Arlene Eakle’s Tennessee Blog

For sometime I have been looking for a good one volume history of Tennessee.  Available for purchase.  Easy to read.  With suggested readings that match these same criteria.

May I recommend:  Tennesseans and their Historyby Paul H. Bergeron, Stephen V. Ash, and Jeanette Keith.  Knoxville4, TN:  University of Tennessee Press, 1999.  3rd printing, 2007.  pp. x, 357.  Illustrations and maps.

In 1793, Governor Blount called for elections to be held in December for a territorial assembly, that would meet in January.  A total of 13 men gathered in Knoxville for this territorial meeting.  The sermon that opened the session called them to “…be subject  to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates.” 

Their purpose was to devise a list of ten men.  President Washington would then select, from this list, five to serve as a legislative council, making the territorial assembly a two-house body. 

James Winchester, Griffith Rutherford, John Sevier, Stokley Donelson, and Parmenas Taylor were chosen. 

And more than 200 persons,  traveled the long and tiring distance from Mero District (Nashville), to Knoxville to participate in this historic event–because of their intense, personal interest in self-government!

Top government officials were appointed.  Taxes were suggested–25 cents per 100 acres as well as  a poll tax on persons.  Counties and courts were established.  Two colleges were chartered.  A public printer was appointed and a delegate, representing Tennessee to the US Congress, was selected.

Then a  new census was requested of the Governor for 1795, and a referendum on the question of statehood.  A full and energetic agenda–not fully acceptable to larger landholders, because the land tax proposed was double what they were expecting.

The new census revealed 66,650 free persons–more than enough to qualify for statehood  and more than two times the population of 1791!  The slave population was 10,600.  G0vernor Blount called an election for 5 delegates from each county to draft a constitution.  The convention was to commence 11 Jan 1796.  

In a succinct chapter, the three authors describe these momentous events.  Without footnotes.  With a good index.  And suggested readings for every chapter.  This is a good, beginning history that includes  the whole history of Tennessee.  Your favorite Tennessee genealogist, Arlene Eakle.  http://arleneeakle.com

PS  You can still order Tennessee Research by Afton E. Reintjes at the pre-publication price of $30.00 plus $4.00 postage.  This popular new research guide is currently being reprinted–2nd printing!  And we can honor this pre-pub price until 31 December 2010 only.  Remember it includes a  preliminary version  of a reconstructed 1790 census based on 8 major lists of settlers in Tennessee.   You need to order by postal mail–PO Box 129, Tremonton UT 84337 or by FAX 435-553-4584.  My online bookstore will charge you the regular price of $40.00 plus $8.00 postage.

This is not a philosophy lesson–

Each time I come to the Family History Library,in Salt Lake City UT, to do client research;  or, to research what is new, what records have now been indexed online, what new study has been published on an old genealogy record category, or what local group has just been organized–whatever… I discover  genealogy records open whole new world.

A whole new world.  Please, read on–

Michael Hait, Records of the Slave Claims Commissions, 1864-1867:

1. Delaware.  Register of Claims.  114 claims.
2. Kentucky.  Register of Claims.  2,475 claims.
3. Maryland.  Register of  Claims.  Coming soon.

Volumes for Missouri, West Virginia, and Tennessee still to come from a collection of  “10 volumes and four additional boxes with more volumes.”  Record Group 94, Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, National Archives, Washington DC.  Entry 348, PI117, Preliminary Inventory, AGO.

What is remarkable and time-worthy about these publications? The claims were submitted for compensation under General Order 329, to spark enlistment and enrollment of colored troops into the US Army during the Civil War.  1864 was a very bad time–much loss of troops and still no end in sight for a war that was wearing and brutal to all America.

The government paid local slave owners to free their slaves, providing the slaves with actual legal status  and papers.  And allowing the government to compensate the owner for the actual loss.  The amount  of detail given for both white and black  persons mentioned in the documents is remarkable.

And if you are trying to prove that your ancestor was named for his master, these claims will show those slaves who took the master’s surname.

