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Roane County


Updated:  July 11, 2008

Roane County was formed in 1801 from
Knox County and Indian lands.

The county seat is Kingston.

 

CENSUS RECORDS 

  • Census on microfilm for Roane County:  1830-1880, 1900-1930
  • State-wide census index:  1830-1880
  • State-wide census index on microfilm  (Soundex):  1880,  1900-1930
  • Roane County census records in book form:  1830, 1840, 1860, 1870, *1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, *1930

 

SELECTED COUNTY HISTORIES

  • 200 Years of Kingston, Tennessee History 1799-1999 (Parker, 1999)
  • Company Town : A History of Rockwood and the Roane Iron Company (Moore, 1984)
  • East Roane County Homecoming '86 (Guettner, 1986)
  • Glimpse of the Past (Roberts, 1982?)
  • Guidebook to Historic Places in Roane County, Tennessee (Anderson & Hall, 1997)
  • *Historical Review: Rockwood's centennial year, 1868-1968 (Staples, 1968)
  • History of Roane County, Tennessee (Wells, 1920)
  • *History of Roane County, Tennessee, 1801-1870 (Wells, 1994)
  • *History of Roane County, Tennessee to 1860 (Pickel, 1981)
  • *Pictures of the Past (Williams & Myers, 1982)
  • Rockwood, Tennessee : The Little Pittsburgh of the South (Seward, 1962?)
  • *Roots of Roane County, Tennessee, 1792- (Roberts, 1981)
  • *Valley of Challenge and Change : The History of Roane County, Tennessee, 1860-1900 (Shelley & Hall, 1986)

Additional county and community histories can be found at the Bibliography of Tennessee Local History Sources:  Roane County.  The items in the bibliography may not all be available at TSLA.

 

PUBLISHED LOCAL RECORDS

  • 1860 Census of Roane County, Tennessee (McCluen & Thornton, 1993)
  • 1880 Census Roane County, Tennessee (Pierce & McCluen, 1986)
  • *1880 Census, Roane County, Tennessee (Sistler, 1990)
  • 1900 Census, Roane County, Tennessee (Pierce & McCluen, 1988)
  • *Cemeteries of Roane County, Tennessee [4 vols.] (Roane County Genealogical Society, 1988-)
  • Cemetery Atlas for the Thirty Four Atomic Energy Commission, Depart of Energy Reservtion Cemeteries in Roane County, Tennessee (Daughters of the American Revolution. Avery Trace Chapter, 2007)
  • Churches of Roane County, Tennessee (McCluen, 1976?)
  • Cumberland Co., Tennessee, Fentress Co., Tennessee, Jackson Co., Tennessee, Loudon Co., Tennessee, Morgan Co., Tennessee, Overton Co., Putnam Co., Tennessee, Roane Co., Tennessee, [1891 enumeration of male voters] (Reed, 1990)
  • Estate Book, 1802-1842 [vol. 1 & 2 1802-1828 & 1829-1837; vol. 3 1838-1842] (WPA, 1936)
  • Fourth Survey Distr[i]ct of Tennessee, 1808-1810 : John McClellan-Surveyor Anderson, Bledsoe, Campbell, Knox, Overton, Rhea, Roane Counties, TN (Douthat, 1988)
  • General Index to Warranty Deeds, 1801-1860 (WPA, 1940)
  • *Index to Roane County, Tennessee Chancery Court Case Files, 1824-1924 (Bailey, 2004)
  • *Locations of Roane County Cemeteries, Plus Tombstone Readings of Harriman Cemetery and Willard Park Cemetery in Harriman, Tennessee (Pellissippi Genealogical & Historical Society, 1987)
  • *Marriage Records of Roane County, Tennessee, 1801-1855 (Hutcherson & McCluen, 1973)
  • *Marriage Records, Roane County, Tennessee, 1856-1880 (Pierce, 1987)
  • *Marriages of Roane County, Tennessee, 1801-1838 (Whitley, 1983)
  • Maxwell Funeral Home Records: Harriman, Roane County, Tennessee, 1926-1979 (Bailey, 2000)
  • Minute Book [County Court], 1801-1826 [10 vols.] (WPA, 1937-1942)
  • Minutes, New Hope Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1824-1845 (WPA, 1938)
  • *Pioneers of Roane County, Tennessee, 1801-1830. Tax Lists, Muster Rolls, Election Lists, Petitions, etc. (Thornton, 1965)
  • Records of Roane County, Tennessee (Wells, 192?)
  • *Revolutionary War Pension Applications, Roane County, TN (Douthat, 1988)
  • Roane County, Tennessee 1870 Federal Census (Bailey & Trent, 1997)
  • Roane County, Tennessee 1910 Federal Census [5 vols.] (Bailey, 1996-1997)
  • Roane County, Tennessee 1920 Federal Census ... Civil District ... [5 vols.] (Bailey, 1999-2000)
  • Roane County, Tennessee, 1830 & 1840 Censuses and 1830 & 1840 Tax Lists (Bailey, 1995)
  • *Roane County, Tennessee 1930 Federal Census [vols. 1 - 3] (Bailey, 2003)
  • Roane County, Tennessee Abstracts of Estate Book "A", 1801-1824 (McCluen, 1965)
  • Roane County, Tennessee Census of 1870 [2 vols.] (1986)
  • Roane County, Tennessee County Court Minutes (Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions) ... [vol. 1 1830-1831; vol. 2 1832-1835; vol. 3 1836-1840; vol. 4 1841-1843] (Bailey, 2000)
  • Roane County, Tennessee, Deed Abstracts [6 vols.] (Roane County Genealogical Society, 1980-)
  • Roane County, Tennessee, Divorces, 1807-1900 (Bailey, 1994)
  • Roane County, Tennessee Estate Book [vol. 1 1802-1842; vol. 2 1842-1846; vol. 3 1847-1855; vol. 4 1856-1863] (Bailey, 1999-)
  • Roane County, Tennessee, Family Bible Records [2 vols.] (WPA, 1938)
  • Roane County, Tennessee, John McClellan's surveyor's book, 1808-10 (WPA, 1938)
  • Roane County, Tennessee, Land Entry Book A, 1807-1808 (WPA, 1939)
  • Roane County, Tennessee, Marriage Records, 1801-1838 (WPA, 1939)
  • *Roane County, Tennessee Marriages, 1856-1875 (Sistler, 1988)
  • Roane County, Tennessee Militia Companies 1806-1820 & 1828-1839 (Brittain, 1999)
  • Roane County, Tennessee Newspaper Abstracts, 1808-1879 : Obituaries, Marriages, and Other Items of Genealogical Interest (Bailey, 1998)
  • Roane County, Tennessee Obituaries [vol. 1 1880-1883; vol. 2 1884-1889; *vol. 2a 1890-1895; *vol. 2b 1896-1899; vol. 3 1900-1909; vol. 4 1910-1912; vol. 5 1913-1915; vol. 6 1916-1917; vol. 7 1918-1919; vol. 8 1920-1921; vol. 9 1922-1923; *vol. 10 1924-1925; *vol. 16 1931; *vol. 17 1932] (Bailey, 1999-)
  • Roane County, Tennessee, Revolutionary War Pension Applications, 1793-1855 (WPA, 1938)
  • Roane County, Tennessee Scholastic Population Lists, 1838-1861 (Bailey, 1997)
  • *Roane County, Tennessee Scholastic Population Lists, 1872-1899 (Bailey, 2003)
  • *Roane County, Tennessee Tax Lists [vol. 1 1822-1827; vol. 2 1828-1832; vol. 3 1833-1840; vol. 4 1841-1844; vol. 5 1843-1851 (1846-1847 missing)] (Bailey, 1994-)
  • *Roane County, Tennessee, Vital Statistics, 1914 through 1925 (Wiefering, 1993)
  • Roane County, Tennessee, Vital Statistics, 1926 through 1930 (Wiefering, 1997)
  • *Roane County, Tennessee, Vital Statistics, 1931 through 1935 (Wiefering, 1999)
  • *Roane County, Tennessee, Vital Statistics, 1936 through 1941 (Wiefering, 1999)
  • *Roane County, Tennessee, Vital Statistics, 1942 through 1946 (Wiefering, 1999)
  • Roane County TN Polk City Directory (2003)
  • Roane County TN Polk City Directory (2006)
  • Tax Lists of Roane County, Tennessee, 1814-1821 (Hutcherson, McCluen & Thornton, 1969)
  • Tennessee Fourth Surveyor's District Land Surveys 1814-1824 : Anderson, Bledsoe, Campbell, Morgan, Overton, Rhea and Roane Counties, Tenn. (Bailey, 1996)
  • Tennessee Negro Cemetery Records and Marriage Records : Counties of Campbell, Dickson, Madison, McMinn, Monroe, Roane, Sevier (WPA, 1938)
  • Tennessee, Roane County, Negro Bible Records (WPA, 1938)
  • "To Save the County Harmless" : Roane County, Tennessee, Bastardy Cases, 1806-1900 (Bailey, 1995)
  • Watts Bar Reservoir Cemeteries (Douthat, 1986)

