North Carolina Census Records -   Statewide Records:Federal Censuses exist for North Caolina for the years 1790, 1800, 1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1890 (fragment, see below), 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930. The North Carolina State Archives has either bound original copies or microfilm copies of the extant federal censuses of North Carolina. The 1790 Census of North Carolina is complete except for Caswell, Granville, and Orange counties. The 1810 U.S. census of North Carolina is complete except for Craven, Greene, New Hanover, and Wake counties. The 1820 census is missing Currituck, Franklin, Martin, Montgomery, Randolph, and Wake counties. Those schedules surviving for the 1890 population schedules are South Point and River Ben townships in Gaston County and Township No. 2 in Cleveland County.

See Also Researching in Census Records - What is the name, age, sex, color, occupation, and birthplace of each person residing in this house? Which of these individuals attended school or was married within the year? Who among them is deaf and dumb, blind, insane, “idiotic,” a pauper, or a convict? Is there anyone in the household over twenty years of age who cannot read and write? What is the name of the slave owner? How many slaves belong to the owner? What is the tribe of this Indian? What were the places of birth of the person’s parents? In what year did this person immigrate to the United States and, if naturalized, what was the year of naturalization? For answers to these and other questions, researchers look to census records......

  Apparently there was no colonial census of North Carolina, but tax records, used judiciously, may be substituted. A census was conducted in 1775 by direction of the Continental Congress, and the enumeration of Pitt County has survived.  In 1784 the North Carolina General Assembly requested that a list of inhabitants be taken. Age and sex categories for whites and blacks are included. Compliance was slow and apparently incomplete, with some counties not responding until 1786. There is some evidence that another census was conducted in 1787; the so-called 1784–87 state census may be two censuses intermingled. Additional portions of the 1784–87 censuses have been located since the Register's publication

   Federal Schedules to look at when researching your family tree in the State of North Carolina are Industry and Agriculture Schedules which are availible for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. Slave Schedules exist for 1850 & 1860. The Mortality Schedules for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880.

Excerpts From the Book "Family History Made Easy"

   There are numerous ways to determine the location in which to concentrate research for an ancestor. One of the most popular and productive is the census.
Alice Eichholz, Ph.D., In Ancestry’s Red Book: American State,County and Town Sources

    Since 1790, the U.S. government has taken a nationwide population count every ten years. Unique in scope and often surprisingly detailed, the census population schedules created from 1790 to 1920 are among the most used of records created by the federal government. Over the course of two centuries the United States has changed significantly, and so has the census. From the six basic questions asked in the 1790 census, the scope and categories of information have changed and expanded dramatically.

   Early censuses were essentially basic counts of inhabitants; but as the nation grew, so did the need for statistics that would reflect the characteristics of the people. In 1850, the focus of the census was radically broadened. Going far beyond the vague questions previously asked of heads of households, the 1850 census enumerators were instructed to ask the age, sex, color, occupation, birthplace, and other questions regarding every individual in every household. Succeeding enumerations solicited more information; by 1920, census enumerators asked twenty-nine questions of every head of household and almost as many questions of everyone else in the residence. (Only a very small segment of the 1890 census remains; a fire in the Commerce Department destroyed the vast majority of the original records for that year. Because of privacy considerations, census records less than seventy-two years old are not available to the general public; thus, the 1920 census is the most recent available to the public.)

   Few, if any, records reveal as many details about individuals and families as do the U.S. federal censuses. The population schedules are successive “snapshots” of Americans that depict where and how they were living at particular periods in the past. Once home sources and library sources have been exhausted, the census is often the best starting point for further genealogical research. Statewide indexes (see “Indexes,” below) are available for almost every census; they are logical tools for locating individuals whose precise place of residence is unknown. While some inaccuracies are to be expected in census records, they still provide some of the most fascinating and useful pieces of personal history to be found in any source. If nothing else, census records are important sources for placing individuals in specific places at specific times. Additionally, information found in the census will often point to other sources critical to complete research, such as court, land, military, immigration, naturalization, and vital records.

   The importance of census records does not diminish over time in any research project. It is always wise to return to these records as discoveries are made in other sources because, as you discover new evidence about individuals, some information that seemed unrelated or unimportant in a first look at the census may take on new importance.

   When you can’t find family, vital, or religious records, census records may be the only means of documenting the events of a person’s life. Vital registration—the official recording of births, deaths, and marriages—did not begin until around 1920 in many areas of the United States, and fires, floods and other disasters since have destroyed some official government records. When other documentation is missing, census records are frequently used by individuals who must prove their age or citizenship status (or that of their parents) for Social Security benefits, insurance, passports, and other important reasons.

