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Tennessee Department of State

Genealogical "Fact Sheets" About Tennessee Counties

Knox County

Knox County

Knox County was formed in 1792 from
Greene and Hawkins counties
(Ordinance by William Blount, Governor of the Territory
of the United States South of the River Ohio, 1792).

The county seat is Knoxville.

SELECTED PUBLISHED COUNTY HISTORIES

  • Community Historical Sketches in Knox County, Tennessee : Corryton, Harbison's Cross Roads, Smithwood (Hicks, 1958)
  • Concord UMC : The History of a Church and its Environment 1865-1985 (Cottrell, 1985)
  • Divided Loyalties : Fort Sanders and the Civil War in East Tennessee (Seymour, 2002)
  • Facsimile Edition of the Half-Century of Knoxville : The First Published Account of the Founding of Knoxville (Humes, 1990)
  • French Broad-Holston Country : A History of Knox County, Tennessee (East Tennessee Historical Society, 1946)*
  • Gay Street : Stories of Knoxville, Tennessee (Mauro, 2000)*
  • Goodspeed's History of Hamilton, Knox, and Shelby Counties of Tennessee (Goodspeed, 1974)
  • Heart of the Valley : A History of Knoxville, Tennessee (Deaderick, 1976)
  • History of Blacks in Knoxville, Tennessee : The First One Hundred Years, 1791-1891 (Booker, 1990)
  • History of Fountain City : With Sections on Smithwood and Inskip (Hicks, 2000)
  • History of Lebanon Presbyterian Church, 1791 : "In the Fork," Five Miles East of Knoxville, Tenn (Ramsey, 1973)
  • History of Tennessee from the Earliest Time to the Present : Together with an Historical and a Biographical Sketch of the County of Knox and the City of Knoxville (1982)
  • John Adair Section of Knox County, Tennessee (Hicks, 1968)
  • Knox County, Tennessee : A History in Pictures (Creekmore, 1988)
  • Knox-stalgia (Allen, 1999)*
  • Knoxville (Hooper, 2003)*
  • Knoxville! (Creekmore, 1991)
  • Knoxville, Crossroads of the New South (MacArthur, 1892)
  • Knoxville's African-American Community, 1860-1920 (Jones, 1989)
  • They Trusted and Were Delivered : The French-Swiss of Knoxville, Tennessee [2 vols.] (Babelay, 1988)
  • Two Centuries of Knox County, Tennessee : A Celebration in Photographs (Knox County Public Library System, 1992)

 

