Source: Tennessee State Library & Archives. Click here to check for the most up-dated version.

Fentress County

Fentress County was formed in 1823 from Morgan, Overton and White counties
(Private Acts of Tennessee 1823, Chapter 302).

The county seat is Jamestown.

There was a fire at the Fentress County courthouse in 1905.

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SELECTED PUBLISHED COUNTY HISTORIES

• Davy Crockett and Others in Fentress County (Hogue, 1955)*
• Fentress Countians in the Great War (Crouch, 2017)  [alphabetical by surname]
• Fentress County History as I Reviewed It (Pinckley, 1987)
• Fentress County, Tennessee Pictorial History : Volume 1, the First One Hundred Years (1998) [surname index]*
• Hill Country History “as I Renewed It” (Pinckley, 1989)
• History of Buffalo Cove, Fentress County, Tennessee (Peavyhouse, 1969?)*
• History of Fentress County, Tennessee (Fentress County Historical Society, 1987)*
• History of Fentress County, Tennessee, the Old Home of Mark Twain’s Ancestors (Hogue, 1920) [name index]
• Little Crab as I Knew It (Pinckley, 1986)
• Local History as I Pursued It (Pinckley, 1988)
• Mark Twain’s Obedstown and Knobs of Tennessee; A History of Jamestown and Fentress County, Tennessee (Hogue, 1950)
• Mountain History “as I Rescued It” (Pinckley, 1990)
• Musings on Fentress County Education  (Crouch, 2015)
• One Hundred Years in the Cumberland Mountains Along the Continental Line (Hogue, 1933)*
• Wilma R. Pinckley Recalls– Journeys Down Memory Lane (Pinckley, 1994)*
• Wilma Recalls– Our Upper Cumberland Heritage (Pinckley, 1993)*
• Wilma Recalls– Treasured Memories (Pinckley, 1992)*

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

PUBLISHED LOCAL RECORDS

• 1850 Fentress County Census (Scott County Historical Society, 1985?) [surname index]*
• 1860 Fentress County census (Scott County Historical Society, 1985?) [surname index]*
• 1860 Fentress County, Tennessee, Census (Ramsey, 1994) [surname index]*
• 1872 Tax Records, Fentress County, Tennessee (Hatfield, 1991) [name index]*
• 1880 Census, Fentress County, Tennessee (Sistler, 1993) [alphabetical by head of household]*
• 1880 Federal Census of Fentress County, Tennessee (Hatfield, 1986) [surname index]
• 1900 Federal Census of Fentress County, Tennessee (Hatfield, 1991) [name index]*
• 1910 Federal Census of Fentress County, Tennessee (Hatfield, 1989) [surname index] *
• 1920 Census of Fentress County, Tennessee (Ramsey, 1994) [surname index]*
• *Big Fentress County Census, 1820-1890 [includes 1820 census of Overton & White counties, and 1890 census of TN Civil War veterans of Fentress County] (Norris, 2002)  [alphabetical listing]*
• Cemetery Records, Fentress County, Tenn. (Wheeler, 1988) [surname index]
• Cumberland Co., Tennessee, Fentress Co., Tennessee, Jackson Co., Tennessee, Loudon Co., Tennessee, Morgan Co., Tennessee, Overton Co. [1891 enumeration of male voters] (Reed, 1990) [name index]
• Early Records, Fentress Co., TN : 1830 – 1840 – 1850 Census, 1833 Enumeration (Hatfield, 1988) [surname index]
• Entry Books of Fentress County, Tennessee : Volumes A, B & C, 1824 to 1901 (Hatfield, 1990) [name index]*
• Fentress County Footprints (Norris, 2001) [alphabetical listing]*
• Fentress County, Tennessee, Deed Book A and B, 1824-38 (WPA, 1938) [name index]
• Fentress County, Tennessee, Entry Book A, 1824-1836 (WPA, 1936) [name index]
• Fentress County, Tennessee Hints and Clues (Norris, 2001) [alphabetical]
• Fentress County, Tennessee, Minutes Book, vol. 1, 1842-44 (WPA, 1937) [name index]
• Fentress County, Tennessee Veterans : Honoring County Veterans who Served Their Country Well (Fentress County Historical Society, 2013)  [name index]
• Fentress County, Tennessee, Vital Statistics, 1914 through 1925 (Wiefering, 1994) [name index]*
• Funeral Home Records from Jennings Funeral Home : Jamestown, Fentress Co., TN, Formerly Jamestown Funeral Home [vol. 1 Nov. 1957 – Feb. 1973; vol. 2 Feb. 1973 – Dec. 1983] (Ellis & Posey, ????) [name indexes]*
• Private Acts of Fentress County, Tennessee (McIntyre, 1994)
• Seventh Census of the United States, 1850, Fentress County, Tennessee : Free Population Schedules (Carpenter, 1969) [surname index]

LOCAL RECORDS ON MICROFILM 

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

Earliest records include:

• marriages from 1905
• wills from 1905
• deed index from 1820
• chancery court minutes from 1854
• county court minutes from 1894
• circuit court minutes from 1854
• tax books from 1897

The following reels are available on interlibrary loan from the Library and Archives:

• *Deed Index — 1820-1904   (#6, 1 reel)*
• *WPA Records, Fentress County (Record Group #107, Roll 18, 1 reel). Roll includes Entry Book A (1824-1836),  Deed Book A & B (1824-1838) and Circuit Court Minute Book 1 (1842-1844).*

NEWSPAPERS ON MICROFILM 

Newspapers were published in Allardt and Jamestown.  Scattered early issues are available from 1891, and a complete run begins in 1962.  Microfilms are loaned to Tennessee libraries.  Individual reels may also be purchased.  An Inventory of Newspapers on Microfilm at the Library and Archives is available on our web site.SELECTED MANUSCRIPTS MATERIAL

• Albert Houston Roberts Papers, 1859-1938   (Microfilm Manuscript #1394, 20 reels)*
• Albigence Waldo Putnam Papers, 1775-1869   (Microfilm Manuscript #140, 1 reel)*
• B. M. Colditz Diaries, 1870-1872, 1885-1889   (Microfilm Manuscript #68, 1 reel)*
• Myrtle Crowley Goss Papers, 1862-1963   (Microfilm Manuscript #1395, 1 reel)*

CENSUS RECORDS

• Census on microfilm for Fentress County:  1830-1880, 1900-1930
• State-wide census index:  1830-1880
• State-wide census index on microfilm (Soundex):  1880,  1900-1930
• Fentress County census records in book form:  1830*, 1840*, 1850*, 1860*, 1870*, 1880*, 1900*, 1910*, 1920*

ADDITIONAL RESEARCH AIDS FOR FENTRESS COUNTY

• County Index to Tennessee Confederate Pension Applications
• Early Tennessee Tax Lists at the Tennessee State Library and Archives
• Funeral Home Records at the Tennessee State Library and Archives
• Index to Tennessee Death Records 1908-1912
• Index to Tennessee Death Records 1914-1933
• School Census Records
• Tennessee World War I Veterans

*   Indicates this title may be borrowed on interlibrary loan from the Library and Archives.