How to Find Census Records
   All available federal census schedules (those made from 1790 to 1920) have been microfilmed and are available at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.; at the National Archives’ regional archives; at the Family History Library of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS church) in Salt Lake City and LDS family history centers throughout North America (see chapter 8, “The Family History Library and Its Centers”); at many large libraries; in genealogical society libraries; and through companies that lend microfilmed records. Some state and local agencies have census schedules for the state or area they serve. Generally, microfilm copies may be borrowed through interlibrary loan.

Starting With the Census
   It is usually best to begin a census search in the most recently available census records (1920) and to work from what is already known about a family. With any luck, birthplaces and other clues found in these more recent records will point to locations of earlier residence.

Back to top

North Carolina Church Records

See Also Research In State Church & Cemetery Records - Church records rank among the most promising of genealogical records available. Indeed, for periods before the advent of civil registration of vital statistics (a very late development in many American states), church records rank as the best available sources for information on specific vital events: birth, marriage, and death. They are also among the most under-used major records in American genealogy. Part of the reason lies in the number of denominations-there are hundreds of them. Identifying and locating the records of these various churches makes even professional genealogists hesitate......

Baptist - The Baptists reached North Carolina during the mid-eighteenth century, and the Sandy Creek Church, called the “Mother of Southern Baptist Churches,” was founded in 1755. Over the next two centuries, the Baptist church became the leading religious denomination in the state. Baptist church records do not offer the wealth of information found in Quaker or Moravian records, but useful historical details and migrational clues sometimes are found in their records. Many types of Baptist churches split off from the host denomination.

The principal depository of Baptist records is the Baptist Historical Collection of the Z. Smith Reynolds Library at Wake Forest University. Write to P.O. Box 7777, Reynolds Station, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27106. For records of the Free-Will Baptists, write to the Free-Will Baptist Historical Collection, Moye Library, Mount Olive Junior College, Mount Olive, North Carolina 28365. Primitive Baptist records are found at the Primitive Baptist Library, Route 2, Elon College, North Carolina 27244.

Lutheran - Lutheranism came into North Carolina with the Germans who first arrived in Pennsylvania early in the eighteenth century and then moved into Virginia's Shenandoah Valley before continuing south to North Carolina, where they joined the descendants of the Germanna colonists from Orange and Spotsylvania counties of north-central Virginia. Write to Archives of the North Carolina Synod, P.O. Box 2049, Salisbury, North Carolina 28144.
Church of England

The second denomination to establish a congregation in North Carolina was the Church of England in 1700. As elsewhere, that group became known as Episcopalians some years after the American Revolution. There are no surviving eighteenth century Church of England parish registers for North Carolina.

Quakers - William Edmundson and George Fox were Quaker missionaries who brought the Society of Friends (Quakers) to North Carolina in 1672. The tide of Quaker migration from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia was enough to make the Society of Friends one of the larger religious group in North Carolina during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. By the start of the Civil War, the majority of Quaker families had moved to Ohio and Indiana where they hoped to escape the effects of slavery and the conflict they thought it would cause. Quakers kept excellent records, and originals of the North Carolina monthly meeting minutes and records are among the Quaker Collection at Guilford College Library in Greensboro, North Carolina. The collection consists of over 6,000 manuscript volumes of minutes and records from 1680 to the present. Early records from monthly meetings in East Tennessee, Georgia, and South Carolina that were affiliated with the North Carolina Yearly Meeting also are found there. Many North Carolina Quaker records are published in part in William W. Hinshaw, Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy, Vol. 1: North Carolina Yearly Meeting (1936; reprint, Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1978).

Moravian - Known also as United Brethren, a group from Pennsylvania purchased nearly 100,000 acres in 1753 and called the tract “Wachovia.” Their first three towns were Bethabara, Bethlehem, and Salem. They, like the Quakers, kept excellent records. Write the Moravian Archives, Southern Province of the Moravian Church in America, Drawer M, Salem Station, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27108. The collection contains historical books and manuscripts concerning Moravians in North Carolina. Early congregational diaries have been translated and published in Adelaide L. Fries, et al., eds., The Records of the Moravians in North Carolina, 11 vols (Raleigh, N.C.: State Department of Archives and History, 1922–69).

