Decatur County, Tennessee Genealogy

United States   Tennessee    Decatur County

West Tennessee county established in 1845.





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

County Courthouse


Decatur County Courthouse P.O. Box 488 Decaturville, TN 38329-0488 Phone: 1-731-852-3417

Decatur County Clerk Marriage records Phone: 1-731-852-3417

Decatur County Register of Deeds Land records Phone: 1-731-852-3712

Circuit Court Clerk Court records Phone: 1-731-852-3125

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

History


The county is named after U.S. naval officer Stephen Decatur (1779-1820).

Parent County
1845--Decatur County was created November 1845 from Perry County. County seat: Decaturville

County Pronunciation


Did we get the accent right? If not, contact Nathan W. Murphy, [mailto:murphynw@familysearch.org murphynw@familysearch.org].

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
1869 and 1927 -- Courthouse burned and many records were damaged.


 * Marriages lost 1845 to 1869
 * Probate lost 1845 to 1869
 * Nearly all records, except deeds, lost in 1869 fire.

For further information on researching in burned counties, see the following:


 * Burned Counties Research in FamilySearch Wiki
 * Michael John Neill, Burned Counties in Family History Circle
 * When the Records are Gone in Arlene Eakle's Tennessee Genealogy Blog

Populated Places
Cities and Towns:

Neighboring Counties

 * Benton
 * Carroll
 * Hardin
 * Henderson
 * Perry
 * Wayne

Getting Started
Use the free Search for Surnames at Mountain Press's website to quickly search a variety of published Decatur County biography and cemetery 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: Decatur 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

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

The following websites may contain Decatur 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 Decatur County linking to the information about the people buried there,


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


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


 * Some of the books on Decatur County cemeteries may be on Google Books or available at public libraries.


 * ePodunk list of Decatur County cemeteries

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

1850


 * Porch, Deane Decatur County, Tennessee, 1850 census Nashville, Tennessee : D. Porch, 1970 FHL US/CAN Book 976.832 X2

1880


 * Sistler, Byron H. and Barbara 1880 Census, Decatur County, Tennessee Nashville, Tennessee : B. Sistler and Associates, c1993 FHL US/CAN book 976.832 X2

Church
Church records include baptisms, marriages and burials, as well as information about family members and clues about family migration. For additional information about church records, religions, and religious archives in Tennessee, see Tennessee Church Records.


 * Decatur County Church Records


 * - Family History Library Catalog - Decatur County Church Records


 * Church histories tell when a church started in the area, who the early members were, give data about church leaders, etc.


 * If the records you need are not found in the Family History Library collection, contact the church(es) in the area where your ancestor lived. Two sites that give information about churches in Bedford County are:


 * - List of Decatur County churches with addresses and phone numbers (Yellowbook)
 * - List of Decatur County churches (TN HomeTownLocator)


 * In 1936, a helpful guide to early Decatur County church records was published by the Works Project Administration. Use this guide to locate which church records exist and where they were housed in 1936. The Tennessee State Library and Archives has filmed some of these records. To locate which records are available at the TSLA, go to the appropriate "county fact sheet" on the TSLA Web site and scroll down to "selected manuscript material". All filmed church records at the TSLA for Decatur County are listed. Many of these filmed records are also available at the Family History Library.

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


 * [Doss] Multiple descendants of Rev. John Wesley Doss, b. abt 1809 Virginia, resident of Decatur and Carroll counties, Tennessee. Y-DNA 37 and 67 Marker Tests, FTDNA (Kits 40282, 88650). Genetic signatures available online (labeled Jw-1 and Jw-2), genealogical description available online, courtesy: The Doss DNA Project, World Families. Matches have been found.

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 Decatur County, Tennessee at World Connect, results in more than 10,000 entries.


 * Decatur County, Tennessee History and Families. Paducah, Ky.: Turner's Publishing Co. Publisher's description.

