County, TN Genealogy Forum (GenForum)
 * Overton County, TNGenWeb (USGenWeb)
 * Rootwalker: Genealogy Pages for Northern Middle TN Free Genealogy Resources for the Region
 * RootsWeb Mailing List: TN-ROOTWALKER-L (North Central Tennessee Genealogy List)
 * RootsWeb Mailing List: TN-UPPER-CUMBERLAND-L (Upper Cumberland Tennessee Region Genealogy List)