Shelby County, Tennessee has a great archived website - Thomas Leatherwood, Shelby County Register of Deeds. It has something of interest to those who do genealogical research, but also those just interested in their personal documents that are online. The site is divided into three columns.

In the first column there is the “Property Records”. It has Power of Attorneys, Land Deeds, Wills, most documents that have gone through Shelby County courts. My dad purchased a tractor on July 19, 1990 and the receipt can be found here. My parent’s Warranty Deed for 5010 Biscoe in 1963 is listed, and the sale of this home in 1970. My father in law’s will is posted here after it went through probate, as well as my husband’s grandmother’s will.

In the far right column is a place you can put in a Shelby County, TN address and get the specifications for that property. It is similar to what you see on the appraisals.

In the middle is what I call the “goldmine” for genealogists who have Shelby County and/or Tennessee ancestors; it is the archived databases:
Tennessee Vital Records – This covers the state of TN.

• Death Records Index 1949-2009
• Divorce Records Index 1980-2009
• Marriage Records Index 1980-2009

Shelby County Records – This covers Shelby County only:

• Birth Records 1874-1912
• Chancery Court Divorce Index 1945-1997
• Circuit Court Indexes 1893-2000
• Death Records 1848-1964
• Land Bank Properties For Sale
• Marriage Indexes/Images 1920-1989
• Marriage Records 1820-1983
• Memphis Census 1865
• Memphis City Directories 1849-1943
• Memphis Police Blotter 1858-1860
• Memphis Provost Marshal 1863-1865
• Naturalization Records 1856-1906
• Occupant, Entry, and Survey Books 1819-1962
• Probate Court Loose Paper Index 1820-1900
• Probate Court Will Book Indexes/Images 1830-2000
• Quarterly Court Loose Papers Index 1820-1865

Exhibits

• 1938 Historic Aerial
• 1949 Historic Aerial
• Buck Boshwit Civil War Stamp Collection
• County Cemeteries
• Dr. Martin Luther King Assassination Investigation
• Elmwood Cemetery Daily Burial Record 1853-1919
• Gravestone Inscriptions from Shelby County
• Health Dept. Milk Supply Reports 1920-1958
• Historical Markers of Shelby County
• Hugo N. Dixon-Ruhleben Internment Camp
• James Earl Ray Court Audio Files
• James Earl Ray Video Tapes
• Old Shelby County Magazine
• Ray Holt Memphis School Article Collection
• Shelby County Schools 1922
• Snowden Yearbooks
• West TN Historical Society Papers 1947-2010

Documentaries

• 100 Years of Juvenile Court
• A Community Called Orange Mound
• Dr. Martin Luther King Documentary
• Elmwood Cemetery - Reflections of Memphis
• Memphis Belle-World War II B17
• Memphis Garage Bands
• Overton Park-A Century of Change
• Shelby Farms-America's Great 21st Century Park
• The Memphis 13
• A Marriage of the Waters
• The Story of Cotton
• The View from Adams Avenue

If you have ancestors that resided or did business in Shelby County, this is a great resource. I have a friend who lives in Arkansas, but had a great grandfather who committed a crime when traveling through Memphis before the Civil War. He was sentenced to four years. His arrest record is listed in the “Memphis Police Blotter” in 1859! If your family lived outside the Shelby County, TN area, see if the county they lived in has a similar website. Many counties are putting their archived documents online, most of them for FREE. Across the top of the “Home Page” is the contact information for Archives and some great resource links.

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