Bibliography


 * [Ausmus] Ausmus, Harry Lee. Ausmus Family History, 1711-1962. Johnson City, TN: H.L. Ausmus, 1963. FHL FAM HIST Book 929.273 Au72a and Heritage Quest Online ($).

Land
Decatur County Register of Deeds has Land Records from 1846 and is located at 22 West Main Street, Decaturville, Tennessee 38329, or P.O. Box 488, Decaturville, TN 38329-0488; Telephone: 731-852-3712. Land and property records may include transfer of real estate or personal property, mortgages, leases, surveys, and entries. The Family History Library has microfilmed deed records 1846-1896 with indexes to 1926 and survey books 1891-1918.

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

Military
War of 1812


 * Embry, Hermione D. "War of 1812 - Tennessee Pensioners on List - January 2, 1883," Ansearchin' News, Vol. 7, No. 2 (Apr. 1960):40-45. FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 B2a v. 7 (1960); digital version at journal website. [Includes Decatur County pensioners (p. 43)]

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 Decatur County click on the following cities or towns:


 * Decaturville
 * Parsons

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 Decatur 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
 * Genealogical articles with abstracts of records of Decatur 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
 * Genealogical articles with abstracts of Decatur 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 Decatur County ancestors went to prison!


 * 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 County Court has responsibility for the probate records of Decatur County.

Taxation
The original Decatur County Tax Books 1888-1889, 1896-1898 are kept at the County Courthouse. In the 1970s, the TSLA microfilmed these records. FHL copies: FHL US/CAN Film 979664.

The following Decatur County tax records have been abstracted:


 * [1848] "1849 Land Sales Held in 3 West Tennessee Counties for Unpaid Taxes," [1848 taxpayers in Decatur, Carroll, and Henderson counties], Ansearchin' News, Vol. 44, No. 4 (Winter 1997):12. For FHL and online access, as well as indexes, see Periodicals.
 * [1852-1882] Hill, Phyllis. "Decatur County, TN - Misc - Tax Receipts of W.G. Riggs," available online, courtesy: USGenWeb Archives. [Abstracts of receipts Riggs received for paying his taxes, various years between 1852 and 1882.]
 * [1888] Hill, Phyllis. "Decatur County, TN - Land - Property Tax Records, District 12, 1888," available online, courtesy: USGenWeb Archives.
 * [1889] Hill, Phyllis. "Decatur County, TN - Land - Property Tax Records, District 12, 1889," available online, courtesy: USGenWeb Archives.
 * [1896] Hill, Phyllis. "Decatur County, TN - Land - Property Tax Records, District 12, 1896," available online, courtesy: USGenWeb Archives.

Marriage
Marriages were not officially recorded in Decatur County until 1838, when a law was passed mandating the practice. 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. FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 V2L.

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


 * [1869-1898] Historical Records Project Marriage records, 1869-1898, Decatur County, Tennessee Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1939. FHL US/CAN Film 24638 items 3-7,11
 * [1869-1921, 1927-1992] Alexander, Fred and Margie Early marriage records of Decatur County, Tennessee Decaturville, Tennessee : F. Alexander, [1987?] FHL US/CAN Book 976.832 V2a volume 1 and 2 "Early Marriage Records of Decatur County, Tennessee covered all recorded marriages from 1869 to 1921. A fire on March 25, 1927 destroyed all records between March 23, 1921 and March 25, 1927. This book begins with the records following the fire and continues through the year 1992."
 * [1869-1921, 1927-1959] Decatur County (Tennessee) County Court Clerk Marriages (Decatur County, Tennessee), 1869-1921, 1927-1959 Nashville, Tennessee : Tennessee State Library and Archives and History, [197-?]-1988. FHL US/CAN Films 979648-650, 979652 items 1-2, 1928661-663
 * 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 titled Discover Your Ancestors; indicate a surname, marriage "event" and a county name (i.e. Decatur, 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 all counties.

Divorce
In 1940 and 1941, W.P.A. workers pinpointed the location of Decatur County divorce papers in diverse manuscript collections, 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
For deaths of Methodists in Decatur 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.]

Web Sites

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