Named
in honor of Nashville judge John
Overton, Overton County was carved
out of Jackson County on September
12, 1806. With an area of 434 square
miles, the newly created county encompassed
all of what is now Fentress County,
as well as portions of Clay, Putnam,
Cumberland and Scott Counties. It
is situated on the escarpment of
the Highland Rim to the west and
the Cumberland Plateau to the east. Livingston is the County seat.
Newspapers were published in Livingston. Scattered early issues are available from 1888, and a complete run begins in 1943. See Extended History for More information. There was a fire at the Overton County courthouse in 1865, some early records were destroyed.
PLEASE READ!! 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.
Overton County Clerk has Marriage Records from 1867 and Probate Records from ? and is located at Courthouse,
317 E University St.,
Livingston, TN 38570;
(931) 823-2536. 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.
Overton County Register of Deeds hasLand Records from 1806 and is located at Courthouse,
317 E University St., Livingston, TN 38570; (931) 823-2536. The Register of Deeds office has land records beginning with county organization, land records are available from the register of deeds at the Overton county courthouse. Land and property records include transfer of real estate or personal property, mortgages, leases, surveys, and entries.
Overton County Clerk of Circuit Court has Court Records from 1815 and is located at Courthouse,
317 E University St., Livingston, TN 38570; (931) 823-2312. 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.
Below is a list of online resources for Overton County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Overton County Court Records by clicking the link below:
Tennessee Immigration & Emigration Records - Immigration records help the family historian to understand the movements of their ancestry as they relocated to different parts of the world.
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.
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:
Birth Certificates: Records are available beginning with January 1914, for Nashville since June 1881, for Knoxville since July
1881, and for Chattanooga since January 1882. Records of some births that occurred in the major cities from 1881-1913 are also available. A certified photocopy of the original record may be obtained at a fee of $12.00 for the first copy and $4.00 for each additional copy of the same record requested at the same time. For persons born from 1949 to the present, a certified copy produced by computer is also available at a fee of $7.00 for the first copy and $4.00 for each additional copy of the same record requested at the same time. You can download an application online for Birth Certificates. You can also order Order Electronically and get the certificates much quicker by ordering HERE. For Earlier Records See Tennessee
State Library and Archives Below.
Death Certificates: Death records are available for the past 50 years (1957). The fee is $7.00 per certified copy. The cause of death is not normally included on a certified copy unless specifically requested and then is available only to certain family members or legal representatives. You can download an application online for Death Certificates. You can also order Order Electronically and get the certificates much quicker by ordering HERE. For Earlier Records See Tennessee State Library and Archives Below.Click Here to Search the Social Security Death Index for FREE
Marriage & Divorce Certificates: Marriage and divorce records are available for the past 50 years at a fee of $12.00 for the first copy and $4.00 for each additional copy of the same record requested at the same time. You can download an application online for Marriage Certificates or Divorce Certificate. You can also order Order Electronically and get the certificates much quicker by ordering HERE. For Earlier Records See Tennessee
State Library and Archives Below.
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.
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 theOffice 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 Overton County Vital Records. Email us with websites containing Overton 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 Overton 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 Overton County, Tennessee are Industry and Agriculture Schedules availible 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 Overton County Census Records. Email us with websites containing Overton 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 Overton County Maps. Email us with websites containing Overton County Maps by clicking the link below:
Click Here to 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. A list of Wars fought on American.
Below is a list of online resources for Overton County Military Records. Email us with websites containing Overton County Military Records by clicking the link below:
Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783 (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents in NARA publication M246 include muster rolls, payrolls, strength returns, and other miscellaneous personnel, pay, and supply records of American Army units, 1775-83.
Southern Claims Commission from the State of Tennessee (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents In the 1870s, southerners claimed compensation from the U.S. government for items used by the Union Army, ranging from corn and horses, to trees and church buildings.
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 Overton County for the years: 1836, 1837, 1872,-1879, 1883-1900 ; 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.
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 Overton County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Overton 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 Overton County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Overton County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:
Overton County Archives,
317 University Street ,
Suite 1,
Livingston , TN 38570;
Phone: (931) 823-8864
Overton County Public Library,
225 E. Main Street, Livingston, TN 38570 931-823-1888
Tennessee Newspapers & Periodicals Records - Newspapers and periodicals are the diaries of local communities. They are excellent sources of family history details - often recorded nowhere else. Look for obituaries, marriages, legal notices, and more found in our Historical Newspaper Archives.
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.
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. .
As with cemetery records, the DAR has collected church records
for Tennessee, available at the DAR Library in Washington, D.C.,
and through the FHL.
Many compilations of church records have been compiled and/or
published for the state. The Tennessee
State Library and Archives has records of over one hundred churches that pre-date 1900.
There is a online Tennessee Marriage and Bible Records which contains over 25,000 records for the state of Tennessee for the years approximately 1720-1890. This includes marriages, births, deaths, and wills, etc., has been obtained from family bibles, church, court, and county records.
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 Overton County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Overton 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 Overton County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information . Email us with websites containing Overton County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:
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.
Tennessee Family & Local History Records - The Family & Local Histories Collection lets you read journals, memoirs, and other first-hand historical narratives right on your computer. Gathered from some of the world's finest libraries, these materials may provide hard-to-find town, county, and state information; tax records and wills; military, church, and court records; as well as photographs, stories, and maps.
Prior to the establishment of the county the area had been used as a hunting
preserve by Native Americans, and white encroachment into the area violated existing
treaties with the Indians. In the Alpine community the Cherokee inhabitants were
referred to as "Nettle Carrier" Indians and were friendly with white explorers.
