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Lewis County History and Information

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Lewis County was established in 1843 from parts of Hickman, Maury, Wayne, Perry and Lawrence Counties and named in honor of Meriwether Lewis, the famed explorer of the Lewis and Clark expedition, who died within the county's boundaries.

The first courts were held in the home of John Blackburn on Swan Creek. The first county seat was located there in 1846 and named Gordon in honor of Powhattan Gordon of nearby Columbia. Two years later the county seat moved to Newburg, a fifty-acre tract donated by Hugh B. Venable and Robert O. Smith, which stood on the dividing ridge between Big and Little Swan Creeks. Demands for a more central location for the county seat, coupled with the economic decline of Newburg, led officials to move the seat of government to Hohenwald in 1897; the town received its charter in 1923.

Newspapers were published in Hohenwald. Scattered early issues are available from 1898, and a complete run begins in 1950. See Extended History for More information.

Lewis County is bordered by Hickman County (north), Maury County (east), Lawrence County (south), Wayne County (southwest) and Perry County (west). Cities and Towns include Hohenwald
. The Official County Website is located at ?

Tennessee State Library and Archives has Inventories of Lewis County Records on Microfilm. Click Here to Order County Microfilm Inventories and Reels. Early Lewis 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.. Lewis County, Tennessee History Books at Amazon.com.

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Lewis County Court Records

Lewis County Vital Records

Tennessee State Library and Archives have the following records:

Birth Records & "Delayed" Birth Certificates: Tennessee began keeping birth records statewide in 1908. TSLA has statewide birth records for the years 1908-1912. To find a birth record, we need the following information: name of child, date of birth or approximate date of birth, county of birth (if known) and names of parents (if known). The larger cities in Tennessee did keep earlier birth records: Nashville (beginning in 1881); Knoxville (beginning in 1881); Chattanooga (beginning in 1879); and Memphis (beginning in 1874). Only the early Nashville birth records are indexed. For birth records after 1912 or for "delayed" birth certificates filed for persons born after 1903, contact the Office of Vital Records above.
TSLA also has "delayed" birth certificates for persons born 1869 - 1903. These delayed certificates were filed at the request of the individual or that person's representative for legal reasons. To locate a delayed birth certificate, we need the following information: name of child, date of birth or approximate date of birth, county of birth (if known) and names of parents (if known). E-mail TSLA and they can check thier index to the "delayed" birth records for a specified name. Please specify that you are requesting a "delayed" birth certificate.

There is a $20 fee to search for a birth record. If the record is found, they will mail a copy to you. If the record is not found, you will be notified by mail. The $20 fee is not refundable. Payment in advance by check, money order or credit card is required. Send your request to Tennessee State Library and Archives, Research Department, 403 Seventh Avenue North, Nashville TN 37243-0312. [GO TO FORMS PAGE].
Death Records: Tennessee began keeping death records statewide in 1908. TSLA has statewide death records for the years 1908-1912 and 1914-1955. To find a death record, we need the following information: name of individual, date of death (or three year range to search), county of death (if known) and name of spouse (if known). Please keep in mind that some deaths were not recorded, due to poor record-keeping by local officials. For death records from 1956 to the present, contact the Office of Vital Records above.
The larger cities in Tennessee did keep earlier death records: Nashville (beginning in 1874); Knoxville (beginning in 1881); Chattanooga (beginning in 1872); and Memphis (beginning in 1848). Only the early Nashville and Memphis death records are indexed. TSLA can search the unindexed records for one year only; you must provide us with the name of individual, date of death, the city, and the name of the spouse (if known).
There is a $20 fee to search for a death record. If the record is found, they will mail a copy to you. If the record is not found, you will be notified by mail. The $20 fee is not refundable. Payment in advance by check, money order or credit card is required. Send your request to Tennessee State Library and Archives, Research Department, 403 Seventh Avenue North, Nashville TN 37243-0312. [GO TO FORMS PAGE]