Presbyterian - Presbyterianism came with the Highland Scots families who settled in the Cape Fear River area in the 1730s and the Scots-Irish who came down into North Carolina from Pennsylvania and Virginia. Write to the Presbyterian Historical Foundation, P.O. Box 847, Montreat, North Carolina 27410.

Other - A plethora of religious groups exists in North Carolina today, but few of them were influential during the state's early history. The Presbyterians, Lutherans, and the Moravians constituted the largest minority denominations during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

North Carolina Cemetery Records - An index to many pre-1914 gravestone inscriptions in North Carolina cemeteries is in the Search Room at the North Carolina State Archives. A microfilm copy of the index is available at the FHL.

   Cemetery records and gravestone inscriptions are a rich source of information for family historians. Cemetery and other sources of information associated with death include:

Back to top

North Carolina Land Records - The availability of land helped attract settlers to North Carolina. Until the border survey was begun in 1728, grants of land in North Carolina occasionally were made by Virginia. Surviving Virginia grants may be found in Nell Marion Nugent, Cavaliers and Pioneers : Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, 3 vols. (1934; reprint, Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1983).

See Also Researching in Land Records - Land records provide two types of important evidence for the genealogist. Prior to the Civil War, more than eighty-five percent of all Americans owned or leased land. Therefore, almost every researcher, whether a seasoned professional or weekend hobbyist, has required land records to document the existence, association, or movement of an individual or ancestral family. Most beginning genealogists underestimate the importance of using land records to pin persons to specific locales. In the South, which has far fewer vital records than New England, the land records are even more crucial to genealogical success. For answers to these and other questions, researchers look to Land records......

   The process of patenting land in North Carolina was not complex. The person wishing to patent land first made application, also called a land entry, to a land office. The land officer then issued a warrant. Land officers included the secretary of state (1669–1776), the agents of Earl Granville (1748–76), or the county entry taker (1778–present). The warrant was taken to a surveyor who surveyed the land and sketched a plat (map) of the claim. The plat was then filed in the land office or, after 1777, recorded by the county register of deeds, and a patent for the land was issued and recorded. The land grants of North Carolina are indexed in the Master Card File Index to North Carolina Land Grants, 1679–1959, available from the Land Grant Office, Office of the Secretary of State, 300 North Salisbury Street, Raleigh, North Carolina 27603. When writing, furnish the full name of the grantee and the county in which the grant was made.

  During the proprietary period (1663–1729) the Lords Proprietors relied on a headright system to distribute land grants. The standard headright of fifty acres per person established in Virginia was adopted in the Carolinas about 1697; before that time a sliding scale was used that granted one hundred acres to heads of families but only six acres to women servants when their terms expired. The governor also was allowed to sell tracts of 640 acres or less to those without headrights, or who had used their headrights for free land. To keep people in North Carolina, the assembly forbade the sale of headrights until the claimant had been in the colony for two years. The proprietary land patents are available at the North Carolina State Archives and on microfilm at the FHL. See Margaret M Hofmann, Province of North Carolina: 1663–1729, Abstracts of Land Patents (Weldon, N.C.: Roanoke News Co., 1983), for abstracts of over 3,400 land patents made between 1663 and 1729. See Jo White Linn and Thornton W. Mitchell, “Headrights in North Carolina,” The North Carolina Genealogical Society Journal 15 (February 1989): 2–11, for detailed information on the headright system used in North Carolina. Seven of the original proprietary shares were sold to King George II in 1729, and North Carolina became a royal colony. Only John Carteret, second Earl Granville, chose not to sell the share he had inherited. The Crown continued the headright system instituted by the Lords Proprietors, but modified the system in 1741 to allow one hundred acres for the head-of-household. The Crown land office first opened in 1735, six years after the Crown purchased the province. Abstracts of Crown land patents are in Margaret M Hofmann, Colony of North Carolina, 1735–1764, Abstracts of Land Patents and Colony of North Carolina, 1765–1775, Abstracts of Land Patents (Weldon, N.C.: Roanoke News Co., 1983–84).

The Granville District, an area that encompassed the upper half of present-day North Carolina, was created and partially surveyed in 1744 for John Carteret, second Earl Granville. Unlike the early proprietors, Granville owned all unsettled lands but had no right to govern the area. Earl Granville never visited North Carolina, but appointed agents there as representatives to grant land, collect rents, and conduct his business. The Granville land office opened in 1748. See Margaret M Hofmann, The Granville District of North Carolina 1748-1763: Abstracts of Land Grants, Vol. 1– (Roanoke Rapids, N.C.: the author, 1986– ), which is a continuing project, presently with four volumes. The Granville land records are indexed in full in the Lord Granville Index in the Land Grant Office of the Secretary of State. The North Carolina State Archives also has a group of Granville land office records in the Granville Grant Card File.

