Historic Minute Books

Hamilton County Quarterly Court and County Council minute books are available by clicking the links below. Please note that due to Quarterly Court Volumes being hand-written, only Volumes 8 through 14 are text-searchable. All County Council minute books also have the searching capability. These are all very large pdf files and may take several minutes to download, depending on your connection speed.

Hamilton County Quarterly Court (1879 - 1978)

• Volume 1 (January 1879 - July 1883)
• Volume 2 (January 1884 - October 1887)
• Volume 3 (January 1888 - July 1890)
• Volume 4 (October 1890 - November 1892)
• Volume 5 (January 1893 - October 1894)
• Volume 6 (January 1895 - July 1899)
• Volume 7 (October 1899 - October 1903)
• Volume 8 (January 1904 - July 1911)
• Volume 9 (July 1911 - November 1915)
• Volume 10 (January 1916 - October 1924)
• Volume 11 (January 1925 - January 1934)
• Volume 12 (April 1934 - July 1944)
• Volume 13 (October 1944 - October 1971)
• Volume 14 (January 1972 - August 1978)

Hamilton County Council (1941 - 1978)

• Volume 1 (February 1941 - October 1948)
• Volume 2 (September 1948 - April 1953)
• Volume 3 (May 1953 - June 1956)
• Volume 4 (July 1956 - May 1958)
• Volume 5 (May 1958 - June 1960)
• Volume 6 (July 1960 - March 1962)
• Volume 7 (March 1962 - May 1963)
• Volume 8 (June 1963 - May 1964)
• Volume 9 (June 1964 - July 1965)
• Volume 10 (August 1965 - August 1966)
• Volume 11 (September 1966 - September 1967)
• Volume 12 (October 1967 - November 1968)
• Volume 13 (December 1968 - November 1969)
• Volume 14 (November 1969 - September 1970)
• Volume 15 (October 1971 - September 1971)
• Volume 16 (October 1971 - July 1972)
• Volume 17 (July 1972 - December 1972)
• Volume 18 (January 1973 - September 1973)
• Volume 19 (October 1973 - July 1974)
• Volume 20 (August 1974 - February 1975)
• Volume 21 (March 1975 - June 1975)
• Volume 22 (July 1975 - December 1975)
• Volume 23 (January 1976 - May 1976)
• Volume 24 (May 1976 - September 1976)
• Volume 25 (October 1976 - March 1977)
• Volume 26 (March 1977 - July 1977)
• Volume 27 (July 1977 - January 1978)
• Volume 28 (January 1978 - May 1978)
• Volume 29 (June 1978 - August 1978)

James County Records

In 1871 James County was established. The County experienced bankruptcy in 1919 and was dissolved by the Tennessee General Assembly. James County citizens voted to be annexed by Hamilton County.

This posting represents James County records on file in the Hamilton County Clerk’s office when Clerk William F. Knowles assumed office September 1, 1974. Some records may have been destroyed in James and Hamilton County Courthouse fires. This Chattanooga-Hamilton County Bicentennial Library link is also a source for researching historic James County documents.

• James County Clerk Marriage Record Book #1 10-10-1914 through 11-18-1919
• Circuit Court: James County Minute Book April 1913 - October 1919; Magistrate Book December 1892 - May 1919
• County Clerk: James County Acknowledgments of Deeds, January 1912 - April 1918 & Miscellaneous Cash Book
• Circuit Court: James County Execution Docket Book August 1912 - June 1919
• County Clerk: James County Assessor's Books; Districts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 1915 – 1919
• James County Minute Book 1913 - 1919 Inventories & Settlement Book 1914 - 1919, Guardian and Administrative Bonds & Letters 1913 – 1919

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