MTGS Projects

On this page are listed present and past projects that MTGS members have undertaken.

Past Projects

In the summers from 2015-2018, MTGS sponsored the hiring of a summer intern at the Tennessee State Library and Archives to accelerate the restoration of some of Tennessee's earliest land records.  We proudly provide here the press release from the Office of Secretary of State Tre Hargett:

Genealogical Society Funding Helps Unlock Land Record Secrets

Land records dating back to the Revolutionary War era can tell researchers much about Tennessee's early history - as a part of North Carolina, later as a territory and finally as the country's 16th state. The trouble is that time hasn't treated those important documents particularly well, and many require extensive restoration work before they are ready to be made available to the public.

Thanks to funding from the Middle Tennessee Genealogical Society, the pace of that work has been accelerated this summer. The society has provided money to pay the salary of a summer intern at the Tennessee State Library and Archives (TSLA) who is assisting the full-time staff there with efforts to restore those records

"Some of the records are from the colonial and territorial period, and those are especially fragile," said State Librarian and Archivist Chuck Sherrill. "To make them accessible requires quite a bit of work in the conservation lab."

Carol Roberts, head conservationist at TSLA, said the work includes dusting documents with sponges, applying a magnesium bicarbonate solution to de-acidify the paper and ink and using Japanese tissue paper and wheat paste to mend and patch tears and holes.

Roberts said the goal isn't to return documents to their original condition, but to stabilize them and prevent further deterioration.

A single page of a document in very poor condition might require several hours of lab work.

"You do have to have pretty decent patience," Roberts said. "Some (documents) are puzzles that have to be pieced together. Each one is unique."

Kat Trammell, the intern hired to help with the restoration work, said the experience has been very rewarding.
"I've always been interested in conservation work," Trammell said. " I really enjoy the physical process, getting to handle something with so much history behind it."

As a recent college graduate with a major in studio art, Trammell said she's fascinated by the surveyors' diagrams found on the documents. Also, she enjoys it "when you recognize a famous name and say, 'hey, there's a county named after that guy.'"

Media contact: Blake Fontenay, Tri-Star Chronicles Coordinator, (615) 253-8759 or C.Blake.Fontenay@tn.gov

 

Family Bible DVD

MTGS began a project in 2006 to digitally photograph family Bible records, or copies thereof, from all counties in Middle Tennessee. We established an outreach program of visiting outlying county archives/libraries to make it easier for people to bring their Bibles to us. An every-name index was prepared for the nearly 250 Bibles listed, and a DVD was created in 2008. 
Click here to open an index of the over 11,400 names contained on the DVD.

Special Note:  The contents of this Family Bible project were donated to the Tennessee State Library and Archives, and can be accessed online as part of their Genealogy Index Search web page.  You can specifically browse and search the MTGS records on the Genealogy Index Search website by clicking the link 'MTGS Family Bible Project'

If you would still like to purchase a DVD copy of the Bible project, click the PayPal button below to purchase this DVD via PayPal ($28.50 price includes shipping)


To purchase by personal check, click here to open the Order Form for this DVD.

 

All-Day Genealogy Seminars since 1988

MTGS has been hosting all-day genealogy seminars annually since 1988, including our first Virtual Seminar in 2020. Take a look at some of our past speakers and topics, and consider joining us at our seminar, held in late November each year.