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Sumner County History and Information

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In 1786 the North Carolina General Assembly created Sumner County from Davidson County and named in honor of Jethro Sumner (1733-1785), French and Indian War soldier, Revolutionary War commander at Charleston, Brandywine and Germantown who defended North Carolina against Cornwallis in 1780. The rolling hills and well-watered lands attracted pioneer leaders of the stature of Daniel Smith and Anthony Bledsoe as well as those of more meager means such as Hugh Rogan. However, Native Americans did not passively accept this frontier advance; periodic warfare resulted in the deaths of both Indians and settlers, including Robert Peyton, the last known Sumner settler killed by Indians. The opening of wagon roads, the influx of new settlers, and a preemptive strike at the Indian raiders' base village of Nickajack ended the Indian wars by 1795.

Cairo emerged as an early trade center and important port along the Cumberland River. However, in 1801, the general assembly authorized the purchase of 41.5 acres from Captain James Trousdale and thereon established Gallatin as the county seat.

Newspapers were published in Gallatin. Scattered early issues are available from 1827, and a complete run begins in 1950. See Extended History for More information.

Sumner County is bordered by Davidson County (southwest), Macon County (east), Robertson County (west), Trousdale County (southeast), Wilson County (south), Allen County, Kentucky (northeast) and Simpson County, Kentucky (northwest). Cities and Towns include Gallatin, Goodlettsville, Hendersonville, Millersville, Mitchellville, Portland, Walnut Grove, Westmoreland, White House. The Official County Website is located at http://www.sumnertn.org/

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

Search Historical Newspapers from Tennessee (1795 - 1929 ) - Quickly find names and keywords in over 125 million articles, obituaries, marriage notices, birth announcements and other items published in more than 500,000 issues of over 2,500 historical U.S. newspapers. New content added monthly!
Family History Library - The largest collection of free family history, family tree and genealogy records in the world.
Stories, Memories & Histories - Stories and histories compiled by others researching a person or area can be an amazing source of information about your ancestors. Not only do they generally contain dates and places of vital events like birth, marriage, and death, but they often relate stories and memories that help you really get to know the character of your ancestors.

Sumner County Court Records

Sumner 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 Sumner County Vital Records. Email us with websites containing Sumner 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
Sumner 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.

Sumner County Census Records

Sumner County Maps & Atlases

Sumner County Military Records

Sumner County Tax Records

Sumner County Genealogical Addresses

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

Search for Local Tennessee Researchers or Earn Money by becoming a Local Tennessee Researcher!
Sumner County, Tennessee Family Books at Amazon.com
Search 60 Years Of Everton Data : For the first time ever you can get access to more than 150,000 pedigree files and family group sheets from Evertons.
Search the Family Tree DNA Project- Use DNA testing to break through your genealogical barriers!
Sites on USGenweb: [ Sumner 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
Sumner County, Tennessee Genealogists Companion

Extended History

The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture © Tennessee Historical Society

Archaeological evidence in Sumner County indicates occupation by Paleoindian, Archaic, Woodland, and Mississippian cultures in the deep past. Two easily accessible prehistoric mounds stand at Castalian Springs, where Native Americans for centuries came to hunt the game which gathered at the springs and its salt lick. The first white long hunters included Henry, Charles, and Richard Skaggs, and Joseph Drake in 1765. Among other early explorers and long hunters were James Smith and an eighteen-year-old male mulatto slave in 1766, and Kasper Mansker, Isaac Bledsoe, and others in 1771-72. The first permanent settler was the fearless Thomas Sharp Spencer, who earned that distinction by living several months in the hollow of a sycamore tree at Bledsoe's Lick in 1776, then planting crops and building cabins from 1776 to 1779. By 1783 settlers had erected three forts--Mansker's, Bledsoe's, and Asher's--for protection against Indian attack.