I invite you to become acquainted with is new series, appearing in 2010 from Hait Family History Research Services, http://www.haitfamilyresearch.com

Watch for the Tennessee volume to appear–with record loss so fierce   in Tennessee, this record could be timely indeed.  Your favorite Tennessee genealogist, Arlene Eakle   http://arleneeakle.com

PS  Live from the new glassed-in consulting room at the Family History Library, where our current Research Retreat is coming down to the wire–with attendees running to get all their records together before we end.

“Let us read about everything and about all people; it is the story line, the passing scene of history, we want to capture.”  Alex Haley (conversation, 1986).  So begins the Preface of a very interesting volume:  200 Years Through 200 Stories:  A Tennessee Bicentennial Collection,written by Anne Klebenow. 

The first printing in 1996 by the University of Tennessee Press at Knoxville was gobbled up quickly leading to a second printing in 1997.*   And it finally made it to the new bookshelf at the Family History Library this week. 

The book is dedicated to Alex Haley, Pulitzer-Prize winning author of Roots.  Klebenow was a friend of Haley’s, serving as an editorial assistant on a project close to Alex Haley’s heart.  His untimely death in 1992, led to Klebenow being asked to carry on the project.  She had talked with him at length about the subjects in her book–which is essentially a series of 200 biographical sketches of the famous, and not-so-famous, and even infamous people who contributed to some 200 years of  Tennessee  history.  These bios are story-driven, making them easy to read giving interesting details not usually shared in biographies.  You will enjoy this personal approach to the history (and ancestry) you are now learning about Tennessee.

Notes about each person are referenced in what the author calls a selected bibliography.  It is rather extensive and includes multiple titles by most of the authors cited.  So if you like what you read here, you can find similar stuff by the same writers, or about the same person.   

The every-name index includes additional notes to identify specific persons.  This is unusual in any book and very helpful in this one.

You can match your family traditions, and stuff  you heard from the top of the stairs growing up, about your family to the meaty, and often dramatic ”nuggets” in these stories.  If you broaden your reach a bit, distant kinfolks often repeat the same things you already know–indicating a relationship to your family members.  So don’t just look for ancestors.  Look for kinfolks.   And enjoy new details about old ancestors.

Your favorite Tennessee genealogist, Arlene Eakle   http://arleneeakle.com

*  It seems that genealogists cannot get enough information about Tennessee–Afton Reintjes’ Tennessee Research, published 1 June 2010, is now in its second printing too.  With a stack of orders to be filled as soon as copies come from the press.  If you haven’t received your copy yet, it will be coming soon.

The 2010 Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference held in Knoxville TN was preceded by a full day of sessions for Librarians by Librarians.  And it was wonderful!

Two databases stood out to me:

1. http://teva.contentdm.oclc.org Tennessee Virtual Archive, sponsored by the state library system, to provide electronic and searchable access to Tennessee’s rich historical records:  founding documents, with all the signatures; Civil War documents and photographs; the legacy of the African-Americans; and agriculture’s steady impact on the development of Tennessee.  Music, maps, and even wall hangings are available.
2. http://www.aca-dla.org Digital Library of Appalachia collections–archival and cultural materials for the history of Tennessee’s diverse population.  Quilts, photographs, documents from member college libraries and archives can be searched by keyword and by library holding the collection.  Some interesting contents include old Kentucky fiddlers, the North Carolina Amnesty letters, lists of log structures and their specs with photos, pottery makers, and more.  Collections can be submitted free by member institutions.  These contributing libraries and archives, include church facilities scattered over Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Virginia.

Please check these two resources out.  Genealogists are often so dependent on courthouse records and, since so many courthouses in Appalachia have suffered substantial record loss, their pedigrees are stopped.

By-pass these record losses with records and artifacts that were never stored in the courthouse to begin with.  Your favorite Tennessee genealogist, Arlene Eakle.  http://arleneeakle.com

PS  Personal documents and artifacts are often better and more reliable than court documents.  Break your losing streak!

Lots of years ago I visited the McClung Collection in Knoxville TN and used the printed sources at the Lawson-McGhee Library across from the Hilton Hotel. And thought I was blessed to be there.

Then I had the chance to come back during the FGS Conference in mid-August.  What a treat was in store for my genealogy research!  I really was not prepared for the changes–and I have walked on air since I returned home.

Let me share with you my “what a great idea?” experience!