After the Revolutionary War the state of North Carolina granted land formerly owned by the Crown and Earl Granville. A settler could claim as much as 640 acres of unsettled land for himself and an additional hundred acres for his wife and each minor child for a fee of two pounds ten shillings per hundred acres. If the amount of land claimed exceeded the above allotment, the additional land cost five pounds per hundred acres. Most of the state grants have been microfilmed and are available at the North Carolina State Archives and the FHL, along with grants made in Tennessee to veterans who served in the Revolutionary War .

When land was sold by individuals, the transaction generally was recorded in county deed books. Most deed books are partially indexed, but, to facilitate research, most North Carolina counties also have general indexes to grantees and grantors. Descriptions of land follow the “metes and bounds” survey system. Copies of deeds may be obtained from the county register of deeds, but many North Carolina county records have been microfilmed and are available at the North Carolina State Archives and the FHL. Additionally, many early North Carolina deed books have been abstracted and published. Copies of these publications may be found in libraries with genealogical collections.

• Land Records from All States
• Search County Property Records
• Search County Land Patents

Excerpts From the Book "Family History Made Easy"

   Prior to the Civil War, more than eighty-five percent of all Americans owned or leased land. Therefore, almost every researcher, whether a seasoned professional or weekend hobbyist, has required land records to document the existence, association, or movement of an individual or ancestral family. While many researchers may feel a sense of historical excitement when finding an ancestor in a land deed, many also fail to understand the importance of such a document and how land can be used to make vital links between generations; they are not aware that it can bridge distant origins and help solve even the most difficult problems. E. Wade Hone, In Land and Property Research in the United States

U.S. House of Representative Private Claims, Vol. 1, Vol. 2 or Vol. 3

   The right to own land has always been one of the great incentives for living in the United States. Yet researchers often overlook the importance of land records as a source of family history information. Written evidence of people’s entitlement goes back in time further than virtually any other type of record family historians might use.

   Land records meet the needs of researchers in different ways and contain a variety of genealogical and historical data. They are a major source of information for many family histories and provide primary source material for local history as well. They are closely related to probate and other official court records and should be investigated in connection with them. Land and property are leading issues in the settlement of estates, and the majority of civil cases in the courts deal with real and personal property. Although land records rarely yield vital statistics, in many instances they provide the only proof of family relationships. Often they include the names of heirs of an estate (including daughters’ married names and a widow’s subsequent married name) and refer to related probates and other court cases by number and court name. In some places where other records are scarce, the land records take on extra importance. Occasionally these documents disclose former residences and more often provide the new address of the grantors or heirs at the time of the sale of the property.

   Land records provide two types of important evidence for the family historian. First, they often document family relationships. Second, they place individuals in a specific time and place, allowing the researcher to sort people and families into neighborhoods and closely related groups. One of land records’ most important qualities is that they are sometimes the only records that allow us to distinguish one person of a common name from another.

   The National Archives has bounty-land warrant files, donation land entry files, homestead application files, and private land claim files relating to the entry of individual settlers on land in the public land states. There are no land records for the original thirteen states or for Maine, Vermont, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas, and Hawaii. Records for these states are maintained by state officials, usually in the state capital. Searching for the record of a particular land grant from the federal government requires contacting both the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the National Archives (NARA).

Back to top

North Carolina Military Records - North Carolina's war record begins with the Chowanoc Indian War (1675–77) and continues with the Tuscarora Indian War (1711–15), but virtually no records survive to tell of the participants. Then came the War of Jenkins's Ear (1739–44) and King George's War (1744–48) between England, France, and Spain. Some North Carolinians served in these wars, but only a few muster rolls remain. The French and Indian War began in 1755 and ended in 1763; that North Carolinians served in this war is certain, but little remains to document a soldier's service. The surviving muster rolls and militia officer lists are available at the North Carolina State Archives and are published in Murtie June Clark, Colonial Soldiers of the South, 1732-1774 (Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1986).

See Also Researching in Military Records - 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.......

An unindexed, printed Roster of the North Carolina Volunteers in the Spanish American War is available in the Search Room of the North Carolina State Archives.

