Henderson County, TennesseeEdit This Page

West Tennessee county established in 1821.

The county is named after War of 1812 officer James Henderson.^[3]

Parent County

1821--Henderson County was created 7 November 1821 from Chickasaw Indian Lands.
County seat: Lexington^[4]

County Pronunciation

1. Hear it spoken^[5] (female)
2. Hear it spoken^[6] (male)

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

• Lost census: 1890
• Lost marriages records: 1821 and 1892
• Lost probate records: 1821 to 1894

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

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

Places/Localities

Populated Places

Neighboring Counties

• Carroll
• Chester
• Decatur
• Hardin
• Madison

Resources

Getting Started

Use the free Search for Surnames at Mountain Press's website to quickly search a variety of published Henderson 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: Henderson County, 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 Henderson 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 Henderson County linking to the information about the people buried there,

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

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

• Henderson County cemetery information with transcriptions on TNGenweb Project

• The Family History Library Catalog lists some records of cemeteries for Henderson County. Some of the books or other books may be on Google Books or available at public libraries.

• Some cemetery transcriptions for Henderson County are on Interment.net

• ePodunk list of Henderson County cemeteries
  

Census

1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 federal population censuses of Henderson 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 Henderson County, TN census assignments, including links to transcribed files. [The USGenWeb Census Project®]

1820 and 1860

• Smith, Jonathan Kennon Thompson A genealogical miscellany, Henderson County, Tennessee Jackson, Tennessee : J.K.T. Smith, c1997, 2001-2002 FHL US/CAN book 976.8263 N2s v. 1 - 7 (One page correction of the 1860 census and 1/2 page 1820 U.S. census, Perry County of those who lived in what became Henderson County.)

1840 Pensioners

• A Census of Pensioners for Revolutionary or Military Services: With their Names, Ages, and Places of Residence, as Returned by the Marshalls of the Several Judicial Districts, Under the Act for Taking the Sixth Census. 1841; reprint, Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing, 1967. FHL US/CAN Book 973 X2pc 1840; FHL US/CAN Film 2321. 1841 edition digitized by the U.S. Census Bureau and Google books et. al. [See Tennessee, Western District, Henderson County on page 159.]

1870

• Green, Exie Johnson 1870 census, Henderson County, Tennessee Hope, Arkansas : E.J. Green, 1987? FHL US/CAN book 976.8263 X2

1880

• Scanned census images [in the USGenWeb Archives]
• Sistler, Byron H. and Barbara 1880 census Henderson County, Tennessee Nashville, Tennessee : B. Sistler and Associates, 2001 FHL US/CAN book 976.8263 X2

1900

• Scanned census images [in the USGenWeb Archives]

1910

• Scanned census images [in the USGenWeb Archives]

1920

• Scanned census images [in the USGenWeb Archives]

Church

Presbyterian

• 1830-1885 - Mt. Gilead Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Lexington, Baptism Index 1830-1885. Batch C710591 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free.^[7]
• 1830-1893 - Mt. Gilead Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Lexington, Marriage Index 1830-1893. Batch M710591 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free.^[7]

Court

DNA

• [Doss] Descendant of John Doss (1784-1846) of Henderson County, Tennessee. Y-DNA 37 Marker Test, FTDNA (Kit 59752). Genetic signature available online (labeled Jn-1), 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 Henderson, Tennessee at World Connect, results in more than 39,000 entries.

• Waddle, Laura. Some Early Families of Henderson County, TN : Arnold, Barrow, Bradford, Cooper, Christopher, Darden, Davis, Grice, Joyner, Lewis, McCarver, McGlaughlin, Meredith, Mills, Ray, Rhodes, Waddle/Waddill, Wadley. FHL US/CAN Fiche 6046873.

Bibliography

• [Adams] Hampton, Estelline Adams. John Adams, Esquire (III): Ancestors and Descendants. Unknown: unknown, 1976. Available at FHL US/CAN Film 982157 Item 7; digital versions available at Ancestry ($); FamilySearch Books Online ; and Heritage Quest Online ($).
• [Bell] Lewis, Leroy Carlisle. Leander Bell of Henderson County, Tennessee: A Genealogical Survey and Historical Record of His Life and the Lives of His Descendants and His Ancestors. Searcy, Ark.: L.C. Lewis, 1987. FHL FAM HIST Book 929.273 B413L.
• [Bell] Lewis, Leroy Carlisle. William Samuel Bell of Tennessee, Texas and Arkansas: A Genealogical Survey and Historical Record of His Life and the Lives of His Descendants and His Ancestors. Searcy, Arkansas: L.C. Lewis, 1987. FHL FAM HIST Book 929.273 B413LLc.
• [Brown] Brown, George Washington Reminiscences of the Republic of Texas 1910 Available at the Family History Library FHL book 921.73 B813bg with a digital version through FamilySearch Books Online (found in the Library of the Alamo, San Antonio, Texas April 1965 by his Grandson Earl Travis Brown)
• [Conner] See Cravens.
• [Cravens] Cravens, John Park. Records of the Ancestry of John Park Cravens: The Lines of Direct Lineal Descent and a Summary. Booneville, AR: Unknown, 1957. Available at FHL US/CAN Film 288184; digital vestion at Heritage Quest Online ($).
• [Harwell] See Cravens.
• [Herndon] See Cravens.
• [Lane] See Cravens.
• [Rice] See Cravens.
• [Stewart] Wadley, Richard Cratis and Eunice Stewart Goddard. Tennessee Roots: Catherine Stewart of Henderson County. Norman, Oklahoma: Eunice and Jim Goddard, 1990. FHL FAM HIST Book 929.273 St49wr.

