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Jackson County, named in honor of Andrew Jackson (1767-1845), U.S. congressman and senator, Tennessee Supreme Court judge, troop commander at the Battle of New Orleans, seventh U.S. president, was created by the Tennessee legislature in November 1801 from Smith County and Indian Lands. It is the second oldest of the twenty-three counties named for Jackson in the United States; only Jackson County in Georgia is older. Temporary county seats were used until about the year 1806, when Williamsburg, named for Sampson Williams, an early pioneer in the area, was named as the county
In 1817 Gainesboro was designated as the permanent county seat and was incorporated in 1820. The land was donated by David Cox. Gainesborough, as it was then spelled, is one of the oldest towns in the state and was named for General Edmund Pendleton Gaines, who fought with Jackson at the battle of New Orleans. The Gainesboro Historic District, which includes the town square and the 1927 Jackson County Courthouse, is listed 0n the National Register of Historic Places.
Newspapers were published in Gainesboro. Scattered early issues are available from 1873, and a complete run begins in 1914. See Extended History for More information. There were fires at the Jackson County courthouse in 1872 and 1926, most early records were destroyed.
Jackson County is bordered by Clay County (north), Overton County (east), Putnam County (south), Smith County (southwest) and Macon County (northwest). Cities and Towns include Gainesboro
. The Official County Website is located at http://www.jacksonco.com/
Tennessee State Library and Archives has Inventories of Jackson County Records on Microfilm. Click Here to Order County Microfilm Inventories and Reels. Early Jackson County Records. Newspaper 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.. Jackson County, Tennessee History Books at Amazon.com.
Click Here to Search Tennessee Court, Land, Wills & Financial Records!
Researchers often overlook the importance of court records, probate records, and land records as a source of family history information.
Jackson County Clerk has Marriage Records from 1870 and Probate Records from 1872 and is located at Courthouse, P.O. Box 346, 101 E Hull Ave, Gainesboro, TN 38562; Telephone: (931) 268-9516.
The County Clerk maintains Marriage & Divorce records. It also has jurisdiction over probate cases. Wills, administrations, and all other records pertaining to probate are recorded in the respective county clerk's office. If the will or administration was contested, the records of these actions may be filed in the circuit court or chancery court.
Please call the clerk's department to confirm hours, mailing address, fees and other specifics before visiting or requesting information because of sometimes changing contact information.
Jackson County Register of Deeds has Land Records from 1872 and is located at Courthouse, P.O. Box 346, 101 E Hull Ave, Gainesboro, TN 38562; Telephone: (931) 268-9212.
The Register of Deeds office has land records beginning with county organization, land records are available from the register of deeds at the Jackson county courthouse. Land and property records include transfer of real estate or personal property, mortgages, leases, surveys, and entries
Jackson County Clerk of Circuit Court has Court Records from 1839 and is located at Courthouse, P.O. Box 346, 101 E Hull Ave, Gainesboro, TN 38562; Telephone: (931) 268-9314.
Circuit Court Clerks serve an important role in the operation of the court system in Tennessee. Chancery courts have jurisdiction over property disputes, and circuit courts oversee criminal cases, divorces, and adoptions. Early courts included courts of common pleas and quarter sessions.
There are a few online databases for Court, Land and Probate Records which include: Index to Tennessee Death Records 1908-1912, Tennessee Marriage and Bible Records, Tennessee Marriages to 1825; Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002 and Tennessee Marriages, 1851-1900.
Below is a list of online resources for Jackson County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Jackson County Court Records by clicking the link below:
Click Here to Search Tennessee Birth, Marriage & Death Records!
Birth, marriage, and death records are connected with central life events. They are prime sources for genealogical information. Look also for baptism, christening, and burial records in this collection.
Contact the Jackson County Clerk For County Marriage Divorce Records (See Jackson County Court Records for Address and Phone number) in the county where Certificate was granted.
Tennessee State Vital Records, is located at Central Services Building, 1st Floor, 421 5th Avenue North, Nashville, Tennessee 37243; Phone (615) 741-1763, FAX (615) 741-9860. The Tennessee Office of Vital Records registers and maintains the original certificates of births, deaths, marriages and divorces that occur in Tennessee. They have the following records:
Make certified checks and money orders should be made payable to "Tennessee Vital Records". Credit Cards may be uses by using VitalChek services Please do not send cash or checks. Fees are non refundable. Additional fees are required for expedited service. Mail all Applications to: Tennessee State Vital Records, Central Services Building, 1st Floor, 421 5th Avenue North, Nashville, TN, 37243.
