Clay
County
Tennessee
Research
Aids
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This section is still under construction, but following are a few bits that might prove useful.
As listed at the Tennessee State Archives:
Mrs. W. B. Upton
Celina, Tennessee 38551
Clay County Museum 805 Brown Street (just below the Cumberland River Hospital) Celina, TN 38551 Phone: 931-243-4220
Officers:
Ray Frances (Rich) Donaldson 931-243-2181Melissa White
Most of the history of the area mentioned in the Historical Sites section of the Clay County web site is taken from the book, History of Clay County, Tennessee, copyrighted 1986 by the Clay County Homecoming '86, Historical Book Committee, Celina, TN. 38551 This book is in its second printing and is available from the Museum. See the Research and History Books section below for further information.
Clay County Public Library 116 Guffey Street Celina, TN 38551-9802 Phone: 931-243-3442
Upton Funeral Home 307 W Lake Ave Celina TN 38551 phone 931-243-3164Their records start in 1949.
Beth Orsay maintains information on obtaining vital records in the state:
Vital Records Information - Tennessee (http://www.vitalrec.com/tn.html)
For specific county vital records information (http://www.vitalrec.com/tncounties6.html#Clay)
Clay County Pictorial History Book - Produced by the Clay Co. Museum of History, Inc.; published by Turner Publishing Co. Paducah, KY. Printed on acid-free paper with smyth-sewn binding with gold leatherette cover; 352 pages, heirloom quality, 2000 photographs from every community in the county, photos from 1870-1997. Order from: Clay Co. Pictorial History Book; P.O. Box 684; Celina, TN. 38551. Further details can be found at their web site. This is Book 2 of the Clay County History Book series (see below for Book 1).
Clay County, TN - An old history of Clay County by Isaiah Fitzgerald (no index).
History of Clay County - Published 1986 by Turner Publishing Company (no index).
The Yellow Pages, Sources and Suggestions for Searching in Tennessee by Byron and Barbara Sistler, 1978.
Jackson County Resources - Since Clay County was not formed until 1870, Jackson County references prior to this date may contain information on what is now Clay County. See the Jackson County TnGenWeb site for an extensive listing of references. Also, the February 1979 issue of the journal of the Upper Cumberland Genealogical Association (UCGA) published a 1802/1803 tax list for Jackson County that included what is now Clay County. This issue is still available from the UCGA.
Jackson County 1870 Census - A veteran Clay Co researcher, Mrs Mildred Coons Cason, has completed her work on the transcription of the 1870 Jackson County census (which includes present day Clay Co). The finished product was expected from the printer in March '98. For further information, contact: Mrs. Mildred Cason; 3701 Ackerman Court; Nashville, TN 37204; MCason7990@AOL.COM.
Jackson County 1850 Census Index - Cass Butler has an on-line index for this census (http://www.aros.net/%7Ecbutler/census/sindex.htm).
Issues dealing with Walker's Line - Many may not realize that portions of northern Tennessee, including what is now Clay County, were once in Kentucky. For further information, see the excellent report on Walker's Line on the Obion County TnGenWeb site. This may affect where you look for Clay County ancestral information. Some researchers have reported finding the same Land Grants in both Kentucky and Tennessee. Some of the Land Grants reported in The Kentucky Land Grants (A Systematic Index to All of the Land Grants Recorded in the State Land Office at Frankfort, Kentucky 1782-1924) by Willard Rouse Jillison are in fact in what is now Clay County, Tennessee. Some Tennessee counties affected are Clay, Claiborne, Fentress, Jackson, Macon, Montgomery, Robertson, Smith, and Stewart.
Materials On Clay County Available at the McClung Collection, Knoxville, TN
Street Address: 314 West Clinch Ave.; Knoxville, TN
Mailing Address: 500 West Church Ave.; Knoxville, TN 37902-2505
Phone: (423) 544-5739The History of Clay County, Tennessee - 1986 by the Clay County Homecoming '86 Historical Book Committee; ISBN #0938021-06-0; Library of Congress #86-51319 (no index). This is Book 1 of the Clay County History Book series (see above for Book 2).
Clay County Centennial 1870-1970, a commemorative brochure (no index).
Tennessee - Clay County Bible and Tombstone Records, Historical Records Project (WPA), December 15, 1937 (indexed).
Tennessee State Library and Archives Records Listing for Clay County (reproduced here).
Tennessee - Records of Clay County - Marriage Records Book A - 1871 - 1873, Historical Records Project (WPA) June 1, 1938 (indexed).
Gary and Shelta Shrum have two pages listing genealogy of their Clay County roots:
McCarter
Family (http://www.nctc.com/~gshrum/mccsis.htm)
Johnson Family
(http://www.nctc.com/~gshrum/johnson.htm)
See the Nostalgiaville web site for general information on the county.
See the University of Tennessee Dept. of Education site for general education-related and other information on Clay County.
See Lian Thomas' Web site (http://www.geocities.com/heartland/estates/1892) for information related to Clay County.
The UCGA covers 14 counties in middle Tennessee, including Clay County; see their web site for further information on the Association.
JACKSON/CLAY/OVERTON CO, TN, is a mailing list for anyone with a genealogical interest in Jackson, Clay, and/or Overton Counties, Tennessee. To subscribe send a nicely worded message to Carolyn Atkinson at catkinsn@ecity.net, with "JACKSON/CLAY/OVERTON CO,TN" in the subject line, requesting that you be added to the list (this information is from http://www.eskimo.com/~chance/j.html).
*Indicates this title may be borrowed on Interlibrary loan.
To obtain a map of Celina, the county seat of Clay County, use the Yahoo! Maps site.
Clay County, Tennessee Tombstone Inscriptions, by Walter E. Webb, Dale Hollow Lake, Celina, TN 38551.
http://www.wwns.com/usatowns/tn/counties/clay/tourism/