Historic Residences

• Crook, W. Clay. The Jeremiah Crook Plantation of Henderson County, Tennessee: ca. 1820-1865. Crook Family Archives, Crookland, Middlefork Village, Luray, Tenn. Microfilmed in 2001. FHL VAULT US/CAN Film 2243216 Item 12.

Land

• Henderson County Register of Deeds has Land Records from 1856 and is located at the Courthouse, P.O. Box 40, 17 Monroe Street, Lexington, TN 38351; (731) 968-2856. Land and property records include transfer of real estate or personal property, mortgages, leases, surveys, and entries
• The Family History Library has microfilmed copies of deeds 1856-1900 with indexes 1856-1935.

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 TSLAhas 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.

Local Histories

Maps

Military

Revolutionary War

The following Henderson County Revolutionary War records are available online through TNGenWeb:

1. 1835 Pension Roll
2. 1852 Rejected or Suspended Pensions

Additional resources include:

• A Census of Pensioners for Revolutionary or Military Services: With their Names, Ages, and Places of Residence, as Returned by the Marshalls of the Several Judicial Districts, Under the Act for Taking the Sixth Census. 1841; reprint, Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing, 1967. FHL US/CAN Book 973 X2pc 1840; FHL US/CAN Film 2321. 1841 edition digitized by the U.S. Census Bureau and Google books et. al. [See Tennessee, Western District, Henderson County on page 159.]
• Rejected or Suspended Applications for Revolutionary War Pensions. Washington, D.C., 1852. Reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1969, and 1991. Reprints include "an Added Index to States." Digital version at Ancestry ($). Tennessee entries abstracted online at Tennesseans in the Revolutionary War, courtesy: TNGenWeb. [Includes veterans from this county; Tennessee section begins on page 381.]

War of 1812

• Embry, Hermione D. "War of 1812 - Tennessee Pensioners on List - January 2, 1883," Ansearchin' News, Vol. 7, No. 3 (Jul. 1960):65-68. FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 B2a v. 7 (1960); digital version at journal website. [Includes Henderson County pensioners (pp. 67-68)]

Civil War

• Civl War Research Database $
• Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System

Civil War service men from Henderson County served in various regiments. Men often joined a regiment or a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are the military units that were formed in or had many men from Henderson County.

Confederate Soldiers

• 13th Regiment, Tennessee Infantry - CSA - Company I.
• 18th Regiment, Tennessee Cavalry (Newsom's) - CSA - Company G.
• 19th Regiment, Tennessee Cavalry (Biffle's) - CSA - Company K.
• 21st Regiment, Tennessee Cavalry (Wilson's) - CSA - Company C and F.
• 27th Regiment, Tennessee Infantry - CSA - Companies D, F, I and K.
• 52nd Regiment, Tennessee Infantry - CSA - Company F.
• 55th Regiment, Tennessee Infantry (Brown's) - CSA - Company F.

Union Soldiers

• 7th Regiment, Tennessee Cavalry - Company C.

Additional sources for Civil War soldiers from Henderson County:

• Yesterday's Henderson County, (accessed 30 Jan 2012).  A large assortment of external links about the Civil War.
• TNGenWeb, War Records Henderson County Civil War Records, (accessed 30 Jan 2012). 
• Those Who Served From Henderson County TN, (accessed 30 Jan 2012).  Civil War and Civil War "Shiloh".
• CWSAC, Battle Summaries, Parker's Cross Roads, (accessed 30 Jan 2012).  Location Henderson County.
• Tennessee State Library and Archives, Tennessee Confederate Pension Applications : Henderson County, (accessed 30 Jan 2012). Includes soldier's name, county, pension #, unit or widow.
• United States Pension Bureau, List of Pensioners on the Roll January 1, 1883: Giving the Name of Each Pensioner, the Cause for ... (Washington Printing Office; 1883), (accessed 30 Jan 2012). Online at Internet Archive. Henderson County, page 346-347.
  