There are a few online marriage databases which include: Index to Tennessee Death Records 1908-1912, Tennessee Marriage and Bible Records, Tennessee Marriages to 1825; Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002 and Tennessee Marriages, 1851-1900
Below is a list of online resources for Jackson County Vital Records. Email us with websites containing Jackson County Vital Records by clicking the link below:
Click Here to Search Tennessee Voter Lists & Census Records!
Few, if any, records reveal as many details about individuals and families as do government census records. Substitute records can be used when the official census is unavailable
Countywide Records: Federal Population Schedules that exist for Jackson County, Tennessee are 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930. Other Federal Schedules to look at when researching your family tree in Jackson County, Tennessee are Industry and Agriculture Schedules available for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. Slave Schedules exist for 1850 & 1860. The Mortality Schedules for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880.
Below is a list of online resources for Jackson County Census Records. Email us with websites containing Jackson County Census Records by clicking the link below:
Genealogy Atlas has images of old American atlases during the years 1795, 1814, 1822, 1823, 1836, 1838, 1845, 1856, 1866, 1879 and 1897 for Tennessee and other states.
You can view rotating animated maps for Tennessee showing all the county boundaries for each census year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries. You can view a list of maps for other states at Census Maps
You can view rotating animated maps for Tennessee showing all the county boundary changes for each year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries . You can view a list of maps for other states and State Department of Transportation Maps at County Maps. The Tennessee Department of Transportation has county maps the show the locations of churches, cemeteries, roads, ect... free for viewing or download here
Below is a list of online resources for Jackson County Maps. Email us with websites containing Jackson County Maps by clicking the link below:
Search Tennessee Military Records!
Military and civil service records provide unique facts and insights into the lives of men and women who have served their country at home and abroad.
The uses and value of military records in genealogical research for ancestors who were veterans are obvious, but military records can also be important to re-searchers whose direct ancestors were not soldiers in any war. The fathers, grandfathers, brothers, and other close relatives of an ancestor may have served in a war, and their service or pension records could contain information that will assist in further identifying the family of primary interest. Due to the amount of genealogical information contained in some military pension files, they should never be overlooked during the research process. Those records not containing specific genealogical information are of historic value and should be included in any overall research design.
Below is a list of online resources for Jackson County Military Records. Email us with websites containing Jackson County Military Records by clicking the link below:
Tennessee tax lists can be used to locate families, document historic properties and study community history. Early tax lists generally include all white males over 21 and indicate whether they owned land or slaves. They usually do not provide other personal information.
The tax lists enumerated for Jackson County for the years: 1802, 1803, 1812, 1836, 1872-1874, 1878-1888, 1890-1899 ; are available on microfilm at the Tennessee State Library and Archives. They are generally filed with each county's records, but some early lists are in a separate collection. To order a search of the records by mail, follow this link [EMAIL]
The 1796 Constitution levied taxes on every freeman of the age of twenty-one years and upward possessing a freehold in the county wherein he may vote, and being an inhabitant of this State, and every freeman being an inhabitant of any one county in the State six months immediately preceding the day of the election, shall be entitled to vote....
Many early surviving tax records were published in an effort to replace the missing federal censuses. Original extant tax records are preserved in the respective county courthouse as well as in the Tennessee State Library and Archives, where a card index exists for tax records in its collection pre-dating 1835, arranged by county, date, and district.
Original tax schedules for most Tennessee counties for 1836 through 1839 are available at the Tennessee State Library and Archives.
The 1891 tax lists of male inhabitant voters in each county were recently found. Available on microfilm at the Tennessee State Library and Archives, these nine reels are arranged alphabetically within each district in each county. Tax records from trustees office in counties are available on microfilm as well.
Below is a list of online resources for Jackson County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Jackson County Tax Records by clicking the link below:
The Repositories in this section are Archives, Libraries, Museums, Genealogical and Historical Societies. Many County Historical and Genealogical Societies publish magazines and/or news letters on a monthly, quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis. Contacting the local societies should not be over looked. State Archives and Societies are usually much larger and better organized with much larger archived materials than their smaller county cousins but they can be more generalized and over look the smaller details that local societies tend to have. Libraries can also be a good place to look for local information. Some libraries have a genealogy section and may have some resources that are not located at archives or societies. Also, take a special look at any museums in the area. They sometimes have photos and items from years gone by as well as information of a genealogical interest. All these places are vitally important to the family genealogist and must not be passed over.
Below is a list of online resources for Jackson County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Jackson County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:
Click Here to Search Tennessee Obituary Records!
