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Harnett County History and Information |
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Harnett was formed in 1855 from Cumberland County. It was named in honor of Cornelius Harnett, an eminent Revolutionary patriot, president of the Provincial Council, president of the Council of Safety, delegate to the Continental Congress, and author of the Halifax Resolutions of April 12, 1776. The present land area is 595.01 square miles and the 2000 population was 91,025.
The courts were ordered to be held at Summerville until a courthouse was erected unless otherwise directed by a majority of the justices of the peace. It also named commissioners to locate the geographical center of the county, acquire the land. Lay out a town and erect the public buildings. The town was called Toomer in honor of John D. Toomer of Cumberland, a judge of the superior and of the supreme court. Many people became dissatisfied with the location, and in 1859 an act was passed to allow the voters to decide whether Toomer should remain the county seat or to select a new location. If a new site was selected, it should be called Lillington. Lillington was named in honor of Alexander Lillington. It is the county seat. The County Courthouse was destroyed in 1892 & 1894 by fire, Some records fragmented
County is bordered by Wake County (northeast), Johnston County (east), Sampson County (southeast), Cumberland County (south), Moore County (southwest), Lee County (northwest), Chatham County (northwest) . The county is divided into thirteen townships: Anderson Creek, Averasboro, Barbecue, Black River, Buckhorn, Duke, Grove, Hectors Creek, Johnsonville, Lillington, Neills Creek, Stewarts Creek, and Upper Little River. Cities, Towns and Communities include Angier, Broadway, Buies Creek (unincorporated), Coats, Dunn, Erwin, Lillington , See Extended History for More information.
The Official County Website is located at http://www.harnett.org/ .
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See Also North Carolina Land Records, Marriage Records, Court & Probate Records
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PLEASE READ!! Please call the clerk's department to confirm hours, mailing address, fees and other specifics before visiting or requesting information because of sometimes changing contact information. |
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What follows is an outline of beginning dates of extant records of each county. The beginning dates do not imply that all records are extant since some of North Carolina's county records have been lost due to fire and other causes. Find out about the Harnett Courthouse Hours and Location |
Harnett County Clerk of Superior Court has Court Records from 1875 and Probate Records from 1854 and is located at Courthouse,
729 S. Main Street,
PO Box 849 Lillington, NC 27546;
(910) 893-5046,
Fax (910) 893-3683 .
The Clerk of the Superior Court holds probate records and court records if they have not been transferred to the state archives in Raleigh. Probate records include not only wills, but also loose estates records, most of which have not been microfilmed. Court records may include apprentice bonds, bastardy bonds, and officials' or constables' bonds in addition to dockets, fee and account books, and court minutes and orders. They also have Divorce Records.
Harnett County Register of Deeds has Land Records from 1855 and Marriage Records from 1892 and is located at PO
Box 279, 724 Main Str, Lillington NC 27546; 910-893-7542,
Fax: 910-893-5577, [EMAIL] .
The register of deeds at the county seat holds land and vital records if they have not been transferred to the state archives in Raleigh. Land records may include deeds, grants, plats, and other miscellaneous items. Vital records include Birth and Marriage records.
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There are a few online databases for Court, Land and Probate Records which include: North Carolina Marriage Bonds, 1741-1868, North Carolina Marriage Collection, 1741-2000, North Carolina Birth Index, 1800-2000, North Carolina Will Abstracts, 1660-1790, North Carolina Will Abstracts, 1760-1800 and North Carolina Wills and Inventories
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Below is a list of online resources for Harnett County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Harnett County Court Records by clicking the link below:
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See Also Vital Records in North Carolina
Some documents are just too important to wait six weeks for. With VitalChek Express Certificate Service you won’t have to. Birth, Marriage, Divorce & Death Certificates Signed. Sealed. Delivered. Often in as few as three business days!
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Do not contact North Carolina Vital Records or the North Carolina State Archives, as there are no birth records prior to 1913 in a state public office.
For death certificates prior to 1930, contact the North Carolina State Archives. A few delayed death records may exist back to 1909. Prior to this, there are no death records of any sort other than wills and estate settlements in the North Carolina State Archives.
Also you can order birth and death records online quickly and easily via VitalChek
 ! Usually you recieve them in 2-5 days. |
COUNTY: Birth and Marriage Recordes and avalible from the Harnett County Register of Deeds Office. Divorce Records are available from the Harnett County Clerk of Superior Court Office. Click Here To see a list of North Carolina County Health Departments
STATE: North Carolina Vital Records is located at 1903 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1903;
(919) 733-3526 (This office does not accept FAX or e-mail orders). All Fees are listed below under "Cost".
