North Carolina Genealogy

This North Carolina state page of our website provides direct links to major databases and historical titles and information found on North Carolina genealogy and history, whether they exist on our site, or across the web.

North Carolina Bible Records

Bible Records
Bible records include lists of birth, marriage, and death information recorded throughout the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. This collection presently contains 2,215 family Bibles which have been digitized and placed online for free.

North Carolina Biographies

Biographical Sketches of Western North Carolina
Illustrating Principally the Revolutionary Period of Mecklenburg, Rowan, Lincoln and Adjoining Counties of Burke, Cabarrus, Cleaveland, Gaston, Iredell, and Wilkes. The biographies have been extracted from this manuscript and presented here as part of our larger biographies collection. As with most historical manuscripts, these biographies should provide a glimpse into the genealogy of the leading men and the occasional woman of the western North Carolina area.

North Carolina Black Genealogy

WPA Slave Narratives
Slave narratives are stories of surviving slaves told in their own words and ways. Unique, colorful, and authentic, these slave narratives provide a look at the culture of the South during slavery which heretofore had not been told.

North Carolina African American Genealogy

North Carolina State Association of Colored Graduate Nurses, 1935

Undertaker’s Record Book [New Bern N.C.]Researchers may find use in the Undertaker’s Record Book, a unique source that documents the business and financial interactions of Merritt Whitley & Sons funeral home. The funeral home was an African American owned family operation which appeared in town records as early as 1890. The owner, Merritt Whitley, was also appointed as the County Undertaker in 1897. His sons, William O. Whitley and Hugh L. Whitley operated the funeral after their father’s death in 1910. The record book offers a variety of unique data, documenting the years 1923-1925. In addition to the products and pricing of funeral items, such as caskets, burial clothes, embalming fluid, and cemetery transportation, the ledger also social and demographic information about the deceased. Including everything from family relations and presiding clergy to cause of death and grave location, this resource could be a wealth of information for genealogists or historical researchers.

Cleveland County North Carolina Colored Apprentices
A list of Colored Apprentices that have been indentured in the County Court of Cleveland County since May 1866

North Carolina Runaway Slave Advertisements, 1750-1840
The North Carolina Runaway Slave Advertisements project provides online access to all known runaway slave advertisements (more than 2300 items) published in North Carolina newspapers from 1751 to 1840. These brief ads provide a glimpse into the social, economic, and cultural world of the American slave system and the specific experience within North Carolina. Working from microfilmed copies of these rare publications, the project team scanned the ads to provide digital images, create full-text transcripts and descriptive metadata, and develop a searchable database. The NCRSA website includes digital scans of the ads, contextual essays to address their historical research value, full text transcripts, an annotated bibliography to aid researchers, and a searchable database.

North Carolina Cemeteries

North Carolina Cemetery Records
North Carolina Cemetery Transcriptions are listed by county then name of cemetery within the North Carolina county. Most of these are complete indices at the time of transcription, however, in some cases we list the listing when it is only a partial listing.

North Carolina African American Cemeteries
Cemeteries provide us with a unique link to our past. While many cemeteries contain a few African American graves, some are comprised of only African Americans. The following list shows  African American Cemeteries in North Carolina

Cemetery Records
Material from two collections: contemporary photographs of the Raleigh Hebrew Cemetery and the Hebrew section of Raleigh Historic Oakwood Cemetery, and the 1930s Works Project Administration cemetery surveys.

North Carolina Census Records

North Carolina Church History

History of the German settlements and of the Lutheran church in North and South Carolina
From the earliest period of the colonization of the Dutch, German and Swiss settlers to the close of the first half of the present century.

North Carolina Court Records

North Carolina Wills

North Carolina Genealogy

Transcribed Genealogy Vertical Files
Genealogy information contributed by researchers of all ages and skill levels, organized alphabetically by last name and transcribed by participants in the Genealogy Vertical File Transcription Project at the North Carolina Digital Collections.

