Genealogical "Fact Sheets" About Knox County

Knox County

Knox County was formed in 1792 from
Greene and Hawkins counties

(Ordinance by William Blount, Governor of the Territory
of the United States South of the River Ohio, 1792)

The county seat is Knoxville.

Selected Published County Histories

Community Historical Sketches in Knox County, Tennessee: Corryton, Harbison's Cross Roads, Smithwood (Hicks, 1958)
Concord UMC: The History of a Church and its Environment 1865-1985 (Cottrell, 1985) [partial name index]
Divided Loyalties: Fort Sanders and the Civil War in East Tennessee (Seymour, 2002) [name index]
Encyclopedia: Experiences of Black People in Knoxville, Tennessee, 1844-1974 (2017) [name index]
Facsimile Edition of the Half-Century of Knoxville: The First Published Account of the Founding of Knoxville (Humes, 1990) [partial name index]
French Broad-Holston Country: A History of Knox County, Tennessee (East Tennessee Historical Society, 1946) [name index]*
Gay Street: Stories of Knoxville, Tennessee (Mauro, 2000)*
Goodspeed's History of Hamilton, Knox, and Shelby Counties of Tennessee (Goodspeed, 1974)
Heart of the Valley: A History of Knoxville, Tennessee (Deaderick, 1976) [name index]
History of Blacks in Knoxville, Tennessee: The First One Hundred Years, 1791-1891 (Booker, 1990)
History of Fountain City: With Sections on Smithwood and Inskip (Hicks, 2000)
History of Lebanon Presbyterian Church, 1791: "In the Fork," Five Miles East of Knoxville, Tenn (Ramsey, 1973)
History of Tennessee from the Earliest Time to the Present: Together with a Historical and a Biographical Sketch of the County of Knox and the City of Knoxville (1982)
John Adair Section of Knox County, Tennessee (Hicks, 1968)
Knox County, Tennessee: A History in Pictures (Creekmore, 1988)
Knox-stalgia (Allen, 1999)*
Knox-stalgia: A Preliminary Encyclopedia of Communities, Schools, Hotels, Entertainment Venues, Historical Buildings, Organizations, Sites and Some Historical Events in Knoxville, Tennessee From the Earliest Times to 1950 (Allen, 2011)
Knoxville (Hooper, 2003)*
Knoxville! (Creekmore, 1991) [name index]
Knoxville, Crossroads of the New South (MacArthur, 1892)
Knoxville City Directory [1859/60, 1876/77, 1885, 1887, 1891/92, 1895, 1897, 1900, 1902-1903, 1905, 1908-1911, 1916, 1919, 1924, 1926-1962, 1964-1965, 1967-1977, 1979-2008, 2016-2020]
Knoxville in the Civil War (Markel, 2013)
Knoxville, Tennessee in the Gay Nineties (Allen, 2011)
Knoxville, Tennessee: Summer 1915 - Spring 1916, Home of James Rufus Agee (and More Than Thirty-Six Thousand Other Souls) (Allen, 2008)
Knoxville's African-American Community, 1860-1920 (Jones, 1989)
South Knoxville (Mahurin, 2012)
They Trusted and Were Delivered: The French-Swiss of Knoxville, Tennessee [2 vols.] (Babelay, 1988)
Two Centuries of Knox County, Tennessee: A Celebration in Photographs (Knox County Public Library System, 1992)

