Tennessee State Library and Archives: History and Genealogy: Services by Mail

Genealogical Services Available by Mail > County Records

MARRIAGES

Early Marriages in Tennessee (Prior to 1861)

Tennessee counties were not required to record marriages in bound record books until 1838. While not required to do so, many counties in Tennessee did record their early marriages.

A list of extant (in existence) marriage records in Tennessee for the years 1780-1861 has been published. You may e-mail TSLA with the name of the name of the bride or groom, the approximate year of the marriage and (if known) the county where the marriage took place. Please send only one e-mail search request at a time for a single marriage record search. We will check the index and send a reply by e-mail at no charge notifying you if a listing for the probate record is found.

Tennessee Marriage Records 1861 - June 30, 1945

Marriages 1861 - June 30, 1945 can be found in the records of each county. There is no state-wide index to marriages during this time period. We can search the microfilmed county records for a marriage record if given the names of the groom and bride, county of marriage, and the date of the marriage or a 5-year date span. If the marriage occurred in one of the four metropolitan counties (Davidson County, Hamilton County, Knox County and Shelby County), then a 3-year date span must be specified. PLEASE NOTE that TSLA does not have Davidson County marriage records for May 1941 - June 1945. These records are available through the Metropolitan Archives of Nashville and Davidson County.

Tennessee Marriage Records July 1, 1945 - December 31, 1914

For the dates July 1, 1945 - December 31, 1949, there is a year-by-year statewide microfilm index to Tennessee marriage records. The index is arranged by the name of the groom. A request for a marriage record search for the years 1945 must include the name of the groom. TSLA will, for a fee, search a five year range in this index. The search request requires the name of the groom and the date of the marriage (or we will search the five year range 1945-1949); the name of the bride & the county of marriage are not required, but should be included if known.

Tennessee Marriage Records 1950-1957

For the years 1950-1957, there is a year-by-year statewide microfilm index to Tennessee marriage records. This index can be searched by either the name of the bride or the name of the groom. TSLA will, for a fee, search this microfilm index. The search request should include the name of the bride or groom (or both), the county where the marriage took place (optional), and the date of the marriage (or we will search a five year range).

Tennessee Marriage Records 1958 - Present

For marriage records from 1958 to the present, contact the Office of Vital Records.

PLEASE NOTE : Marriage records in Tennessee have changed during its statehood. In many cases, the marriage license itself was given to the bride and groom. The official marriage record on file in the state will be an entry made into a marriage ledger book by the County Court Clerk. Generally, the clerk recorded only the names of the bride & groom, the minister or justice of the peace, and (sometimes) the bondsman. A limited number of counties began issuing duplicate marriage licenses in the 1880s. The information on marriage records can vary county by county. Some counties began listing the names of the parents of the bride & groom in the 1880s; some counties did not include this information until the mid 1920s. When you request a search for a marriage record from TSLA, we will check to see if there is a marriage license on file. If there is no license on file, then we will send the entry from the county's marriage ledger book.

ORDERING INFORMATION AND FEES:

For a $5 fee, TSLA can photocopy and mail the listings for one surname from the index to pre-1861 marriages. This fee covers the cost of copying up to ten pages. The $5 fee is not refundable. Payment in advance by check, money order or credit card is required. Send your request to Tennessee State Library and Archives, Public Services, 403 Seventh Avenue North, Nashville TN 37243-0312. [GO TO FORMS PAGE]
There is a $20 fee to search for a marriage record. If the record is found, we will mail a copy to you. If the record is not found, you will be notified by mail. The $20 fee is not refundable. Payment in advance by check, money order or credit card is required. Send your request to Tennessee State Library and Archives, Research Department, 403 Seventh Avenue North, Nashville TN 37243-0312. [GO TO FORMS PAGE]
Please note that we ask that you submit each search request on a separate form. There may be a waiting period of up to 3-4 weeks before you receive a reply.

RESIDENTS OF TENNESSEE (with a current Tennessee postal address) will pay a $10 fee to copy a marriage record. The $10 fee is not refundable. Payment in advance by check, money order or credit card is required. Send your request to Tennessee State Library and Archives, Research Department, 403 Seventh Avenue North, Nashville TN 37243-0312. [GO TO FORMS PAGE]
Please note that we ask that you submit each search request on a separate form. There may be a waiting period of up to 3-4 weeks before you receive a reply.

