Appalachian Press
Restored Works from the Mountain Record
Historical publications that have entered the public domain but remain essential to understanding Appalachian life, carefully annotated and restored for modern researchers and descendants.
First published in Nashville in 1823, John Haywood's Natural and Aboriginal History of Tennessee is the foundational work of Tennessee history. Written by the state's most distinguished jurist and scholar, it documents the geography, geology, natural resources, and pre-contact peoples of Tennessee with a depth and specificity unmatched by any contemporary source.
This annotated edition, prepared by Misty Hamilton Smith, Head Researcher at Appalachian Genealogy, makes Haywood's text fully accessible to modern readers. Editorial footnotes throughout identify the people, places, counties, rivers, and events Haywood describes, assess his claims in light of current archaeology and scholarship, and flag material of particular value to genealogical researchers. Sources are cited in Chicago author-date format with a full bibliography.
Researchers tracing families in Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, and the broader Appalachian region will find this volume an indispensable primary source, uniquely annotated for both historical and genealogical use.