Below is a list of online resources for Lewis County Vital Records. Email us with websites containing Lewis County Vital Records by clicking the link below:

VitalChek Express Certificate Service - Some documents are just too important to wait six weeks for. With VitalChek Express Certificate Service you won’t have to. VitalChek is the fast and convenient way to order certified government-issued vital records online. They make it easy for you to purchase the documents to which you are legally entitled. Beware of other online services that do not have relationships directly with the agencies that store your vital records. VitalChek's order process usually takes less than 10 minutes --And you can select express courier service for even faster delivery when time is running out.
Click Here to Search the Social Security Death Index for FREE - Search over 82 million death records and get genealogical information crucial to your family research. New content added weekly! Most comprehensive SSDI site online!
Research Death records In The World's Largest Newspaper Archive at NewpaperArchive.com! - Find thousands of historical newspaper articles about deaths. Search for local articles about an old family friend that died many years ago or a celebrity that committed suicide. Historical newspapers contain a wealth of information about the deceased.
Index to Tennessee Death Records 1908-1912
Tennessee Marriage and Bible Records
Tennessee Marriages to 1825
Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002
Tennessee Marriages, 1851-1900
Lewis County, Tennessee Birth, Marriage & Death Books at Amazon.com
Birth, Marriage & Death - Vital records (births, deaths, marriages, and divorces) mark the milestones of our lives and are the foundation of family history research. Vital records, usually kept by a civic authority, can give you a more complete picture of your ancestor, help you distinguish between two people with the same name, and help you find links to a new generation.

Lewis County Census Records

Lewis County Maps & Atlases

Lewis County Military Records

Lewis County Tax Records

Lewis County Genealogical Addresses

Lewis County Church & Cemeteries

Family Trees & Genealogy Tidbits

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 Lewis County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information . Email us with websites containing Lewis County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:

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Lewis County, Tennessee Family Books at Amazon.com
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Search the Family Tree DNA Project- Use DNA testing to break through your genealogical barriers!
Sites on USGenweb: [ Lewis County ] [ Tennessee ] [ Main Page ]
[GenForum Message Boards] [Rootsweb Message Boards]
Genealogy Encyclopedia: General Abbreviations, Early Illnesses, Nickname Meanings, Worldwide Epidemics, Early Occupations, Common Terms, Censuses Explained, Free Genealogical Forms
Nichols and Related Families of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virgina.
The Tennessee Family Group Sheet Project
Family Trees - Ancestry has thousands of family trees shared by other members. They can help you identify how ancestors are related and give you clues about birth, marriage, and death information. Family trees are an excellent resource for filling in gaps in your research or even to simply know where to begin.
Pictures - One of the more exciting discoveries in doing family history research is finding a photograph of your ancestors or their residence. Finding historic postcard photos and drawings of towns and important events throughout history can also give you a visual look into your ancestors lives.
Reference Materials & Finding Aids - Reference materials, including dictionaries, encyclopedias, and other how-to books, can be tremendously helpful in finding and interpreting historical documents. Many of these books can help you learn where to look for more information and how to use what you've already found to uncover more clues.
The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture

Extended History

The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture © Tennessee Historical Society

Located on the western Highland Rim, Lewis County's thin and flinty soil has not been conducive to agriculture. Corn, wheat, oats, grasses, and especially peanuts constituted the principal crops. The wealth of the county consisted of iron ore deposits, primarily in the southern part of the county. In 1834 Napier and Catron erected Napier Furnace, which produced approximately ten tons of pig iron per day and employed twenty-five laborers. By 1880 it had ceased operations. The Rockdale Cotton Factory opened in 1825. Producing cotton yarn and employing mostly female workers, the factory operated until late in the Civil War. Other antebellum manufacturing included sawmills, gristmills, and barrel making.