DIVORCE RECORDS

In the early days of Tennessee, divorce requests had to be approved by the Tennessee General Assembly. The Index to Names in the Acts of Tennessee 1796-1850 will allow you to search if there is a listing for a particular individual. TSLA can, for a fee, copy up to three chapters from the published Acts of Tennessee. If an act is located, we an also check to see if a legislative petition is on file for the divorce.

Court minutes are another location to search for records concerning the granting of a divorce. We recommend that you read the document “Courts Where Tennessee Court Cases Were Tried” to find the types of cases heard by the courts. The list of Earliest County Records and the Inventory of Local Records on Microfilm will give the dates of the court minutes in our collection for the counties of Tennessee. You must provide the name of the husband & wife, the year of the divorce (or a five year range to search), specify one county, and specify one court to be searched. If the divorce took place after 1834, and involved a dispute over the division of property, then it would have been heard in the Chancery Court; if the divorce did not involve a dispute over the division of property, then it would have been heard in the Circuit Court. (See the section on ordering a search of the court minutes for additional information.)

TSLA has a state-wide divorce index for the years 1945-1957. To search for a divorce from this time period, you must to provide us with the name of the husband & wife, the date of the divorce or a five year range to search, and (if known) the county where the divorce was granted.

ORDERING INFORMATION AND FEES:

There is a $5 fee to photocopy an Act. Our staff will copy up to three Acts at one time (up to ten pages) for the $5 fee. The $5 fee is not refundable. Payment in advance by check, money order or credit card is required. Send your request to Tennessee State Library and Archives, Public Services Department, 403 Seventh Avenue North, Nashville TN 37243-0312. [GO TO FORMS PAGE]
Please note that we ask that you submit each search request on a separate form. There may be a waiting period of up to 3-4 weeks before you receive a reply.

There is a $20 fee to photocopy a legislative petition. Up to twenty pages of photocopies can be mailed for the $20 fee. If we find more than twenty pages of information, we will notify you and ask you to send additional funds for the remaining pages. The $20 fee is not refundable. Payment in advance by check, money order or credit card is required. Send your request to Tennessee State Library and Archives, Public Services Department, 403 Seventh Avenue North, Nashville TN 37243-0312. [GO TO FORMS PAGE]
Please note that we ask that you submit each search request on a separate form. There may be a waiting period of up to 3-4 weeks before you receive a reply.

RESIDENTS OF TENNESSEE (with a current Tennessee postal address) will pay a $10 fee to copy a legislative petition. Up to twenty pages of photocopies can be mailed for the $10 fee. If we find more than twenty pages of information, we will notify you and ask you to send additional funds for the remaining pages. The $10 fee is not refundable. Payment in advance by check, money order or credit card is required. Send your request to Tennessee State Library and Archives, Research Department, 403 Seventh Avenue North, Nashville TN 37243-0312. [GO TO FORMS PAGE]
Please note that we ask that you submit each search request on a separate form. There may be a waiting period of up to 3-4 weeks before you receive a reply.

There is a $20 fee to search a five year date span for indexed minutes from the County or Quarterly Court, Circuit Court, or Chancery Court. If the record is found, we will mail a copy to you. Up to twenty pages of photocopies can be mailed for the $20 fee. If the record is not found, you will be notified by mail. The $20 fee is not refundable. Payment in advance by check, money order or credit card is required. Send your request to Tennessee State Library and Archives, Research Department, 403 Seventh Avenue North, Nashville TN 37243-0312. [GO TO FORMS PAGE]
Please note that we ask that you submit each search request on a separate form. There may be a waiting period of up to 3-4 weeks before you receive a reply.

Residents of Tennessee (with a current Tennessee postal address) will pay a $10 fee to search a five year date span for indexed minutes from the County or Quarterly Court, Circuit Court, or Chancery Court. If the record is found, we will mail a copy to you. Up to twenty pages of photocopies can be mailed for the $10 fee. If the record is not found, you will be notified by mail. The $10 fee is not refundable. Payment in advance by check, money order or credit card is required. Send your request to Tennessee State Library and Archives, Research Department, 403 Seventh Avenue North, Nashville TN 37243-0312. [GO TO FORMS PAGE]
Please note that we ask that you submit each search request on a separate form. There may be a waiting period of up to 3-4 weeks before you receive a reply.

