Genealogical "Fact Sheets" About Franklin County

Franklin County

Franklin County was formed in 1807 from
Rutherford County and Indian lands

(Acts of Tennessee 1807, Chapter 72)

The county seat is Winchester.

Selected Published County Histories

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

Published Local Records

Local Records on Microfilm

An inventory of microfilmed Franklin County records is available on our website.  Individual reels of microfilm may also be purchased.  

Earliest records include:

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

Newspapers on Microfilm

Newspapers were published in Cowan and Winchester.  Scattered early issues are available from 1875, and a complete run begins in 1967.  Microfilms are loaned to Tennessee libraries.  Individual reels may also be purchased.  An Inventory of Newspapers on Microfilm at the Library and Archives is available on our website.     

Search for Manuscripts Material in our Catalog 

Census Records

Additional Research Aids for Franklin County

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

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

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Franklin County Formation Act

ACTS OF TENNESSEE 1807, CHAPTER 72:

"An Act to form and establish a new county south and east of the counties of Warren and Bedford."

SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, That there be a new county established within the following bounds, to wit:  Beginning on the south east corner of Warren County, thence with the south boundary line of Warren, to the western boundary line of Bedford County, thence with said line to the southern boundary line of the state, thence east with the state line to the south west corner of Bledsoe County, thence northwardly to the beginning; which said bounds shall constitute a new and distinct county, to be known by the name of FRANKLIN.

SECTION 2. BE IT ENACTED, That for the administration of justice, a county court shall be held by the justices of the peace for said county, at the house where Maj. William Russell now lives, on the fourth Mondays in January, April, July, and October, in each and every year; and said court shall continue to be held at said Russell's until otherwise provided by law; and said courts shall be held until the same laws, rules and regulations, and shall have and exercise the same power and jurisdiction, as the other county courts within this state.

SECTION 3. BE IT ENACTED, That it shall be the duty of the sheriff of the said county of Franklin, to hold an election at the place of holding courts in the same, on the first Thursday in the month of April next, and on the succeeding day, for the purpose of electing one colonel and two majors of militia, which elections shall be held under the same laws, rules and regulations, as the elections for the same officers in the other counties within this state; and said officers shall have the same powers, and be subject to the same laws and duties, as the other colonels and majors of militia within this state.

SECTION 4. BE IT ENACTED, That the sheriff of said county of Franklin, on the days prescribed by the constitution of this state, shall hold an election in said county, at the place of holding court, under the laws governing elections in like cases, for the purpose of electing a governor for the state, member or members of the state legislature, members of congress, (and when required by law) electors to elect the president and vice president of the United States; and it shall be the duty of said sheriff, to meet the plaintiff of Jackson County, on the Monday immediately succeeding each of said elections, at the court house of Jackson County, for the purpose of comparing the votes taken at Franklin with those taken in Jackson; and the sheriff of Jackson after the comparison takes a place, shall certify the person duly elected.

SECTION 5. BE IT ENACTED, That general musters and courts martial shall be held at the place of holding courts in the said county of Franklin, on the following days, (to wit:) the general muster, on the first Thursday in the month of September, in each year; and the court martial on the same day in the following month; which musters and courts martial shall be governed by the laws in force regulating the militia -- And the militia of said county, shall be attached to, and be a part of the fourth brigade, and shall be the thirty second regiment; and the said county of Franklin, shall be, and compose a part of Winchester district, and shall send three jurors to the superior courts at Carthage.

Passed on December 3, 1807

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Franklin County Bibliography

Subjects :

