Have you tried to find his death record? Have you tried the Tennessee record collection at Ancestry? the Tennessee Electronic Library states:
Tennessee records, including birth, death, and tax lists are available online thru a partnership with Ancestry.com. While other Ancestry.com resources require a subscription; these records are free for Tennesseans.
See https://tntel.info/resource-search?text=&field_resource_category_1=34&tag=All&vendor=All
If you do not live in Tennessee, or have an Ancestry subscription, try your local library. They may have give library card holders remote access.
There is always a possibly the record may not exist. Statewide death records began in 1908, and it probably took a while before death registration became universal. The Tennessee Secretary of State said on their website:
Death Records
Tennessee did not began keeping death records statewide until 1908. The larger cities in Tennessee did keep earlier death records: Nashville (beginning in 1874); Knoxville (beginning in 1881); Chattanooga (beginning in 1872); and Memphis (beginning in 1848).