4 (count them)–FOUR historical facilities under one roof (including parts of several buildings and the original court building for Knox County):

1. The East Tennessee Historical Society–established in 1834 to collect the history and its documents for what became 35 counties in east Tennessee.  They have provided historical programs and publications which we all depend on for all this time.  And continue to do it.
2. The Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection–rare, original maps.  More than 600 manuscript collections, including 45 genealogical collections with more family files than you can search in a week.  Over 16,000 reels of microfilmed records and historical materials.  Branch Family History Center of the main Library in Salt Lake City with borrowing privileges.  Online genealogical databases including Pro-Quest’s Sanborn Maps–original maps for cities of Tennessee, including Knoxville over time.  Not to mention genealogies and printed genealogy sources for many Southern states.
3. Knox County Archives–microfilm and original county records–deeds, wills, marriages, tax rolls, and court records.  With indexes created by genealogists and archivists so you can document ancestors faster and easier than ever before.
4. The Museum of East Tennessee History–highlights of the people and their stories from all 35 counties.  A permanent exhibit is called Voices of the Land:  The People of East Tennessee.
5. And more:  Lawson-McGhee Library around the corner and a block away, the Beck Center, and several branch libraries–are a part.
   

All maintained by friendly, knowledgeable staff set in place to help you trace your family in its context.

Our country, our awesome United States, is beset with budget problems at every level of government; and most privately-funded library facilities are facing similar challenges.  The Tennessee cooperative effort with public and private partners, who share space and funds for the public good, is a model.

Other states like Alabama and Ohio are launching similar shared facilities–just for us!  There are so many of us seeking our roots in person, by mail, and online, that we need a special place.  When we arrive in droves, as we do with a conference, it is a real challenge to meet our separate needs with a smile.

Please, gentle readers, visit often.  Make copies and buy books galore to keep them in business.  And suggest to those research facilities that you frequent, to check out the East Tennessee History Center–where much of it  is all housed under one roof.

Here is the part I like the best that I haven’t shared with you, yet:  All these parts belong to the Knox County Public Library system!

The public library system, in many states, cities, and counties, is under financial attack.  Pennsylvania librarians sued when they were told they had to reduce their hours 50% and let most of their trained staff go.

The Michigan Library, a combined library and archives housing millions of original records and innumerable other research items, has made peace with those who hold the purse–for now.

What is happening in your state?  In your city or town?  In your county?  In my city, the public library remodeled the bathrooms and added new windows and new electric hookups so the computers could run without breaking the circuit.  Seems the skate park was the funding priority.

As you watch your tax dollars being juggled–speak out for what is really significant.  And remember Knox County Tennessee.

Make no mistake.  The East Tennessee Historical Society is a leader in the field or state and local history, known across the nation for its exemplary work.

Terry L. Davis, Executive Director, American Association for State and Local History

Your favorite Tennessee genealogist, Arlene Eakle  http://arleneeakle.com

PS  And hats off to the East Tennessee government officials who agreed to share!

For the past three days I have been searching Tennessee family files in several libraries.   Family files are vertical files stored in file cabinets or in loose leaf binders,arranged alphabetically by surname.  Some may be by subject or about one person.   Most public libraries have these vertical files.

And I want to share with you some of the great stuff I found…Like

__ family Bible pages

__photocopies of original, loose wills and estate settlements

__Revolutionary War pension files

__DAR membership applications

__militia pay vouchers

__family correspondence

__genealogies compiled by genealogists

__genealogies compiled by family members–especially by the men in your family

__genealogies  with handwritten corrections by family members

__land documents including tax receipts

__family data written in the margins of small paperback books

__maps, contemporary and modern, often with notes written on them

__newspaper clippings

__obituaries, copies from the newspapers and transcripts

__photographs–often without captions

__research notes and transcripts of records on assorted pieces of paper

Hundreds of pages of copies–

As fast,  as I could, I made photocopies of these materials–hundreds of pages of copies for analysis and documentation of the pedigree lines I am researching in East Tennessee.

Some libraries will also make photocopies of the contents of these family files by email and postal mail request.  Be sure you specify that you want the above materials copied.  And it is always a good idea to find out, in advance, how many files they  hold for each surname you have.  And what their page cost is–expect to pay 20 to 50 cents per page.  Libraries try to make a little extra income from their copy machine.