There is a $20 fee to search a five year range for a divorce record from 1945-1955 . If the record is found, we will mail a copy to you. Up to twenty pages of photocopies can be mailed for the $20 fee. If the record is not found, you will be notified by mail. The $20 fee is not refundable. Payment in advance by check, money order or credit card is required. Send your request to Tennessee State Library and Archives, Research Department, 403 Seventh Avenue North, Nashville TN 37243-0312. [GO TO FORMS PAGE]
Please note that we ask that you submit each search request on a separate form. There may be a waiting period of up to 3-4 weeks before you receive a reply.

RESIDENTS OF TENNESSEE (with a current Tennessee postal address) will pay a $10 fee to to search a five year range for a divorce record from 1945-1955. If the record is found, we will mail a copy to you. Up to twenty pages of photocopies can be mailed for the $10 fee. If the record is not found, you will be notified by mail. The $10 fee is not refundable. Payment in advance by check, money order or credit card is required. Send your request to Tennessee State Library and Archives, Research Department, 403 Seventh Avenue North, Nashville TN 37243-0312. [GO TO FORMS PAGE]
Please note that we ask that you submit each search request on a separate form. There may be a waiting period of up to 3-4 weeks before you receive a reply.

PROBATE

A list of extant (in existence) wills in Tennessee for the years 1779-1861 has been published. You may e-mail TSLA with the name of the individual, the approximate year of the will and (if known) the county where the will was probated. Please send only one e-mail search request at a time for a single probate record search. We will check the 1779-1861 index and send a reply by e-mail at no charge notifying you if a listing for the probate record is found.

Microfilm copies of pre-1861 probate records are also available free on interlibrary loan. For more information, visit our web site for a list of county records that can be loaned to other libraries.

Wills after 1861 are found in the microfilmed county records; there is no published index to wills in Tennessee dated after 1861. There is a fee to search for a will or probate record on microfilm. TSLA will search a five year range in ONE specified county for a probate record. If the record is found, we will mail a copy to you. This fee covers the cost of copying up to twenty pages. If the record is not found, you will be notified by mail. The fee is not refundable.

ORDERING INFORMATION AND FEES:

For a $5 fee, TSLA can photocopy and mail the listings for one surname from the index to pre-1861 wills and administrations. This fee covers the cost of copying up to ten pages. The $5 fee is not refundable. Payment in advance by check, money order or credit card is required. Send your request to Tennessee State Library and Archives, Public Services, 403 Seventh Avenue North, Nashville TN 37243-0312. [GO TO FORMS PAGE]
There is a $20 fee to search for a will or probate record. If the record is found, we will mail a copy to you. This fee covers the cost of copying up to twenty pages. If the record is not found, you will be notified by mail. The $20 fee is not refundable. Payment in advance by check, money order or credit card is required. Send your request to Tennessee State Library and Archives, Research Department, 403 Seventh Avenue North, Nashville TN 37243-0312. [GO TO FORMS PAGE]
Please note that we ask that you submit each search request on a separate form. There may be a waiting period of up to 3-4 weeks before you receive a reply.

RESIDENTS OF TENNESSEE (with a current Tennessee postal address) will pay a $10 fee to search for a will or probate record. If the record is found, we will mail a copy to you. This fee covers the cost of copying up to twenty pages. If the record is not found, you will be notified by mail. The $10 fee is not refundable. Payment in advance by check, money order or credit card is required. Send your request to Tennessee State Library and Archives, Research Department, 403 Seventh Avenue North, Nashville TN 37243-0312. [GO TO FORMS PAGE]
Please note that we ask that you submit each search request on a separate form. There may be a waiting period of up to 3-4 weeks before you receive a reply.

COURT MINUTES

Records of the County or Quarterly Court are available for each county, for varying years. These records are often not indexed. We can search only those which are indexed, and clients should understand that the indexes may be incomplete. County Court minutes contain information about estates, guardianships, small court cases and routine county business matters.

Records of the Circuit Court are available for each county, for varying years after 1809. They contain records of criminal law suits, some divorces, debt cases, and offences against the public.

Records of the Chancery Court are available for each county, for varying dates after 1836. They contain records of equity cases, some divorces, estate disputes and other private suits. These records generally have a partial index.

We can search the indexes to these records for a particular surname and copy relevant pages from the record. Provide us with the surname, county, and a 5-year date span.