During the Civil War the county furnished three companies for the Confederate army: Company H, Third Tennessee Infantry, Company C, Forty-eighth Tennessee Infantry, and Company H, Ninth Tennessee Cavalry. In all, approximately four hundred men from Lewis County served. No battles were fought in the county, but farmers suffered extensive property losses from foragers.

In the late nineteenth century, three groups of German and Swiss immigrants inscribed the area with a unique cultural heritage. German immigrants arrived in 1878 and established the community of Shubert. They were followed in 1885 by Swiss settlers from Milwaukee, whose colony attracted a third settlement a decade later by the Swiss Pioneer Group from Omaha, Nebraska. The Swiss settlers established New Switzerland and Hohenwald (High Forest). The cultural life of Lewis County quickly assumed the flavor of the new immigrants, with music filling the air from the Swiss Singing Society and a band called "Echoes of Switzerland," waltzes at Hohenwald's Society Park, and an annual production of the Wilhelm Tell play. Both the Swiss Reformed and German Reformed Churches conducted services in German. The German and Swiss cultural heritage survived until the anti-German propaganda of two world wars and the forces of Americanization eroded the preservation of folk knowledge and history.

In 1903 the Kurshedt Manufacturing Company of New York established a lace factory in Hohenwald. Employing Swiss labor, the factory produced Hamburg lace for baby clothes. During World War I the factory was converted to the manufacture of embroidered military uniform emblems, and the plant closed shortly after the war's end.

Lewis County has catapulted into national prominence on at least two occasions. In 1809 Meriwether Lewis died while lodging overnight at Grinder's Inn on the Natchez Trace. The death of Lewis, who was en route to Washington, D.C., to explain irregularities in his administration of Upper Louisiana, prompted an investigation by his patron and friend, Thomas Jefferson. The death was never satisfactorily explained, and debates continue as to whether the death was a suicide or a murder. Lewis was buried nearby. In 1925 the federal government designated the grave site as a National Monument. Today the Meriwether Lewis National Monument features picnic areas and nature trails, in addition to Lewis's grave and a replica of Grinder's Inn.

On August 10, 1884, a local mob attacked a group of Mormon missionaries and their followers, an episode that was subsequently labeled the "Tennessee Massacre" in Mormon church history. A small Mormon community had lived quietly on Cane Creek until that fateful Sunday morning when a party of masked men descended on the home of James Condor. The intention of the mob has been disputed, but gunfire quickly erupted, resulting in the deaths of four Mormon men and one member of the mob and the wounding of Mrs. Condor. The small Mormon community soon fled the county, some moving to Utah and others settling in nearby counties.

Several small villages have existed in Lewis County. Kimmons once was a large peanut shipping center and railway stop. Allen's Creek, Napier, and Gordonsburg were iron ore and phosphate mining towns. The oldest village was Palestine, which was a voting precinct in Hickman County in 1820. The villages of North Riverside and Hinsontown have survived the reverses of changing economies and population shifts.

Today the citizens of Lewis County enjoy a diverse economic base, an A+ school system, a state vocational school, and opportunities for civic, religious, and recreational activities. Industrial employment is divided among textile, rubber hose, and boot-making factories. The Natchez Trace Parkway and the Meriwether Lewis National Monument draw tourists to the area and provide recreation for local residents. Local trucking companies, railroads, and an airport provide transportation and shipping. The county's 2000 population was 11,367, an almost 23 percent increase over ten years.

The Goodspeed Publishing Co., History of Tennessee, 1887

Lewis County, situated on the Highland Rim, is bounded north by Hickman, east by Maury, south by Lawrence and Wayne, and west by Perry.It contains about 325 square miles, or 208,000 acres of land, only a small portion of which is under cultivation.The county is located on a plateau ,higher than the adjoining counties, and is drained from the center outward toward nearly all points of the compass, by Buffalo and Big Swan Creeks and their tributaries.Bordering the calleys, the lands lied in ridges, and the soil is flinty and sterile, and in many places underlaid with slate.

