Haywood County

Haywood County

Haywood County was formed in 1823 from Indian lands

(Private Acts of Tennessee 1823, Chapter 145)

The county seat is Brownsville.

 

Selected Published County Histories
  • Haywood County, Tennessee (Norris, 2000)*
  • Haywood County, Tennessee, Pictorial (Jackson, 1998) [surname index]
  • Heart of the Tennessee Delta: A Historical Guidebook to Haywood County (Brownsville-Haywood County Bicentennial Committee, 1996)*
  • History of Haywood County, Tennessee, 1989 (Brownsville-Haywood County Historical Society, 1989) [name index]*
  • History of Tennessee From the Earliest Time to the Present: Together With a Historical and a Biographical Sketch of Lauderdale, Tipton, Haywood and Crockett (Goodspeed, 1978)*
  • Legacy of Tamar: Courage and Faith in an African American Family (Springfield, 2016)  [name index]
  • Lifting the Veil: A Political History of Struggles for Emancipation (Couto, 1993) [name index]
  • Women of Haywood: Their Lives - Our legacy; Professional African American Women in Haywood County (Hopson, 2012)

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

 

Published Local Records
  • 1836 Haywood County, Tennessee, Civil Districts & Tax List (Douthat, 2003) [name index]*
  • 1880 Census Haywood County, Tennessee (Sistler, 2001) [alphabetical by surname]*
  • Bradford Family Record (WPA, 1939) [name index]
  • Crockett (Haywood) County, Tn Deeds, 1785-1872 Mayo, 1985)
  • Genealogical Quandary: Will Book D, 1845-1852, Haywood County, Tennessee (Smith, 2003) [surname index]
  • Haywood, Lauderdale, Tipton County Directory (1957)
  • Haywood County, Tennessee, Chancery Court Records, 1808-1885: Including Divorces, 1860-1936: An Inventory Of Loose Records in the Haywood County Courthouse (Genealogical Society Of Utah., 1997) [alphabetical listings]
  • Haywood County Tennessee Court Minutes, 1823-1830 (WPA, 1936) [name index]
  • Haywood County Tennessee Court Minutes, 1826-30 (WPA, 1940)
  • Haywood County Tennessee Court Minutes, 1831 (WPA, 1938) [name index]
  • Haywood County Tennessee Court Minutes, Journal C, 1834-40 (WPA, 19??) [name index]
  • Haywood County Tennessee Court Minutes, 1837-1840 (WPA, 1941)
  • Haywood County, Tennessee Deed Book  [Vol. A-B 1823-1831] (Crumpton, 2003) [name index]*
  • Haywood County, Tennessee Deed Book  [Vol. C  1832-1833] (Crumpton, 2003) [name index]*
  • Haywood County Tennessee Deed Book A, 1823-1830 (WPA, 1940)
  • Haywood County Tennessee, Directory of Brownsville, Tennessee, 1872-1873 (WPA, 1938)
  • Haywood County Tennessee Marriage Docket, 1859-1866 (WPA, 1938) [name index]
  • Haywood County, Tennessee Marriage Records : Books 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, & 8, 1859-1878 (Fischer, 1987) [name index]
  • Haywood County Tennessee Will Book No. 1, 1826-1839 (WPA, 1937)
  • Seventh Census of the United States, 1850: Haywood County, Tennessee Free Population Schedules (Carpenter, 1970) [surname index]*
  • Tombstone Inscriptions From Black Cemeteries in Haywood County, Tennessee (Smith, 1998) [surname index]

 

Local Records on Microfilm

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

Earliest records include:

  • marriages from 1859
  • wills from 1826
  • deed index from 1823
  • chancery court minutes from 1842
  • county court minutes from 1823
  • circuit court minutes from 1840
  • tax books from 1834