Civil War Battle

The following Civil War battle was fought in Henderson County

• December 31 = Parker's Cross Roads[8]

Map showing Civil War battles fought in Tennessee

Newspapers

  Many Tennessee newspapers are filmed and available at 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 Henderson County click on the following cities or towns:

• Lexington
• Sardis
• Scotts Hill

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 Henderson County, Tennessee records 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 Book 976.8 B2a.

Family Findings

Genealogical articles with abstracts of Henderson 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 Henderson County, Tennessee ancestors went to prison!

• Inmates of the Tennessee State Penitentiary 1831-1850, free index available online through TSLA.
• Inmates of the Tennessee State Penitentiary 1851-1870, free index available online through TSLA.

Probate

The County Court has responsibility for the probate records of Henderson County.

FamilySearch has placed scans of the following records online in the Tennessee, Probate Court Books, 1795-1927 collection. These are browse-only collections. Handwritten indexes may be found at the front or back of some volumes:

• Wills, 1873-1932 (2 vols.)
• Inventories, Wills, 1893-1906 (Vol. 13)
• Bonds, 1861-1966 (3 vols.)
• Bonds, Letters, 1890-1919
• Insolvent estate records, 1867-1940 (2 vols.)
• Settlements, 1866-1915 (4 vols.)

Taxation

The following Henderson County tax records have been abstracted:^[9]

• [1824] Unpaid Taxes List, 1824, Ansearchin' News, Vol. 47, No. 4 (Winter 2000). FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 B2a v. 47 (2000). For access, see Periodicals.
• [1836-1837] West, Betsy F. "Henderson County, Tennessee 1836-1837 Tax Lists," Ansearchin' News, Vol. 24, No. 1 (Spring 1977):11-14; Vol. 24, No. 2 (Summer 1977):83-87; Vol. 24, No. 3 (Fall 1977):111-114; Vol. 24, No. 4 (Winter 1977):159-163. FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 B2a v. 24 (1977); free digital version at society's website. For further access, see Periodicals.
• [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. FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 B2a v. 44 (1997). For access, see Periodicals.

Vital Records

Marriage

Marriages were not officially recorded in Henderson County during the first few years of its existence. In 1838, a law was passed mandating the practice.^[10] 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 976.8 V2L.

The following Henderson County Courthouse marriage records have been indexed:

• 1893-1895 - Henderson County Marriage Index 1893-1895. Batch M710581 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free.^[7]
• 1893-1951 - Henderson County, Tennessee County Court Clerk Marriage records (Henderson County, Tennessee), 1893-1951 Nashville, Tennessee : Tennessee State Library and Archives, [197-?]-1988. FHL US/CAN Film 978744-46, 1928717-21
• 1894-1950 - Tennessee, County Court (Henderson County) Henderson County, Tennessee, marriage records, 1894-1950 Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1999. FHL US/CAN Film 2137204, 2223403-04, 2138636, 2138771, 2138988, 2137020
• Tennessee County Marriages, 1790-1950 - covers all counties in Tennessee.
• 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 Henderson 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 Henderson 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

Family History Centers

• Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Web Sites

Wikipedia has more about this subject: Henderson County, Tennessee

• Family History Library Catalog (FamilySearch)
• Henderson County, TN Family History and Genealogy Message Board (Ancestry)
• Henderson County, TN Genealogy Forum (GenForum)
• Henderson County, TNGenWeb (USGenWeb)
• RootsWeb Mailing List: TNHENDER-L (Henderson County, Tennessee List)
• RootsWeb Mailing List: WEST-TNCHAT-L (West Tennessee Chat List)
• RootsWeb Mailing List: WESTTN-L (West Tennessee List)
• Yesterday's Tennessee

References

1. ↑ Guide to Public Vital Statistics in Tennessee. Nashville, Tenn.: The Tennessee Historical Records Survey (W.P.A.), 1941; "Earliest County Records," Tennessee State Library and Archives.
2. ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Henderson County, Tennessee page 640, At various libr40ries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 2002.
3. ↑ "List of counties in Tennessee," Wikipedia.
4. ↑ The Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, UT: Everton Publishers, 2002), 640. (FHL Collection Ref Book 973 D27e 2002). WorldCat entry.
5. ↑ Voice of Lynnae Weller, Kingsport, Tenn. (2010).
6. ↑ Voice of Gene Black, FamilySearch employee, former resident of Bristol, Tenn. (2010).
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2} Genealogical Society of Utah, Parish and Vital Records List (July 1998). Microfiche. Digital version at https://www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/images/d/d3/Igitennesseef.pdf.
8. ↑ Heritage Preservation Services, Civil War Battle Summaries by State, (accessed 19 September 2012)
9. ↑ The Heritage Quest Online version of PERSI aided in the compilation of this list.
10. ↑ Gale Williams Bamman, C.G., "Research in Tennessee," National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Vol. 81, No. 2 (June 1993):105. FHL 973 B2ng v. 81

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