These ridges are covered with a dense growth of red and white oak, chestnut, poplar, etc.The soil of the valleys is alluvial, and equally productive with other bottom lands, being well adapted to the growing of corn, wheat, oats, peanuts, and grass.This class of lands compose a very small portion of the area of the county, and are about the only lands under cultivation.Passing from the valleys over the ridges, we come to the "barrens," which are flat and open and lightly covered with scrubby oaks.The soil of the barrens is thin and naturally sterile, but large portions of it have a good foundation, and could be made productive by proper fertilization.Other portions of the barrens, and also of the ridges, are so leachy that they will not hold fertilizing matter, and consequently can not be made productive.However all portions of the high lands, so far as they have been tested, are especially well adapted t the raising of all kinds of fruit.Thee is a strip of barrens about three miles wide, extending through the county from southeast to the northwest.Iron ore abounds in great quantities in the ridges, especially in the southern part of the county.About two-thirds of all the lands in the county are charged with iron ore, the greater portion, however, being confined to the hilly and rolling lands.There are many excellent springs of freestone water, and some of mineral.The elevation of the county is so great, and the fall of the streams so rapid, that it is a remarkably healthy location.

The first settlement in the county was made on Big Swan Creek about 1806-10, by John Sharp and his sons) William, Edward, Nehemiah, Samuel and Joshua), Elijah, Samuel and James Mayfield, all from Kentucky;James Rhoads and Bryson B. Venable, from South Carolina;Ambrose Blackburn, from Georgia;Daniel Garrett, Larkin Hensley and his brothers (William, Samuel and James), Edward Dycus, John Johnson, John Clayton, the Kirkseys, the Condors and Benjamin Lankford, all form North Carolina.Mr. Dobbins was proprietor of "Grinder's Stand" on the "Natchez Trace" near where it crosses Little Swan Creek ,and about two and a half miles west of Newberg.William Johnson, Daniel Sims and Young Simmons were among the first settlers on Pond Creek.John McClish, a half-breed Indian, lived on a reservation in 1812-1815, and kept a "stand" on the Natchez Trace, where it crosses the Big Buffalo Creek.The Natchez Trace was opened by Gen. Jackson and his army, on their way from Nashville to New Orleans, during the War of 1812.The stands above referred to were places where travelers were entertained.

The early settlements were made along the streams, and to the present day have been mostly confined thereto.But very little of the upland has been brought into cultivation.By keeping away from the streams and valleys, one may now travel for hours without seeing a human habitation.Deer, wild turkeys, wild cats and venomous snakes well abound in the extensive forests.

The first water mills built in the territory composing Lewis County was Tom's Mill, on Cathey's Creek, and the Widow Cavitt's mill, on Swan Creek, both being built about the year 1812, but which was completed first we are unable to say positively.An iron forge was built on Buffalo Creek, at the crossing of the Natchez Trace, and operated in an early day.It was afterward moved to the site of the Napier Furnace, which stands on Chief Creek, about nine miles south of Newberg.The Napier Furnace was erected in 1834, by Napier and Catron.Mr. Catron died over forty years ago, and the Napiers have owned the property ever since.The furnace has been operated part of the time by the proprietors and part of the time by lessees.since 1880 its operation had been suspended.When operated it required about twenty-five hands, and produced about ten tons of pig iron per day.

The Rockdale Cotton Factory was erected on Big Bigby Creek by Skipwith and Nightengale about the year 1825.It manufactured cotton yarn only, and about twenty-five persons, mostly women, were employed to run it.It suspended operations during the late civil war, and has not been run since.There are now no manufacturing establishments in the county, except a few saw and grist-mills, and a barrel factory at Carpenter's Station.

