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Genealogical "Fact Sheets" About Tennessee Counties

Coffee County

Coffee County

Coffee County was formed in 1836 from
Bedford, Franklin and Warren counties
(Private Acts of Tennessee 1835-36, Chapter 36).

The county seat is Manchester.

There was a fire at the Coffee County courthouse in 1876.

SELECTED PUBLISHED COUNTY HISTORIES

  • Coffee County: From Arrowheads to Rockets; A History of Coffee County, Tennessee (Martinez, 1969) [name index]*
  • Coffee County, Tennessee Then and Now 1983 (McMahan, 1983)*
  • Duck River Valley in Tennessee and its Pioneers (Jacobs, 1968) [name index]
  • Goodspeed's Coffee County History (1990) [name index]
  • Heritage of Coffee County, Tennessee, 1836-2004 (Coffee County Heritage Book Committee, 2005) [name index]*
  • History of Coffee County Tennessee (Ewell, 1936) [name index published separately]*
  • History of Tennessee From the Earliest Time to the Present : Together with an Historical and a Biographical Sketch of Cannon, Coffee, Dekale [sic], Warren, White (Goodspeed, 1979) [name index]*
  • Manchester, Coffee County, Tennessee : A Business and Community Pictorial Heritage (West, 1986) [name index]*
  • Pictorial History of Coffee County Tennessee : Established 1836 (1999)

Additional county and community histories can be found at the Bibliography of Tennessee Local History Sources:  Coffee County.  The items in the bibliography may not all be available at TSLA.  

 

PUBLISHED LOCAL RECORDS


  • 1840 Federal Census of Coffee County, Tennessee (Potter & Majors, 1970) [name index]*
  • 1860 Federal Census of Coffee County, Tennessee (Bridgewater, 1979?) [name index]*
  • 1870 Federal Census of Coffee County, Tennessee (Bridgewater, 1984) [name index]
  • 1880 Census, Coffee County, Tennessee (Sistler, 1992) [alphabetical by head of household]*
  • 1880 Federal Census, Coffee County, Tennessee (Coffee County Historical Society, 2011)* [name index]
  • African-Americans in Coffee County, Tennessee  [index]  (Maszaros,  2002)*
  • African-Americans in Coffee County, Tennessee : Transcribed from the 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910 and 1920 Census Records of the 13th Civil District (Tullahoma) (Allen & Maszaros, 1995) [name index published separately]*
  • Betsy Willis Cemetery (East Middle School, 1999) [name index]
  • Carden Cemetery, Coffee County, Tennessee (East Middle School, 1997) [name index]
  • Cash Robinson Cemetery, Hillsboro, Coffee County, Tennessee (East Middle School, 1996) [name index]*
  • Cemeteries and Tombstone Inscriptions of Coffee County, Tennessee [vol. 1 - Cemeteries Adams to Noah; vol. 2 - cemeteries Oak Hill to Zion] (Winters, 2006) [name index in vol. 2]
  • Civil War Soldiers of Coffee County, Tennessee [Book 1 Surnames A-B; Book 2 Surnames C-F; Book 3 Surnames G-J; Book 4 Surnames K-M] (Coffee County Historical Society, 2012-) [alphabetical]
  • Coffee & Franklin Counties, Tennessee, Regional Polk City Directory (1998) [alphabetical listing]
  • Coffee, Franklin & Bedford Counties, TN, Polk City Directory [2004-2007, 2009-2015] [alphabetical listing]
  • Coffee County, Tennessee, 1850 Census (Porch, 1969) [surname index]
  • Coffee County, Tennessee, Bonds and Settlements, 1858-1868 (WPA, 1939) [name index]
  • Coffee County, Tennessee, Cemetery & Family Records (WPA, 19??)
  • Coffee County, Tennessee, Court Minutes [1836-1841] (WPA, 1937) [name index]
  • Coffee County, Tennessee, Marriage Book [vol. 1 1853-1862; vol. 2 1863-1870; vol. 3 1870-1886] (WPA, 1936) [name index]
  • Coffee County, Tennessee, Marriage Records, Volume 1 Book A 1853-1862 (Douthat, 2013) [name index]
  • Coffee County Tennessee Polk City Directory (2003) [alphabetical listings]
  • Coffee County, Tennessee, Will Book [1833-1860] (WPA, 1936) [name index]
  • Coffee County, Tennessee, Wills [1833-1860] (Overall & Sistler, 1998) [name index]*
  • Daves Culbertson Funeral Home, Tullahoma, Tennessee : Over a Century in Business, Daves Culbertson Funeral Home, Tullahoma, Tennessee, Records [vol. 1 1914-1941; vol. 2 1941-1965; vol. 3 1965-1986; vol. 4 U.S. Army, Camp Forrest, 1941-1946] (Wilkinson, 1993) [name index]
  • Index to Leighton Ewell's History of Coffee County  (Jernigan,  1975) [name index]
  • Land Deed Genealogy of Coffee County, Tennessee [vol. 1 1836-1842; vol. 2 1843-1850]   (Marsh,  2006) [name index]*
  • Marriage Books A and C, 1853-1870, Coffee County, Tennessee (Potter, 1981) [name index]
  • Name Index to History of Tennessee ... Together with ... Sketch of the Counties of White, Warren, Coffee, DeKalb and Cannon (Marsh, 1972) [name index]
  • Oakwood Cemetery Tombstone Inscriptions, 1936 : Tullahoma, Coffee County, Tennessee (Lee, 2006)
  • Original Surveyor's Record Book, 1836-1887, Coffee County, Tennessee : With Additional Material on Early Tullahoma (Potter, 1976) [name index]
  • Pioneers of Coffee County, Tennessee : Their Ancestors and Descendants (Pritchard, 1996) [name index]
  • Private Acts of Coffee County, Tennessee (McIntyre, 1993)
  • Registration of Voters, Coffee County, Tennessee, 13th District, 1899-1903 (Potter, 1976) [name index]
  • Shady Grove Cemetery, Genealogical History (1996) [name index]
  • Some Early Coffee County Deaths & Guardenship [sic] book, 1838-1869 (Majors, 200?) [name index]*
  • Tombstone Inscriptions of Coffee County, Tennessee (Jernigan & Shapard, 1971?) [name index]*
  • Tullahoma Funeral Home, Tullahoma, Tennessee : Taken from Day Records of Moore-Motlow Funeral Home (Wilkinson, 1996) [name index]