Using local family files leads you to greater success in tracing the correct lineage, especially when you find two or more persons share the same names.  Your favorite Tennessee genealogist, Arlene Eakle  http://arleneeakle.com

PS  I’m off to search the family files and periodicals in the East  Tennessee Historical Society library.  Stay tuned for more research tips and goodies.

Census records are missing in Tennessee until 1830, when for the first time, all of Tennessee is enumerated.  At least in theory.  So, Tennessee, perhaps more than any other state at the time of settlement, is subject to these census problems:

__missing schedules

__odd years

__duplicate entries

__multiple jurisdictions–local, district, territorial, state, and federal–making lists

__bad or incomplete transcriptions made available in print and online

__multiple copies available for some enumerations

__re-copied pages

__digital indexes to surviving census schedules read by non-English transcribers–paid by the name!

__substitute “census” data, collected from documents dated close to but not right on the date of the missing schedules

__extra information added to specific entries (and not transcribed in printed versions)

__missing people–people on the move are usually missed;  they may be enumerated twice before and after their move

__new immigrants arriving to mingle and mix with Americans who were already here–with same exact names

Add these challenges to other considerations:

__family traditions infused with incorrect details so they don’t match what the records say–by name, by place, by age, by number of members in the family

__family Bibles lost, gone West with migrating family members, or no longer diligently kept at all

__the whole country on the move before and after the Revolutionary War

__bounty awards granted for Revolutionary service could be and were sold

__lands could be granted to multiple owners, with boundaries that overlapped other settlers

__lands were granted in the same areas, to the same settlers and speculators, by multiple jurisdictions

Is it any wonder, that Tennessee research is so difficult? 

Stay tuned to this site.  The next few posts will include how to search existing Tennessee census records to get the full benefit from their evidence.  I have developed a whole series of checklists to aid your Tennessee research in census schedules.  Even the substitute lists can be less of a problem.  Your favorite Tennessee genealogist, Arlene Eakle http://arleneeakle.com

PS  I have discovered that Amazon.com has three screens of my books available for sale at very interesting prices.  You might want to check them out too.  Be alerted, some entries sell books no longer available.  Some entries sell books that no longer exist.  Some entries sell used copies of books that are now re-written and updated.  (These are bargains you can benefit from.)  Some entries sell books attributed to me that belong to other authors–who are often named.  (I make no comments on their works.)  This mess is probably of my own causing–I have not updated my list for Amazon for years.   Kathryn Bassett, my webmaster, and I will see that it is corrected.  The used copies will still be available at bargain prices.

By-pass some of the official record loss in Tennessee with church sources–Who are the officials of the church Congregation?  Who are the organizers of the Denomination your ancestors attended?

The officials and organizers of the church are the ones who created the records, keep the records, and are often responsible for their preservation.  As you research–in any record–looking for your ancestors, also watch for and make a running list of these important persons.

__Census enumerations where “pastor” or “minister of the gospel” is the occupation.

__County and local histories that list elders, deacons, and sometimes even  treasurers in biographical sketches and accounts of local churches.

__Heritage Books, especially those for southern counties, where descendants describe the part their church-going ancestors played in the local community.

__Ministers’ diaries, journals, account, and memo books.  The Family History Library has microfilmed hundreds of these records.  Check their Catalog for the places where your ancestors were connected.

__Publications of the churches themselves–annual reports, weekly or monthly periodicals.  The Methodist Church published 9 regional Christian Advocates which circulated to members every week, pages full of births, marriages, and deaths.  And the Roman Catholic Church issued weekly and monthly newspapers and news magazines on the American frontier as early as 1809 with death notices and obituaries. One of the largest collections of these self-published church materials is at Wright State University, Dayton OH.  The collection, amassed by a private collector, was without a home until Wright State agreed to house and manage the collection.

To find these wonderful record treasures, consult the Family History Library Catalog by locality and name of official.  Then check the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections in print and online; Worldcat from the Library of Congress to identify collections by name and locality.  And finally, use Google and other online browsers and search engines to find these records online and in other repositories.

