Welcome!

First, let us introduce your new County Coördinators, Kimberly Hart and Joel Davenport ~~

Kimberly and Joel joined the TNGenWeb Project as volunteers in January, 2022. Both bring significant experience in local and regional history, research techniques, and available resources.

Present-day Bledsoe County is located about 50 miles north of Chattanooga in the southeastern section of Tennessee. The county and its small, rural communities comprise 404 square miles.

Bledsoe County was formed in 1807 from land that was formerly Indian Territory and land carved from Roane County.  The county was named for Anthony Bledsoe (1739–1788), a soldier in the Revolutionary War and early settler of Sumner County. He was killed in an Indian attack at Bledsoe’s Station.

County Outline Map

Two counties, Cumberland and Sequatchie, formed from Bledsoe County in the 19th Century. Bledsoe County today is bordered by Cumberland, Rhea, Hamilton, Sequatchie, and Van Buren Counties.

The county seat is Pikeville, with approximately 2,500 residents, located approximately in the center of Bledsoe County.  

Like many East Tennessee counties, Bledsoe County opposed secession on the eve of the Civil War. In Tennessee’s Ordinance of Secession on June 8, 1861, the county’s residents voted against secession by a margin of 500 to 197.  General James G. Spears, a resident of Bledsoe, served as a vice president at the pro-Union East Tennessee Convention in May and June, 1861, and fought for the Union Army in the war.

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