With the exception of a two-year agricultural depression (1821-23) and cholera epidemics in 1849 and 1852, the first half of the nineteenth century was a period of growth, development, and recognition for Sumner County. Two residents, William Hall and William Trousdale, and Sumner-born William B. Campbell served as governors of Tennessee. Advantages provided by improved roads, a stagecoach line, river trade, and ferry services led to establishment of approximately thirty communities and, according to the 1820 census, a total of fifty-four manufacturing concerns, mostly distilleries and mills.

Following a tradition of building for permanence established by Daniel Smith's construction of Rock Castle and William Bowen's 1780s brick house near Mansker's Station, the county experienced an architectural boom during the 1800s. Among the more than one hundred showplace homes were James Winchester's Cragfont (1802), John Bowen's Trousdale Place (1822), Josephus Conn Guild's Rose Mont (1840s), Isaac Franklin's Fairvue (1832), and Daniel Smith Donelson's Hazel Path (1857). National reputations and fortunes amassed by owners of the several estates came from plantation-based agriculture and the raising of thoroughbred racehorses.

Sumner Countians, historically united in war, furnished 821 men to Andrew Jackson in the War of 1812, three companies to the Seminole War of 1836, and three to the Mexican War. Such devoted support of the Union divided voters on the question of secession early in 1861. But following the fall of Fort Sumter, the county voted 6,465 to 69 to declare Tennessee independent in the referendum of June 8.

Over 3,000 Sumner Countians were soldiers in the Civil War, and many of the first were trained at Camp Trousdale near Portland. In 1862 Confederate General John Hunt Morgan defeated Union forces at the battle of Gallatin but soon afterward withdrew, and the county was in Federal control for the rest of the war. The Union army hired local blacks, called contrabands, as contract labor, and in Gallatin black residents enlisted in the Union army's Thirteenth and Fourteenth U.S. Colored Troops.

Following the war, freed blacks established several communities, including Village Green and Free Hill, and organized the nation's first agricultural fair created by and for black citizens. The fair remained an annual event for nearly one hundred years. By the twentieth century, Gallatin's African American leadership had established strong churches and schools. Black businesses such as restaurants, dry cleaners, taxi services, and barbershops emerged, along with a black baseball team, the Travelers.

The early twentieth century brought added emphasis to agricultural production. Portland's strawberry industry expanded, and the location of a Kraft Cheese plant in Gallatin in 1928 provided a ready outlet for increased dairy production throughout the county. Out-of-state money underwrote the formation of the Southland Grasslands Hunt & Racing Foundation, which attempted to establish new steeplechase traditions in the Tennessee "bluegrass" country.

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers provided a defining moment in county history during the early 1950s. With the corps's construction of Old Hickory Dam on the Cumberland River, TVA built a steam electric generating plant at Gallatin. The net result was new jobs, new recreational opportunities, and a housing boom along the hundreds of miles of lake shoreline.

Benefiting greatly from proximity to the lake and to Metropolitan Nashville, as well as from the advent of a growing local tourism industry, Hendersonville became the largest city in the county (32,000 residents in 1990) and a tourist center for country music fans. Conway Twitty and Johnny Cash once operated country music museums there. The Trinity Broadcast Network, a Christian cable television network, now uses the facilities at the former "Twitty City." Country music star Reba McIntyre owns a horse farm along the Cumberland River just south of Gallatin.

Educational opportunities within the county expanded with the opening of Volunteer State Community College at Gallatin in 1969. Employment opportunities were further increased with the addition of thirty-one new industries and the expansion of over 120 others, principally at Gallatin and Portland. The county's population boomed between 1990 and 2000, rising some 26 percent to 130,449 residents.