PUBLISHED LOCAL RECORDS


  • 1880 Census, Knox County, Tennessee (Sistler, 1996)*
  • Asleep in Jesus : A Record of the Church Cemeteries of Knox County, Tennessee [vol. 1 Northeast Knox County; vol. 2 Southeast Knox County; vol. 3 Southwest Knox County; vol. 4 Northwest Knox County](McGinnis, 2001-)*
  • At Rest : A Record of the Interments at Asbury Cemetery, Knox County, Tennessee (McGinnis, 2002)*
  • Beaver Creek Church Records, 1833-1879 (WPA, 19??)*
  • County Court Minute Book, 1792-1872 [vols. 6-15, 1806-1836; vols. 17-21, 1840-1859; vols. vols. 22-23, 1860-1866; vol. 25 1869-1872] (WPA, 1940-1942)
  • Enumeration of Male Inhabitants, 1891 Anderson, Blount, Knox, Sevier Counties, Tenn. (Reed, 1989)
  • Estate Book, 1812-1830 [vol. 2 1812-1819; vol. 3 1818-1824; vol. 4 1824-1830] (WPA, 1938)
  • Fort Loudoun Reservoir Cemeteries (Douthat, 1988)
  • Fourth Survey Distr[i]ct of Tennessee, 1808-1810 : John McClellan-Surveyor Anderson, Bledsoe, Campbell, Knox, Overton, Rhea, Roane Counties, TN (Douthat, 1988)
  • Gone But Not Forgotten : A Record of the Family Cemeteries of ... Knox County, Tennessee [vol. 1 North Knox County; vol. 2 East Knox County; vol. 3 South Knox County; vol. 4 Northwest Knox County] ( McGinnis, 2000-2005)*
  • Graves of New Gray Cemetery (McGinnis, 2002)*
  • Graves of Old Gray Cemetery (McGinnis, 2000)*
  • Historic Knoxville and Knox County : City Center, Neighborhoods, and Parks : A Walking and Touring Guide (Manning & Jamieson, 1990)
  • In Everlasting Remembrance : The Cemeteries of the Old 1st and 2nd Districts of Knox County, Tennessee (McGinnis, 2003)*
  • Indexes, First Circuit Court Minute Book, Volume 1 : Knox County Tennessee, February 1810-August 1817 : Obion County, Tennessee, Court (Daughters of the American Colonists, 1988)*
  • Knox County in the World War, 1917, 1918, 1919 (1919)*
  • Knox County, Tennessee, 1836 Tennessee Civil Districts and Tax Lists (Douthat, 1993)*
  • Knox County, Tennessee, A List of Taxable Property, 1844-1845 (WPA, 1942)
  • Knox County, Tennessee, Circuit Court Minutes, no. 3-A, 1810-1817 (WPA, 1940)
  • Knox County, Tennessee, Court Minute Book "O", 1792-95 (WPA, 1940)
  • Knox County, Tennessee, Court Minutes, vol. 2, 1799-1800 (WPA, 19??)
  • Knox County, Tennessee, Court Minutes, vol. 3, 1800-1802 (WPA, 19??)
  • Knox County, Tennessee Estate Book [*vol. 1 1792-1811; vol. 2 1815-1824] (199?)
  • Knox County, Tennessee, Hamilton District, Superior Court of Law and Equity, Minute Book no. 1, 1793-1808 (WPA, 1938)
  • Knox County, Tennessee, Marriage Records, 1792-1900 (D'Armand, 1970)*
  • Knox County, Tennessee, Oyer and Terminer Court, Hamilton District, Superior, 1793-1798 (WPA, 1942)
  • Knox County, Tennessee, Superior Court Minute Book, vol. C, 1798-1803 (WPA, 1940)
  • Knox County, Tennessee, Superior Court Minutes, no. 3, 1793- 1809 (WPA, 1939)
  • Knox County, Tennessee, Tombstone Records (WPA, 1938)
  • Knoxville's First Graveyard : Tombstone Inscriptions in the First Presbyterian Church Cementery, 1800-1879 (East Tennessee Historical Society, 19??)
  • Marriage License Record Book, 1838-1864 [vol. 1 1838-1850; vol. 2 1850-1864] (WPA, 1937-1938)
  • Medical Men and Institutions of Knox County, Tennessee, 1789-1957 (Platt & Ogden, 1969)
  • Meet Me at the Campground : A Record of the Interments of Bells Campground Cemetery (McGinnis, 2001)*
  • Minutes of the Circuit Court of Knox County, 1799-1851 (WPA, 1942)
  • Minutes of the County Court of Knox County, Book no. 16, 1835-1840 (WPA, 1941)
  • Minutes of the County Court of Knox County, Book no. "O", 1792-95 (WPA, 1941)
  • Pleasant Forest Presbyterian Church Minute Book, 1833-1891 (WPA, 1938)
  • Record Book no. 1, 1795-1799 (WPA, 19??)
  • Record Book no. 4, 1802-1805 (WPA, 19??)
  • Record Book no. 5, 1805-1806 (WPA, 19??)
  • Roll of Honor : Names of Soldiers who Died in Defence of the American Union, Interred in the National Cemeteries at Chattanooga, Stone's River, and Knoxville [vol. xx] (United States. Quartermaster's Dept., 1866)
  • Superior Court Record Book B, 1797-1804 [2 vols.] (WPA, 1939)
  • Tennessee Newspaper Extracts and Abstracts : Marriage, Death, and Other Items of Genealogical/Historical Interest ; The Knoxville Press (Creekmore, 1995)
  • They Are Not Dead but Sleepeth : The Interments of the N M Cemetery at Mt. Olive (McGinnis & Berry, 2003)*
  • Tombstone Inscriptions and Death Records, Calvary Cemetery, Knoxville, Tennessee, 1869-1967 (Grady, 1967)
  • Tombstone Records, Old Gray Cemetery (WPA, 1938)*
  • Transcription of the County Archives of Tennessee [Minutes of the County Court of Knox County, Book No. "0" 1792-95] (WPA, 1941)*
  • Undertaker's List of Confederate Dead in Bethel Cemetery, Knoxville, Tennessee (Helsley & West, 1973)
  • United States Census 1850 for Knox County, Tennessee (Luttrell, 1949)
  • Will Book, 1792-1803, and Guardian Book, 1792-1821, vol. O (WPA, 19??)

 

LOCAL RECORDS ON MICROFILM 

An inventory of microfilmed Knox County records is available for purchase from the Preservation Services section of TSLA.  Individual reels of microfilm may also be purchased.   