North Carolina History

North Carolina Maps

North Carolina Military Records

  • North Carolina Forts
    List of colonial forts, trading posts, named camps, redoubts, reservations, general hospitals, national cemeteries, etc., established or erected in the United States from its earliest settlement to 1902.
  • Revolutionary War Records
    • Revolutionary War Pension And Bounty Land Warrants
      This article helps you access the Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrants for free. Following two simple steps, one to search, and the other to browse the actual microfilms, you can quickly find your ancestors Revolutionary War pension record, or Bounty-Land record and download the images. During 1800-1900 the United States issued more than 80,000 pensions and bounty-land-warrants to soldiers of the Revolutionary War, their spouse, or their children. Was your ancestor one of them?
    • 1840 Pensioners Census
      The information contained in this 1840 Pensioners Census database is a compilation of the data on the Revolutionary War pensioners gathered from the 1840 census returns. The information is organized by place – state, county, then township. It also lists the name and age of the veteran, and the name of the head of household with whom the pensioner resided on the census date.
    • Revolutionary War Pension Records
    • Battles
    • Revolutionary Leaders of North Carolina
    • North Carolina, 1780-’81
      Being a history of the invasion of the Carolinas by the British Army under Lord Cornwallis in 1780-’81. with the particular design of showing the part borne by North Carolina in that struggle for liberty and independence, and to correct some of the errors of history in regard to that State and its people.
    • North Carolina Loyalists
      Robert DeMond, Loyalists in North Carolina During the Revolution. Copyright 1940, Duke University Press, Durham, NC.
      • List of Loyalists
        While these lists do not claim to include the names of all the Tories of the state, they are representative of that group who were interested enough to take an active part. Prior to making these transcripts it was impossible to locate by name or profession any considerable number of Tories in the state. The names given here and in the following appendices probably include the greater number of the more prominent Loyalists. The sources from which these documents are derived, are indicated in brackets at the end of each document. The reproduction of these documents without editorial changes accounts for any unusual spelling of proper names and the crude wording of the reports of some of the Loyalist officers.
      • Land Confiscated
        Contains a list of the real estate that was confiscated and sold in North Carolina. Some counties contained a large number of tracts while others possessed comparatively few. Henry McCulloch was the largest loser. A surprisingly large number of small planters lost their holdings, and for the most part before the Treaty of Peace had been signed.
      • Loyalist Claims
        These page includes a list of those Loyalists of North Carolina who made application to Great Britain for compensation for loss of office or property in the state. Sometimes the claims were made by the brother, sister, or heir of the original person who lost the property or office. Both the sum asked for and the sum received have been given to show the great discrepancy that sometimes existed between the two. The names indicate that a great number of the claimants were of Scotch descent.
      • Pension Rolls
        These lists of North Carolinians who received pensions from the British Government are believed to be complete for the years given. Not only did the names constantly change as older members died and new names were added, but the amount allowed to the same individual varied from time to time. The names certify to the loyalty of certain families within the state to the King’s cause.
  • War of 1812 Records
  • Civil War Records
    • North Carolina Civil War Map
    • Civil War Pensions Index Cards
      Each card gives the soldier’s name, unit, the application number, the certificate number and the state from which the soldier served. In some cases, the soldier’s rank, terms of service, date of death and place of death are given. The index cards refer to pension applications of veterans who served in the U.S. Army between 1861 and 1917. The majority of the records pertain to Civil War veterans, but they also include veterans of the Spanish-American War, the Philippine Insurrection, Indian wars, and World War I.
  • Spanish American War Records
  • World War 1 Records
  • World War II Records
  • Korean War Casualty List
  • Vietnam War Casualty List

North Carolina Native American Records

North Carolina Newspapers

Marriage and Death Notices 1799-1893
Indexes of marriage and death announcements compiled from five North Carolina newspapers dating 1799 to 1893. Indexes include names, dates, places. Newspapers were the Raleigh register and North Carolina State Gazette and 3 newspapers in Fayetteville.