They have the following records:
- Birth Certificates: Birth records are available from 1913 to the present.
For birth records prior to the dates listed above, contact the local Register of Deeds office in the county where the birth occurred. In order to process a request, Vital Records needs to know: Full Name on Certificate, Date of Birth, Mother's Full Maiden Name, Father's Full Name, Place (City or County) of Birth
You can download an application online for Birth Certificates. You can also order Order Electronically and get the certificates within 2-5 days by ordering HERE.
- Death Certificates: Certified copies of death records are available from 1930 to the present. For death certificates prior to 1930, contact the North Carolina State Archives. A few delayed death records may exist back to 1909. Prior to this, there are no death records of any sort other than wills and estate settlements in the North Carolina State Archives. Vital Records needs to know: Full Name of Deceased, Date of Death, Place (City or County) of Death, Date of Birth
Fees are listed below. You can download an application online for Death Certificates. You can also order Order Electronically and get the certificates within 2-5 days by ordering HERE.
- Marriage Certificates: Certified copies of Marriage records are available from 1962 to the present.
Vital Records needs to know: Full Name of Groom, Full Name of Bride, Date of Marriage, Place (City or County) Where License Was Issued. You can download an application online for Marriage Certificates. You can also order Order Electronically and get the certificates within 2-5 days by ordering HERE.
Marriages prior to 1962 should be available from the County Register of Deeds office where the marriage was performed. Fees vary.
- Divorce Certificates: Certified copies of Divorce records are available from 1958 to the present.
Vital Records needs to know: Full Name of Husband, Full Name of Wife, Date of Divorce, Place (City or County) of Divorce. You can download an application online for Divorce Certificates. You can also order Order Electronically and get the certificates within 2-5 days by ordering HERE.
If the records are not available at the North Carolina Vital Records office, they should be available from the Clerk of Superior Court in the county where the divorce was granted. Fees vary.
Cost: A fee of $15 is charged for each name searched in a five-year period, regardless of the search results as per G.S. 130A-93.1. If the record is located, one certified or uncertified copy of the record will be provided at no additional cost. Additional copies of the same record, when requested at the same time, are $5 each.
These fees are for a search, regardless of the results. Search fees are not refundable. Any additional request to search in 5-year increments for records outside of the original 5-year period will cost an additional $15 fee
How to Order: Make certified checks and money orders should be made payable to "North Carolina Vital Records". Credit Cards may be uses by using VitalChek services Please do not send cash or checks. Fees are non refundable. Additional fees are required for expedited service. Mail all Applications to: North Carolina Vital Records, 1903 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1903. You can also order Order Electronically and get the certificates within 2-5 days by ordering HERE.
In - Person Requests:
Individuals may visit the office on the first floor of the Cooper Memorial Health Building at 225 N. McDowell Street, Raleigh, N.C. between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday – Friday, except on state government holidays. Parking is available on the north (Lane Street) side of the Cooper Building. Customers should bring a valid photo ID and non-refundable $15 search fee for each request. Copies of the same certificate are $5 if requested at the same time. You will be asked to fill out an application upon arrival or you may bring a completed one with you (see above for required forms). Walk-in requests for same day service are subject to an additional $15 expedited services fee and will usually be fulfilled in about one hour. Customers are encouraged to leave completed requests forms with us for a mailed response to avoid the extra fee for same day services.
Below is a list of online resources for Harnett County Vital Records. Email us with websites containing Harnett County Vital Records by clicking the link below:
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See Also Research In Census Records
Countywide Records: Federal Population Schedules that exist for Harnett County, North Carolina are 1860, 1870, 1880, 1890 (fragment, see below), 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930. Other Federal Schedules to look at when researching your family tree in Harnett County, North Carolina are Industry and Agriculture Schedules availible for the years 1860, 1870 and 1880. Slave Schedules exist for 1860. The Mortality Schedules for the years 1860, 1870 and 1880.
See Also Statewide Records that exist for
North Carolina
Below is a list of online resources for Harnett County Census Records. Email us with websites containing Harnett County Census Records by clicking the link below:
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North Carolina Antique Maps & Atlases has images of old American atlases during the years 1795, 1814, 1822, 1823, 1836, 1838, 1845, 1856, 1866, 1879 and 1897 for North Carolina and other states.