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

  • Deed Index -- 1826-1881  (#48, 1 reel)*
  • Inventories -- Guardian, Administrators' & Executors' Settlements -- 1852-1866  (#24, 1 reel)*
  • Marriage License & Bonds -- 1859-1868  (#27, 1 reel)*
  • Wills -- 1826-1841  (#46, 1 reel)*
  • Wills -- 1841-1844; 1852-1918  (#47, 1 reel)*
  • WPA Records, Haywood County (Record Group #107, Roll 34,  1 reel). Roll includes County Court Minutes (1823-1831 & 1837-1840),  Court of Pleas & Quarter Sessions Journal C (1834-1840),  Deed Book A (1823-1830),  Will Book 1  (1826-1839),  Marriage Dockett (1859-1866),  Brownsville City Directory (1872-1873)  and Bradford Family Record (undated).*

 

Newspapers on Microfilm

Newspapers were published in Brownsville.  Scattered early issues are available from 1838, and a complete run begins in 1936. 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.

 

Selected Manuscripts Material
  • Brownsville Station Methodist Episcopal Church, South Records. Haywood County, 1824-1957  (Microfilm Manuscript #527, 1 reel)*
  • Harmony Baptist Church Records. Haywood County, 1837-1973 (Microfilm Manuscript #533, 1 reel)*
  • Ragland family papers, 1861-1899

Search for Manuscripts Material in our Catalog 

 

Census Records
  • Census on microfilm for Haywood County:  1830-1880, 1900-1930
  • State-wide census index:  1830-1880
  • State-wide census index on microfilm  (Soundex):  1880,  1900-1930
  • Haywood County census records in book form:  1850*,  1880*

 

Additional Research Aids for Haywood County

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

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Haywood County Formation Act

PRIVATE ACTS OF TENNESSEE 1823, CHAPTER 145:

 

"An Act to establish Haywood County."

 

SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, That the territory west of Madison shall be, and is hereby, created into a county, to be called Haywood, which shall be bounded by the same lines as are pointed out in the act of one thousand eight hundred and twenty-one, establishing the boundaries of said territory.

SECTION 2. BE IT ENACTED, That for the due administration of justice in said county, the courts of Pleas and Quarter-Sessions, and circuit courts, shall be holden at the house of Richard Nixon, until otherwise provided for by law, and shall possess and exercise all the powers and privileges of other county and circuit courts in this state.

SECTION 3. BE IT ENACTED, That the sheriff of said county shall, on the first Thursday and Friday of April next, open and hold an election for the purpose of choosing field officers for the regiment composed of the militia of said county; which shall compose the ___ regiment, and shall be attached to the ___ brigade.

SECTION 4. BE IT ENACTED, That this act shall take effect, and be in force, from and after the first day of January next.

 

Passed on November 3, 1823

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Haywood County Bibliography

PLEASE NOTE that the Tennessee State Library and Archives does not hold copies of all of the items listed in this bibliography. Please check the Tennessee State Library and Archives Online Catalog or visit the Ask Us a Question! web page to contact the Library and Archives and verify we have an item in our collection. We will respond to e-mail requests promptly; response time may vary, depending on the amount of research required to answer your question and the unique nature of your request. If you need immediate assistance you may call the reference desk at (615) 741-2764 or visit us in person.

Subjects :