 

LOCAL RECORDS ON MICROFILM 

An inventory of microfilmed Roane County records is available on our web site.  Individual reels of microfilm may also be purchased. 

Earliest records include:

  • marriages from 1801
  • wills from 1802
  • deed index from 1801
  • chancery court minutes from 1824
  • county court minutes from 1801
  • circuit court minutes from 1810
  • tax books from 1858

 

The following reels are available on interlibrary loan:

  • *Deed Index -- 1801-1887 (#155, 1 reel)
  • *Marriage records-1801-1876 (#80, 1 reel)
  • *Wills and estatesettlements -- 1802-1824; 1828-1846 (#143, 1 reel)
  • *Wills and estate Settlements -- 1847-1863 (#144, 1 reel)
  • *WPA Records, Roane County (Record Group #107, Roll 67, 1 reel) Roll includes Court of Pleas & Quarter Sessions, Minute Book A-C (1801-1809), Court of Pleas & Quarter Sessions, Minutes (1808-1818), Court of Pleas & Quarter Sessions, Book H & I (1819-1823), Court of Pleas & Quarter Sessions, Minutes (1823-1826) and General Index to Warranty Deeds, Vol. 1, Direct & Reverse (1801-1860).
  • *WPA Records, Roane County (Record Group #107, Roll 68, 1 reel) Roll includes Estate Book A-C (1802-1842), Land Entry's Book A (1807-1808), Marriage Records (1801-1838), John McClellan's Surveyors Book (1808-1810), Revolutionary War Pension Applications (1793-1855), New Hope Cumberland Presbyterian Church Minutes (1824-1845), Bible Records, pts. 1 & 2 (undated) and Bible Records [Negro] (undated).

 

NEWSPAPERS ON MICROFILM 

Newspapers were published in Cardiff, Kingston, Oliver Springs and Rockwood.  Scattered early issues are available from 1854, and a complete run begins in 1941.  Microfilms are loaned to Tennessee libraries.  Individual reels may also be purchased.  An Inventory of Newspapers on Microfilm at TSLA is available on our web site.

 

SELECTED MANUSCRIPTS MATERIAL

 

*  Indicates this title may be borrowed on Interlibrary Loan.

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