North Carolina Vital Records

North Carolina Yearbooks

New North Carolina Genealogy

The Young family of Bristol Virginia

“The Young Family of Bristol” by Walter Jorgensen Young is a comprehensive genealogical study tracing the lineage and history of the Young family, primarily focusing on their roots in Bristol and their subsequent spread to various regions in the United States, including Virginia, North Carolina, and Kentucky. Published in 1937, this 55-page manuscript has garnered significant recognition in the field of genealogy and history, evidenced by Young’s accolades from various esteemed societies. Michael Cadet Young (b.1684/1685) emigrated in 1716 from England to what is now Columbia, South Carolina, moving shortly to Brunswick County, Virginia. Descendants and relatives lived in Virginia,…
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Genealogy of the Davidson family of the Duck River Valley

This small booklet showcases the authors research on the Davidson family of the Duck River Valley. The genealogy starts with John Davidson of Iredell, North Carolina and advances through his son, the Revolutionary War soldier William Davidson, and his wife Margaret McConnell of Buncombe County, North Carolina. Next in line, and the first to settle the Duck River Valley is John Davidson, the eldest son of William and Margaret. He and his wife Martha Davidson settled near Knob Creek, Bedford County, Tennessee. John’s brother, Hugh, and his wife Jane Vance, settled in the Duck River Valley east of Normandy in…
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Journal of Rockingham County History and Genealogy 1979-1981

The Rockingham County Historical Society in Wentworth, NC, publishes the Journal of Rockingham County History and Genealogy twice a year, in June and December. This journal includes articles about the history and genealogical resources of Rockingham County, North Carolina, and the surrounding areas. The historical articles are of high quality and extensively researched. This book covers the second three years of publication, 1979-1981. A full index can be found at the end of each individual volume. The journal is of particular significance as it contains genealogical articles featuring unpublished primary sources relevant to Rockingham County, such as local record abstracts…

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Journal of Rockingham County History and Genealogy 1976-1978

The Rockingham County Historical Society in Wentworth, NC, publishes the Journal of Rockingham County History and Genealogy twice a year, in April and October. This journal includes articles about the history and genealogical resources of Rockingham County, North Carolina, and the surrounding areas. The historical articles are of high quality and extensively researched. This book covers the first three years of publication, 1976-1978. A full index can be found at the end of each individual volume.
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Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrants

This article helps you access the Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrants for free. Following two simple steps, one to search, and the other to browse the actual microfilms, you can quickly find your ancestors Revolutionary War pension record, or Bounty-Land record and download the images. During 1800-1900 the United States issued more than 80,000 pensions and bounty-land-warrants to soldiers of the Revolutionary War, their spouse, or their children. Was your ancestor one of them?
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Genealogy of the Lewis family in America

Free: Genealogy of the Lewis family in America, from the middle of the seventeenth century down to the present time. Download the full manuscript. About the middle of the seventeenth century four brothers of the Lewis family left Wales, viz.: Samuel, went to Portugal; nothing more is known of him; William, married a Miss McClelland, and died in Ireland, leaving only one son, Andrew; General Robert, died in Gloucester county, Va. ; and John, died in Hanover county, Va. It is Andrews descendants who are featured in the manuscript.
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The Turner Family Magazine

In 1916 and 1917, William Montgomery Clemens edited a series of pamphlets called the Turner Family Magazine. It was meant to be a genealogical, historical and biographical magazine about the Turner family across the United States. That series of magazines was later published in 1920 as a complete bound volume. This is what this book is.
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The Cox family in America

Two volumes of Cox family genealogy combined as one. The first volume contains information about the various early Cox families across America. The second volume deals specifically with the descendants of James and Sarah Cock of Killingworth upon Matinecock, in the township of Oysterbay, Long Island, New York.
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Southern kith and kin; a record of my children’s ancestors

v. 1. The Locketts; v. 2. Davis family and their connections; v. 3. Major James Scarborough : his ancestors and descendants; v. 4. Family potpourri. Surnames: Aldredge, Bryans, Bullock, Clark, Davis, Eason, Gardners, Grigg, Hanson, Hill, Jones, Lockett, Osborne, Russell, Scarborough, Sims, Smith, Stovall, Stringer, Sumners, Tatom, and Tharpe.
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One Hundred Years of the Moravians in Mayodan, North Carolina 1896-1996