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Haywood County in General
  • Atkins, Samuel. Cotton production practices in type-of-farming area 3, southwestern TN, 1947. Knoxville, TN Ag. Exp. Sta., 1950. 35 pp. (its Rural research series monograph #257)
  • Biographical directory, TN General Assembly, 1796-1969 (Haywood County, Preliminary # 45-A). Nashville, TSLA, 1974. 32 pp.
  • Couto, Richard A. Lifting the veil: a political history of struggles for emancipation. Knoxville, UT Press, 1993. 330 pp.
  • Emergency operations plan, Brownsville-Haywood County, TN. Nashville, TEMA, 1987. 1 vol.
  • Goble, William E. Farm equipment in six west TN counties, 1948. Knoxville, TN Ag. Exp. Sta., 1949. 56 pp. (its Rural research series monograph #248)
  • Goodspeed's history of TN (Haywood County, pp. 818-829, 921-947). Goodspeed, 1887.
  • Hamner, Virginia. Biography of John Alexander Taylor as revealed by his journals, 1842-1881. Trinity U. thesis, 1959. pp.
  • Haywood County, 1980-1987: an economic analysis. Nashville, TN Dept. Emp. Sec., 1988. 12 pp.
  • Henderson, Harold A. Pastures & pasture practices: pastures on Haywood County, TN farms; how they were produced & used. Knoxville, TN Ag. Exp. Sta., 1957. 14 pp.
  • History of Haywood County, TN, 1989. Brownsville, Brownsville-Haywood County Hist. Soc., 1989. 304 pp.
  • Lewis, Paul O. The vascular flora of Haywood County, TN. MSU thesis, 1984. 149 pp.
  • Luebke, B.H. Farm real estate situation in five areas of TN, 1941-1944. Knoxville, TN Ag. Exp. Sta., 1945. 52 pp. (its Rural research series monograph #185)
  • McCormick, Robert R. Industrial site survey for Haywood County, TN. Atlanta, GA, Southern Regional Ed. Board, 1967. 27 pp.
  • McKinnon, Udalga Z. A survey of the financial methods of the negro rural churches of the south, with special emphasis upon the churches of Haywood County, TN. Drew U. thesis, 1950. 108 pp.
  • Provine, William A., ed. "In memorium: Col. George C. Porter." THM 5 (1919), pp. 137-141.
  • Tasty delights from Haywood County Carverites: cherished recipes collected by former students of Dunbar, Haywood County Training & Carver High School, Brownsville, TN. Collierville, Fundcraft Publishing, 1987. 98 pp.
  • TN Dept. Education. Survey of Haywood County: school plant. Nashville, the department, 1968. 54 pp.
  • TN Dept. Transportation [county maps] issued periodically.
  • TN Taxpayers Assn. A report on the financial survey of the government of Haywood County, TN. Prepared for the Haywood County Taxpayers Assn., & for the county court of Haywood County. Nashville, the association, 1933. 68 pp.
  • TN Valley Authority. Ind. Div. Agricultural-industrial survey of Haywood County, TN. Knoxville, TVA, 1935. var. pp.
  • US Geol. Survey [topographic maps] issued periodically. Quadrangles: Gates, Chestnut Bluff, Maury City, Durhamville, Tibbs, Jones, Belk, Turnpike, Brownsville, Sunnyhill, Denmark, Stanton, Dancyville, Hillville, Mercer.
  • Whatley, Thomas J. Production practices, costs & returns from corn, Haywood County, TN, 1947. Knoxville, TN Ag. Exp. Sta., 1948. 24 pp. (its Rural research series monograph #230)
  • Whatley, Thomas J. Production practices, costs & returns from cotton, Haywood County, TN, 1947. Knoxville, TN Ag. Exp. Sta., 1948. 26 pp. (its Rural research series monograph #239)
  • Whatley, Thomas J. Trends & opportunities in Haywood & Weakley counties, TN. Knoxville, TN Ag. Exp. Sta., 1947. 24 pp. (its Rural research series monograph #231)

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Brownsville
  • Community information, Brownsville, TN. Prepared by Brownsville-Haywood County Chamber of Commerce & West TN Ind. Assoc. Jackson, the association, 1988. 30 pp.
  • Flood insurance study: city of Brownsville, TN, Haywood County. Washington, D.C., FEMA, 1988. 8 pp.
  • Hollow, Elizabeth P. "Development of the Brownsville Baptist Female College, an example of female education in the south, 1850-1910." WTHSP (1978), pp. 48-59.
  • Mann, Robert. History of Christ Episcopal Church, Brownsville, TN, organized August 25, 1832. Memphis, Memphis Print. Service, 1970. 15 pp.

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