Published Local Records

1880 Census, Knox County, Tennessee (Sistler, 1996) [alphabetical by head of household]*
Asleep in Jesus: A Record of the Church Cemeteries of Knox County, Tennessee [vol. 1 Northeast Knox County; vol. 2 Southeast Knox County; vol. 3 Southwest Knox County; vol. 4 Northwest Knox County](McGinnis, 2001-) [surname index]*
At Rest: A Record of the Interments at Asbury Cemetery, Knox County, Tennessee (McGinnis, 2002)*
Beaver Creek Church Records, 1833-1879 (WPA, 19??)*
County Court Minute Book, 1792-1872 [vol. 6 1806-08; vol. 7 1809-12; vol. 8 1813-16; vol. 9 1817-18; vol. 10 1819-20; vol. 11 1820-22; vol. 12 1822-24; vol. 13 1824-26; vol. 14 1826-30; vol. 15 1831-35; vol. 17 1840-46; vol. 18 1846-50; vol. 19 1850-54; vol. 20 1854-57; vol. 21 1857-59 (in 2 pts.); vol. 22 1860-64 (in 2 pts.); vol. 23 1864-66; vol. 25 1869-72] (WPA, 1940-1942)
Enumeration of Male Inhabitants, 1891 Anderson, Blount, Knox, Sevier Counties, Tenn. (Reed, 1989)
Estate Book, 1812-1830 [vol. 2 1812-1819; vol. 3 1818-1824; vol. 4 1824-1830] (WPA, 1938) [name indexes]
Fort Loudoun Reservoir Cemeteries (Douthat, 1988)
Fourth Survey Distr[i]ct of Tennessee, 1808-1810: John McClellan-Surveyor Anderson, Bledsoe, Campbell, Knox, Overton, Rhea, Roane Counties, TN (Douthat, 1988) [surname index]
Gone And All But Forgotten: The African American Cemeteries of Knox County, Tennessee (McGinnis, 2021) [surname index]
Gone But Not Forgotten: A Record of the Family Cemeteries of ... Knox County, Tennessee [vol. 1 North Knox County; vol. 2 East Knox County; vol. 3 South Knox County; vol. 4 Northwest Knox County] ( McGinnis, 2000-2005) [surname indexes]*
Graves of New Gray Cemetery (McGinnis, 2002) [surname index]*
Graves of Old Gray Cemetery (McGinnis, 2000) [surname index]*
Historic Knoxville and Knox County: City Center, Neighborhoods, and Parks: A Walking and Touring Guide (Manning & Jamieson, 1990)
In Everlasting Remembrance: The Cemeteries of the Old 1st and 2nd Districts of Knox County, Tennessee (McGinnis, 2003) [surname index]*
Indexes, First Circuit Court Minute Book, Volume 1: Knox County Tennessee, February 1810-August 1817: Obion County, Tennessee, Court [also minutes, Oct. 1849 - May 1856] (Daughters of the American Colonists, 1988) [name indexes]*
Knox County in the World War, 1917, 1918, 1919 (1919)*
Knox County, Tennessee, 1836 Tennessee Civil Districts and Tax Lists (Douthat, 1993) [name index]*
Knox County, Tennessee, A List of Taxable Property, 1844-1845 (WPA, 1942)
Knox County, Tennessee, Circuit Court Minutes, no. 3-A, 1810-1817 (WPA, 1940) [name index]
Knox County, Tennessee, Court Minute Book "O", 1792-95 (WPA, 1940) [name index]
Knox County, Tennessee, Court Minutes, vol. 2, 1799-1800 (WPA, 19??) [name index]
Knox County, Tennessee, Court Minutes, vol. 3, 1800-1802 (WPA, 19??) [name index]
Knox County, Tennessee Estate Book [vol. 1 1792-1811] (199?) [name index]
