CENSUS RECORDS 

• Census on microfilm for Shelby County:  1820-1880, 1900-1930
• State-wide census index:  1820-1880
• State-wide census index on microfilm  (Soundex):  1880,  1900-1930
• Shelby County census records in book form:  1820, *1880

SELECTED COUNTY HISTORIES

• Along the Old Stage-coach Road : Morning Sun and Brunswick, Shelby County, Tennessee (Davies-Rodgers, 1990)
• *Biography of a River Town; Memphis: Its Heroic Age (Capers, 1939)
• *Builders of the Pyramid; The Story of Shelby County: Its Resources and Developments (Williams, 1897)
• *Early Memphis and its River Rivals (Williams, 1968)
• *Founding of Memphis, 1818-1820 (Roper, 1970)
• *Germantown (Hall, 2003)
• *Goodspeed's History of Hamilton, Knox, and Shelby Counties of Tennessee (Goodspeed, 1974)
• *History of the City of Memphis and Shelby County, Tennessee, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of its Prominent Citizens (Keating, 1888)
• *History of the City of Memphis, Being a Compilation of the Most Important Documents and Historical Events ... Also, the "Old Times papers" (Davis, 1972)
• *Memphis, 1800-1900 [3 vols.] (Ornelas-Struve, 1982)
• Memphis a Pictorial History (Plunkett, 1976)
• *Memphis Down in Dixie (McIlwaine, 1948)
• *Memphis in Black and White (Bond and Sherman, 2003)
• Memphis Memoirs (Coppock, 1980)
• *Metropolis of the American Nile : Memphis and Shelby County (Harkins, 1982)
• Settlers of Shelby County, Tennessee and Adjoining Counties (Cargill & Connelly, 1989)
• Standard History of Memphis, Tennessee : From a Study of the Original Sources (Young, 1974)
• Tracks to the Past : A Pictorial History of Millington, North Shelby County, and South Tipton County (The Millington Star , 1997)

PUBLISHED LOCAL RECORDS

• *1837 Shelby County, Tennessee Tax List (Douthat, 2002)
• *1880 Census, Shelby Co. Tennessee : Head-of-Household Index (Sistler, 2003)
• *Compilation of Acts of the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee Relating to Shelby County (1960)
• Court Minutes, [vol. 3 1830-1833 (in 2 pts.); vol. 4 1833-1843 (in 3 pts.); vol. 5 1843-1848 (in 3 pts.); vol. 6 1848-1851 (in 3 pts.)] (WPA, 1941-1942)
• Funeral Home Records, Memphis, Tennessee, 1866-1915 [9 vols.] (Memphis and Shelby County Public Library and Information Center, 1994?)
• *Gravestone Inscriptions from Shelby County, Tennessee Cemeteries [2 vols.] (Elam & Inabinet, 1971-1974)
• Index to Shelby County Marriages, 1820-1865 [vol. 1 A-L; vol. 2 M-Z] (Flanary, 1999)
• *Index to Shelby County Marriages, 1820-1865 : Alternate Spellings for Grooms, Brides and Bondsmen, with a Listing of Officiants (Flanary, 1999)
• Index to Shelby County Wills, 1820-1900 (Cannon, 2000)
• Inscriptions From Tombstones, Winchester Cemetery [bound with vol. 4 of Will Books (1830-1867)] (WPA, 1937)
• List of Deaths in the City of Memphis, May 1848 - Dec. 1859 (WPA, 1936)
• Marriage Records, 1820-1863 [vol. 1 1820-1858; vol. 2 1858-1863] (WPA, 1936-1937)
• *Marriages of Shelby County, Tennessee, 1820-1858 (Whitley, 1982)
• Memphis Birth Records, 1874-1883 : with Some Shelby County Birth Records, 1881-1882 (Flanary, 1999)
• Memphis/Shelby County Birth Records, 1886-1904 : with Some Memphis/Shelby County Birth Records, 1860-1885 (Blaylock, 2000)
• Miscellaneous Death Decords, Shelby County, 1881-1882 [and] 1902-1914 : With Some Bodies Shipped in 1942-1944 [vol. 1 A-Durke; vol. 2 Dunn-Lurdy; vol. 3 Lurenzi-Z] (Cannon, 1999)
• Miscellaneous Death Records, Shelby County, 1902-1914, With Some Bodies Shipped 1941-1944 [vol. 1 A-C; vol. 2 D-H; vol. 3 I-M; vol. 4 Mo-Si; vol. 5 Sk-Z] (Cannon, 1999)
• Occupant Entry, Book B, Volume 1 [Shelby Co., Tenn.] (West, 1985)
• Shelby Co., Tennessee : Enumeration of Male Inhabitants of Twenty-one Years of Age and Upward, Citizens of Tennessee, January 1, 1891 (Reed, 1989)
• *Shelby County Death Records : Bodies Shipped into, out of, and through Memphis and Bodies Disinterred, 1883-1902 (Memphis/Shelby County Public Library and Information Center, 1998)
• Shelby County Marriage Records, Book XX, 1870-1886 (Cannon, 1999)
• Shelby County, Tennessee, Alphabetical Index to Probate Papers, 1820-1860 (Memphis and Shelby County Archives, 1993)
• Shelby County, Tennessee, Chancery Court Minutes, Book no. 1, 1846-1851 [2 vols.] (WPA, 1938)
• Shelby County, Tennessee, Court Minutes, Book 1, 1820-24 (WPA, 1941)
• Shelby County, Tennessee, Court Minutes vol. 1, 1820-1824 (WPA, 1936)
• Shelby County, Tennessee, General Index, Records, Deeds, 1821-[1841] (WPA, 1940)
• Shelby County, Tennessee, Marriage Bonds & Licenses, 1850-1865 (Davis, 1983)
• Shelby County Tennessee Marriage Book no. 3 [1864-1865] (WPA, 1937)
• Shelby County, Tennessee, Marriage Records, 1819-1850 (Memphis Genealogical Society, 1957)
• Shelby County, Tennessee, Minute Book no.1, 1850-59 (WPA, 1938)
• Shelby County, Tennessee, Minutes of Old Circuit Court, no. 2, 1828-36 (WPA, 1937)
• *Shelby County, Tennessee Newspaper Abstracts Through 1859 (Rowland, 2002)
• Shelby County, Tennessee, Population Schedules of the United States Census of 1820 (Presley, 1970)
• Shelby County, Tennessee, Probate Court Minute Book no. 2, 1824-29 (WPA, 1937)
• Shelby County, Tennessee, Will Record, C-1, 1830-47 (WPA, 1941)
• *Shelby County, Tennessee WPA Records (Douthat, 1993)
• Tennessee, Shelby County, Tombstone Inscriptions, Memphis Memorial Markers (WPA, 1940)
• Tombstone Inscriptions in Bartlett-Ellendale Cemetery, Shelby County, Tennessee (Smith, 2001)
• Tombstone Inscriptions in Older Black Cemeteries, et cetera, in the Bartlett, Tennessee, area (Smith, 2001)
• Will Books [1830-1867] [vol. 1 Jan. 1830-May 1847; vol. 2 June 1847-July 1855; vol. 3 1855-1862; vol. 4 1864-1867 (WPA, 1936-1937)