In 1763 a party of Long Hunters explored the area and camped for a time at the
current location of Waterloo on Spring Creek and later along the Roaring River.
A number of the Long Hunters chose to remain, to the chagrin of the Cherokees.
In 1769 one of those frontiersmen, Robert Crockett, was ambushed in the Oak Hill
area and killed; he is purported to be the first white man to die in Middle Tennessee.
In 1797 the idealistic and peripatetic Dr. Moses Fisk moved into the county.
A recent graduate of Harvard who was licensed to practice law, Fisk wanted to
tame the wilderness and pursue the American dream. He established a settlement
at Hilham, which is one of the oldest communities in the county. Fisk, thinking
Hilham was the geographical center of the entire globe, started four roads radiating
out of Hilham in the four major directions of the compass, convinced that all
roads would lead to his new Rome in the wilderness. In an era of male dominance,
Fisk established a Female Academy--one of the first such schools in the entire
South--at Hilham in 1806.
After the American Revolution many veterans received land grants from the federal
government and moved into the region. In 1799 Colonel Stephen Copland and his
son "Big Jo" left Kingston and established a settlement near Monroe. Copland
worked out a hospitable arrangement with the Cherokee chief Nettle Carrier and
was allowed to establish a home site. His success encouraged further settlement.
The first county seat was located at Monroe in the northern part of the county
at the crossroads of the Kentucky Stock road and the road to Danville, Kentucky.
Benjamin Totten served as its first county clerk. Both John Sevier and Andrew
Jackson acquired landholdings in Overton County in such places as Monroe, Windle,
Oakley, Independence, Taylor and Ozone. In 1802 French adventurer Andre Michaux
explored the Roaring River and trekked through the county as he moved west across
the state.
John Sevier's son, Samuel Sevier, acted as the first doctor in the Upper Cumberland,
and his daughter Joannah lived most of her life in Overton County; she is buried
in Monroe. Sevier's widow, "Bonnie Kate," moved to Overton County in 1815 and
settled in the Dale community. Dale, or Lily Dale, no longer exists. The community
was one of those flooded to create Dale Hollow Lake, yet its name endures in
the choice of the lake's name.
The county seat moved from Monroe to Livingston in 1835 as traffic through Monroe
began to decline. Overton County representative Alvin Cullom engineered the change
of location. New roads into Livingston and a burgeoning merchant district made
it the logical choice for the county's government.
Though much of the land in the county is inadequate for commercial agriculture,
Overton County did have a number of slave owners. In 1860 slaveholders numbering
248 owned 1,087 slaves.
Though largely outside the fighting in the Civil War, Overton County was not
untouched by the conflagration. Prior to the debacle at Mill Springs, Kentucky,
which led to his untimely death, Felix Zollicoffer encamped and trained his Confederate
troops near Monroe. Union soldiers gunned down a group of Confederates at the
Overton Farm, north of Monterey, in 1864. In 1865 Captain John Francis and a
band of Confederate guerrillas burned down the courthouse.
After the Civil War entrepreneurs and industry moved into the county. Two extractive
industries, logging and coal mining, flourished side by side. Loggers like "Uncle
Billy" Hull, father of Cordell Hull, made fortunes at the turn of the century.
Logs were cut and either snaked by mules to "peckerwood" mills to be roughly
sawed and shipped to market or floated down to the Cumberland River for delivery
in Carthage or Nashville. Coal camps were established in the rugged hills to
the south and east of Livingston. Run by the Fentress Coal and Coke Company and
the Gernt family, towns like Twinton, Davidson, Wilder, Crawford, and Hanging
Limb experienced a brief economic boom that lasted from the 1890s until the mid-1930s.
The Wilder-Davidson strike over unionization led not only to the murder of organizer
Barney Graham, but also precipitated the demise of the soft coal industry in
the Upper Cumberland.
Concomitant with the logging and coal booms was the extension of railroads into
the region. The railroad assisted the extractive industries and increased mobility
in the region. Rickman, the second largest community in Overton County, was established
in 1900 as a railhead. Rickman provided the only stop between Livingston and
Algood and became a burgeoning economic center as a result. That economic boom
reached its peak in the 1940s and has been on the wane ever since. The Rickman
community had its own high school until 1984, when schools were consolidated
and all students of high school age attended Livingston Academy. Rickman became
a bedroom community for citizens who worked either in Cookeville or Livingston.
The Alpine community of Overton county was home to Governor Albert H. Roberts.
A progressive governor and former educator, Roberts was instrumental in Tennessee's
ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment. Ironically those very women whom Roberts
empowered with the right to vote chose to vote him out of office when he ran
for reelection in 1920. Roberts performed the marriage ceremony of World War
I hero Alvin C. York and his bride Gracie Williams in Pall Mall June 7, 1919.
The first American soldier to lose his life in Vietnam hailed from Livingston.
James T. Davis was killed at Bien Hoa in an ambush on July 8, 1959, and his is
the first name on the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C.
The county boasts two significant recreational facilities: Standing Stone State
Park, which began as New Deal-era parks project, and boat docks and campgrounds
on Dale Hollow Lake, a project of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Tourism accounts
for a considerable portion of the county's annual income.
In 2000 the population of Overton County was approximately 20,118, with less
than 1 percent of the residents being nonwhite.
The following companies are currently offering free trials on their subscriptions from 7 to 14 days. You can receive more information by clicking the links below:
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Tennessee 
