Include the minute and other dockets of the county courts, as well as the surviving loose original documents in lawsuits. Unless a precise date is known, the staff is unable to search court minutes. The loose records are arranged roughly by year and can be searched only by researchers who visit the Search Room. As a rule, land records consist of the few original deeds left in the county register's office by the grantee, some records created through disputes and divisions, and entry books. Although the complete series of deed books remain in the office of the county register of deeds, the Archives has microfilm copies of the deed books available for use in the Search Room.
Publications relating to land records are available for purchase .
They include Name Index to Tennessee Land Records and Name Index to North Carolina Land Records which are both on microfiche. They are extremely valuable for research, particularly since more people die without a will than die with one. Included may be inventories, accounts of sales, financial reports, divisions among heirs, guardians' records, documents concerning lawsuits, etc. These are searched for researchers who write to the Archives. Since there is no statewide index, the county must be known before estate records can be successfully researched by mail.