ORDERING INFORMATION AND FEES:

There is a $20 fee to search a five year date span for indexed minutes from the County or Quarterly Court, Circuit Court, or Chancery Court. If the record is found, we will mail a copy to you. This fee covers the cost of copying up to twenty pages. If the record is not found, you will be notified by mail. The $20 fee is not refundable. Payment in advance by check, money order or credit card is required. Send your request to Tennessee State Library and Archives, Research Department, 403 Seventh Avenue North, Nashville TN 37243-0312. [GO TO FORMS PAGE]
Please note that we ask that you submit each search request on a separate form. There may be a waiting period of up to 3-4 weeks before you receive a reply.

Residents of Tennessee (with a current Tennessee postal address) will pay a $10 fee to search a five year date span for indexed minutes from the County or Quarterly Court, Circuit Court, or Chancery Court. If the record is found, we will mail a copy to you. This fee covers the cost of copying up to twenty pages. If the record is not found, you will be notified by mail. The $10 fee is not refundable. Payment in advance by check, money order or credit card is required. Send your request to Tennessee State Library and Archives, Research Department, 403 Seventh Avenue North, Nashville TN 37243-0312. [GO TO FORMS PAGE]
Please note that we ask that you submit each search request on a separate form. There may be a waiting period of up to 3-4 weeks before you receive a reply.

DEEDS

To search for a deed, you will need to provide us with the name of the individual to be searched, the county and a 5-year date span. When a deed search is requested, we follow these procedures:

We locate the cumulative index (if available), usually in a book separate from the deed books. If there is no cumulative index, we use the index appearing in each volume of deeds.

We check to see if the index indicates the date of the deed. If it does, we search the portion of the index covering the dates requested for the name requested.

If the dates are not shown in the index entries, we determine which deeds books were in use during the dates requested in the search. For example: if the request is for a deed dated 1860-1865, and we find that Deed Book C covered 1856-1861 and Deed Book D covered 1861-1866, we would search that portion of the index that includes entries for Deed Books C and D.

Within the time period requested, we look for deeds matching the name of the person requested. Both grantor (seller) and grantee (buyer) indexes are searched. Deed indexes are not always completely alphabetized, but only grouped under each letter of the alphabet. For example: to locate deeds for Jasper Bates, we scan the entire letter & #8220;B” in the index.

If an entry matching the request is found, we copy the deed and mail it to the client.

If more than one matching entry is found, we copy the index pages containing them and mail them to the client, with instructions to select one to be copied at the standard fee.

If no related entry is found, we advise the client that the index was searched, indicating the dates covered by the search.

POINTERS

Deeds are not always recorded in the year they are written, so a deed written in 1865 but not recorded until 1875 will not be located using this search strategy. We have no way of ascertaining whether a deed was recorded when it was written.

Name of grantor is not always the expected name; some properties are sold by power of attorney, sheriff or court clerk to satisfy a legal judgment, so the deed would be indexed under the name of that person.

For more information on deeds, visit our web site for a list of county records that can be loaned to other libraries.

ORDERING INFORMATION AND FEES:

There is a $20 fee to search a five year date span for a deed. If the record is found, we will mail a copy to you. This fee covers the cost of copying up to twenty pages. If the record is not found, you will be notified by mail. The $20 fee is not refundable. Payment in advance by check, money order or credit card is required. Send your request to Tennessee State Library and Archives, Research Department, 403 Seventh Avenue North, Nashville TN 37243-0312. [GO TO FORMS PAGE]
Please note that we ask that you submit each search request on a separate form. There may be a waiting period of up to 3-4 weeks before you receive a reply.

RESIDENTS OF TENNESSEE (with a current Tennessee postal address) will pay a $10 fee to search a five year date span for a deed. If the record is found, we will mail a copy to you. This fee covers the cost of copying up to twenty pages. If the record is not found, you will be notified by mail. The $10 fee is not refundable. Payment in advance by check, money order or credit card is required. Send your request to Tennessee State Library and Archives, Research Department, 403 Seventh Avenue North, Nashville TN 37243-0312. [GO TO FORMS PAGE]
Please note that we ask that you submit each search request on a separate form. There may be a waiting period of up to 3-4 weeks before you receive a reply.

TAX LISTS

There are tax lists for scattered dates for most Tennessee counties. Most tax lists are available on microfilm. A list of early Tennessee tax records at TSLA can be found on our web site. Contact us to inquire what tax lists are available for a particular county.