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Franklin County in General

• Allred, Charles E. Educational status of rural relief families in TN. Knoxville, TN Ag. Exp. Sta., 1936. 41 pp. (its Report #22)
• Allred, Charles E. Mobility of rural relief families in TN. Knoxville, TN Ag. Exp. Sta., 1936. 35 pp. (its Report #14)
• Allred, Charles E. Relation of education to economic & social status of relief clients in TN. Knoxville, TN Ag. Exp. Sta., 1937. 36 pp. (its Report #24)
• Arbuckle, J.W. & Alan C. Shook. The mountain goat: tales of men, locomotives, coal trains, mountain grades, & a lot of memories are woven into a story of the Tracy City branch line of the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis, the Louisville & Nashville, & finally, the CSX railways. Johnson City, the Overmountain Press, 1992. 123 pp.
• Bacon, Willard S. & H.C. Merryman. "Salvage archaeology at 40FR47." TN Arch. Soc. Misc. Paper #11 (1973), pp. 1-30.
• Biographical directory, TN General Assembly (Franklin County, Preliminary #16). Nashville, TSLA, 1970. 44 pp.
• Clements, Richard K. The vascular flora of Wolf Cove, Franklin County, TN. UT thesis, 1987. 162 pp.
• The Crow Creek scene. Contributors, Van D. Garner et al. Sherwood, Herald Chronicle, 1986. 48 pp.
• Dunn, Daniel J. Ten year report, 1965-1974: test-demonstration farm program in Franklin County: a cooperative project with the TVA. Urbana, IL, U. IL at Urbana-Champaign, 1976. 28 pp.
• Finney, Raymond A. History of the private educational institutions of Franklin County, TN. UT thesis, 1939. 105 pp.
• Flood insurance study: city of Tullahoma, TN, Coffee & Franklin counties. Rev. June 5, 1989. Washington, D.C., FEMA, 1989. 26 pp.
• Flood insurance study: Franklin County, TN, unincorporated areas. Washington, D.C., 1992. 1 vol.
• Franklin County Historical Review. v.1, -. Franklin County Hist. Soc. (semiannual)
• Franklin County, 1980-1987: an economic analysis. Nashville, TN Dept. Emp. Sec., 1988. 12 pp.
• Gault, Thomas G. Rural land use in Franklin County, TN. George Peabody College dissertation, 1959. pp.
• Goodspeed's history of TN (Franklin County, pp. 785-804, 820-846). Goodspeed, 1886.
• Hall, Howard. "Franklin County in the secession crisis." THQ 17 (1958), pp. 37-44.
• Hannah, Howard M. Confederate action in Franklin County. Sewanee, Franklin County Civil War Centennial Committee, 1963. 69 pp. (reprinted 1992 by Winchester Hist. Soc. 57 pp.)
• Henderson, Jessie A. "Unmarked historic spots of Franklin County." THM (2d ser.) 3 (1934), pp. 111-120.
• Hill, Arthur C. The history of the black people of Franklin County, TN. U. MN thesis, 1981. 408 pp.
• Historical tidings. vol. 1, July, 1969- Franklin County Hist. Soc. (quarterly). (Title varies: Franklin County Historical Society Newsletter.)
• Hitt, Travis. Franklin County banks, 1817-1981. N.p., 1981. 68 pp.
• Hunter, Catherine H. A history of higher education in Franklin County, TN. UT thesis, 1940. 155 pp.
• Hurricane Springs with analysis of its waters, the diseases to which they are applicable, hints as to use, location of springs, etc. Mail, telegraph, & express facilities are perfect, with offices in hotel, four daily mails-- two from south & two from the north. N.p., Franklin County News Print., 1900. 18 pp.
• Kennedy, Harold. A history of St. Andrews School. MTSU thesis, 1952. 85 pp.
• Kollmorgen, Walter M. The German-Swiss in Franklin County, TN: a study of the significance of cultural considerations in farming enterprises. Columbia U. dissertation, 1940. 113 pp.
• Land use map, Franklin County, TN. Fort Worth, TX, USDA-SCS, 1979. 1 map.
• McBride, Robert M. "A camp meeting at Goshen Church." THQ 22 (1963), pp. 137-142.
• MacKellar, William H. Chuwalee: Chronicle of Franklin County, TN. Windchester, Chronicle Pub. Co., 1973. 135 pp.
• Memorial concerning tolls for the bridge across the Savannah River at Hamburg & Augusta. N.p., 1853. 8 pp.
• Ray, A. Herman. An economic, educational, & social survey of Franklin County, TN. UT thesis, 1937. 144 pp.
• Rhoton, T.F. A brief history of Franklin County, TN. UT thesis, 1941. 87 pp.
• Rhoton, T.F. A brief history of Franklin County, TN. Winchester, Franklin
• County Historical Soc., 1966. 34 pp.
• Rogers, Evelyn. Focus on Franklin County. Winchester, n.p., 1966. 151 pp.
• Smith, Carol S. "Human skeletal material from 40FR47." TN Arch. Soc. Misc. Paper #11 (1973), pp. 31-51.
• Soil survey, Franklin County, TN. Washington, D.C., US GPO, 1949, 1958.
• Taylor, James C. Franklin County, TN & settlers in the early 1800s. N.p., the author, 1991. 142 pp.
• TN Dept. Transportation [county maps] issued periodically.
• TN/Franklin County Soil Conservation District. Looking ahead: an inventory of the status & condition of our soil, water & related resources. Winchester, Herald-Chronicle, 1970, 1979. 12 pp.
• TN Valley Authority. Ind. Div. Agricultural-industrial survey of Franklin County. Knoxville, TVA, 1934. var. pp.
• TN Valley Authority. Social & Ec. Div. Research Sec. Effect of proposed national forest purchases on county finance in the Cumberland Plateau of TN. Knoxville, TVA, 1937. 65 pp.
• US Geol. Survey [topographic maps] issued periodically. Quadrangles: Cumberland Springs, Tullahoma, Capitol Hill, Alto, Lois, Belvidere, Winchester, Sewanee, Monteagle, Huntland, Beans Creek, Pitcher Ridge, Sinking Cove, Orme, King Cove, Estill Fork, Hytop, Eureka, Doram Cove.
• Wheeler, Mary B. Chosen exile: the life & times of Septima Sexta Middleton Rutledge, American cultural pioneer. Nashville, Rutledge Hill Press, 1980. 172 pp.
• Whitman, Robert H. Negro education in Franklin County, yesterday & today. Nashville, n.p., 1942. 62 pp.