100 years of history of the Moravian Church and it’s members of Mayodan, North Carolina. The Moravian Church of Mayodan, North Carolina, Rockingham County was dedicated to the Glory of God on November 29, 1896. The first religious service held in the village in July 1895, under the trees near where the Church stands was the actual beginning of the Church. Howard Edward Rondthaler (now Bishop-Moravian Church Southern Province) a surveyor at the time living at the boarding house and Samuel Permania Tesh, who was also staying there, both Moravians from Winston-Salem, conducted this service. The Higgins family, who kept…
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Chronicling America Historical Newspapers

Chronicling America is a Website providing access to information about historic newspapers and select digitized newspaper pages, and is produced by the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP). NDNP, a partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Library of Congress (LC), is a long-term effort to develop an Internet-based, searchable database of U.S. newspapers with descriptive information and select digitization of historic pages. Supported by NEH, this rich digital resource will be developed and permanently maintained at the Library of Congress. An NEH award program will fund the contribution of content from, eventually, all U.S. states and…
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North Carolina World War 2 Casualties – Army, Air Force

This database contains War Department casualties (Army and Army Air Force personnel) from World War II for North Carolina. Information provided includes serial number, rank and type of casualty. The birthplace or residence of the deceased is not indicated. An introduction explaining how the list was compiled, a statistical tabulation, and the descriptions of the types of casualties incurred are also included.
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Ancestry of Moses Adams Packard of Brockton, Massachusetts

Moses Adams Packard, of Brockton, where he has been so long and so successfully engaged in the manufacture of shoes, is as well one of that city’s highly honored and respected citizens. Mr. Packard began life with little capital save boundless energy and a resolute purpose, and has pushed his way upward against almost every kind of obstacle until he now holds a foremost position among the leading manufacturers in this Commonwealth, vindicating the old saying, “Labor is king.” He was born Feb. 28, 1843, in New London, N. H., which was the home of his mother, while his father…
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Small Town Newspapers

Small Town Papers gives you free access to the people, places and events recorded in real time over the decades or even centuries! Browse and search the scanned newspaper archive from 1846 up to the current edition! Their archives contain millions of names of ancestors not found anywhere else. Enhance your Ancestry research with their high resolution scanned newspaper archive. Find distant relatives and discover your ethnic heritage by reading the articles about family and friends written back in the day.
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Ancestors of Frederick Macy of New Bedford Massachusetts

The Macy family of New Bedford is among the oldest and most prominent families of Nantucket, the name having been identified with the business interests of New Bedford for the past seventy years. The first American ancestor of the family was Thomas Macy, clothier merchant, who came, it is said, from the county of Wilts, England, and was in Newbury, Mass., a proprietor; he was a freeman of Sept. 6, 1639. He removed to Salisbury and was town officer and deputy. He removed about 1659 from there to Chilmark; his was the first family on Nantucket island. He was a…

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Hackleman Family Record

This is a transcript of the first 31 pages of Elijah Hackleman’s Scrap book No. 2. The original is in the Wabash County Indiana Historical Museum. Although material of genealogical significance is to be found throughout the scrapbook, the material following deals with the Hackleman family. Michael Hackleman was born in Germany about the year 1720. He migrated to America in the seventeenth year of his age (1737) and was bound to a Maryland, or Pennsylvania farmer for three years to pay for his passage. He finally cleared twenty-six acres of land, and squared the account. He married Mary Sailors…
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Hart Family of Orange County NC

This is a self published manuscript of the Hart Family from Orange County, North Carolina.The great ancestor of the Hart family in the United States emigrated from London about 1690 and settled in Hanover County, Virginia, where he died leaving an only son, Thomas Hart, who was about eleven years of age when his father arrived in Virginia. Of the elder Thomas little is known except that he was a merchant and probably late in life, a blind man. This manuscript begins with the son, Thomas Hart, Jr. who married Susanna Rice. After the death of Thomas Jr., Susanna and…
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Cleveland County North Carolina Colored Apprentices

A list of Colored Apprentices that have been indentured in the County Court of Cleveland County since May 1866 Underage children who were not or could not be supported by their parents or were orphans were apprenticed by Freedmen’s Bureau officials to persons who would be responsible for their upbringing and welfare.

