East Tennessee Historical Society

The triumphs and tragedies of past generations become real and heartfelt when you learn about an ancestor's life as an indentured servant, or feel the sorrow of a mother as her sons depart for America, or the loyalty that drove a soldier to wander a dark battlefield, lantern in hand, stepping over the dead and dying, to find his missing brother. Thousands have been inspired to begin their own fascinating journey into the past through the First Families of Tennessee, a special heritage program of the East Tennessee Historical Society. The First Families of Tennessee was founded in 1993 to honor the state's first residents and to identify their descendants. Originally a Tennessee bicentennial project, First Families now has more than 13,000 members from across the United States and in eight foreign nations. FFT is now a permanent ETHS program. The links and articles in this section of the ETHS web site will provide you with information on how you can become a member of First Families of Tennessee, updates on FFT-related news, and features on the FFT book and other FFT merchandise.

A study based on the First Families of Tennessee was featured at a session of the Ulster-American Heritage Symposium, held June 11-15, 2002, in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Dr. Michael Montgomery, retired professor of linguistics and a noted Scotch Irish scholar, and ETHS associate director Cherel Henderson analyzed the 116 people from the First Families of Tennessee book who were noted as born in Ireland. According to Dr. Montgomery, of the 255 FFT ancestors known to have been of European birth, 116 of these, or 45.5% were born in Ireland. The study is preliminary and ongoing. The Ulster-American Heritage Symposium meets biannually and alternates meeting sites between Northern Ireland and the United States of America. The 2004 meeting will be held in Northern Ireland. The United States wll host the symposium in 2006 in a location to be announced later.