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Cowan

• Bailey, Thomas E. "Storm on Cumberland Mountain: the story of the Cowan pusher district." THQ 34 (1975), pp. 227-248.
• Flood insurance study: town of Cowan, TN, Franklin County. Washington, D.C., FEMA, 1979. 16 pp.

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Decherd

• Flood insurance study: town of Decherd, TN, Franklin County. Washington, D.C., FEMA, 1979. 17 pp.
• Flood hazard analyses: Decherd, Franklin County, TN. Washington, D.C., US Soil Conservation Service, 1975. 12 pp.

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Mary Sharp College

• "Catalogue of the Mary Sharp College, 1893."  Franklin County Historical Review  24 (1993):  98-114.  
• "Catalogue of the Mary Sharp College, June 1858."  Franklin County Historical Review  24 (1993):  73-97
• Colyar, Arthur St. Clair.  "A Slight Breeze Between Boys and Girls:  1884 Troubles Between Mary Sharp and the Normal."  Franklin County Historical Review  22  (1991):  29-30.
• "Excerpts from the Argo of the Mary Sharp College, 1885,  1886."  Franklin County Historical Review  24  (1993):  115-153.
• Finney, Raymond Alfred.  "A History of the Private Educational Institutions of Franklin County.  Part I:  Mary Sharp College."  Franklin County Historical Review 11 (1980):  24-33.
• Mary Sharp College Club of Nashville, TN. Dr. Z.C. Graves & the Mary Sharp College, 1850-1896. Nashville, Baptist Board of Publication, 1926. 150 pp.
• McGrady, James Waring.  "Art and Music at the Mary Sharp College."  Franklin County Historical Review  11 (1980):  3-15.
• Pendleton, James M. Address on female education, delivered at the commencement of Mary Sharp College, Winchester, TN, June 22, 1856. Nashville, printed at the office of the TN Baptist by Graves, Marks & Rutland, 1856. 16 pp.
• ---.  "The Mary Sharp Superlative".  Franklin County Historical Review  11 (1980):  16-23.

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Sewanee / University of the South

