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12 page PDF research guide includes:
Guide for Ruins That Remember: Tracing Family Lines Through Tennessee's Stonework and Civil War Earthworks
The men who built Fort Negley were recorded in Freedmen's Bureau labor registers, in USCT enlistment files, in pension packets that named their wives and children and the neighbors who swore to their service. The paper trail exists; the question is knowing which chain to follow and in what order. Coffee County families face a different problem: the county did not exist until 1836, so every family present before that date appears in Bedford, Franklin, or Warren County records, and researchers who search Coffee County first stop cold before the trail has barely started. This companion runs both chains in parallel, giving you the record sequence for each and the specific linking details that carry you from one source to the next.
What's Inside
- Fort Negley records reference table covering Freedmen's Bureau labor registers, USCT compiled service records, USCT pension files, contraband camp lists, Davidson County deed records, and Nashville Civil War newspapers, with what each contains, repository location, access method, and the linking detail to capture for each
- Extended Fort Negley chain covering Davidson County probate files, 1860 and 1870 federal census, USCT regimental records and muster rolls, Freedmen's Bureau marriage records, and African American church records in Nashville
- Old Stone Fort and settler records reference table covering Tennessee state land grants, county deed books for Bedford, Franklin, Warren, and Coffee counties, territorial tax lists, Baptist and Methodist conference records, circuit rider journals, and Tennessee Division of Archaeology site inventory forms
- Indigenous research thread table covering Eastern Band of Cherokee, United Keetoowah Band, and Cherokee Nation genealogical records and enrollment access
- Repository and access guide with collection identifiers, digitization status, and access methods for every repository named in the companion
- Dual-track research worksheet with Fort Negley documentary chain track and Old Stone Fort settler chain track
- Notes pages