I’m by no means an expert genealogist/researcher, but I’m surely an experienced one! Frequently persons come to me for help in compiling a family history. I am glad to help as much as I can.

So often when I ask for a grandparent’s name I’m told, “I don’t know–I just always called him grandpa–or I just always called her grandma.” Now, where does one start? There are many ways. Here are just a few suggestions. It is my hope that these suggestions will be useful to students in their history projects:

1. Write down your full name and your birth date. Use a pencil, ballpoint pen will be illegible in less than 50 years. Example, John Doe, b. July 1, 1970

2. If you are married, add your spouse’s name and birth date; add your marriage date and location.

John Doe, b. July 1, 1970; m. June 1, 1990 Louise Ott Union County, TN

3. If you have children, list them:

John Doe, b. July 1, 1970; m. June 1, 1990 Louise Ott Union County, TN
Anna Louise Doe, b. December 1, 1995
John Ott Doe, b. March 30, 1997

4. Add death dates as appropriate with burial information–Example: buried Carr Cemetery, Union County, TN

5. Add your brothers and sisters with their spouses and children. List the older ones before your information–younger ones after your family.

6. If you don’t know, can either of your siblings tell you the full names of your parents. Do they know their birth and death dates? If a person was born before 1940, they should be listed in the 1940 Census, which was published in 2010. If born after 1940 Census and before 1950, they should be listed in the 1950 Census, which will be published in 2020.

7. If you are stumped at this point–what about aunts and uncles? Can any of them help? Often a nearby neighbor can help. Cousins can be a wonderful help. There’s usually at least one in every family that has some interest in family history.

8. Back to the Census. Census data can be a wonderful help, particularly in tying a lineage together, but do look at all possible spellings. For example, my mother was a Seymour. Over the years I had looked and looked for information about my great grandparents to no avail. They would have been in the part of Union County that was Grainger prior to 1850. One day, while looking for a totally different family–THERE IT WAS! CEMORE. It has not occurred to me to look in the Cs. Most, if not all, of the 1850 Census have been transcribed for the five counties surrounding Union. You may have to use these resources. The difficulty with early Census is that many only included the name of the head of the household with the number of females and males in the household. The first Union County Census was wonderfully transcribed by Evelyn Miller Holloway and Sonja Shoffner Collins. This volume, however, is not indexed; so you will have to look page by page. Subsequent volumes are indexed through 1930. It should be noted that there is only a partial census available for 1890. It is my understanding that the 1890 Census was destroyed by fire. Mark Treadway and his mother have done a partial transcription of information available to them. Again, the 1950 Census will be available in 2020. The Federal government will not release Census data for publication for 70 years.

Court records can be very helpful in most counties; but, unfortunately, most of Union County’s court records were lost in the 1969 Union County Court House fire.

Marriage records have been transcribed by Beatrice McClain Pope and later by Martha Atkins Carter. Ailor Funeral Home records have been transcribed by Martha Atkins Carter and are a wonderful resource. Both Census transcriptions and the funeral home records are available to purchase at the Roy Acuff Union County Museum and Library.

Deeds,Wills and Tax Records often reveal important information about families. Fortunately, Union County deeds have been wonderfully preserved and are an available resource. Deeds are indexed by both buyer and seller/grantor and grantee.

Happy Hunting!