• Armentrout, Donald S. The quest for the informed priest: a history of the school of theology. Sewanee, U. of the South, 1979. 545 pp.
• Baker, Lily. Sewanee. Published for the benefit of the University library collection of Sewaneeana. Sewanee, n.p., 1932. 156 pp.
• Chitty, Arthur B., Jr. Reconstruction at Sewanee; the founding of the University of the South & its first administration, 1857-1872. Sewanee, University Press, 1954. 206 pp.
• Chitty, Arthur B. Sewanee sampler. Sewanee, U. of the South, 1978. 198 pp.
• Chitty, Arthur B. "Sewanee: then & now." THQ 38 (1979), pp. 383-400.
• Dix, William G. The University of the South. An address, delivered at Beersheba Springs, TN, August 19th & 22nd, 1859, & also by invitation of the Historical Society of TN, at the capitol, Nashville, Sept. 8th, 1859. Nashville, W.T. Berry, 1859. 32 pp.
• DuBose, William P. "The romance & genius of a university." Sewanee Rev. 13 (1905), pp. 496-502.
• Fairbanks, George R. History of the University of the South at Sewanee, TN, from its founding by the Southern bishops, clergy & laity of the Episcopal Church in 1857 to the year 1905. Jacksonville, FL, H.& W. B. Drew, 1905. 403 pp.
• Gailor, Thomas F. Bishop Quintard & the University of the South: a memorial address... before the board of trustees of the university, July 27, 1899. Sewanee, published by order of the board of trustees, 1899. 22 pp.
• Gailor, Thomas F. The high adventure: "Haec olim meminisse juvabit." University of the South, Sewanee, TN. Sewanee, University Press, n.d. 14 pp.
• Gailor, Thomas F. Some memories. Kingsport, Southern, 1937. 339 pp. (author was vice chancellor of the U. of the South 1908-1935)
• Gessell, J.M. "Test at Sewanee." Christ. Cent. (May 16, 1962), pp. 626-627.
• Givens, Wendell. Ninety-nine iron: the season Sewanee won five games in six days. Birmingham, AL, Seacoast Pub. Co., 1992. 126 pp.
• Givens, Wendell. "Sewanee's football iron men of 1899." THQ 52 (1993), pp. 146-157.
• Green, Ely. Ely: too black, too white. Amherst, MA, U. MA Press, 1970. 637 pp.
• Guerry, Moultree, et al. Men who made Sewanee. (3d ed.) Sewanee, U. of the South Press, 1981. 175 pp.
• Haskins, David G. A brief history of the University of the South. NY, E.P. Dutton, 1877. 47 pp.
• Helvenston, Reginald H. A common heritage: Franklin County, TN & the University of the South at Sewanee, TN. Sewanee, University Press, 1970. 8 pp.
• Hill, James O. Sewanee, a unique community. MTSU thesis, 1952. 106 pp.
• Hoffman, Charles F. A ramble at Sewanee, the seat of the University of the South. Baccalaureate Sermon, A.D., 1896. NY, E.&J.B. Young & Co., 1896. 152 pp.
• Keene, Charles J., Jr. Alexander Guerry, educator. George Peabody College dissertation, 1952. 222 pp.
• McCrady, James W. & Bruce Rodarmor. Under the sun at Sewanee. Sewanee, U. of the South Press, 1967. 117 pp.
• Mitchell, Tara M. Sewanee's second reconstruction: the development of coeducation at the University of the South. MTSU thesis, 1995.
• Pennington, Edgar L. "The Battle of Sewanee." THQ 9 (1950), pp. 217-290.
• Percy, William A. Sewanee. NY, A. A. Knopf, 1941. 26 pp. (reprinted by F.C. Bell, 1982)
• Polk, William M. The University of the South & the race problem. Commencement oration, by W. M. Polk. Sewanee, TN, August 3, 1893. Sewanee, n.p., 1893. 32 pp.
• Quintard, Charles T. An address delivered in St. Augustine's Chapel, Sewanee, TN, at the meeting of the board of trustees of the University of the South, on Thursday, July 31, 1890. N.p., 1890. 31 pp.
• Safford, James M. The topography, geology & water supply of Sewanee, TN. Nashville, A.B. Tavel, 1983. 11 pp.
• Sewanee. Sewanee, C.E. Thomas, 1932. 167 pp. (reprinted by the APTA, Sewanee Chapter, 1961 as Purple Sewanee.)
• Sewanee, TN. University of the South. The University of the South forest: a demonstration of practical applied forestry for student instruction & regional use. Sewanee, U. of the South Forestry Dept., 1953. 124 pp.
• Sherman, Jonathan G. Leonidas Polk, father & first founder of the University of the South: sesquicentennial address. Sewanee, the University Press, 1956. 18 pp.
• Strode, William. Sewanee, the University of the South. Photography by William Strode. Louisville, KY, Harmony House Pub., 1984. 96 pp.
• University of the South magazine. Vol. 1-4, April 1890-June 1893.
• University of the South. Report of the committee of the Board of Trustees of the University of the South, appointed to prepare the draft of a constitution & code of statutes for the university. New Orleans, LA, Bulletin Book & Job Office, 1860. 26 pp.
• Weber, Henri, Mrs. Planting the cross at Sewanee. N.p., 19--. 8 pp.
• Widney, C.L. 1877-1927, a story of achievement. Sewanee, n.p., 1928. 121 pp.

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Tims Ford area

• Coverdale, John C. Archaeological survey of the Tims Ford Lake shoreland; a resource intern report. Knoxville, Elk River Dev. Agency & TVA, 1972. 68 pp.
• Faulkner, Charles H., ed. Archaeological investigations in the Tims Ford Reservoir, TN, 1966. Knoxville, UT Dept. Anthrop., 1968. 276 pp.
• Hensley-Schmidt, Inc. Master plan report: Tims Ford State Park, Franklin County, TN. Chattanooga, Hensley-Schmidt, 1969. 37 pp.
• Region II reservoir report... Tims Ford Reservoir. Nashville, TN Wildlife Res. Agency. (Annual?)
• Schlott/Norman/Cain. Preliminary program, Tims Ford State Park, Franklin County, TN. Prepared for TN Dept. Conservation by Schlott/ Norman / Cain. N.p., 1973. 5 pp.

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Winchester

• Flood insurance study: city of Winchester, TN, Franklin County. Washington, D.C., FEMA, 1980. 16 pp.

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