You can view rotating animated maps for North Carolina showing all the county boundaries for each census year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries. You can view a list of maps for other states at Census Maps
You can view rotating animated maps for North Carolina showing all the county boundary changes for each year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries . You can view a list of maps for other states and State Department of Transportation Maps at County Maps. The North Carolina Department of Transportation has county maps the show the locations of churches, cemeteries, roads, ect... free for viewing or download here
Official NCDOT County Maintenance Maps are being generated into TIF and PDF. In each county, sheet number "1" always shows the entire county. Each supplemental sheet shows area insets, usually congested areas. A sheet key is shown for any county that requires more than 2 sheets.
Harnett County D.O.T. Maps
TIFs  [1] - [2]
PDFs [1] - [2]
Excellent maps, atlases, and gazetteers for North Carolina are
readily available. The best gazetteer available for North Carolina
is William Stevens Powell, The North Carolina Gazetteer : A Dictionary
of Tar Heel Places (Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina
Press, 1968). The Gazetteer includes historical definitions,
derivations of place-names, and exact locations. It is cross-indexed
well and gives references for the first use of place-names.
An important historical publication is Richard Edwards, ed.,
Statistical gazetteer of the states of Virginia and North Carolina
(Richmond, Va.: Published for the Proprietor, 1856). There are
several excellent atlases and map guides available for North
Carolina.
Below is a list of online resources for Harnett County Maps. Email us with websites containing Harnett County Maps by clicking the link below:
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See Also Military Records in North Carolina
The uses and value of military records in genealogical research for ancestors who were veterans are obvious, but military records can also be important to re-searchers whose direct ancestors were not soldiers in any war. The fathers, grandfathers, brothers, and other close relatives of an ancestor may have served in a war, and their service or pension records could contain information that will assist in further identifying the family of primary interest. Due to the amount of genealogical information contained in some military pension files, they should never be overlooked during the research process. Those records not containing specific genealogical information are of historic value and should be included in any overall research design.
Below is a list of online resources for Harnett County Military Records. Email us with websites containing Harnett County Military Records by clicking the link below:
- Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783 from the State of NorthCarolina (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents in NARA publication M246 include muster rolls, payrolls, strength returns, and other miscellaneous personnel, pay, and supply records of American Army units, 1775-83.
- Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War from the State of NorthCarolina (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents in NARA publication M246 include muster rolls, payrolls, strength returns, and other miscellaneous personnel, pay, and supply records of American Army units, 1775-83.
- Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files from the State of NorthCarolina (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, from NARA publication M804.
- Southern Claims Commission from the State of NorthCarolina (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents In the 1870s, southerners claimed compensation from the U.S. government for items used by the Union Army, ranging from corn and horses, to trees and church buildings.
- Organization Index to Pension Files of Veterans Who Served Between 1861 and 1900 from the State of NorthCarolina (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Pension applications for service in the U.S. Army between 1861 and 1917, grouped according to the units in which the veterans served.
- Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of North Carolina (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Compiled service records of Confederate soldiers from North Carolina units, labeled with each soldier's name, rank, and unit, with links to revealing documents about each soldier.
- Harnett County, North Carolina Military Books at Amazon.com
- North Carolina Society, Daughters of the American Revolution
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See Also Research In Tax Records
That all governments require money to operate was well known to those who established North Carolina's civil administration. They decided to follow existing methods of taxation by placing levies on people. Prior to 1777, people who were taxed were usually called taxables, tithables, or polls; in essence they were paying a head tax. A 1715 law enacted by the general assembly defined taxables as all free males sixteen years of age and over and all slaves, male and female, aged twelve and over. The law was revised in 1749 and included all white males aged sixteen and over, as well as negroes, mulattoes, mustees or octoroons (offspring of a white and a quadroon), and all persons of mixed blood to the fourth generation, both male and female, who were twelve years of age and older.
Tax rules remained fairly constant from 1749 until 1777 when the state began applying different criteria, such as restricting the poll tax to freemen who did not own a minimum amount of property, exempting soldiers, changing the minimum age to twenty-one, or taxing only unmarried men. By 1784 the legislature settled on taxing freemen and male servants twenty-one and over and all slaves (male and female) between twelve and fifty. In 1801 all free males over fifty were exempted from the poll tax, and then in 1817 the exemption age was lowered to forty-five. A constitutional amendment in 1835 set age limits at twenty-one to forty-five for free males and twelve to fifty for slaves. The constitution of 1868 included all males between the ages of twenty-one and fifty. Poll taxes were abolished in North Carolina in 1970. Property taxes were levied in North Carolina from 1715 through 1722 and then abolished. They were reinstated in 1777 and remain in effect today.