 

LOCAL RECORDS ON MICROFILM 

An inventory of microfilmed Coffee County records is available on our web site.  Individual reels of microfilm may also be purchased.   

Earliest records include:

  • marriages from 1853
  • wills from 1836
  • deed index from 1836
  • chancery court minutes from 1872
  • county court minutes from 1836
  • circuit court minutes from 1852
  • tax books from 1836

 

The following reels are available on interlibrary loan from TSLA:

  • Deed Index -- 1836-1910 (#77, 1 reel)*
  • Marriages -- 1853-1897 (#46, 1 reel)*
  • Wills -- 1836-1901 (#74, 1 reel)*
  • WPA Records, Coffee County (Record Group #107, Roll 13, 1 reel). Roll includes Will Book, Vol. 1 (1833-1860),  County Court Minutes (1836-1841),  Marriage Records (1853-1886),  Bonds & Settlements (1858-1868) and Bible, Family & Tombstone Records (undated).*

 

NEWSPAPERS ON MICROFILM 

Newspapers were published in Manchester and Tullahoma.  Scattered early issues are available from 1860, and a complete run begins in 1903.  Microfilms are loaned to Tennessee libraries.  Individual reels may also be purchased.  An Inventory of Newspapers on Microfilm at TSLA is available on our web site.  

 

SELECTED MANUSCRIPTS MATERIAL

 

CENSUS RECORDS

  • Census on microfilm for Coffee County:  1840-1880, 1900-1930
  • State-wide census index:  1840-1880
  • State-wide census index on microfilm  (Soundex):  1880,  1900-1930
  • Coffee County census records in book form:  *1840,  *1850,  *1860,  1870,  *1880

 

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR COFFEE COUNTY

 

* Indicates this title may be borrowed on Interlibrary Loan from TSLA.

 

 

Updated April 7, 2015

 
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