Thanks to Ottis & Shirley for sharing.
Welcome to Meigs County, TN! Located on the eastern bank of the Tennessee River in East Tennessee and was one of the three "grand divisions". It was formed in 1836 from Rhea County so any records before 1836 will be probably found in Rhea County records.Meigs County was named for Col. Return Jonathan Meigs from Connecticut who served in the Revolutionary War and was head of the Cherokee Agency from 1801 until his death in 1823.
Rhea County was established in 1807 and included land on the northwest side of the Tennessee River. In 1819, Rhea County was almost doubled in size when the legislature took over part of the Cherokee Nation which was located on the south east bank of the Tennessee River. This land was designated as the Hiwassee District and this is the portion of land that became Meigs County in 1836 and was made up of seven districts.
The County Clerk has marriage, divorce, civil court and probate records since 1836. The Registrar of Deeds has the land records. Meigs County Courthouse, Main Street, Decatur, TN 37322.
There is an active Historical Society at P. O. Box 43, Decatur, TN 37322.
Early religion in Meigs County was divided between Baptists and Methodists. Some early Baptist churches were Pisgah at Peakland, Good Hope at Big Spring, Concord at Sweetwater, Goodfield at Decatur and Fellowship at Euchee.
Methodist churches included Calhoun near the McMinn County line, Walnut Grove, Standfields, Tranquility, Lawsons, Taylors (now Concord), Decatur, Goodfield, Pleasant Hill, Temperance Hall, Bethany, Spring Creek and Brittons.
In 1859, only fifteen percent of the Meigs County population were slave owners so the issue of states rights was of far more importance than the slavery issue. Meigs County did support the Democratic candidate, Breckinridge for President in 1860.
The 1870s were difficult years for the residents of Meigs County. A national depression was deeply felt in this agrarian community and many people left at this time.
Meigs County Historians:
Ms. Shirley Jennings
River Road
Decatur, TN 37322Ms. Paulette Jones
355 Ford Road
Decatur, TN 37322Kay Griffin Snow, Meigs County, TN County Coordinator.
We Need YOUR help and Invite you to Volunteer!
If YOU wish to make a contribution to Meigs Co. Genealogy Project then PLEASE look over what we have, then choose a topic and let us know your plan to help. My goal is to keep this page updated and to continue to add new features as I receive them.
Please keep in mind that I do not live in Tennessee therefore I cannot help you with specific family research. Your best resource is to subscribe to the Meigs County mailing list.
All that I have or know of general research material is and will be posted on these pages. I hope you find these pages helpful. If you have information you want to share, I would love to hear from you. This site relies on YOUR contributions...
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A Good link for Meigs Co. history
Find A Grave
- 1840 Meigs County Census
- 1850 Meigs County Census
- 1860 Meigs County Census
- 1870 Meigs County Census
- 1920 Meigs County Census
Books of Interest
- A Compendium of Rhea and Meigs Counties 1808-1850 by Bettye J. Broyles
- Meigs County Marriages and Census 1850-1900 by Bettye J. Broyles
- Meigs County Cemeteries by Meigs County, Historical Society
- Meigs County, TN Records 1836-1881 by Reba Bayless Boyer
- Meigs County, TN County Court Minute Book 1, Town of Decatur Commission Minutes, Trustees Book of Claims and Strays Taken Up by the Ranger by the Rhea County Historical Society
- Meigs County, TN by Stewart Lillard
- Meigs County, TN and Its People 1836-1997 Meigs County Heritage Book Committee
- Survey of the Tennessee River 1826-1846 Dept. of War
- Leaves From the Family Tree by Penelope Allen
- Missouri Heartlands by Don Vincent
- Rhea County, TN Circuit Court Minutes September 1815-March 1836 by Carol Wells
- Rhea County, TN Tax Lists 1819-1829 by Bettye J. Broyles
- Rhea County, TN Tax Lists 1832-1834 by Carol Wells
- You might also want to visit the Rhea County Home Page
Available Records:
- Census Records 1830-1920
- Selected County Histories
- Published Local Records
- Local Records on Microfilm
- Newspapers on Microfilm
- Selected Manuscripts
- Complete Bibliography of books about Meigs County
MEIGS COUNTY QUERIES
Please feel free to enter a query concerning Meigs County here.
Add Meigs County to your bookmarks, then visit our neighbors
Bradley Co.
MEIGS COUNTY MAILING LIST
MEIGS County now has a mailing list, you can use it to share and exchange information about MEIGS County related Genealogy.
To SUBSCRIBE in LIST mode: Please send the word SUBSCRIBE as the only text in the BODY of a message to:
tnmeigs-l- request@rootsweb.com
To SUBSCRIBE in DIGEST mode and receive all the messages at one time: Please send the word SUBSCRIBE as the only text in the BODY of a message to: tnmeigs-d-request@rootsweb.com
Members on this mailing list all have MEIGS County Connections. When you Subscribe you will receive instructions on how to post a message to the mailing list from the list hostess, Joyce Reese
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Tennessee State Coordinator is
Taneya KoonceAssistant State Coordinator is Jane Colmenares
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I am very proud to have been associated with TNGenWeb Project and County Coordinator for Meigs County for over 5 years.
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