For a more in-depth look at how military, veterans', and pension records apply in North Carolina, see George Stevenson, “Military Records” and Raymond A. Winslow, Jr., “Military Service and Veterans Records” in Leary and Stirewalt, North Carolina Research.

The site U.S. Wars list conflicts dating from earliest to 1865. Wars covered that are availibele are:

Revolutionary War -  Some of the original service records for the Revolutionary War were destroyed by fire, but those remaining are on file at the National Archives, compiled primarily from rosters and rolls of soldiers serving in North Carolina's militia units. See the published list of Roster of Soldiers from North Carolina in the American Revolution (1932; reprint, Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1977). However, the comprehensive index to Revolutionary War Records on fifty-eight reels of microfilm is available at the National Archives and its branches, the FHL and its branches, and other selected libraries.

Search Revolutionary War 1775-83 Service Records, Rejected Pensions, Loyalists Records, 1775-1783 Pay Rolls, Courts-Martial, Officers, Pension Index, 1841 Pensioner Census

The new states were required to raise quotas of soldiers to serve in the Continental Line during the Revolutionary War, and land was offered as an inducement. North Carolinians who volunteered to serve for at least two years were given bounty-land warrants that could be exchanged for land in what was to become Tennessee. The North Carolina State Archives has records of soldiers serving in the Continental Line.

Many North Carolinians remained loyal to the Crown during the Revolutionary War. See Murtie June Clark, Loyalists in the Southern Campaign of the Revolutionary War, Volume I : Official Rolls of Loyalists Recruited from North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, and Louisiana (Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1980).

Below is a list of online resources for North Carolina in the Revolutionary War. Email us with websites containing information on North Carolina in the Revolutionary War by clicking the link below:

• North Carolina  Loyalists During the American Revolution
• Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783 from the State of North Carolina (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 North Carolina (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents in NARA publication M881. Compiled service records of soldiers who served in the American Army during the Revolutionary War, 1775-1783.
• Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files from the State of North Carolina (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, from NARA publication M804.
• North Carolina Loyalists During the American Revolution

War of 1812 & Indian Wars - Information included in service records for the War of 1812 is similar to that in the same records of soldiers in the Revolutionary War. Muster Rolls of the Soldiers of the War of 1812 Detached from the Militia of North Carolina in 1812 and 1814. With an Added Index (1851; reprint, Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1976) is the most comprehensive list available of soldiers from North Carolina. Unfortunately, Muster Rolls contains many errors and must be carefully verified in original records. There are War of 1812 pay vouchers for twenty-eight counties arranged alphabetically and an alphabetical list of all vouchers available in the Search Room of the North Carolina State Archives.

Below is a list of online resources for North Carolina in the War of 1812. Email us with websites containing information on North Carolina in the War of 1812 by clicking the link below:

• ?

Civil War -  Many service records are available at the North Carolina State Archives, including enlistment bounty payrolls. The most comprehensive publication on North Carolina's Confederate soldiers is Louis H. Manarin and Weymouth T. Jordan, comps., North Carolina Troops 1861-1865, A Roster, 12 vols. (Raleigh, N.C.: State Department of Archives and History, 1981–present). North Carolina Troops includes both unit histories and some excellent biographies.

Search Civil War Soldiers, Service Records, Regiments, General Officers, Battle Summaries, Pension Index: 1861-1934, CSA Field Officers and the War of the Rebellion

North Carolina offered pensions to Confederate veterans and their widows beginning in 1885. The 1885 pension law offered pensions to veterans and widows of veterans disabled by the loss of a limb or an eye; an 1887 amendment provided pensions for widows of veterans who died of disease while serving the Confederacy. A new law was enacted in 1889 and revised in 1901 that required a twelve-month residence in North Carolina and required that widows had married the veteran before April 1865. Original pension records and the accompanying index are available at the North Carolina State Archives; the index is available on microfilm at the FHL.

No comprehensive list of North Carolina's Confederate or Union soldiers has been compiled. The site www.mycivilwar.com has a list of unit and histories for North Carolina.

