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McMINN County
Tennessee, USA

Introduction

Gen Tool-Kit

Surnames

Ancestral Gen-Sites

Populated Places

Website Resources

Image Gallery

Contact Information

 

 

 

Introduction

 

      McMinn County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2000, the population was 49,015. Its county seat is Athens.        The Tennessee General Assembly established McMinn County, located in southeast Tennessee, in 1819. McMinn County was created in 1819 from Indian lands ceded by the Cherokees in the Hiwassee Purchase. The new county was named in honor of Joseph McMinn (1758-1824). Joseph McMinn was a militia commander during the Revolutionary War, a member of the territorial legislature, speaker of the state senate, and eventually governor of the state of Tennessee. McMinn died October 17, 1824, and is buried at Shiloh Presbyterian Cemetery, Calhoun, Tennessee.

       Calhoun, the first town and county seat, was established in 1820 across the Hiwassee River from the Cherokee Indian Agency. The need for a more centrally located seat of government led to the county seat's removal in 1823 to Athens, fifteen miles north. Athens was chartered in 1822. By 1830 McMinn County had a population of over 14,000, including 1,250 slaves.  Like most East Tennesseans, McMinn Countians experienced divided loyalties during the Civil War. Although Tennessee joined the Confederacy in 1861, the county furnished troops to both Confederate and Union armies. While no major battles were fought within the county, thousands of troops passed through, and the area suffered severe economic hardships.

      Counties that lie adjacent to McMinn are: Roane County (north); Loudon County (northeast); Monroe County (east); Polk County (southeast); Bradley County (southwest); and Meigs County (west).  Part of the Cherokee National Forest a National protected area also borders McMinn County.

 

Gen Tool-Kit

gen tool-kit

COUNTY RECORDS

·        McMinn County Clerk has Marriage Records from 1820 and Probate Records from 1820 and is located at Courthouse, 6 W Madison Ave., Athens, TN 37303, Telephone: (423) 745-1281.

·         McMinn County Register of Deeds has Land Records from 1820 and is located at Courthouse, 6 W Madison Ave., Athens, TN 37303, Telephone: (423) 745-1281.

·        McMinn County Clerk of Circuit Court has Court Records from 1819 and is located at Courthouse, 6 W Madison Ave., Athens, TN 37303, Telephone: (423) 745-1923.

·         There are a few online databases for Court, Land and Probate Records which include: Index to Tennessee Death Records 1908-1912, Tennessee Marriage and Bible Records, Tennessee Marriages to 1825; Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002 and Tennessee Marriages, 1851-1900.  

 

HISTORICAL / GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY(s)

·        McMinn County Archives, 6 East Madison Ave., Athens , TN 37303; Phone: (423) 745-7634, Email: [email protected]

·        McMinn County Living Heritage Museum, 522 West Madison Ave., PO Box 889, Athens, TN 37371 423-745-0329

·        Tennessee Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 3343, 9114 Davies Plantation Rd, Brunswick, TN 38014, (901) 381-1447; [EMAIL]

·        Tennessee Historical Society, 300 Capital Boulevard, Nashville 37243

·        McMinn County Historical Society,  McMinn County Courthouse,  6 East Madison Ave,  Athens, TN  37303 

 

LIBRARIES

·        Tennessee State Library and Archives, 403 Seventh Avenue North, Nashville, TN 37243-0312; Phone: (615) 741-2764 , Fax (615) 741-6471

·        McMinn County, TN. E. G. Fisher Public Library. ( Athens, TN United States) Display all the libraries participating in: Fort Loudoun Regional Library System[online catalog]

·        Tennessee State Library & Archives. Fort Loudoun Regional Library Center. ( Athens, TN United States) [web site ]  [online catalog]

·        Tennessee Wesleyan College. Merner Pfeiffer Library. ( Athens, TN United States) Display all the libraries participating in: Appalachian College Association[web site ]  [online catalog]

 

HISTORICAL PLACES

Your LINK to the Historical Places and Districts in MCMINN County

U.S. National Register of Historic Places

National Park Service

National Historic Landmarks

National Battlefields

National Historic Sites

National Historical Parks

National Memorials

National Monuments

 

Surnames

surnames

The following are names of persons, found within our databases,

as having been either born, married or died in this location.