This database is a compilation of obituaries published in U.S. newspapers, collected from various online sources. Obituaries can vary in the amount of information they contain, but many of them are genealogical goldmines, including information such as names, dates, places of birth and death, marriage information, and family relationships.
There are many churches and cemeteries in Jackson County. Some transcriptions are online. A great site is the Jackson County Tombstone Transcription Project. The Tennessee Department of Transportation has county maps the show the locations of churches and cemeteries free for viewing or download here.
Although few histories for Tennessee churches have been published, there are church records for almost every county in the state. Baptist, Presbyterian, and Methodist were the principal religions of early settlers in the state, and documents from these groups make up the largest number of records available. Other representative religions include Lutheran, Church of Christ, Episcopal, Roman Catholic, and Jewish. Most early Tennessee churches only kept minutes and membership records. Church records could, however, include records of baptism, marriage, burial, membership, or removal, but it is rare to find all or several of these categories maintained by one church.
A large collection of transcripts of Tennessee cemetery records has been compiled by members of chapters of the DAR. Records collection available at the Tennessee State Library and Archives and through the FHL. The state library and archives has notebooks containing listings of cemetery records.
County genealogical and historical societies and local citizens have collected, compiled, and published numerous volumes of cemetery records.
Below is a list of online resources for Jackson County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Jackson County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:
Click Here to Search Tennessee Family Tree Records!
The use of published genealogies, electronic files containing genealogical lineage, and other compiled sources can be of tremendous value to a researcher.
When view family trees online or not, be sure to only take the info at face value and always follow up with your own sources or verify the ones they provide. Below is a list of online resources for Jackson County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information . Email us with websites containing Jackson County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:
Located in the picturesque foothills of the Cumberland Mountains, Jackson County is known as the "Switzerland of the Cumberlands." Although the western part of Jackson County lies within the Nashville Basin, most of the eastern part of the county is situated within the Highland Rim physiographic province at the foot of the Higher Cumberland Plateau to the east and is part of the Interior Low Plateau. There is much rolling land between sharply incised stream valleys.
The same mountains that give Jackson County its beauty also made travel difficult in the days before paved roads and steel bridges. Both the Cumberland and Roaring Rivers cross the county. Timber and farming have been primary occupations in the county since its establishment, and riverboats of bygone days passed through the county daily, carrying passengers, merchandise, agricultural produce, and lumber products. With the flooding of the Cumberland River in 1963 by the Cordell Hull Dam, built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the opening of a deepwater port in 1981 near Gainesboro, the river once again became very important to Jackson County.
Sportsmen can enjoy the abundant wildlife--from deer and quail to bass and catfish--in Jackson County year-round. The American bald eagle and the whooping crane can still be seen, and Canadian geese winter in Jackson County. The Granville Marina on the Cordell Hull Lake offers every pleasure in outdoor recreation--from boating to camping. Two U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recreation areas are at Roaring River and Salt Lick Creek.
Jackson County also offers one of the most important historic sites in the upper Cumberlands in Fort Blount and the nearby old town site of Williamsburg. Governor William Blount ordered this frontier fort to be built in 1794 to protect the increasing number of settlers moving over the trail on their way west. William Gilespie operated a tavern and ferry there. The site is located near the Cumberland River about sixteen miles downstream from Gainesboro. The Fort Blount-Williamsburg site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Future projects of the Jackson County Historical Society include the restoration of Fort Blount and the creation of an interest in, and appreciation of, the Old Avery Trace, the first road to enter Jackson County. A bicentennial project traces its roots to a visit to Fort Blount by noted French botanist and explorer Andre Michaux on March 1, 1796.
Since the state legislature passed a law in 1992 designating the yellowwood as Tennessee's official bicentennial tree, Jackson County residents have placed yellowwood trees across the state, including one on the grounds of the State Capitol in Nashville.
Much of the material for a comprehensive history of Gainesboro and Jackson County was destroyed when the courthouse burned on the night of August 14, 1872. All county records were lost in the blaze except those of the chancery court. The chancery court records survived because Robert A. Cox, clerk and master, maintained his office in a private building away from the courthouse. The loss of the records of the circuit court clerk, the county court clerk, the register of deeds, and the tax assessor generated great confusion for many years.
Agriculture is the oldest enterprise in Jackson County. In 1940, for instance, of the 194,000 acres listed in the county, over 172,000 acres were devoted to farming. Tobacco, livestock, and corn continue to be important farm products. The land area of Jackson County comprises 327 square miles and the population of Gainesboro, in the 2000 census, was 879. The population of Jackson County was 10,984.