The Goodspeed Publishing Co., History of Tennessee, 1887

By an act of the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, passed October 26, 1799 Sumner County was reduced to its constitutional limit, 624 square miles. And by subsequent acts creating new counties, it has since been reduced to its present limits. The General Assembly of the State, by an act passed November 6, 1801, appointed Samuel DONELSON, Shadrick NYE, James WISLON, Charles DONOHO and Maj. Thomas MURRAY commissioners to purchase forty acres of land and lay out a town for the seat of justice to be called Gallatin, to superintend the sale of lots, the erection of public buildings etc. The act also provided that all general elections and musters should be held at the house of Capt James TROUSDALE until the courthouse should be erected and accepted, a then at said courthouse. Accordingly the aforesaid commissioners on the 25th of February, 1802, purchased of James TROUSDALE, for $490 the original site of the town of Gallatin containing forty-two and a half acres in the public square. The town was surveyed and platted, and the sale of lots made in the spring of 1802. Andrew JACKSON, John C HAMILTON, James CAGE, Wm MONTGOMERY, David SHELBY, Robert TROUSDALE, Wm SAMPLE, Peter LOONEY, John BRIGANCE and G. D. BLACKMORE were among the purchasers of lots.

The first courthouse in Gallatin was finished to the acceptance of the commissioners in 1803. The court-room occupied the whole of the first story, and the county offices the second. This building stood until about 1837, when it was taken down and the present one erected in its stead. The latter, which is a commodious two-story brick structure, was repaired and remodeled in 1867. It contains the county court-room and four offices on the second floor, and the circuit the chancery court room and four offices on the second floor. The first jail, built about the same time the courthouse was erected stood about 100 yards north of the female academy, and between Main and Franklin Streets. It has dungeons underneath where some prisoners were incarcerated in total darkness. In an early day Mr. John TOMKINS was the keeper of this jail. It stood until some time in the forties, when it was abandoned, and a second one was built near where the present workhouse stands. This latter jail was abandoned in 1867, when the present one was built near the public square. All the public buildings in Gallatin thus far described were made of brick.

Prior to July 1796, the court of pleas and quarter sessions was held at the following places, to-wit; John Hamilton's's from April, 1787, to the close of that year; Elmore Douglass, 1788; Simon Kuykendall's first half of 1789; then at Elmore Douglass' until July, 1790, when it was held in the first courthouse which was a small log building erected on West Station Camp Creek at the place formerly known as Mrs. Clarke's. The sessions were held at this courthouse until January, 1793, when the court met at the plantation of John Dawson. The April term 1793 was held at the house of Pearce Wall, and from July 1793, to January 1796, the sessions were held at the house of Ezekial Douglass. And from that date to January 1800, the sessions were held at the house of William Gillespie, and from April 1800 to July 1802, at the town of Cairo, and from October 1802, to January 1803 at the house of James Trousdale in Gallatin. Then at the house of James Cryer in Gallatin until October, 1803, when the first term of the court was held in the first courthouse at the permanent seat of justice. The first term of this court held under the organization of the State of Tennessee, was in July, 1796, when it was composed of the following justices commissioned by John Sevier, the first governor of the State, viz.: David Wilson, Thomas Donald, James Winchester, James Pearce, Edward Douglass, Wm. Cage, Stephen Cantrell, Isaac Walton, Thomas Masten, James Gwynn, Witheral Latimer and James Douglass. The first grand jury under the State organization was composed of the following names gentlemen: Archibald Martin, foreman; Edward Williams, James Farr, Joshua Wilson, Robert Hamilton, Lazarus Cullum, James Snowden, Wm Crabtree, Thomas Walten, Jeremiah Doney, Peter Looney, Ormund Alton, and Wm Edwards.

The court of pleas and quarter sessions continued in existence under that name until the year 1836.

