The Sumner County Archives is the depository for the official records of Sumner County, Tennessee and is also a genealogical and historical research facility. It occupies over 3,600 square feet which includes a separate Microfilm room and Library/Reading room as well as a Records Preservation Laboratory and storage area. The records of Sumner County are largely intact and date from the county’s formation in 1786. Almost all early records are maintained at the Archives.
What the Archives has:
Local Sumner County Records:
- County Court judgments to end of 1989, Chancery Court judgments prior to 2004, Circuit Court judgements to end of 2013 and Criminal Court judgements to end of 2013. Criminal Court indexes and docket books to end of 1997.
- Will books #1 to #57, August 1995
- Probate records prior to 2004
- Microfilms of deeds and deed indexes prior to 1965
- Over 250 microfilm reels of Sumner County records
- Marriage index by bride and groom 1787-1995 and most marriage records to 1980
- Tennessee death indexes 1908-1946
- Death records for Sumner County 1908 to 1925 ONLY
- Birth records for Sumner County July 1908 to June 1912 ONLY
- Sumner County census microfilms 1820 to 1930
- Census books for Sumner County 1820 to 1880 in neighborhood format
- Sumner County census indexes to 1940
- Indexed tax lists from 1787-1870
- Newspapers on Sumner and some surrounding counties
- Maps and photographs
- Civil War compiled service records of Sumner County soldiers
- WW I draft registrations of Sumner County soldiers
- Vertical family files
- Manuscript material
- Genealogical library collection of family histories
- Funeral home collection
- Loose records collection – spans the entire existence of the county, fully indexed and easily accessed. It includes original wills, estate packets, a collection of miscellaneous documents and a vast collection of original transcripts of lawsuits. It has been called a gold mine of genealogical information on Sumner County.
- Geological survey maps (USGS), enhanced with locations of important historical sites
- Church records
- Thomas Photograph Collection
- Allen Haynes Photograph Collection
- Master computerized index to obituaries (also in printed form)
- 1930 Map of Cumberland River between Nashville and Sumner County line
- 1950’s Corp of Engineers Sumner County acquisition property maps.
Tennessee Records:
- Tennessee census records on microfilm through 1880
- Tennessee census index books through 1880
- Tennessee State death index thru 1946
- Smith County, Tennessee Chancery Court Loose Records 1806-1930
- Genealogical library collection with a focus on Middle Tennessee and surrounding states
- Tennessee statewide vital records (birth and death) were not maintained until 1914
The Archives does not have:
- Plat maps showing individual tracts of land in Sumner County
- The County’s original deed books which are housed at the Recorder of Deeds in the County Administration Building
- Birth records
- Death records or certificates before 1908 or after 1925
- General Sessions Court records