To find out more about each surname listed above click on the corresponding LINK.

McVicker; Moreland; Pinnell; Scruggs and allied families

Barker;   Bates;   Bishop;   Carlock;   Cass;   Collier;   Douglass;   Eades;   Moreland;   Rhodes;   Robertson;   Rucker;   Russell

Bozarth; Peiffer; Quigley; Rhubart and allied families

 

Dellinger; Knecht; Pfeffer; Silar and allied families

 

Additional information regarding these and other surnames may also be found at:

Surname Locator Resources

Free Genealogy Surname Search Help from Google

Use this free genealogy site to help you get the best genealogy searches from Google™ by using your family tree, for your research. It will create a series of different searches  using tips or "tricks"

that will likely improve your results. The different searches will give you many different ways of using Google and the Internet to find ancestry information about  this  or  any  other  Surname. 

Ancestral 
Gen-Sites

ancestral gen-sites

FAMILY HISTORY NOTES

     Our 5th great grandparents Robert Douglass and his wife Elizabeth Robertson settled in McMinn County, Tennessee around 1822. The Douglass family had come from the Virginia frontier, moving down mountain valleys into this new region as the Indians moved out - - perhaps at times before. They doubtless knew what they were about, and thought only of making their homes and a livelihood in such a land, with all the fearlessness and steadfastness of purpose that characterized these Scotch-Irish frontiersmen.  The Douglass homestead was near the site of the ancient Cherokee town of Conasaga, said to have been visited by DeSoto and his expedition, June 1, 1540.  Robert passed away at the age of 79 years.  He and his wife are buried in the Salem Baptist Churchyard, near Coghill.  Their son John Douglass (our 4th great-grandfather), became successful as a farmer and stock grower in McMinn County.  John also owned a grist Mill and a saw Mill on Conasauga Creek. The saw mill had a sack saw.   Mr. Douglass's son-in-law William Cass later owned the mill.    John Douglass died in 1863, at the age of 70.    John and his wife Nancy Bishop lie side by side in Salem Baptist churchyard, with the graves of his father and mother nearby.

      Our 4th Great-grandfather, George Moreland bought property in McMinn County from the State of Tennessee on February 1, 1825.  The lands of McMinn County fell to the state as a result of a treaty with the Cherokee Indians. The state made the land available to buyers, requiring a down payment, with terms spread over a number of years. He acquired 160 acres as an occupant enterer. The entry taker, Nat. Smith, noted that he received of George Moreland $160.00 in Tennessee bank notes, presumably as a down payment.  George held this tract for eight years.  On August 13, 1833, he assigned his interest in the property to Joseph Smith for an unspecified amount. George was listed as the head of a family on the 1830 Census in McMinn Co., Tennessee, as well as on the county property "tax list" for 1829-32.

 

GEN-SITE PROFILE(s)

Old Salem Church and Cemetery;    Old Grist and Saw Mill

Old Salem Church and Cemetery

LOCATION:Map Link

35.274N;  -84.579W

Country: United States;  State: Tennessee; County: McMinn; 

Place: Cog Hill

OldSalemBaptistChurch.JPG

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 for larger image

DESCRIPTION:   Old  Salem Baptist Church Cemetery, 2909 Highway 163
Delano, TN 37325, 423-263-2698

ANCESTORS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS GEN-SITE:   Graves of, Elizabeth Robertson Douglass 1761 –1838, Robert Douglass 3-10-1758 / 7-10-1837.Nancy B. Douglass and John Douglass are located here.