Cleveland County North Carolina Colored Apprentices 1866-1867

Year Term Masters Names Apprentices Names
1,866May 7Eliza WeberMary McAfee
1,866May 8J. W. TracySarah Jane Watts
1,866Aug 11Elisha McBrayerJoe McBrayer
1,866Aug 11Elisha McBrayerEdmund Birchett
1,866Aug 11Elisha McBrayerHenry Birchett
1,866Aug 11Elisha McBrayerSusa Birchett
1,866Nov 7Samuel PostenHarris Posten
1,866Nov 7James LondonCephas Grigg
1,866Nov 7Daniel PostenHorace Posten
1,866Nov 9Elijah EskridgeAlbert Eskridge
1,866Nov 10L. N. DurhamWill Culver
1,866Nov 10L. N. DurhamFanny Culver
1,866Nov 10Tom McSwainJerry McSwain
1,867Feb 4W. J. T. MillerMartin Miller
1,867Feb 4David EvansJulian Cline (female)
1,867Feb 5J. G. WebbHilliary Thompson
1,867Feb 7R. M. RoarkRufus Suford
1,867May 6J. W. TracyRhoda & Donna Bordley
1,867May 8F. L. HokeLucy Bordley
1,867Aug 5D. WhisnantDick Hall
1,867Aug 5James A. WrayCharlotte Hall
1,867Aug 9W. W. GreenL. B. F. Green
1,867Aug 9W. W. GreenRiley W. Green
North CarolinaCleveland County I hereby certify that the foregoing is a true list contains the names of all colored children that have been indentured by the County Court for the County aforesaid.S. Williams, Clk.Per M. F. Williams, D. C. D. Whisnant Chm. County Court SourceNational Archives…

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Charlie Whitener’s DNA Results

Charlie Whitener (Eastern Band of Cherokees) I appreciate all your writings on southern Native Americans. My family reflects all your writings. We believed we were all northern European with a strong Cherokee heritage. My dad once lived on the reservation land in Murphy, NC But between my dad and mom and myself we reflect southern European and SE European and North Africa and Sudan and Arabia and SA and Tuscan and Italian etc. My dad has since past.   He did the National Geographic DNA test. My mom and my identical twin used the Family Tree DNA lab. However, the results…

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What Happened to the Sephardic Jewish Colonists?

There has never been a scientific study to determine the post-colonial history of the Sephardic communities in the Southern Piedmont and Appalachians. Anything that can be said must be in the realm of speculation, based on the known cultural history of the Southeast during the Colonial and Antebellum Eras. The only significant religious-based persecution in the Lower Southeast was between the Sephardic Jews and the Ashkenazi Jews from Eastern Europe. A Protestant minister in Savannah wrote, “Some Jews in Savannah complain that the Spanish and Portuguese Jews should persecute the German Jews in a way no Christian would persecute another…

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The Battle of Taliwa

Georgia historical markers and history books proudly proclaim the Great Cherokee Victory at the Battle of Taliwa, where they won all of North Georgia! The description of the conflict describes an attack on the Creek town of Taliwa by brave Cherokee warriors. They were supposedly outnumbered 3:1 and were led to victory by a teenaged Cherokee girl named Nancy Ward. The Cherokees immediately established the town of Long Swamp Creek to confirm their conquest.
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Genealogy of the Yeargan Family 1730-1890

“The Origin and Genealogy of the Yeargan Family: As Far As Heard From Up to This Date, 1890” is an early genealogy by Leonidas Hilary Yeargan and Hilary H. L. Yeargan. Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by the Publishing House of the M. E. Church, South, in 1891, this manuscript offers an account of the Yeargan family lineage as best the authors could research at the time. The primary aim of this manuscript was to document and connect the descendants of Rev. Andrew’s ten sons, grouping them into family units as they dispersed. Although some descendants remained unknown at the time…
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Choctaw Traditions – The Council Fire, The Nahullo

The faces of the Choctaw and Chickasaw men of sixty years ago were as smooth as a woman’s, in fact they had no beard. Sometimes there might be seen a few tine hairs (if hairs they might be called) here and there upon the face, but they were few and far between, and extracted with a pair of small tweezers whenever discovered. Oft have I seen a Choctaw warrior standing before a mirror seeking with untiring perseverance and unwearied eyes, as he turned his face at different angles to the glass, if by chance a hair could be found lurking…

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