Reading annual reports of the Congregational and Baptist faiths, I tracked a minister from colonial Connecticut, across New York, into Ohio where his theology, declared heretical by succeeding congregations, meshed with that of the Mormons.  He joined the LDS Church and migrated to Utah.  Here he established his new home, a bank that operated successfully for over a hundred years, and a posterity of thousands.  And from here he missionaried in Tennessee, convincing key southerners to cast their lot with him and his new church.

Most surviving annual reports before about 1825 are available on microfiche as a part of the Evans early American Imprints.  This was a make-work project through the WPA to identify and preserve what America had printed.  Some have been microfilmed by the Family History Library.  Many deposited in libraries and archives across the country.

Break your Tennessee losing streak.  Baptists do not record births and christenings, because they believe adults can commit themselves to God.  So genealogists often overlook their wonderful, black-bordered death notices and their collections of obituaries–remembrances of lives that may not be found elsewhere.

Your favorite Tennessee Genealogist, Arlene Eakle    http://arleneeakle.com

PS  The FGS Conference is being held in Knoxville the middle of August 2010.  Are you coming?  Have you registered?  The Federation of Genealogical Societies invites you and I invite you to come and check out the East Tennessee  archives and libraries before and after the conference.

At last, all 166 pages  of the new edition of  Tennessee Research are fiinished and at the printer!  Copies will be available at Jamboree 2010 (Burbank CA 10-13 June) and the Colorado Family History EXPO (Loveland CO 25-26 June 2010). 

Pre-paid copies can also be picked up at the events or will be shipped immediately following. 

If you ordered your copy already–you will be among the first to search the Preliminary Version of the “1790 Census” for Tennessee.  It is an awesome list–people you did not know were present in Tennessee during that time frame–1787-1791.

If you haven’t got your order in–you can still order at the $29.00 pre-publication price–whether you attend the June events or not.  PROVIDED… you get your order in before 10 June 2010–the official publication date.

Afton, Linda, and I are so excited about the quality of the book this time around!  And you will be too.

See you soon, your favorite Tennessee genealogist, Arlene Eakle     http://arleneeakle.com

PS   You cannot place pre-publication orders online–the new bookstore shopping cart on my home page only posts and collects the regular price $40.00.  Order by phone–435-579-1743 or FAX–435-553-4585 or by postal mail to Arlene Eakle, PO Box 129, Tremonton UT 84337-0129 . 

The official “Census Report Returned to the United States Congress” by William Blount, dated 19 Sept 1791, is all that appears to survive of the original schedules submitted by the local militia captains.  It is a summary of the total population in 7 counties (Washington, Greene, Sullivan, Hawkins, Davidson, Sumner, and Tennessee) and 1 district (South of  French Broad River)–35, 691:

1. Free white males of 21 years and upwards, including heads of families–6,271
2. Free white males under 21 years–10,277
3. Free white females, including heads of families–15,365
4. All other free persons, 361
5. Slaves, 3,417

Blount noted that there were several captains who had not yet returned their schedules–three in Greene County, one in Davidson County, and one district from South of the French Broad River*.  (See Territorial Papers of the United States, Volume IV:  Territory South of the River Ohio, 1790-1796, compiled and edited by Clarence Edwin Carter.  US Government Printing Office, 1936, p. 81.)

To reconstruct the missing census entries, we use contemporary lists–tax lists, militia rolls, land grants and deeds, claims for pre-emption lands, names recorded in diaries and journals.  And numerous histories compiled by local historians from records that we have not seen or read ourselves.

There are many pitfalls in using name lists as evidence of residence.

Tennessee in 1790 was on the frontier’s edge:

__Indians were literally fighting for their lives against the encroachments of new settlers, as well as their lands.

__Politicians, at odds with each other, tried to merge the pressures of special interests, highly positioned men juggling for preferment, and specific agendas of their own.

__Organized groups of speculators petitioned for lands to uncertain jurisdictions, often re-granting and re-selling lands they had not legally received title to– some speculators had NEVER lived there and had no intention of ever settling those lands. And those they sold their lands to may NOT ever locate on those lands.

__Military installations included soldiers and paid mercenaries who served and then went home.   Local men and volunteers also served tours within a day’s ride of the fort–it was their day job.  Were they enumerated at all?