INTERNET WEB LINK(s):  Profile for Old Salem Cemetery, Tennessee, TN;  Profile for Delano, Tennessee, TN;  Delano, TN Community Profile

Old Grist and Saw Mill

LOCATION: Map Link

 35.17.145N;   84.32.236W

Country: United States;  State: Tennessee; County: McMinn; 

Place: Cog Hill

OldCogHillMillbegunbyJohnDouglas.JPG

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 for larger image

DESCRIPTION:  Site of former grist and saw mill on Conasauga Creek at and County Road 854. The picture at the right may be of a later structure.

ANCESTORS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS GEN-SITE:   John Douglass owned and probably built a Grist Mill and a Saw Mill on Conasauga Creek.  After his death in 1863

his son-in-law William Cass took ownership of the mill.

INTERNET WEB LINK(s):

 

LOCATION: Map Link

 

 

 

Click on thumbnail

 for larger image

DESCRIPTION:   

ANCESTORS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS GEN-SITE:  

INTERNET WEB LINK(s):

populated places

Populated
 Places

 

Map of

This County

Gazetteer of Places in This County

Link to State-Wide Resources

Where in the World

are My Ancestors?

map

Map

The Red Star in the map designates the location of the seat of government for this county.  Yellow Stars designates county seats in adjacent counties.   A Purple Dot shows the location of identified ancestral Gen-Site(s).

For  a better view of this map set your windows  ZOOM  feature  (lower right corner of screen) to 150%

 

gazetteer

Gazetteer

The list below will assist in your research regarding the matching of your ancestor’s birth, marriage, death dates and the place within this locality at which these events may have occurred.

Athens

Calhoun

Claxton (unincorporated)

Delano (unincorporated)

Englewood

Etowah

Niota

Riceville (unincorporated)

Sweetwater (partial)

State-wide

For more information about the U.S. State in which this county is located  click  on  these  LINKS:

Where in the world

Where in the World

are My Ancestors?

Resources which enhance our knowledge of the places inhabited by our ancestors are almost as important as their names. The LINK

MAPS

GAZETTEERS

to the right will take you to Maps, Gazetteers,   and other helpful  resources  that will assist you in discovering Ancestral Locations. 

resources Website
Resources

 

This search engine may

provide you with additional

information to assist with

your research about this topic.

GENERAL RESOURCES

·         Our Genealogy Reference Library (USA Locations)

·         Genealogy Forum: U.S. States

·         Family Search, IGI Batches, Localities

·         Genealogy.com: Resources by county

·         Rootsweb.com - Localities

·         Cyndi's List - General U.S. Sites

·         Family History 101

LOCALITY SPECIFIC RESOURCES

·         McMinn County (Family History 101.com)

·         McMinn Co., TN Genealogy Links

·         McMinn County Historical Society

·         Family Search, IGI Batches, Localities

·         USGenWeb Archives

·         McMinn County Our Tennessee Home

·         McMinn County Official Website

 

OUR GENEALOGY REFERENCE LIBRARY

 

The following Link will take you to our library of genealogy reference books.   Here you may find books about the history and records of this county and other places such as towns and churches.  The collection also contains research works about military units and personnel during America’s wars, in addition too resource texts about the ethnic and religious groups who may have settled in this locality.

 

Research Library – Table of Contents

Gallery

Image Gallery

During our research we have collected images and photographs that are of general interest to a variety of localities.  Some of them are presented on this website because we believe they tend to provide the reader with additional information which may aid in the understanding of our ancestors past lives.

McMinn County Court House, Athens, TN

 

If you have any photographs or other images relating to this ancestral

location, we would greatly appreciate hearing from you.

 

Use the following LINK to ascertain whether we have any images that pertain to this location.

ANCESTRAL LOCATION PHOTOGRAPHS and IMAGES

 

Free Image Search

Help from Google

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topic you are searching in the box and click “Search Images”. At the “Images” display page you will see the image, as well  as the  website to  which it is linked.

 

Contact Information 

Contact information

Email

Snail mail:

Fred
889 Dante Ct.
Mantua, NJ 08051

USA

Email

Pony Express:

Tom
27 Christopher Dr.
Burton, NB E2V3H4
Canada