Rutherford County Historical Society

The Historical Research Room is located on the second floor of Murfreesboro's Linebaugh Library.

Historical Research Room

The Historical Research Room (HRR) located on the second floor of Linebaugh Public Library features Rutherford County, Tennessee materials and genealogical resources. The materials in the room are a reference and research collection and are not available for check out or interlibrary loan. However, facilities for copying are located in the HRR. Although available funds do not permit the purchase of family histories, the HRR is grateful for gift copies, especially for those genealogies with a Middle Tennessee connection.

RUTHERFORD COUNTY SOURCES

The Rutherford County Vertical File is a clipping file of newspaper and magazine articles, pamphlets, etc. focusing on local individuals, organizations and events from Rutherford County, Tennessee.

Newspapers from Murfreesboro are on microfilm for 1931 to the present. From 1820-1930 only scattered issues have survived and are on microfilm.

Murfreesboro city directories are available for 1925, 1934, 1940, 1947, 1950, 1956, 1958-66, 1969-89, & 1991-present,

Murfreesboro telephone directories are
available for 1954 to the present.

BOOKS ON RUTHERFORD COUNTY

Rutherford County Tennessee, Deed Abstracts
1804-1810
Marriages of Rutherford County TN 1804-1872
History of Rutherford County Schools to 1972
Rutherford County Tennessee Cemeteries (to 1975)
The Battle of Stone's River
Hearthstones (historic Rutherford County homes)
Rutherford County History and Families
Annals of Rutherford County
A History of Rutherford County in Pictures
History of Murfreesboro
Rutherford County Historical Society Publications
And many other titles

Rutherford County Court Records are on microfilm for 1804-1999.
A printed index to obituaries appearing in the Murfreesboro newspaper from 1987 to the present is available.
The Tennessee Death Index for 1908-1944 and some death certificates for Rutherford County are on microfilm.
Books by Rutherford County authors are also housed in the HRR.

Linebaugh Public Library

105 W. Vine Street, Murfreesboro, TN 37130 Phone: (615) 893-4131 Fax: (615) 848-5038

MGL Library

521 Mercury Blvd., Murfreesboro, TN 37130 Phone: (615) 893-7439

Smyrna Public Library

400 Enon Springs W. Smyrna, TN 37167, Phone: (615) 459-4884 Fax: (615) 459-2370

L.W. Anderson Genealogical Collection

In the early summer of 1998 the Linebaugh Library was given a large collection of genealogical materials by Ms. Anne Anderson. The 5,000 books and 2,700 rolls of microfilm were formerly part of the L.W. Anderson Genealogical Library in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The materials cover 36 states, 16 countries and 22 categories of genealogical interest including records from New England, the Midwest, Southern states, North America and Europe. Material types include census records, passenger lists, military rosters, court records, tax lists, marriage records and cemetery records.

Military Records

Records from the American Revolution, War of 1812, Civil War including the Tennessee Confederate Soldiers' Pension Records, Indian Wars and World War I are available either in books or microfilm. Many books are located in "355".

The HHR has census records in paper and microfilm. Statewide paper indexes to the census are shelved in "312" alphabetically by state. The indexes for 1880 and 1900-1930 censes are on microfilm as soundex, which is an index based on the way a name sounds rather than how it is spelled. The Soundex Reference Guide is available for determining surname codes.

Internet access for online genealogy searching is available. The library has subscription assess to Ancestry Library Edition for information on more than 1.5 billion names. Print outs are ten cents per page.

The HHR microfilm collection contains over 5,100 rolls of information from newspapers, court records, military records, census records, passenger lists, etc. For viewing and printing there is a microfilm reader/printer and microfilm readers with high magnification. Printouts for microfilm are 50 cents each.

The Family History File contains genealogy research on middle Tennessee families. This collection is small but growing with donations from library patrons. Large family histories are shelved in "929.2" alphabetically by the family name.