__Trading posts and inns were maintained by agents for absentee owners.  Serving travelers and emigrants on their way to someplace else.

__Stations, established for the protection of settlers were established, wiped out or abandoned during Indian uprisings, re-activated over and over.

__Long Hunters came for furs and skins, foraged in the rich wilderness for 6-8 months at a time, then returned to their homes in other states.

__Men dominate these lists–males under 21 may be referenced, women rarely.  Widows caught between marriages may also be referenced without naming any of their husbands.

So I am wrestling with all these quantifiers as I amass a “census” of persons residing in Tennessee, 1787-1791.  With the additional difficulty of determining where in all this Western Country they actually lived.  And I have chosen to exclude 1786 and before as well as 1792 and later.  Although, persons recorded in lists and records of these dates may very well be present from 1787 to 1791 too.

Each source contributing to the “census” is fully cited by code number, sometimes with comments about the records on which each one is based.  That way, you can know where to place the blame if the name is fake.

Fake settlers in the Western Country–

Names of persons who do not exist at all can be found in petitions for government preferment where a specific number of signatures or marks is required to qualify for statehood, for a representative in government, for election of local officials, for a full jury.

Names of persons who do exist, they just did not settle in Tennessee during those dates.  Although, they may have been residents at other times.  Leaving them off a specific list seems wrong.

Names of persons not eligible to sign or to be included because of age, gender, origin, actual place of residence, or length of residence.  These names are written in to pad the totes.  Absentee owners of land or local commercial interests were often included.

In the words of the inhabitants themselves:

The Petition of Sundry Inhabitants of Greene County Humbly Sheweth That We labour under Great Disadvantages and Difficulties by Reason of the great distance we lie from the Courthouse it being att least Ninety Miles from our lower Settlements and no civil Officer Residing in less than forty miles by Which means viliany often Goes unpunished and the Honest and Good Citizens Wronged–of their Right.

It is therefore our Earnest Request that your Honourable body would take into consideration our Distressed Situation and Grant us Relief by laying us off a County and Appointing Officers for the Administration of Justice…

We your Petitioners are now Sufferers by a most Cruel and unhapy War with the Cherokee Indians  We have been Closely Confind in forts these six months past and many of our people Barbarously Massacred our farms not Attended our Horses and Cattle Drove from our Stations and often we not able to do more than Defend ourselves from our Walls under these our distressed We have been Without Assistance from the more Secure ports of the Districts, the Divisions and controversy Among the people Renderd it often out of the power of the Militia officers to Assist us.  And also Some of your petitioners are Settled on unapropriated land and it is our honnest Desire to be Conformable to your Government and laws.  We have Defended our Country as far as in our power.  Att the Risque of Both life and property…  Preamble to Petition from the Inhabitants of Greene County, 20 Nov 1788, To the Honourable the General Assembly of the State of North Carolina, Jay Haywoods

*Note:  In all of the historical accounts of settlement in Tennessee that I have read or copied, there is no mention of the population “south of French Broad” River–who are these people?  And where do they fit into the scheme?

Your favorite Tennessee Genealogist, Arlene Eakle   http://arleneeakle.com

PS  Sorry for this big gap in posting on my Tennessee Blog.  My time has been concentrated on generating the “census.”  Please stay tuned for updates, as I expand the master list from reliable records and sources.  You will want to be kept posted regularly about this progress.

PPS  Tennessee Research by Afton Reintjes is nearing publication.  The holdup was our decision to add a preliminary version of the Reconstructed 1790 “Census” as an Appendix to the book .  We are finishing the typing on that version of the list now.  Don’t give up on us–the result is magnificent!

PPSS The delay gives you an excellent opportunity to be among the first to get the “census.”  If you haven’t ordered your copy of Tennessee Research, you can still do so at the pre-pub price of $25.00 plus $4.00 postage.  Once printed and shipped, the regular price will be $40.00 plus $7.00 postage.  You can add your request to all of those who have already ordered–by phone (435-579-1743–call early or late, I am at the library doing genealogy research during the day), by FAX (435-553-4585), or by postal mail (PO Box 129, Tremonton UT 84337-0129).