Hickman County, Tennessee Genealogy

United States   Tennessee    Hickman County





County Courthouse
Hickman County Courthouse Public Square Centerville, Tennessee 37033 Phone 931-729-2621

Hickman County Archivist 8 Public Square Centerville, TN 37033 Phone: 931-729-6478 The Hickman County Archives is now open for public use on a limited Thursday and Friday schedule. All bound volumes that have been microfilmed, with the exception of deeds and deeds of trust, are available for review with the original volumes on site for verification of unclear images.

Hours: Monday-Friday 8 am - 4 pm

History
The county is named after "Edwin Hickman, a longhunter killed by Native Americans near the present-day Centerville."

Parent County
1807--Hickman County was created 3 December 1807 from Dickson County. County seat: Centerville

Record Loss
1864--Fire damaged records


 * Lost censuses: 1810, 1890

Research Guides

 * Genealogical "Fact Sheets" About Tennessee Counties: Hickman 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.)

Census
1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 federal population censuses of Hickman 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, these indexes are often transcribed more accurately than those available online.

1810 - Lost, but a substitute is available: 1820 1890 - Lost, but substitutes are 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. FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 X2s 1810.
 * Bentley, Elizabeth P. Index to the 1820 Census of Tennessee.  Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1981.
 * 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. FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 X2r v. 8 1891. [Hickman County is included in Vol. 8.]
 * Sistler, Byron H. and Barbara Sistler. 1890 Civil War Veterans Census, Tennessee. Evanston, Ill.: Byron Sister and Associates, 1978. FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 X2s 1890.

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
 * Garrett, Jill Knight. Historical Sketches of Hickman County, Tennessee. Unknown: Unknown, 19??. Available at FHL US/CAN Book 976.8434 H2; FHL US/CAN Film 1036548; digital version at Heritage Quest Online ($).


 * [Beasley] Lockhart, William Thomas. The Beasley Family of Benton, Henry, Hickman, Houston, Humphreys and Stewart Counties of Tennessee. Florissant, Missouri: W. Lockhart, 1985. FHL FAM HIST Book 929.273 B38Lw.

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.

Local Histories

 * Garrett, Jill Knight. Historical Sketches of Hickman County, Tennessee. Unknown: Unknown, 19??. Available at FHL US/CAN Book 976.8434 H2; FHL US/CAN Film 1036548; digital version at Heritage Quest Online ($).

Military

 * McMurray, William Joseph. History of the 20th Tennessee Regiment Volunteer Infantry, C.S.A. Nashville, Tennessee: s.p., 1904. Free digital copy.

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. FHL US/CAN 976.8 U2ma. Purchase at Genealogical.com. [Includes Hickman 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 Hickman 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 Hickman 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.

Hickman County Historical Society Quarterly Herald

Hickman County Historical Society P.O. Box 64 Centerville, TN 37033 Indexed at PERiodical Source Index (PERSI) 2003 - 2007

Prisons
Learn if your Hickman 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.

Taxation

 * [1817] "U.S. Holds 1817 Public Sale of Federal Tax-Delinquent Properties in Tennessee," Ansearchin' News, Vol. 43, No. 2 (Summer 1996):63-68. For possible FHL and online access, as well as indexes, see Periodicals. [Includes Hickman County.]
 * [1836] Hughes, T.P. "Hickman County, Tennessee, 1836 Tax Record," Ansearchin' News, Vol. 27, No. 2 (Summer 1980):63-69. For FHL and online access, as well as indexes, see Periodicals.

Vital Records
Death

For deaths of Methodists in Hickman 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
Hickman County Historical Society 7 Court House Centerville, TN 37033-1639 Telephone (931) 729-3279

Web Sites

 * Family History Library Catalog (FamilySearch)
 * Hickman County, TN Family History and Genealogy Message Board (Ancestry)
 * Hickman County, TN Genealogy Forum (GenForum)
 * Hickman 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-SOUTHCENTRAL-L (South Central Tennessee List)
 * Hickman County Tennessee Genealogy and History (Genealogy Trails History Group–Volunteers Dedicated to Free Genealogy)