Earliest records include:

  • marriages from 1792
  • wills from 1792
  • deed index from 1792
  • chancery court minutes from 1832
  • county court minutes from 1792
  • circuit court minutes from 1844
  • tax books from 1806

 

The following reels are available on interlibrary loan from TSLA:

  • Estates, Insolvent -- 1859-1915 (#75, 1 reel)*
  • Marriage Bonds -- 1792-1807 [A] (#97, 1 reel)*
  • Marriage Bonds -- 1807-1817 [A-L] (#98, 1 reel)*
  • Marriage Bonds -- 1817 [M-Z]-1822 (#99, 1 reel)*
  • Marriage Bonds -- 1823-1827 [A-L] (#100, 1 reel)*
  • Marriage Bonds -- 1827 [M-Z]-1831 (#101, 1 reel)*
  • Marriage Bonds -- 1832-1836 (#102, 1 reel)*
  • Marriage Bonds -- 1837-1840 (#103, 1 reel)*
  • Marriage Bonds -- 1841-1844 (#104, 1 reel)*
  • Marriage Bonds -- 1845-1848 (#105, 1 reel)*
  • Marriage Bonds -- 1848[H-Z]-1851 [A-M] (#106, 1 reel)*
  • Marriage Bonds -- 1851[M-Z]-1854 [A-M] (#107, 1 reel)*
  • Marriage Bonds -- 1854[N-Z]-1857 [A-K] (#108, 1 reel)*
  • Marriage Bonds -- 1857[L-Z]-1859 (#109, 1 reel)*
  • Marriages -- 1798-1875 (#77, 1 reel)*
  • Settlements, Administrator's -- 1792-1824 (#155, 1 reel)*
  • Settlements, Administrator's -- 1824-1844 (#156, 1 reel)*
  • Settlements, Administrator's -- 1840-1848 (#157, 1 reel)*
  • Settlements, Administrator's -- 1848-1858 (#158, 1 reel)*
  • Settlements, Administrator's -- 1858-1865 (#159, 1 reel)*
  • WPA Records, Knox County (Record Group #107, Roll 43, 1 reel). Roll includes Oyer and Terminer Court, Hamilton District, Superior (1793-1798), Superior Court Minute Book, Vol. C (1798-1803), Superior Court Minute Book, No. 3 (1793-1809) and County Court Minutes, Book O (1792-1795).*
  • WPA Records, Knox County (Record Group #107, Roll 44, 1 reel). Roll includes Court of Pleas & Quarter Sessions, Minute Book No. 2 & No. 3 (1799-1800 & 1800-1802), Superior Court Record Book B, pts. 1 & 2 (1797-1804), Superior Court of Law & Equity, Minute Book No. 1 (1793-1808), Circuit Court, Minutes (1799-1851), Circuit Court, Minute Book 3-A (1810-1817) and County Court Minute Book No. 6 (1806-1808).*
  • WPA Records, Knox County (Record Group #107, Roll 45, 1 reel). Roll includes County Court Minute Book 7 (1809-1812), County Court Minute Book 8 (1813-1816), County Court Minute Book 9 (1817-1818), County Court Minute Book 10 (1819-1820), County Court Minute Book 11 (1820-1822), County Court Minute Book 12 (1822-1824), County Court Minute Book 13 (1824-1826) and County Court Minute Book 14 (1826-1830).*
  • WPA Records, Knox County (Record Group #107, Roll 46, 1 reel). Roll includes County Court Minute Book 15 (1831-1835), County Court Minute Book 16 (1835-1840), County Court Minute Book 17 (1840-1846), County Court Minute Book 18 (1846-1850), County Court Minute Book 19 (1850-1854) and County Court Minute Book 20 (1854-1857).*
  • WPA Records, Knox County (Record Group #107, Roll 47, 1 reel). Roll includes County Court Minute Book 21, pts. 1 & 2 (1857-1859), County Court Minute Book 22, pts. 1 & 2 (1860-1864), County Court Minute Book 23 (1864-1866), County Court Minute Book 25 (1869-1872), Estate Book Vol. 2 (1812-1819) and Estate Book Vol. 3 (1818-1824).*
  • WPA Records, Knox County (Record Group #107, Roll 48, 1 reel). Roll includes Estate Book Vol. 4 (1824-1830), List of Taxable Property (1844-1845), Pleasant Forest Presbyterian Church, Minute Book (1833-1891), Beaver Creek Church Records (1833-1879), Marriage License Record, Book 1 (1838-1850), Marriage Licenses Records, No. 2 (1850-1864), Will Book O (1792-1803), Guardian Book (1792-1821), Records Book No. 1, pts. 1 & 2 (1795-1799), Records Book No. 4 (1802-1805), Records Book No. 5 (1805-1806), Tombstone Records (undated) and Old Gray Cemetery Tombstone Records (undated).*

 

NEWSPAPERS ON MICROFILM 

Newspapers were published in Fountain City and Knoxville.  Scattered early issues are available from 1798, and a complete run begins in 1926. 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

 

CENSUS RECORDS

  • Census on microfilm for Knox County:  1830-1880, 1900-1930
  • State-wide census index:  1830-1880
  • State-wide census index on microfilm  (Soundex):  1880,  1900-1930
  • Knox County census records in book form:  1850, 1880*

 

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR KNOX COUNTY

 

* Indicates this title may be borrowed on Interlibrary Loan from TSLA.

 

 

Updated January 8, 2009