Did you ever have need of a Polk County birth, death, marriage, school, or other record only to hear, "Sorry, our county records were lost in a courthouse fire?" Pretty frustrating, huh?

  Well, yes, some of our early county records were lost in the courthouse fire of 1894 and perhaps a few in the 1935 fire, but many are still around and accessible. For example the early County Court records are not only available on microfilm from the time the county was organized in 1840, but some are even in print. And we also have transcriptions of all Polk Federal Census records from 1840 to the last one released in 1930. Our marriage and deed records begin after the 1894 fire, but if your folks lived in the part of Polk County that was previously McMinn, then those marriages go back to 1820. Deeds are available from 1894 with a few older ones being recopied after the fire.

   Birth and death records in Tennessee were not required by law to be kept until 1908 and are available until1912. Unfortunately, they let it expire in 1913 and there are few to none until 1914 when the law was reinstated. Abstracted death records from 1914 to 1958 are available at the Polk County Historical Society, and the actual death certificate can be viewed on microfilm at the Bradley County History Branch and probably other libraries in the area. From 1949 to the present, the birth and death records are available from the Office of Vital Records in Nashville, and there is a fee to obtain a copy. It is possible that your ancestor who was born earlier than 1908 applied for a delayed birth certificate and that might also be found at the Office of Vital Records. If you're an Internet user try the Shelby County Register of Deeds web site for free access to a death index for the entire state for selected years.

   However, some early birth, death, and marriage records may be found in family Bibles and a few old diaries. We were pleased just this week to find an entry in the Fun, Fact and Philosophy book by Ben Harris McClary, which is the diary kept by John Coffee Williamson, 1858-1861, that said, "Bill Rollins died yesterday (November 23, 1858) and was buried today." Bill was William Rollins, born about 1835 if his age of 27 is correct in our 1850 census. We had just received a letter from a researcher wondering if there was record of her ancestor's death. He is buried in Old Ocoee cemetery in an unmarked grave.

    The Society of Tennessee Archivist encourages the preservation of all records that would be of value to someone in the future, and that not only includes the official county records, but your own family pictures and Bible records, oral histories, and your church records among them. Church pastors and clerks, do you know where all the previous minutes of your church records are stored?  Are they in archival safe storage conditions, which means the proper balance of humidity and temperature. Is the old family Bible in a box up in the attic, down in a damp basement, or out in a storage building.  Although most are considered family treasures and lovingly cared for and safely stored, you wouldn't believe the condition of some we've seen over the years. We even saw one covered in cat hairs and was apparently the favorite napping place of the family cat!  

  Although Archives Week gives us the opportunity to talk about heritage preservation, we all need to 'archivists' every day of the year and make sure none of our valuable records are lost.