One of my elders was from TN before settling in Attala County. This is interesting and could be productive, but $$$$ are required. Untapped Resource: Apprenticeship Records ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As Alan N. Miller reminds us in the Introduction to his book East Tennessee's Forgotten Children: Apprentices from 1778 to 1911, the practice of apprenticeship "spread to the colonies along with other English customs but gradually became less of a method of training in the professions and crafts, developing instead into a system whereby children who were or were likely to become indigent could be supported without cost to the local government." In Tennessee, in fact, the term "orphan" was broadened to include not only fatherless children but also "any child as bindable whose father had abandoned him or utterly failed and refused to support him . . . ." Since apprentices were separated from their families at an early age, if your ancestor was apprenticed, his/her record could serve as the "missing link" to generations of elusive ancestors. It is sometimes possible to find a county's original records of indenture; however, as in Mr. Miller's case, even when those records have disappeared, you can reconstruct them by combing through the original court minutes of the pertinent counties. Apprenticeship records ordinarily provide the date of the record, name of the apprentice, his/her age, and the master's name; however, on occasion, they also furnish a parent's name, the trade, date of birth, and other useful details. Following are a list of books and CDs, including the Miller/Tennessee series, that are based, in whole or in part, on this underestimated source. If you have lost the trail of an ancestor but have not considered apprenticeship records as a source, you may wish to make them the next item on your research agenda. TENNESSEE'S FORGOTTEN CHILDREN (Three Volumes) Mr. Miller's East Tennessee volume was the first in his three-volume series covering all the apprenticeship records for the Volunteer State and contains about 11,000 entries. Spanning the period 1778 to 1911, it references apprenticeships created in the following Tennessee counties: Anderson, Bledsoe, Blount, Bradley, Campbell, Carter, Claiborne, Grainger, Greene, Hamblen, Hawkins, Jefferson, Johnson, Knox, Loudon, Marion, McMinn, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Polk, Rhea, Roane, Scott, Sequatchie, Sevier, Sullivan, Union, and Washington. The Middle Tennessee volume extends to some 7,000 apprenticeship records between 1774 and 1902, found in the following thirty-five Tennessee counties: Bedford, Cannon, Cheatham, Clay, Coffee, Davidson, DeKalb, Dickson, Franklin, Giles, Grundy, Hickman, Houston, Humphreys, Jackson, Lawrence, Lewis, Lincoln, Marshall, Maury, Montgomery, Moore, Overton, Perry, Robertson, Rutherford, Smith, Stewart, Sumner, Van Buren, Warren, Wayne, White, Williamson, and Wilson. Finally, West Tennessee's Forgotten Children: Apprentices, 1821-1889 contains over 4,000 apprenticeship records scattered among the minutes of the county courts of Benton, Carroll, Crockett, Decatur, Dyer, Fayette, Gibson, Hardeman, Hardin, Haywood, Henry, Lake, Lauderdale, Madison, McNairy, Obion, Shelby, Tipton, and Weakley counties. For each record Dr. Miller gives the name of the apprentice, a date (either the date of the original bond or indenture, or a subsequent date), the age at apprenticeship, the name of the master, and miscellaneous information ranging from the name of the mother or a sibling, race, cause of apprenticeship (e.g., orphan), his/her trade, etc. East Tennessee's Forgotten Children: http://www.genealogical.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&item_number=9259 Middle Tennessee's Forgotten Children: http://www.genealogical.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&item_number=9838 West Tennessee's Forgotten Children: http://www.genealogical.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&item_number=9982

Ancestry has just released these, too, at a discount to their members. Katherine Stevens ----- Original Message ----- From: "Douglas Cummins" <dcumyns@gmail.com> To: <MSATTALA@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, May 11, 2010 9:13 AM Subject: [MSATTALA] Untapped Resource: Apprenticeship Records > One of my elders was from TN before settling in Attala County. This is > interesting and could be productive, but $$$$ are required. > > Untapped Resource: Apprenticeship Records > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > As Alan N. Miller reminds us in the Introduction to his book East > Tennessee's Forgotten Children: Apprentices from 1778 to 1911, the > practice of apprenticeship "spread to the colonies along with other > English customs but gradually became less of a method of training in > the professions and crafts, developing instead into a system whereby > children who were or were likely to become indigent could be supported > without cost to the local government." In Tennessee, in fact, the term > "orphan" was broadened to include not only fatherless children but > also "any child as bindable whose father had abandoned him or utterly > failed and refused to support him . . . ." > > Since apprentices were separated from their families at an early age, > if your ancestor was apprenticed, his/her record could serve as the > "missing link" to generations of elusive ancestors. It is sometimes > possible to find a county's original records of indenture; however, as > in Mr. Miller's case, even when those records have disappeared, you > can reconstruct them by combing through the original court minutes of > the pertinent counties. > > Apprenticeship records ordinarily provide the date of the record, name > of the apprentice, his/her age, and the master's name; however, on > occasion, they also furnish a parent's name, the trade, date of birth, > and other useful details. Following are a list of books and CDs, > including the Miller/Tennessee series, that are based, in whole or in > part, on this underestimated source. If you have lost the trail of an > ancestor but have not considered apprenticeship records as a source, > you may wish to make them the next item on your research agenda. > > TENNESSEE'S FORGOTTEN CHILDREN (Three Volumes) > Mr. Miller's East Tennessee volume was the first in his three-volume > series covering all the apprenticeship records for the Volunteer State > and contains about 11,000 entries. Spanning the period 1778 to 1911, > it references apprenticeships created in the following Tennessee > counties: Anderson, Bledsoe, Blount, Bradley, Campbell, Carter, > Claiborne, Grainger, Greene, Hamblen, Hawkins, Jefferson, Johnson, > Knox, Loudon, Marion, McMinn, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Polk, Rhea, > Roane, Scott, Sequatchie, Sevier, Sullivan, Union, and Washington. The > Middle Tennessee volume extends to some 7,000 apprenticeship records > between 1774 and 1902, found in the following thirty-five Tennessee > counties: Bedford, Cannon, Cheatham, Clay, Coffee, Davidson, DeKalb, > Dickson, Franklin, Giles, Grundy, Hickman, Houston, Humphreys, > Jackson, Lawrence, Lewis, Lincoln, Marshall, Maury, Montgomery, Moore, > Overton, Perry, Robertson, Rutherford, Smith, Stewart, Sumner, Van > Buren, Warren, Wayne, White, Williamson, and Wilson. Finally, West > Tennessee's Forgotten Children: Apprentices, 1821-1889 contains over > 4,000 apprenticeship records scattered among the minutes of the county > courts of Benton, Carroll, Crockett, Decatur, Dyer, Fayette, Gibson, > Hardeman, Hardin, Haywood, Henry, Lake, Lauderdale, Madison, McNairy, > Obion, Shelby, Tipton, and Weakley counties. > > For each record Dr. Miller gives the name of the apprentice, a date > (either the date of the original bond or indenture, or a subsequent > date), the age at apprenticeship, the name of the master, and > miscellaneous information ranging from the name of the mother or a > sibling, race, cause of apprenticeship (e.g., orphan), his/her trade, > etc. > > East Tennessee's Forgotten Children: > http://www.genealogical.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&item_number=9259 > > Middle Tennessee's Forgotten Children: > http://www.genealogical.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&item_number=9838 > > West Tennessee's Forgotten Children: > http://www.genealogical.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&item_number=9982 > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > MSATTALA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >