Volume 1 of the Colonial Records of North Carolina details the early colonial history of North Carolina, specifically focusing on the Albemarle settlement and the years 1662-1712. It challenges previously accepted historical accounts by offering detailed insights into the timeline and nature of initial European presence, including pre-1663 settlements and the varying origins of land claims. The text also examines the evolution of governmental structures, from early, somewhat disorganized approaches to the formal establishment of distinct county and provincial administrations. Furthermore, it addresses controversies surrounding religious groups like the Quakers, clarifying their role and influence, and meticulously disputes historical inaccuracies regarding events such as the Culpeper and Cary Rebellions, as well as the ongoing boundary dispute with Virginia. Finally, the source sheds light on significant legislative acts and social policies that shaped the colony, often contrasting North Carolina’s approaches with those of neighboring Virginia and South Carolina.
Colonial Records of North Carolina, Volume 1
The Colonial Records of North Carolina is a ten-volume series that presents the official documentary history of North Carolina from its earliest days of settlement through the close of the colonial era in 1776. Compiled under the direction of historian William L. Saunders and published between 1886 and 1890, these volumes contain transcriptions of letters, proclamations, legislative proceedings, council minutes, correspondence with the Crown, and other government records drawn from British and American repositories.
For genealogists, the Colonial Records of North Carolina is an important resource as it contains some of the earliest documentary evidence of individuals and families living in the colony from the late 1600s to the Revolutionary era. While it is not a collection of compiled genealogies or vital records in the modern sense, it includes numerous references to people in official, legal, and civic contexts—often the only existing records of early North Carolinians.