Sumner County Published Records

1770-1790 Census of the Cumberland Settlements : Davidson, Sumner, and Tennessee Counties (in What is Now Tennessee) (Fulcher, 1987)
1850 U.S. Census, Sumner County, Tennessee (1997)
1860 U.S. Census, Sumner County, Tennessee (Sumner County Archives, 1996)
1870 U.S. Census, Sumner County, Tennessee (Sumner County Archives, 1995)
1880 Census, Sumner County, Tennessee (Sistler, 1991)
Beech Cumberland Presbyterian Church Cemetery Directory (Robinson, 1999)
County Court Minutes, 1787-1805 [vol .1 1787-1791; vol. 2 1791-1796; vol. 3 1796-1802; vol. 4 1801-1804; vol. 5 1804-1805] (WPA, 1937)
First Land Grants of Sumner County, Tennessee 1786-1833 (Marsh, 2003)
Index to Original Records Collection, Deeds, 1786 to 1914 (Patton, 1997)
Land, Slaves, and Other Courthouse Transactions, 1808-1863 : Abstracts of Sumner County, Tennesse (Patton, 2005)
Maple Hill Cemetery : An Indexed Guide to the Location of Graves by Section Including a Short History of the Cemetery (1995)
Marriages of Sumner County, Tennessee, 1787-1838 (Whitley, 1981)
Red River Settlers : Records of the Settlers of Northern Montgomery, Robertson, and Sumner Counties, Tennessee (Whitley, 1980)
Sumner County Miscellaneous Records (Bowen, 1997)
Sumner County, Tennessee : Abstracts of Will Books 1 and 2 (1788-1842) (Whitley, 1999)
Sumner County, Tennessee : Index to the Loose Records, 1786 to 1930 (Wilson, 1988)
Sumner County, Tennessee, 1850 census (Porch, 1972)
Sumner County, Tennessee, Bible Records (Bowen, 1997)
Sumner County, Tennessee, Bible, Family, and Tombstone Records (WPA, 1936)
Sumner County, Tennessee Bond Book, 1787-1835 (Wilson, 1994)
Sumner County, Tennessee, Cemetery Records (Snider & Yorgason, 1981)
Sumner County, Tennessee, Court Minutes, 1787-1805 and 1808-1810 (Wells, 1995)
Sumner County, Tennessee, Deed Abstracts, 1793-1805 (Murray, 1988)
Sumner County, Tennessee, Deed Abstracts, 1806-1817 (Murray, 1989)
Sumner County, Tennessee, Inventories, Settlements, and Guardian Accounts, Volume A, March 1808-February 1821 (Bamman & Spero, 1984)
Sumner County, Tennessee, Marriage Records, 1787-1838 (Porch, 197?)
Sumner County, Tennessee, Marriages, 1839-1875 (Stinson & Spurlock, 1985)
Sumner County, Tennessee, Minutes of Beech Cumberland Presbyterian Church, vol. 2, 1869-1899 (WPA, 1938)
Sumner County, Tennessee, Miscellaneous Church Records (WPA, 1938)
Sumner County, Tennessee Newspapers, Vol. 1, 1820-1907 (Shrum, 2004)
Sumner County, Tennessee, Population Schedules of the United States Census of 1820 (Presley, 1970?)
Sumner County, Tennessee, Probate Data 1787-1808 (Bamman & Spero, 1984)
Sumner County, Tennessee, Tax List, 1787-1794 (WPA, 1936)
Sumner County, Tennessee, Will Abstracts, 1788-1882 (Wilson, 1987)
Tennessee, Sumner County, Marriage Records, 1787-1838 (WPA, 1939)
Will Book, 1789-1842 [Vol. 1 1789-1822; Vol. 2 1823-1842] (WPA, 1936)

Sumner County History and Information

Sumner County Court Records

See Also Tennessee Land Records, Marriage Records, Court & Probate Records

Sumner County Vital Records

See Also Vital Records in Tennessee

Tennessee State Library and Archives have the following records:

Sumner County Census Records

See Also Research In Census Records & Statewide Records that exist for Tennessee

Sumner County Maps & Atlases

See Also Research In State Map Collections

Sumner County Military Records

See Also Military Records in Tennessee