Jefferson County, Tennessee Resources

I have written 48 posts on Jefferson County, Tennessee (49 now with this entry). This is a compendium of posts and links to information that I refer back to from time to time in the continuing research in Jefferson County.

Jefferson County, Tennessee

DavidRumsey.com - 1874 Asher & Adams Map

 
Useful Links, Societies
TNGenWeb for Jefferson County
East Tennessee Roots
Tennessee Genealogical Society (TNGS)

East Tennessee Historical Society
Jefferson County Archives
FamilySearch Resources on Tennessee
FamilySearch Page on Jefferson County Genealogies
FamilySearch Page on Jefferson County
McClung Historical Collection at Knox County Library
McClung Collection
Tennessee State Library Fact Sheet on Jefferson County
Jefferson County Historical Society

Past Blog Posts Referencing Jefferson County
- Settling the Estate of Thomas Jones (3 Jan 2013) 
- A Mother's Pension Application (19 Dec 2012, on Mary Gass Thornhill)
- One Path to Membership (2 Dec 2012, on James Tucker) 
- Looking at Early Jefferson County Deeds (1 Dec 2012) 
- Tennessee Progress Check (30 Nov 2012) 
- From the Desk of the President, 1866 (21 Nov 2012) 
- Pension File of Joseph Jones - Pt 3 (18 Nov 2012) 
- Civil War Pension File of Joseph Jones - Pt 2 (16 Nov 2012) 
- Military Monday - Civil War Pension File of Joseph Jones, Pt 1 (12 Nov 2012) 
- Those Places Thursday - Bays Mountain (8 Nov 2012)
- Wordless Wednesday - Bridge at Strawberry Plains (7 Nov 2012)
- The Wives of Joseph Jones (2 Nov 2012)
- Mary Catherine Green Jones (1 Nov 2012)
- Mappy Monday - Taylors Bend (29 Oct 2012)
- Those Places Thursday - White Pine (25 Oct 2012)
- Warranty Deeds and a Third Marriage (24 Oct 2012)
- Setting Goals (24 Sept 2012)
- Published in the Mexican War Journal (4 Aug 2012)
- Those Places Thursday - Tennessee Migration (12 Jul 2012)
- Recapping the Jones Line (8 Jul 2012)
- Military Monday - The Confederate Pension of Martin V Jones (18 Jun 2012)
- Company G Pension Update #3 (28 Apr 2012)
- Company G Pension Update #2 (26 Apr 2012)
- Company G Pension Update #1 (25 Apr 2012)
- William Gilbert Daniel (17 Apr 2012)
- Jones Family in the Civil War Pt 2 (27 Mar 2012) (Note, there are corrections that need to be made on this post)
- Company G Service and Pension Comparison (25 Mar 2012)
- Sarah Melissa Jones Daniel (21 Mar 2012)
- Miles Jones of Jefferson County, Tennessee (21 Mar 2012)
- Jones Family in the Civil War, Pt 1 (8 Mar 2012)
- Sympathy Saturday - A Mother's Pension Denied (25 Feb 2012)
- Military Monday - Captain John Thornhill (20 Feb 2012)
- Down the Tennessee (14 Feb 2012)
- Mappy Monday - NC & TN Border in Jan 1865 (13 Feb 2012)
- An Island in the French Broad (11 Feb 2012)
- State of Tennessee v Thomas Jones (9 Feb 2012)
- Mappy Monday - Douglas Lake & the French Broad River (6 Feb 2012)
- Church Record Sunday - Dumplin Creek Baptist Church (5 Feb 2012)
- The Sad Fate of Robert Thomas Jones, Pt 2 (4 Feb 2012)
- The Sad Fate of Robert Thomas Jones, Pt 1 (3 Feb 2012)
- Joseph Thomas Jones (2 Feb 2012)
- Tombstone Tuesday - Cpl Francis Marion Jones (31 Jan 2012)
- Mappy Monday - Jefferson County, TN in 1836 (30 Jan 2012)
- Early Maps of East Tennessee (25 Jan 2012)
- Women in the Family - Elizabeth Thornhill Jones (25 Jan 2012)
- Tennessee 5th Infantry in the Mexican War (23 Jan 2012)
- Jones Volunteers in the Mexican War (22 Jan 2012)
- Jones Family in Jefferson County, Tennessee (22 Jan 2012)

Friday Photo - Golden Gate in Distance

By Patrick L Jones - 12 March 2011, San Francisco

Scribner's for January

The image below is another from the New York Public Library Digital Gallery, showing the front cover of a Scribner's Magazine. I've been reading through War of 1812 pension files and this image seemed appropriate for a post I have upcoming on the widow's pension file of Lucinda McIntosh Smith, wife of Asa Putnam Smith, and my 4th-great-grandmother.

Source: New York Public Library Digital Gallery

Settling the Estate of Thomas Jones

I spent the better part of last year's research tracking down my Jones line in East Tennessee, primarily around my 5th-great-grandfather Thomas Jones. One of my goals is to confirm that my Jones line was in East Tennessee prior to 31 December 1796, so that we qualify for the First Families of Tennessee. I didn't accomplish that last year, although I think I'm really close.

Part of last week's break was spent sorting page by page through the Tennessee, Probate Court Books 1795-1927 collection on FamilySearch, in the image-only files for Jefferson County. The whole collection is 628,641 images, but the Jefferson County set is more manageable. I focused attention on the Wills, Settlements and Bonds sets, and found quite a bit of useful information that expands the size of Thomas' family and connections with others in the county. One key find was confirming that Thomas Jones had died in 1857 in Jefferson County.

In the Bonds, Letters 1856-1882 file (Image 46 of 332), on 6 July 1857, John H. Franklin, Benjamin F. Franklin and John C. Gass appear in a $2,000 bond as administrators of the estate of Thomas Jones. In the 1850 US Census, all three men are living very close to Thomas Jones (and my 4th-great-grandmother Elizabeth Thornhill Jones) in District 13 of Jefferson County.

In the Wills 1851-1868, Volume 5 file, image 256 of 327, is a document from November 1857 showing an inventory of the property belonging to Thomas Jones, as prepared by John H. Franklin and filed with the Jefferson County Court on 7 December 1857.

He had one account with S. N. Fain for $11.55, an iron wedge, a loom, a barrel, a lock and a lot of corn. Over a long life, reduced to a few items. 

Welcome 2013, Happy New Year

Here's to an exciting year. 2012 was a great one for me, and I'm looking ahead to the things to come.

Source: New York Public Library Digital Gallery