State of North Carolina
Department of Cultural Resources
Office of Archives and History
ARCHIVES INFORMATION CIRCULAR
Number 3 [1968, CFWC; GS: Rev. 2002, ACM; 2009 MHB] _ Raleigh, North Carolina
RECORDS RELATING TO TENNESSEE IN THE NORTH CAROLINA STATE ARCHIVES
In view of the fact that the majority of the land now known as the State of Tennessee was originally part of
North Carolina, the North Carolina State Archives frequently receives inquiries concerning the early records of
those counties originally organized under North Carolina’s government but which, after 1790, became part of
the State of Tennessee. However, the records of the various counties were retained in the already established
county seats of the new state and are therefore not among the holdings of the North Carolina State Archives.
Even so, a few early records relating to those original Tennessee counties remain in the custody of the North
Carolina State Archives. This information circular is designed to facilitate research in those few records by
directing the researcher to the documents in question. Additionally, a reference is also provided for the
Archive’s holdings of microfilmed Tennessee records; these are transcriptions, made by the Works Progress
Administration, of original records in the various Tennessee counties.
Brief Historical Background, 1776-1796
On August 22, 1776, the inhabitants living along the Watauga, Holston, and Nolichucky Rivers petitioned
the North Carolina Council of Safety for recognition as a part of the governmental structure of North Carolina.
The Council of Safety granted the request and, in November 1776, representatives of these westerners arrived in
Halifax to claim their seats in the Provincial Congress, then in session drawing up a state constitution. The
delegates represented the newly formed “District of Washington.’’ However, the following year, 1777, the
“District of Washington” was divided: the part of the “District of Washington” lying in what is now Tennessee
became Washington County;1 the newly formed Wilkes County, North Carolina, annexed the remaining part of
the “District of Washington.”
Washington County comprised roughly the territory west of Wilkes County, North Carolina: bounded to
the north by the Virginia line, to the south by the Cherokee Indians’ hunting grounds, and to the west by the
Mississippi River. In 1779, the citizens of Washington County established Jonesboro as the county seat. In the
same year, Washington County was divided and a new county, Sullivan, formed. Two more counties, Davidson
and Greene,2 were formed from Washington in 1783. Sullivan County, which was subdivided in 1787 to form
Hawkins County, was made larger by the annexation of a part of Washington County in 1788. In 1787,
Davidson County was subdivided to form Sumner County. The following year, still another county, Tennessee,
was formed from Davidson County.
1 This Washington County should not be confused with present-day Washington County, North Carolina (formed from Tyrrell
County in 1799).
2 Not to be confused with similarly-named counties formed in North Carolina in 1822 and 1799, respectively.
