Online Biographies

Here are some digital books with biographies of prominent Tennesseans that you can access on the internet:

• County and Town Histories, which also contain biographies (Goodspeed).
  • Index to Biographical Sketches in The History of Tennessee by Goodspeed
  • Digital books listed by county: http://www.learnwebskills.com/family/countyhistories3.htm#tn
  • Index to Brief Biographical Sketches of 30,000 Tennesseans
• A History of Tennessee and Tennesseans (Vol. 1-8) by Will T. Hale
• Tennessee and Tennesseans by Bethania McLemore Oldham
• Sketches of Prominent Tennesseans by William S. Speer
• Notable Men of Tennessee by John Allison
  Volume 1:   https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_Fag-AAAAYAAJ/page/n5
  Volume 2:   https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_6I9LAAAAYAAJ/page/n5
  
  

Keep in mind that many of these books were published as a form of vanity press, where a fee was paid by a prominent citizen of a community to be profiled in the book. The information contained in these sources needs to be verified with other sources. That is not to say these books are not useful. They often provide personal details not found elsewhere, as well as background information on the life and times of area where your ancestor lived.  They are also useful finding aids to assist you in further research.

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