Knox County, Tennessee, Hamilton District, Superior Court of Law and Equity, Minute Book no. 1, 1793-1808 (WPA, 1938) [name index]
Knox County, Tennessee, Marriage Records, 1792-1900 (D'Armand, 1970) [alphabetical]*
Knox County, Tennessee, Oyer and Terminer Court, Hamilton District, Superior, 1793-1798 (WPA, 1942) [name index]
Knox County, Tennessee, Superior Court Minute Book, vol. C, 1798-1803 (WPA, 1940) [name index]
Knox County, Tennessee, Superior Court Minutes, no. 3, 1793- 1809 (WPA, 1939) [name index]
Knox County, Tennessee, Tombstone Records (WPA, 1938) [name index]
Knoxville's First Graveyard: Tombstone Inscriptions in the First Presbyterian Church Cemetery, 1800-1879 (East Tennessee Historical Society, 19??)
Marriage License Record Book, 1838-1864 [vol. 1 1838-1850; vol. 2 1850-1864] (WPA, 1937-1938) [name index]
Medical Men and Institutions of Knox County, Tennessee, 1789-1957 (Platt & Ogden, 1969)
Meet Me at the Campground: A Record of the Interments of Bells Campground Cemetery (McGinnis, 2001) [surname index]*
Minutes of the Circuit Court of Knox County, 1799-1851 (WPA, 1942)
Minutes of the County Court of Knox County, Book no. 16, 1835-1840 (WPA, 1941) [name index]
Minutes of the County Court of Knox County, Book no. "O", 1792-95 (WPA, 1941)
Pleasant Forest Presbyterian Church Minute Book, 1833-1891 (WPA, 1938) [name index]
Record Book no. 1, 1795-1799 [Pleas & Quarter Sessions] [2 vols.] (WPA, 19??) [name index]
Record Book no. 4, 1802-1805 [Pleas & Quarter Sessions] (WPA, 19??) [name index]
Record Book no. 5, 1805-1806 [Pleas & Quarter Sessions] (WPA, 19??) [name index]
Roll of Honor: Names of Soldiers who Died in Defence of the American Union, Interred in the National Cemeteries at Chattanooga, Stone's River, and Knoxville [vol. xx] (United States. Quartermaster's Dept., 1866) [name index]
Superior Court Record Book B, 1797-1804 [2 vols.] (WPA, 1939) [name index]
Tennessee Newspaper Extracts and Abstracts: Marriage, Death, and Other Items of Genealogical/Historical Interest; The Knoxville Press (Creekmore, 1995) [surname index]
They Are Not Dead but Sleepeth: The Interments of the N M Cemetery at Mt. Olive (McGinnis & Berry, 2003) [surname index]*
Tombstone Inscriptions and Death Records, Calvary Cemetery, Knoxville, Tennessee, 1869-1967 (Grady, 1967) [alphabetical]
Tombstone Records, Old Gray Cemetery (WPA, 1938) [name index]*
Transcription of the County Archives of Tennessee [Minutes of the County Court of Knox County, Book No. "0" 1792-95] (WPA, 1941) [name index]*
Undertaker's List of Confederate Dead in Bethel Cemetery, Knoxville, Tennessee (Helsley & West, 1973) [arranged by state in which soldier served, then alphabetically]
United States Census 1850 for Knox County, Tennessee (Luttrell, 1949) [name index of head of household]
Will Book, 1792-1803, and Guardian Book, 1792-1821, vol. O (WPA, 19??)