Lewis County was created by an act of the General Assembly of the State, passed December 23, 1843, providing that a new county should be formed out of fractions from Maury, Lawrence, Wayne and Hickman Counties, and that it be named Lewis County, in honor of Merriwether Lewis*, who accompanied Gen. Clarke in his famous overland route to Oregon Territory in 1803-06.

The act defined the boundary line of the county, and appointed John Akin and Albert G. Cooper, of Maury County; Shadrack Morris and James Voss, of Lawrence; James Gullet and David Voorhies, of Wayne; Hugh B. Venable and Johns Clayton, of Hickman;to employ a competent surveyor to make the necessary surveys, to hold election in each fraction, to select and purchase a site of the county seat, to lay out a town with a public square, to sell the lots on a credit of twelve months, and to appropriate the funds arising from the sale of said lots to the erection of county buildings.Elections were accordingly held in the fractions of the old counties, and a majority of the electors thereof voted in favor of the new county.The commissioners then proceeded and organized the county as further provided in the act of creation.The county was divided into eight civil districts, and the first county election held in 1844, when the following officers were elected ,to whit: David C. Mitchell, chairman county court;Josiah K. Strayhom, clerk of county court;Hugh B. Venable, trustee;and Alexander King, register.The magistrates elected were John Clayton, Redding Reeves, Drury D. Goodman, William Hines, James F. Hensley, David C. Mitchell, John Akin, Gideon G. Carter, Kincheon Carter, John S.Layton, George Nixon, John W. Killpatrick,C. Y.Hudson, Griffith Cathey, John M. Sharp and James G. Shaw.

The first courts were held, as provided in the act, at the house of John Blackburn, on Swan Creek ,which is about four miles east of the present site of Newberg.Here, on the lands of said Blackburn, the first county seat was located in 1846, and named Gordon for Powhattan Gordon of Columbia.The place never grew much, having only a log court house, one store and the dwelling of Mr. Blackburn.Nothing of the place now remains except the aforesaid dwelling in which the courts were first held.A resurvey of the boundary of Lewis County was made, and the line moved farther from the county seats of the old counties.In 1848 the county seat was changed from Gordon to its present site, and located in the woods, on the dividing ridge between Big and Little Swan Creeks.It was donated on a fifty acre tract donated by Hugh B. Venable and Robert O. Smith, and took its name from the fact that it was the last named burg in the State, and consequently a "New-burg."It is about two and one-half miles east of the Lewis monument, in a broken and healthy section, where the water is excellent.

The first court house was a log building erected at Gordon, and afterward moved to Newberg.It was torn down in 1857, and the present one was erected at a cost of $1,500. It is a two-story frame building, 40x40 feet, with the court-room on the first floor and the county offices on the second.a log jail, 20x40 feet, was erected at Newburg, but there has not been a prisoner incarcerated therein since the late war, and for several years last past the authorities, in their annual report, have said "no jail."The paupers are supported by appropriations made by the county court, there being no "poor asylum" in the county.

The annual receipts from taxation, and otherwise, are about $12,500, and the expenses of the county about the same.The indebtedness of the county is about $500.The tax-duplicate for 1886 shows 161,387 acres of land assessed at $217,188, and personal property at $4,500, making the total assessment of taxable property in the county $221,688, and the total tax charges thereon $2,689.61.

The Nashville and Florence Railroad passes through the eastern part of the county, and has one station within the county at Carpenter.The survey of the Nashville and Tuscaloosa Narrow-guage Railroad passes from north to south through the center of the county, and about two and one-half miles west of Newberg.

The county court clerks have been Joseph Strayhorn, 1844-48; C. Y. Hudson, 1848-52; William H. Flanigan, 1852-56; John S. Hunter, six months in 1856; William H. Flanigan, 1856 to civil war;John Hale, 1865-66;Samuel V. Perkins, 1866-70;W. C. Dabbs, 1870-82;J. W. Stockard, 1882-86.