Most tax lists are not indexed. We cannot search an unindexed tax list for a name. Some early tax lists have been published in book form. If the tax list you want checked has been published, we will search for the name of one specified individual. E-mail TSLA with the name of the individual, the county, and the year of the tax list.

ORDERING INFORMATION AND FEES:

If a tax list of a particular county has been published, TSLA can send photocopies of it for $5. This fee covers the cost of copying up to ten pages. The $5 fee is not refundable. Payment in advance by check, money order or credit card is required. Send your request to Tennessee State Library and Archives, Public Services, 403 Seventh Avenue North, Nashville TN 37243-0312. [GO TO FORMS PAGE]
If a name appears in a published index with a page number of the original record, TSLA can make a copy of the entry on the tax list. There is a $20 fee to copy an entry from a microfilmed tax list . You must specify the name of the individual, the county, the year, and the page number of the microfilmed entry. The $20 fee is not refundable. Payment in advance by check, money order or credit card is required. Send your request to Tennessee State Library and Archives, Research Department, 403 Seventh Avenue North, Nashville TN 37243-0312. [GO TO FORMS PAGE]

Please note that we ask that you submit each search request on a separate form. There may be a waiting period of up to 3-4 weeks before you receive a reply.

RESIDENTS OF TENNESSEE (with a current Tennessee postal address) will pay a $10 fee to copy an entry on a tax list. You must specify the name of the individual, the county, the year, and the page number of the microfilmed entry. The $10 fee is not refundable. Payment in advance by check, money order or credit card is required. Send your request to Tennessee State Library and Archives, Research Department, 403 Seventh Avenue North, Nashville TN 37243-0312. [GO TO FORMS PAGE]
Please note that we ask that you submit each search request on a separate form. There may be a waiting period of up to 3-4 weeks before you receive a reply.

SCHOOL CENSUS RECORDS

A list of published and microfilmed school census records is available on our web site.

A number of these school census records have been indexed. Books and periodicals with school census information can be searched by TSLA staff. E-mail your request to TSLA with the name of the individual you are researching, the year and the county; please be sure to include the title and call number of the book or periodical. Due to the number of requests received daily, we ask that you only submit one request at a time for a single name to be searched in one published source. Only one request will be handled at a time. Please do not send a second search request while you have a request pending. Please do not send several searches in separate e-mail messages, or a request that asks to search multiple names. When you receive a reply to your first look-up, you may send in your next look-up request, and so on.

School census microfilm reels which have been indexed can be searched by TSLA staff. TSLA will not search unindexed school census records. If the index is arranged by city, then you must specify one (1) city to be searched.

ORDERING INFORMATION AND FEES:

If the school census of a particular county has been published, TSLA can send photocopies of it for $5. This fee covers the cost of copying up to ten pages. The $5 fee is not refundable. Payment in advance by check, money order or credit card is required. Send your request to Tennessee State Library and Archives, Public Services, 403 Seventh Avenue North, Nashville TN 37243-0312. [GO TO FORMS PAGE]
Please note that we ask that you submit each search request on a separate form. There may be a waiting period of up to 3-4 weeks before you receive a reply.

There is a $20 fee to search for a microfilmed school census record if the records have been indexed. You must specify the name of the individual, the county, the year, and the microfilm reel number. If the record is found, we will mail a copy to you. If the record is not found, you will be notified by mail. The $20 fee is not refundable. Payment in advance by check, money order or credit card is required. Send your request to Tennessee State Library and Archives, Research Department, 403 Seventh Avenue North, Nashville TN 37243-0312. [GO TO FORMS PAGE]
Please note that we ask that you submit each search request on a separate form. There may be a waiting period of up to 3-4 weeks before you receive a reply.

RESIDENTS OF TENNESSEE (with a current Tennessee postal address) will pay a $10 fee to search for a microfilmed school census record which has been indexed. The $10 fee is not refundable. Payment in advance by check, money order or credit card is required. Send your request to Tennessee State Library and Archives, Research Department, 403 Seventh Avenue North, Nashville TN 37243-0312. [GO TO FORMS PAGE]
Please note that we ask that you submit each search request on a separate form. There may be a waiting period of up to 3-4 weeks before you receive a reply.

Updated April 14, 2008