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Genealogical "Fact Sheets" About Tennessee Counties

Wayne County

Wayne County

Wayne County was formed in 1817 from Hickman County
(Acts of Tennessee 1817, Chapter 174).

The county seat is Waynesboro.

There was a fire at the Wayne County courthouse in 1973.

SELECTED PUBLISHED COUNTY HISTORIES

  • History of Lutts Community (Lutts Home Demonstration Club, 1986)
  • History of Tennessee from the Earliest Time to the Present : Together with an Historical and a Biographical Sketch of Lawrence, Wayne, Perry, Hickman and Lewis (Goodspeed, 1979)
  • Important Events of America : Happenings of Wayne County (Abrams, 1973?)
  • Life in the Holler Near Iron City, Tennessee (Marshall, 1996)
  • Wayne County, Tennessee History and Families (Wayne County Historical Society, 1995)
  • Waynesboro Tennessee : A Historical and Pictorial Review (Davidson, 1994)

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

 

PUBLISHED LOCAL RECORDS


  • 1880 Census, Wayne County, Tennessee (Sistler, 1999)*
  • 1920 Census Wayne County, Tennessee (Brown, 1992)
  • Census Records of Wayne County, Tennessee [vol. 1  1820-1840;  vol. 2  1850-1860;  vol. 3  1870;  vol. 4  1880;  vol. 5  1900;  vol. 6  1910] (Byler & Scott, 1974-1987)*
  • Enumeration of Male Inhabitants of Twenty-one Years of Age and Upward, Citizens of Tennessee, January 1, 1891 [Wayne County 1891 enumeration of male voters] (Reed, 1992)
  • Facts of Older Serttlers [i.e. settlers] in Wayne County, Tennessee (Abrams, 1975)
  • Family Bible Records : Wayne County, Tennessee (Wayne County Historical Society, 2002)*
  • Korean War Veterans, Wayne County, Tennessee (Wayne County Historical Society, 2004)*
  • Marriage Records of Wayne County, Tennessee, 1857-1929 (Plott, 1983)*
  • Name Index to History of Tennessee ... : Together with ... Sketch of Lawrence, Wayne, Perry, Hickman, and Lewis counties (Marsh, 1972)
  • Newspaper Subject Index of Wayne County, Tennessee, From 1876-1935 (Tennessee Valley Tales, 1990)
  • Private Acts of Wayne County, Tennessee (McIntyre, 1995)
  • Wayne County (TN) Chancery Court Loose records, 1850-1869 (Berry, 1994)
  • Wayne County (TN) Chancery Court Loose Records, 1870-1879 (Berry, 1995)*
  • Wayne County (TN) Chancery Court Loose Records, 1880-1889 (Berry, 1996)*
  • Wayne County (TN) Chancery Court Loose Records, 1890-1899 (Berry, 1997)*
  • Wayne County (TN) Chancery Court Loose Records, 1900-1909 (Berry, 1999)*
  • Wayne County, Tennessee 1850 Census  (Porch,  19??)*
  • Wayne County, Tennessee Abstracts of Deed Records, 1820-1839 (Gray, 1985)*
  • Wayne County, Tennessee, Abstracts of Deed Records, 1839-1853 (Gray, 1987)*
  • Wayne County, Tennessee Cemetery and Death Records (Wayne County Historical Society, 1987)
  • Wayne County, Tennessee Census 1910 (Brown, 1992)
  • Wayne County, Tennessee, Circuit Court Execution Docket, 1837-1840 (WPA, 1938)
  • Wayne County, Tennessee Deed Books [4 vols. 1820-1866] (Hutchings, 2001-)*
  • Wayne County, Tennessee Deeds [vol. 1 1821-1833; vol. 2 1833-1838] (Crumpton, 2004)
  • Wayne County, Tennessee : Enumeration of Male Inhabitants of Twenty-one Years of Age and Upward, Citizens of Tennessee ... Approved January 22, 1891 (Bridges, 1994)
  • Wayne County, Tennessee Families : 1817-1899 (Wayne County Historical Society, 1999)*
  • Wayne County, Tennessee, Marriages, 1857-1898 (WPA, 1938)
  • Wayne County, Tennessee, Wills and Inventories, vol. 0, 1848-1857 (WPA, 1937)
  • Wayne County, Tennessee, Wills & Letters of Administration, 1848-1920 (Berry, 1990)*
  • Wayne County, Tennessee World War 1 Veterans (Wayne County Historical Society, 2007)*
  • World War II Veterans, Wayne County, Tennessee (2001)*

 

LOCAL RECORDS ON MICROFILM 

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

Earliest records include:

  • marriages from 1857
  • wills from 1848
  • deed index from 1821
  • chancery court minutes from 1861
  • county court minutes from 1848
  • circuit court minutes from 1851
  • tax books from 1873

 

The following reels are available on interlibrary loan from TSLA:

  • Deed Index -- 1821-1937 (#61, 1 reel)*
  • Inventories, Wills & Settlements -- 1848-1868 (#33, 1 reel)*
  • Marriage records -- 1857-1929 (#38, 1 reel)*
  • WPA Records, Wayne County  (Record Group #107, Roll 87,  1 reel). Roll includes Circuit Court Execution Dockett (1837-1840), Wills & Inventories, Settlements, vol. O (1848-1857) and Marriages (1857-1898).*

 

NEWSPAPERS ON MICROFILM 

Newspapers were published in Clifton, Collinwood and Waynesboro. Scattered early issues are available from 1819, and a complete run begins in 1943.  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 Wayne County:  1820-1880, 1900-1930
  • State-wide census index:  1820-1880
  • State-wide census index on microfilm  (Soundex):  1880,  1900-1930
  • Wayne County census records in book form:  1820*,  1830*,  1840*,  1850*,  1860*,  1870*,  1880*,  1900*,  1910*,  1920

 

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR WAYNE COUNTY

 

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

 

 

Updated January 9, 2009