Local Records on Microfilm

An inventory of microfilmed Knox County records is available for purchase from the Preservation Services section of the Library and Archives. Individual reels of microfilm may also be purchased.

Earliest records include:

marriages from 1792
wills from 1792
deed index from 1792
chancery court minutes from 1832
county court minutes from 1792
circuit court minutes from 1844
tax books from 1806

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

Estates, Insolvent -- 1859-1915 (#75, 1 reel)*
Marriage Bonds -- 1792-1807 [A] (#97, 1 reel)*
Marriage Bonds -- 1807-1817 [A-L] (#98, 1 reel)*
Marriage Bonds -- 1817 [M-Z]-1822 (#99, 1 reel)*
Marriage Bonds -- 1823-1827 [A-L] (#100, 1 reel)*
Marriage Bonds -- 1827 [M-Z]-1831 (#101, 1 reel)*
Marriage Bonds -- 1832-1836 (#102, 1 reel)*
Marriage Bonds -- 1837-1840 (#103, 1 reel)*
Marriage Bonds -- 1841-1844 (#104, 1 reel)*
Marriage Bonds -- 1845-1848 (#105, 1 reel)*
Marriage Bonds -- 1848[H-Z]-1851 [A-M] (#106, 1 reel)*
Marriage Bonds -- 1851[M-Z]-1854 [A-M] (#107, 1 reel)*
Marriage Bonds -- 1854[N-Z]-1857 [A-K] (#108, 1 reel)*
Marriage Bonds -- 1857[L-Z]-1859 (#109, 1 reel)*
Marriages -- 1798-1875 (#77, 1 reel)*
Settlements, Administrator's -- 1792-1824 (#155, 1 reel)*
Settlements, Administrator's -- 1824-1844 (#156, 1 reel)*
Settlements, Administrator's -- 1840-1848 (#157, 1 reel)*
Settlements, Administrator's -- 1848-1858 (#158, 1 reel)*
Settlements, Administrator's -- 1858-1865 (#159, 1 reel)*
WPA Records, Knox County (Record Group #107, Roll 43, 1 reel). Roll includes Oyer and Terminer Court, Hamilton District, Superior (1793-1798), Superior Court Minute Book, Vol. C (1798-1803), Superior Court Minute Book, No. 3 (1793-1809) and County Court Minutes, Book O (1792-1795).*
WPA Records, Knox County (Record Group #107, Roll 44, 1 reel). Roll includes Court of Pleas & Quarter Sessions, Minute Book No. 2 & No. 3 (1799-1800 & 1800-1802), Superior Court Record Book B, pts. 1 & 2 (1797-1804), Superior Court of Law & Equity, Minute Book No. 1 (1793-1808), Circuit Court, Minutes (1799-1851), Circuit Court, Minute Book 3-A (1810-1817) and County Court Minute Book No. 6 (1806-1808).*
WPA Records, Knox County (Record Group #107, Roll 45, 1 reel). Roll includes County Court Minute Book 7 (1809-1812), County Court Minute Book 8 (1813-1816), County Court Minute Book 9 (1817-1818), County Court Minute Book 10 (1819-1820), County Court Minute Book 11 (1820-1822), County Court Minute Book 12 (1822-1824), County Court Minute Book 13 (1824-1826) and County Court Minute Book 14 (1826-1830).*
WPA Records, Knox County (Record Group #107, Roll 46, 1 reel). Roll includes County Court Minute Book 15 (1831-1835), County Court Minute Book 16 (1835-1840), County Court Minute Book 17 (1840-1846), County Court Minute Book 18 (1846-1850), County Court Minute Book 19 (1850-1854) and County Court Minute Book 20 (1854-1857).*
WPA Records, Knox County (Record Group #107, Roll 47, 1 reel). Roll includes County Court Minute Book 21, pts. 1 & 2 (1857-1859), County Court Minute Book 22, pts. 1 & 2 (1860-1864), County Court Minute Book 23 (1864-1866), County Court Minute Book 25 (1869-1872), Estate Book Vol. 2 (1812-1819) and Estate Book Vol. 3 (1818-1824).*
WPA Records, Knox County (Record Group #107, Roll 48, 1 reel). Roll includes Estate Book Vol. 4 (1824-1830), List of Taxable Property (1844-1845), Pleasant Forest Presbyterian Church, Minute Book (1833-1891), Beaver Creek Church Records (1833-1879), Marriage License Record, Book 1 (1838-1850), Marriage Licenses Records, No. 2 (1850-1864), Will Book O (1792-1803), Guardian Book (1792-1821), Records Book No. 1, pts. 1 & 2 (1795-1799), Records Book No. 4 (1802-1805), Records Book No. 5 (1805-1806), Tombstone Records (undated) and Old Gray Cemetery Tombstone Records (undated).*

Newspapers on Microfilm

Newspapers were published in Fountain City and Knoxville. Scattered early issues are available from 1798, and a complete run begins in 1926. 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

