Tennessee Land Records

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See Also Researching in Land Records

Tennessee deeds are recorded at the register of deed's office. The county court maintains jurisdiction over the probate and court records, except for Shelby and Davidson counties where the county court handles probates, and circuit court handles civil matters. Dates given are for the first known records in each category at the county seat. It does not imply that all records are extant from that date. County formation is from information supplied by the Tennessee State Library and Archives.

Beginning with county organization, land records are available from the register of deeds at the respective county courthouse. Land and property records include transfer of real estate or personal property, mortgages, leases, surveys, and entries. The Tennessee State Library and Archives has microfilmed county deed records that can be ordered by providing name, date, county, and type of record in the request.

Only a small portion of the land granted in Tennessee was free land, and that was granted to those who provided some form of service to North Carolina. Earliest land records, including early grants issued by North Carolina and Tennessee, are microfilmed with a card index available in the Public Services Section of the Tennessee State Library and Archives. Other holdings include land warrants, survey certificates, and records from county register of deeds offices.

Most land records will be found with the county Register of Deeds. Despite their titles, deeds found in a county Register's office may include other legal documents of transfer, such as deeds in fee simple granting absolute ownership; mortgages transferring property rights as security for debts; dower releases waiving wives’ rights; quit-claim deeds releasing whatever title or right is held whether valid or not; deeds of gift transferring land without reciprocal consideration; powers of attorney appointing legal agents; marriage property settlements; bills of sale transferring property that is usually not land; and various forms of contracts, such as leases, partnerships, indenture papers, and other performance bonds. Deed books from before the Civil War and especially in colonial years were more miscellaneous in their contents, even including animal brands, occasional wills, slave manumissions, apprentice papers, petitions, depositions, tax lists, and whatever else the clerk decided to preserve on a convenient page. Through such records a researcher may trace the ownership of land, in some cases for two centuries or more.

The earliest land grants are now maintained and available on microfilm at the Tennessee State Library and Archives. Official copies of all Tennessee land grants are bound and filed in the archives. All known grants are indexed in the master index, which is included on these microfilm reels. These consist of the following:

North Carolina grants in Tennessee, 1783–1800, including North Carolina state grants. These land grants are also in the North Carolina State Archives (see North Carolina).
Tennessee general grants date from 1806 to 1927.
Grants were issued by district land offices from 1807 through 1838: East Tennessee District grants, from 1807; Hiwassee District grants, from November 1820; Middle Tennessee District, from 1824; West Tennessee District, beginning in 1826; Mountain District, opening in 1828; Ocoee District, starting in 1838. A pamphlet entitled “Land Grants in the Tennessee State Library and Archives,” explains the holdings and is available from the repository.

The North Carolina Military Reservation was established in 1783 in the northern section of what was then west Tennessee (present-day middle Tennessee). It encompassed all the area surrounding the loop of the Cumberland River north to the Kentucky/Tennessee state line. A Congressional Reservation was organized on 18 April 1806 in the southwest section of middle Tennessee. The Congressional Reservation's northern border was the North Carolina Military Reservation's southern boundary. The western border for both was that portion of the Tennessee River that flows north. Several published volumes relate to North Carolina Revolutionary service land grants in middle Tennessee.

Land grants for the area south of Walker's Line (in Tennessee) are microfilmed and available through the FHL. Originals are indexed and housed in the Kentucky Land Office.

TSLA has a printed index which lists the names of individuals who received North Carolina land grants in Tennessee and land grants obtained directly from the state of Tennessee. E-mail TSLA with the name of the individual, and we will check to see if there is a listing in the index.

A copy of the original land grant document can be purchased, once the index has been used to identify the volume, page and district showing where a grant is recorded.

Tennessee Historical Records

Ordering Original Land Grant Documents Information and Fees

For a $5 fee, TSLA can photocopy and mail a list of all land grants for one specified surname. This fee covers the cost of copying up to ten pages. The $5 fee is not refundable. Payment in advance by check, money order or credit card is required. Send your request to Tennessee State Library and Archives, Research Department, 403 Seventh Avenue North, Nashville TN 37243-0312. [GO TO FORMS PAGE]
Please note that we ask that you submit each search request on a separate form. There may be a waiting period of up to 3-4 weeks before you receive a reply.

There is a $20 fee to copy a land grant. The $20 fee is not refundable. Payment in advance by check, money order or credit card is required. Send your request to Tennessee State Library and Archives, Research Department, 403 Seventh Avenue North, Nashville TN 37243-0312. [GO TO FORMS PAGE]
Please note that we ask that you submit each search request on a separate form. There may be a waiting period of up to 3-4 weeks before you receive a reply.

RESIDENTS OF TENNESSEE (with a current Tennessee postal address) will pay a $10 fee to copy a land grant. The $10 fee is not refundable. Payment in advance by check, money order or credit card is required. Send your request to Tennessee State Library and Archives, Research Department, 403 Seventh Avenue North, Nashville TN 37243-0312. [GO TO FORMS PAGE]
Please note that we ask that you submit each search request on a separate form. There may be a waiting period of up to 3-4 weeks before you receive a reply.

DUTIES OF REGISTER OF DEEDS

The most important function of the Register's office is the filing or recording of documents which affect the legal status of real and personal property. With regard to real property, these documents include deeds, deeds of trust (mortgages), financing statements called fixture filings under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), assignments, plats, court decrees, leases, liens, releases and many other instruments. With regard to personal property, the most important documents have been financing statements under the UCC and instruments relating to financing statements, such as amendments, continuation statements, assignments, releases and termination statements; however, most of these UCC documents are now filed with the secretary of state and not with the Register. Powers of attorney are often recorded in the Register's office. Also, some official documents (county official bonds and certain official reports) are recorded or filed in the Register's office. The Register notes in a notebook the time and receipt of each document in the order received and maintains indexes of the records of the office. The Register must be familiar with the requirements for acceptance applicable to each document. The prerequisites for acceptance of a document vary with the type of document. It is important to remember that a Register is not a notary and does not have a statutory power to take acknowledgments, as do county clerks.

The Register has important revenue functions, both for the collection of fees for performing the duties of the office (most of which are found in Tennessee Code Annotated § 8-21-1001) The Register must be knowledgeable concerning the many special rules and exceptions which apply to the collection of the realty transfer and mortgage taxes. The Register must be knowledgeable about the required statements on instruments evidencing transfers of real estate or certain interests in real estate and instruments of indebtedness.

OTHER DUTIES - Since office management is an important component of the Register's duties, Registers should know about personnel procedures and both state and federal laws. Also, the Register should have a basic understanding of potential liability, including both personal liability and county liability, and of the Tennessee Governmental Tort Liability Act. Every county official should be familiar with the conflict of interest and disclosure laws applicable to their offices.