| A
TIMELINE OF EVENTS FROM 1760-1923 |
| 1760 |
Daniel Boone explores the
area which will become Tennessee. |
| 1776 |
The
territory of Tennessee is created from lands belonging to North Carolina. |
| 1784 |
North Carolina cedes its western
territories to the United States, but reserves the right to continue to make land grants
to its Revolutionary War veterans in the area that will become the state of Tennessee. |
| 1796 |
Tennessee is admitted
to the Union as the 16th state (population 77,000). |
| 1806 |
The Act of 1806 establishes the
Congressional Reservation in Tennessee (land south of the Duck River, east of the
Tennessee River, west of the Winchester military line, and north of Tennessee's southern
boundary). |
| 1810 |
Circuit Courts are
established in most Tennessee counties to replace the three existing District Courts. |
| 1813 |
The first public library in
Tennessee is established at Nashville. |
| 1830 |
Bedford and Dickson
County Courthouses are destroyed by tornadoes. |
| 1835 |
Chancery Courts are established
in Tennessee as courts of law and equity. |
| 1848 |
The City of Memphis
begins registration of deaths. |
| 1850 |
A state law is passed which
prevents a husband from selling his wife's land without her permission. First city
directory is compiled for Memphis. |
| 1853-1854 |
First city directory
is compiled for Nashville. |
| 1854 |
Divorce cases are to be handled
by the Chancery Courts (divorces prior to this year were granted by the state
legislature). |
| 1856 |
Davidson County
Courthouse is destroyed by a fire. |
| 1859-1860 |
First city directory is compiled
for Knoxville. |
| 1861 |
Tennessee is last
state to secede from the Union (June 8th). Despite secession, 42,000 white Tennesseans
serve in the Union Army, as do 20,133 black Tennesseans (an additional 3,000 black
Tennesseans serve in Home Guard Militia Units). |
| 1868 |
Tennessee is the first state
readmitted to the Union (July 24th). |
| 1871-1872 |
First city directory
is compiled for Chattanooga. |
| 1872 |
The City of Chattanooga begins
registration of deaths (compliance with 19th century Tennessee city vital records acts is
neither mandatory nor complete). |
| 1874 |
The City of Nashville
begins registration of deaths. |
| 1879 |
The City of Chattanooga begins
registration of births. |
| 1881 |
The City of Knoxville
begins registration of births and deaths & the City of Nashville begins registration
of births. |
| 1885 |
Hancock County Courthouse is
destroyed by a fire. |
| 1890 |
Tennessee Soldiers'
Home for indigent Confederate soldiers opens on the grounds of Andrew Jackson's Hermitage
Plantation in Nashville. |
| 1891 |
Tennessee's land laws are
compiled in one volume. A Board of Pension Examiners is formed to review pension
applications of Confederate soldiers. |
| 1898 |
Approximately 4,000
Tennesseans volunteer to serve in the Spanish-American War. |
| 1905 |
Tennessee authorizes pensions for
widows of Confederate soldiers. |
| 1908 |
Statewide registration
of births & deaths begins in this year. The act providing for registration is in force
through 1912 (registration during this period is not complete for many Tennessee
counties). |
| 1910 |
Hamilton County Courthouse is
destroyed by a fire. |
| 1914 |
Registration of births
& deaths begins again with passage of a Permanent Vital Records Recording Act
(registration was allowed to lapse during 1913). Also, a project is begun to have
Tennessee Civil War veterans fill out biographical questionnaires. |
| 1917-1919 |
Approximately 100,000 Tennesseans
serve during WWI. |
| 1919-1923 |
Tennessee State
Historical Commission is charged with the task of collecting from Tennessee's World War I
veteran's questionnaires on their military experiences. 4,453 questionnaires are
collected. |