LOCAL RECORDS ON MICROFILM 

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

Earliest records include:

• marriages from 1820
• wills from 1820
• chancery court minutes from 1881
• county court quorum minutes from 1870
• tax books from 1849

The following reels are available on interlibrary loan:

• *Marriage Index -- 1820-1879 (#99, 1 reel)
• *Marriage Records -- 1820-1866 (#102, 1 reel)
• *Probate Record Index -- 1820-1860 (#8, 1 reel)
• *WPA Records, Shelby County (Record Group #107, Roll 75, 1 reel) Roll includes County Court Minute Book #1 (1820-1824), County Court Minute Book #3, pts. 1 & 2 (1830-1833), County Court Minute Book #4, pts. 1-3 (1833-1843) and County Court Minute Book #5, pts. 1-3 (1843-1848).
• *WPA Records, Shelby County (Record Group #107, Roll 76, 1 reel) Roll includes County Court Minute Book #6, pts. 1-3 (1848-1851), Old Circuit Court, Minute Book #2 (1828-1836), Probate Court Minute Book #2 (1824-1829) and Shelby County Court Minute Book #1 (1850-1859).
• *WPA Records, Shelby County (Record Group #107, Roll 77, 1 reel) Roll includes Chancery Court Minute Book #1, pts. 1 & 2 (1846-1851), General Index Records [Deeds] (1821-1870), Will Book #1 (Jan. 1830 - May 1837), Probate Court, Will Record 1-C (1830-1847), Will Book #2D (June 1847 - July 1855), Will Book #3E (1855-1862), List of Deaths in the City of Memphis (May 1858 - Dec. 1859), Marriage Record, Vols. 1-3 (1820-1862, 1864-1865), Will Book #4D [Probate Court] (1864-1867) and Tombstone Inscriptions (undated).

NEWSPAPERS ON MICROFILM 

Newspapers were published in Collierville, Frayser, Germantown, Memphis, Millington, Raleigh and Whitehaven..  A fairly complete run begins in 1843.  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.

• *Chesapeake, Ohio, and Southwestern Railroad Company vs. Ida B. Wells, 1885  (Microfilm Manuscript #1425, 1 reel)
• *Clarisse Rogan Journal, 1852-1859  (Microfilm Manuscript #141, 1 reel)
• *First Congregational Church Records. Memphis, 1909  (Microfilm Manuscript #645, 1 reel)
• *Francis McGavock Papers, 1784-1854  (Microfilm Manuscript #742, 1 reel)
• *Gordon and Avery Families Papers, ca. 1800-1945  (Microfilm Manuscript #479, 3 reels)
• *Jonathan K. T. Smith Collection  (Microfilm Manuscript #1314, 2 reels)
• *Malcolm Rice Patterson Papers, ca. 1895-1935  (Microfilm Manuscript #1157, 1 reel)
• Memphis Civil Clubs - Jackson Boulevard Improvement Club and Rozelle Civic Club, 1927-1939  (Microfilm Manuscript #1825, 1 reel)
• *Memphis / National Funeral Home Records, 1935-1971  (Microfilm Manuscript #1707, 43 reels)
• *Rhea Family Papers, 1769-1859  (Microfilm Manuscript #792, 1 reel)
• Susanne Conlan Scruggs Collection  (Microfilm Manuscript #1826, 1 reel)
• *Wesley Circuit, Methodist Episcopal Church, Memphis Quarterly Conference Minutes, 1826-1865  (Microfilm Manuscript #1085, 1 reel)
• Yellow Fever Collection, 1878-1879  (Microfilm Manuscript #1827, 1 reel)
• *Zion Cemetery Burial Register, Memphis, Tennessee, 1896-1974  (Microfilm Manuscript #1714, 1 reel)

*  Indicates this title may be borrowed on Interlibrary Loan.