North Carolina tax lists have survived better than those for many states. The lists date from the first decade of the eighteenth century to the present. Microfilmed copies are available at the North Carolina State Archives and FHL, the Many transcriptions are found in the pages of North Carolina's periodicals
Below is a list of online resources for Harnett County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Harnett County Tax Records by clicking the link below:
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See Also Other North Carolina Genealogical Addresses
The Repositories
in this section are Archives, Libraries, Museums, Genealogical
and Historical Societies. Many County Historical and Genealogical
Societies publish magazines and/or news letters on a monthly,
quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis. Contacting the local societies
should not be over looked. State Archives and Societies are
usually much larger and better organized with much larger archived
materials than their smaller county cousins but they can be
more generalized and over look the smaller details that local
societies tend to have. Libraries can also be a good place to
look for local information. Some libraries have a genealogy
section and may have some resources that are not located at
archives or societies. Also, take a special look at any museums
in the area. They sometimes have photos and items from years
gone by as well as information of a genealogical interest. All
these places are vitally important to the family genealogist
and must not be passed over.
Below is a list of online resources for Harnett County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Harnett County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:
- Harnett County Genealogical Society,
P.O. Box 219, Buies Creek NC 27506-0219
- Local North Carolina Researchers, Find a local researcher or become a local researcher.
- North Carolina Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 22, Greenville, NC 27835.
- North
Carolina State Archives,
Office of Archives and
History—State Library Building
Public Services Branch,
Mail Service Center 4614,
Raleigh, N.C. 27699-4614
Phone: (919) 807-7310, Fax: (919) 733-1354, [EMAIL]
- State Library of North Carolina, 109 East Jones Street, Raleigh, NC 27601-2807; (919) 733-7222, (919) 733-3270
- North Carolina Newspapers & Periodicals Records - Newspapers and periodicals are the diaries of local communities. They are excellent sources of family history details - often recorded nowhere else. Look for obituaries, marriages, legal notices, and more found in our Historical Newspaper Archives.
- North Carolina Genealogical Society Books at Amazon.com
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See Also Church & Cemetery Records in North Carolina
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Click Here to Search North Carolina Obituary Records! - This database is a compilation of obituaries published in U.S. newspapers, collected from various online sources. Obituaries can vary in the amount of information they contain, but many of them are genealogical goldmines, including information such as names, dates, places of birth and death, marriage information, and family relationships. |
There are many churches and cemeteries in Harnett County. Some transcriptions are online. A great site is the Harnett County Tombstone Transcription Project.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation has county maps the show the locations of churches and cemeteries free for viewing or download here.
Early denominations present in North Carolina in fewer numbers include Baptist, Methodist, Lutherans, Catholics, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, and Congregationalists. While their respective repositories house historical records, the North Carolina State Archives has a good collection of church records on microfilm. Consult the holdings of other major genealogical libraries with southern collections for additional sources, including the FHL.
Below is a list of online resources for Harnett County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Harnett County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:
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When view family trees online or not, be sure to only take the info at face value and always follow up with your own sources or verify the ones they provide. Below is a list of online resources for Harnett County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information . Email us with websites containing Harnett County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:
- Search 60 Years Of Everton Data: For the first time ever you can get access to more than 150,000 pedigree files and family group sheets from Evertons. Learn More
- Search the Family Tree DNA Project- Use DNA testing to break through your genealogical barriers!
- Sites on USGenweb: [ Harnett County ] [ North Carolina ] [ Main Page ]
- [GenForum Message Boards] [Rootsweb Message Boards]
- Genealogy Encyclopedia: General Abbreviations, Early Illnesses, Nickname Meanings, Worldwide Epidemics, Early Occupations, Common Terms, Censuses Explained, Free Genealogical Forms
- Nichols and Related Families of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virgina.
- Meet your ancestors. Learn their stories. Start your FREE family tree.
- North Carolina Family & Local History Records - The Family & Local Histories Collection lets you read journals, memoirs, and other first-hand historical narratives right on your computer. Gathered from some of the world's finest libraries, these materials may provide hard-to-find town, county, and state information; tax records and wills; military, church, and court records; as well as photographs, stories, and maps.
- Genealogical Document Search and Retrieval Service
- Harnett County, North Carolina Family Books at Amazon.com
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