The county trustees have been Hugh B. Venable, 1844-48; William Sharp, 1848-54; Richard Downey, 1854-58; James Lindsley, 1858-60; Milton D. Brown, 1860-62; Rev. John Hensley and others, 1865-70; George W. Hunt, 1870-74; Redden Reeves, 1874-76;Paris Cooper, 1876-82;R. W. Grimes, 1882-86.

The county registers have been Alexander King, 1844-48;John W. Ricketts, 1848-52;J.H.S. Anderson, 1852-56; A. G. Cooper, 1856-60; John Holmes, 1865-72;J.W. Stockard, 1872-78; J. W. Haley, 1878-82; S. L. Massey, 1882-1886.

The circuit court clerks have been R. M. Cooper, 1844-56; Rickard Downey, 1856-60;Wm. H. Napier and W. T. Brown, 1860-70; Richard Downey, 1870-1874; James Craig, 1874-77; Richard Downey, 187-82; S. Q. Weatherly, 1882-86.

The county sheriffs have been A. P. Buckner, 1844-47; N. B. Akin, 1847-52; Alex. King, two months in 1852; Andrew Johnston, 1852-56; Thos. S. Easley, 1856-58; Samuel A. Whitesides 1858-60; Green B. Dean, 1860-61; Thos. T. Christian, 1861-65; Milton D. Brown, 1865-70; A. F. Goodman, 1870-72; Allen J. Noles, 1872-78; John Carroll, 1878-84; J. W. Christian, 1884-86.William H. Flanigan served as chancery court clerk, 1871-86.

The attorneys-at-law of the county are John H. Vandiveer, at Hohenwald; J. W. M. Frain, in the western part, and F. A.Plummer, near Palestine.

The first term of county court was held early in 1844, at the house of John Blackburn, at Gordon.And the court continued to hold its regular sessions at the places provided for holding the courts, until December, 1861, when it suspended its sessions through the war period, and until June, 1865,since which time it has held its regular sessions.The first term of circuit court was begun and held at the house of the said Blackburn on Monday, March 25, 1844;Edmund Dillahunty, judge presiding, and Robert M. Cooper, clerk, and Nathaniel Baxter, attorney-general.The business of this court was also suspended during the war period.The first term of chancery court was begun and held on Monday, April 24, 1871, at Newburg, with Hon. George H. Nixon, as chancellor, and William H. Flanigan, clerk and master.By an act of the General Assembly, passed January 31, 1844, Lewis County was attached to the chancery district of Maury County.But the citizens of Lewis were allowed to file their bills, either at Columbia or in the chancery court at Lawrenceburg.Consequently, all business in chancery for Lewis County, was conducted in those counties until the Lewis County chancery court was organized.

The first dwelling house in the town of Newburg was erected by William H. Flanigan, who kept the first hotel.The post office was established in 1848, and Mr. Flanigan was the first postmaster.James Patton, the first merchant, opened his store in 1849, and John H. Cooper taught the first school the same year.Dr. John Bowman was the first physician, and located in 1853; John L. Miller, the first attorney, located in 1850.Newburg was incorporated in 1852.The charter of incorporation has since been abolished.The town had its greatest prosperity in 1854055, when it contained four stores, two saloons, two hotels and several mechanics shops.It began to decline before the war, during which, at one time, it was wholly deserted.It now contains the court house, one store, the post office, one school house, one hotel, five dwellings, and a population of about thirty souls.It has neither lawyer, doctor nor preacher.Hohenwald has two stores and a post office.Voorhies, one store and post office. Nutt, two stores and post office.Carpenter's Station, one store, saw mill and barrel factory.Palestine, on Swan Creek, six miles northeast of Newburg, was established in 1835, and had its prosperity about 1860, when it contained a post office, store, grocery, school, church and about a dozen dwellings, and fifty inhabitants.It now contains only one store, a church and a few dwellings.

