Tennessee Birth & Death Records
Important Research Notes:
- Tennessee required birth and death certificates in 1908, but enforcement did not occur until 1914. Still, rural areas have spotty records until about 1921-1922.
- The state Department of Health is responsible for administration of birth and death records. They were only administered for a short period of time at the local level.
Click here to read more details and consult on-line indices at the Tennessee State Library & Archives. You may also order available closed certificates through TSLA.
FamilySearch images are sourced from microfilm created by the Tennessee State Library & Archives or the Genealogical Society of Utah. The images are available for viewing and downloading free. You will require a free FamilySearch login to browse the records.
Click here to view the full catalogue of FamilySearch microfilm for Carter County. The catalogue records indicate availability: on-line, viewable at a FamilySearch Center or affiliated library, currently not available to the public, and whether the records have been indexed.
Births
Volume Date Span | TSLA Film No. |
Source |
1881 – 1912 | FamilySearch Link | |
1913 – 1922 | Available from the TN State Library & Archives | |
1923 – present | Available as permitted from the TN Department of Health, Office of Vital Records |
Delayed Birth Certificates
Volume Date Span | TSLA Film No. |
Source |
1869-1909 | N/A | Ancestry.com — free access if your Internet connection is in Tennessee |
1910-1922 | Available from the TN State Library & Archives |
Deaths
Volume Date Span | TSLA Film No. |
Source |
1909 – 1912 | FamilySearch Link | |
1914 – 1933 | N/A | TSLA Staff-generated Index |
1914 – 1966 | N/A | FamilySearch index search Ancestry.com images — free access if your Internet connection is in Tennessee |
Death Certificates 1914-1966 can be browsed via FamilySearch links to individual rolls of microfilm. Before using this option, we suggest you try to narrow to a film number by first searching the index for a place and date, then select a random record that will point you to the film number (digital folder number) |