Genealogy and Local Research

You can use the Hardin County library to research your family tree. Use the links below to search online databases based on public records, or stop by for on-site assistance.

Our reference desk is located in the back portion of our library. If you go back there, you’ll find Assistant Director and Reference Librarian Connie Lewis, who is happy to help you with genealogy and local history research.

Discover Hardin County History in the Tennessee Room

Our Tennessee Room has a varied collection of books on Tennessee History and local history such as Brazelton’s History of Hardin County, Hardin County Pictorial History and issues of the Hardin County Historical Quarterly.

A section of the Tennessee Room is reserved for genealogy materials and includes census records in books and on microfilm, many family histories, early marriage records, DAR books, the James B. MacLaren, Sr. Genealogy Collection, yearbooks, and the Hardin County Cemetery Census in book form and as a computer program. We also have a subscription to Ancestry Library Edition which is the library edition of ancestry.com The use of this database is free and the patron only pays for copies at $.15 per page.

Tennessee Room Policies

Microfilm Records

  • Census Records 1820 – 1930 (1890 Civil War Veteran Census)
  • Tennessee Birth Index 1908 – 1912
  • Tennessee Death Index 1908 – 1912
  • Death Records 1914 – 1939
  • Estates 1865 – 1916
  • Hardin County Marriage Records 1863 – 1997
  • Savannah Courier 1873 – 2010
  • Hardin County Wills 1836 -1964
  • Hardin County Deeds 1835 – 1979
  • Hardin County Circuit Court minutes 1840 – 1953
  • Hardin County Chancery Court minutes 1903 – 1951
  • Tax Lists 1913 – 1945

Books & Periodicals

  • Family Histories
  • Yearbooks
  • Tennessee Historical Quarterly
  • Hardin County Historical Quarterly
  • Hardin County Historian
  • DAR Magazine
  • UDC Magazine

Special Collections

  • James B. MacLaren Genealogy Collection
  • Ed Patterson Genealogy Collection
  • Mary Elizabeth Hitchcock Genealogy Collection

Copies of microfilm, books and periodicals, and special collections can be made at the library. If you are not able to visit our Tennessee Room and you need a copy of a specific material, fill out the form below and a copy will be sent to you. There is a copy fee of $.15 per page.

Request a copy of material from the Tennessee Room