Anderson County Records, 1800-1974 (Microfilm Manuscript #506, 1 reel)*
Calvin Morgan Family Papers, 1820-1931
Confederate Veterans Association of Upper East Tennessee Records, 1861-ca. 1895 (Microfilm Manuscript #167, 1 reel)*
Diana Roberts Thompson Genealogical Collection, 1750-1970 (Microfilm Manuscript #1393, 1 reel)*
Grace Armstrong Coile Collection of Robert Armstrong Papers, 1790-1930 (Microfilm Manuscript #1584, 15 reels)*
Hubbs - Frost and Allied Families Papers, ca. 1500-1973 (Microfilm Manuscript #333, 1 reel)*
Ida Hamilton Thompson Dickinson Genealogical Collection, ca. 1660-1945 (Microfilm Manuscript #1155, 1 reel)*
John Overton Lea Papers, 1867-1911
Mt. Hebron Primitive Baptist Church Records. Knoxville, 1824-1942 (Microfilm Manuscript #450, 1 reel)*
Mount Olive Baptist Church Records. Knox County, 1837-1967 (Microfilm Manuscript #581, 1 reel)*
Rhea Family Papers, 1769-1859 (Microfilm Manuscript #792, 1 reel)*
Walker Family Papers, 1863-1885
William A. J. Moore Papers, 1893-1898

Search for Manuscripts Material in our Catalog

Census Records

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

Additional Research Aids for Knox County

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

Knox County Formation Act

Ordinance by William Blount, Governor of the Territory of the United States South of the River Ohio, 1792:

"An Ordinance, for circumscribing the counties of Greene and Hawkins, and laying out two new counties."

Be it ordained that from and after the fifteenth day of the present month of June, the counties of Greene and Hawkins shall be circumscribed by a line beginning on Nolichucky River at the place where the ridge which divides the waters of Bent and Lick Creek strikes it, thence with that ridge to Bull's Gap of Bay's Mountain, thence a direct line to the place where the road that leads from Dodson's ford to Perkin's iron works crosses the watery fork of Bent Creek, thence down that road to the head of Panther Creek, down the meanders of that creek to the river Holston, thence a northwest course to the river Clinch. Again, from Nolichucky River where the ridge that divides the waters of Bent and Lick Creek strikes it a direct course to Peter Fine's ferry on French Broad, then south to the ridge that divides the waters of French Broad and Big Pigeon and with that ridge to the eastern boundary of the territory.

And be it ordained that two new counties be laid out and established below the aforesaid line, that is to the southward and westward of it, to be distinguished from and after the said fifteenth day of June instant by the names of Jefferson county and Knox county. The county of Jefferson to be butted and bounded by the above described line from the eastern boundary of the territory to the river Holston, and down the river Holston to the mouth of Breswell's mill-creek, thence a direct line to the mouth of Dumplin Creek on French Broad, thence up the meanders of French Broad to the mouth of Boyd's Creek, thence south twenty five degrees east to the ridge which divides the waters of Little Pigeon and Boyd's Creek and with the said ridge to the Indian boundary or the eastern boundary of the territory as the case may be, and by the eastern boundary: and Knox county to be butted and bounded by the line of Jefferson county to the mouth of Creswell's mill-creek to the Indian boundary or eastern boundary of the territory as the case may be: Again from the mouth of the said creek up the meanders of the river Holston to the mouth of Panther creek, thence northwest to the river Clinch, thence by the river Clinch to the place where the line that shall cross Holston at the ridge that divides the waters of Tennessee and Little rivers according to the treaty of Holston shall strike it, and by that line.

And be it ordained that Charles M’Clung and James Mabrey be appointed Commissioners to run and mark the northwest line from the mouth of Panther creek to the river Clinch, and the line from the mouth of Creswell's mill-creek to the mouth of Dumplin; and Alexander Outlaw and Joseph Hamilton that from Bull's Gap to the watery fork of Bent Creek and from Nolichucky River to Fine's Ferry on French Broad, and the south line to the dividing ridge between French Broad and Big Pigeon.

And be it ordained, That courts of pleas and quarter-sessions shall be held in and for the said counties for the due administration of justice for the county of Knox on the third Monday of January, April, July and October, and for the county of Jefferson on the fourth Mondays of the same months and may be continued by adjournments from day to day not exceeding six days.

And be it ordained that the court of pleas and quarter-sessions shall be held for the county of Knox at Knoxville, and for the county of Jefferson at the house of Jeremiah Matthews.

Done at Knoxville, the 11th day of June, in the year of our Lord, 1792

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