Tennessee Obituaries

Tennessee newspapers began in 1791, five years before statehood. The Tennessee State Library and Archives (TSLA) indexes death notices from 19th-century Nashville papers and holds death records for 1908–1912 and 1914–1975.

Recent Tennessee obituaries (2000 to today)

Most obituaries published since about 2000 are online. Daily papers post paid death notices and family-written obituaries in an Obituaries section, usually hosted by Legacy.com, and keep them online with a guest book. The largest daily papers in Tennessee are:

• The Tennessean (Nashville)
• Commercial Appeal (Memphis)
• Knoxville News Sentinel
• Chattanooga Times Free Press
• Jackson Sun
• Johnson City Press

Legacy.com’s Tennessee page searches the obituaries of most of these papers and many smaller ones at once. Funeral homes also post obituaries on their own websites, often before the newspaper does and sometimes instead of it: search the person’s name with the town and “obituary” or “funeral home.” For obituaries no longer online, ask your public or state library: many offer NewsBank or ProQuest databases with the full text of recent newspapers, free with a library card.

Tennessee obituaries in historic newspapers

The Knoxville Gazette was first printed in 1791, at Rogersville, before moving to Knoxville. Early papers in Knoxville, Nashville and Jonesborough reported deaths of settlers and officials, and a book of obituaries drawn from early Tennessee newspapers from 1794 to 1851, originally compiled by TSLA staff, is a useful starting point for the period.

Nashville and Memphis became the state’s main newspaper cities in the 1800s. Memphis papers recorded the yellow fever epidemics of the 1870s, when lists of the dead were printed daily. TSLA’s index of death notices in Nashville newspapers covers 1855 to 1907.

Local libraries keep their own obituary indexes for their papers, such as the Chattanooga Public Library’s index to the Chattanooga Times and News-Free Press.

Where to find older Tennessee obituaries

Digitized Tennessee newspapers

• Tennessee Virtual Archive (TeVA) — TSLA’s digital repository of Tennessee history, including newspapers and records.

Obituary and death indexes

• TSLA Indexes, Tennessee State Library and Archives — Searchable indexes including death notices in Nashville newspapers, 1855–1907.
• Obituary index, Chattanooga Public Library — Chattanooga Public Library's local history department and its obituary index for Chattanooga papers.

Archives and libraries

• Vital records at the Tennessee State Library and Archives — TSLA's guide to Tennessee death records, 1908–1912 and 1914–1975 (none for 1913), and newspaper microfilm in Nashville.
• Tennessee Newspapers, FamilySearch Research Wiki — Volunteer-maintained guide to Tennessee newspaper archives, indexes and microfilm, with local links.

Also search the nationwide archives: Chronicling America, FamilySearch, Find a Grave, Newspapers.com. See all nationwide obituary resources.

Tennessee death records

The Tennessee State Library and Archives holds death records for 1908–1912 and 1914–1975 (none were kept statewide in 1913). For deaths after 1975, order from the Department of Health's Office of Vital Records.

• Tennessee Office of Vital Records — the office that issues Tennessee death certificates, with ordering instructions and fees.
• Where to Write for Vital Records: Tennessee — the CDC’s summary of where to order, current fees and which years the office holds.
• Tennessee Vital Records, FamilySearch Research Wiki — free death indexes and certificate collections, with the years each covers.

Tips for finding an obituary in Tennessee

• Watch the 1913 gap. Tennessee kept no statewide death records in 1913.
• Use TSLA's Nashville index. It indexes death notices in Nashville papers, 1855–1907.
• Ask the city libraries. Memphis, Knoxville and Chattanooga libraries keep local obituary indexes.
• Look beyond the word “obituary.” Older papers reported deaths under headings like “Died,” “Deaths,” local news and personals columns, funeral notices and cards of thanks, and often listed married women under the husband’s name (“Mrs. John Smith”). See death notices vs. obituaries.

Common questions