"About a mile north of the Lewis monument, on the old Natchez Trace, and on the east bank of Little Swan Creek, is where Gen. William Carroll disbanded his troops on his return from New Orleans in 1815.An eye witness states that he madethen a farewell address, and bid them adieu, crying like a child."The following veterans of the Mexican war are now residing in the county:Abel T. Hensley, Samuel L. Tarrant, A/. W. Weatherly, and William C. Story.In the late civil war the county furnished three companies for the Confederate Army, as follows: Company H, Third Tennessee Infantry, Capts. Samuel L. Tarrant and R. T. Cooper (the latter was killed in Raymond, Miss.); Company C, Forty-eighth Tennessee Infantry, commanded by Capt. Samuel Whiteside, and Company H, Ninth Tennessee Cavalry, commanded by Capt. Thomas H. Beatty.It is claimed that with these companies, and the individuals who joined organizations outside (the county furnished in the aggregate for the Confederate Army, about 400 men), a number equal to its voting population.The farmers of this county suffered considerably during the war, by the loss of property seized by foragers.

Education in Lewis County has been very much neglected.To show the condition of the schools is given an synopsis of the report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction for the year ending June 30, 1885.Scholastic population- white, male, 353; white, female, 364; colored, male, 71; colored, female, 72; total, 860.Number of pupils enrolled- white male, 160;white, female, 200; colored, male, 30; colored, female, 16; total, 406.This shows that less than one half of the scholastic population of the county attend the schools.The number of schools taught and the number of teachers employed, 14; teacher's average monthly wages, $22; average number of days taught in the year, 80; amount of school funds received during the year, $1,760.75; amount expended, $1.031.98; balance on hand, $728.77.

The first church established in the county was the Ebenezer, at Palestine, established about the year 1824, with Rev. James Tarrant as pastor.The Cumberland Presbyterian erected the first church at Newburg, in 1849, Rev. William Walker being the first pastor thereof.The Methodists, Cumberland Presbyterians and Christians are the leading religious denominations in the county, and have their churches at different points throughout the same.

Lewis County Published Records

1880 Census, Lewis County, Tennessee (Sistler, 1998)
1880 Lewis Couny, Tenn. Federal Census (Graves & Glenn, 19??)
Columbia & Surrounding Counties, Tennessee Polk City Directory (2003)
Enumeration of Male Inhabitants of Twenty-One Years of Age and Upward, Citizens of Tennessee, January 1, 1891 (Reed, 1992)
First Fifty Years of Lewis County Marriage Records, 1844-1894 (Graves, 1978?)
Lewis County, Tennessee Cemetery Records, Volume II (Graves, 2003)
Lewis County Tennessee Court Minutes 1846-1870 (WPA, 1938)
Lewis County Tennessee Guardian Bonds 1846-1874 (WPA, 1939)
Lewis County, Tennessee, WPA Records (Douthat, 1991)
McDonald Funeral Home, Hohenwald, Tennessee, Lewis County [vol. 1 July 1948-Dec. 1969; vol. 2 Jan. 1974-Dec. 1987; vol. 3 Jan. 1988-Dec. 1993; vol. 4 Jan. 1994-June 9, 1997] (Coleman, 1997)
Maury County Neighbors; Records of Giles, Lewis, and Marshall Counties, Tennessee (Lightfoot & Shackelford, 1967)
Name Index to History of Tennessee ... : Together with ... Sketch of Lawrence, Wayne, Perry, Hickman, and Lewis counties (Marsh, 1972)
Private Acts of Lewis County, Tennessee (McIntyre, 1994)
Union Church of Christ 1871-1884 (WPA, 1938)
West Central Tennessee Regional Polk City Directory : Including Giles, Lawrence, Lewis and Maury Counties (1999)

Lewis County History and Information

Lewis County Court Records

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Lewis County Vital Records

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Tennessee State Library and Archives have the following records:

Lewis County Census Records

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Lewis County Maps & Atlases

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Lewis County Military Records

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