Below is a list of online resources for North Carolina in the Civil War. Email us with websites containing information on North Carolina in the Civil War by clicking the link below:

• US Colored Troop regiments formed in North Carolina
• Southern Claims Commission from the State of North Carolina (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 North Carolina (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.
• Case Files of Applications from Former Confederates for Presidential Pardons ("Amnesty Papers"), 1865-67 from the State of North Carolina (The National Archives): NARA M1003. View, Print Copy & Save Original Applications for pardon submitted to President Andrew Johnson, 1865-67, by former Confederates excluded from earlier amnesty proclamations.
• US Colored Troop regiments formed in North Carolina

Excerpts From the Book "Family History Made Easy"

   Military and pension records are among the most useful sources available to genealogists because of the detail they offer. These records are important because they may provide an ancestor’s date of birth, place of residence, the names and addresses of family members, and other details that can round out a picture of his or her life. Judith Prowse Reid, Head, Local History and Genealogy, Library of Congress

   Military records have originated at the federal, state, and local levels. Whether created in time of war or in time of peace, these records provide unique facts and insights into the lives of men and women who have served in the military forces of the United States. Almost every American family, in one generation or another, has seen one or more of its members serve in America’s armed forces. From regimental histories, which provide blow-by-blow accounts of a unit’s participation in military actions, to the personal details contained in the service and pension files of individual men and women, military records provide valuable information concerning a large and significant portion of the American population. And because military records have been preserved and made available at and through a number of research institutions, much information awaits the well-prepared researcher.

How to Find Military Records
   To locate military records for any individual, it is essential to know when and where in the armed forces he or she served and whether that person served in the enlisted ranks or was an officer. (If you don’t have that identifying information, some potential solutions are discussed below.)
As in any research project, it is important to study carefully whatever is already known about the subject of interest. Families and communities frequently pass down stories of military heroes from generation to generation. In most cases, these stories retain some fact, but, with the passage of years and in the process of retelling, accuracy fades. At any rate, family stories should not be overlooked for clues at the start of a military search.

   When and where did the individual live? Did the family keep evidence of military service? Certificates, letters, journals, diaries, scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, photographs, medals, swords, and other memorabilia kept in private collections may provide the basic facts needed to begin searching in military record collections.

Military Time Lines
   Creating a historical time line can be especially useful for determining if and when the subject might have served in the military. By compiling a chronological list of the known dates and places of residence of an individual from birth through adulthood, it is frequently easy to discover the possibility of military service. Was the individual the right age to be eligible for the draft or to serve voluntarily in the Civil War? Is it likely that the person served on the Northern rather than the Southern side, or vice versa? For records from the colonial period to more recent military engagements, the place of residence is key to finding an individual’s records.

Evidence of Military Service in Hometown Records
   There are a number of public records that are potentially valuable in discovering the military history of a veteran. It has been a long-standing American tradition to foster patriotism by honoring local sons and daughters who have defended the ideals of their country. Hometown military heroes are frequently noted on public monuments, and local newspaper files may yield surprisingly detailed accounts of a community’s well-known and less-famous military personnel.

Military History
   Commercial enterprises and historically oriented groups and institutions have regularly published local histories. As a rule, these histories will include glowing accounts of the area’s involvement in military activities. Some volumes provide biographical sketches of military leaders, while others attempt to list all of the community’s participants in various military conflicts. Locally focused histories have been published at various times for virtually every state and county in the United States. Do not overlook them as an important research aid. P. William Filby’s A Bibliography of American County Histories is a list of five thousand such sources.

   In addition to the standard histories, local public libraries and historical societies usually preserve and make available other types of publications that document the military history of the geographical areas they serve. Historical agencies collect biographies, letters, diaries, journals, and all sorts of memorabilia from military units and servicemen and -women. The personal accounts found in some collections are a fascinating means of stepping back in time. Firsthand accounts afford a better understanding of the day-to-day drudgery, loneliness, fears, and satisfactions of military life.

Evidence of Military Service in Cemeteries
   Cemeteries provide yet another local source of information regarding individuals who served in the armed forces. Almost every cemetery in the United States contains some evidence of military events and veterans. Cemetery records and grave markers frequently identify military dead by name, rank, and unit designation. If a man or woman died elsewhere while in the service, the body was frequently brought home for burial; cemetery records often note the place and date of death.

Evidence of Military Service in Court Records
   Court records are yet another potential source for identifying those who served in the military. Most counties formally recorded and indexed the names of their citizens who were discharged from the military. In some local courts, “military discharges” will be found indexed separately, and in others the military records may be oddly interspersed with deeds, naturalizations, or other categories of documents. The contents of military records may vary greatly from one courthouse to another. Some will provide biographical information, while others may simply list names and the event or names and date of certificate issue.

Military Records in the National Archives
   Federal military documents that have been classified as archival material are in the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration. Not all records created by military agencies are judged to be permanently valuable. Generally, only records of historical or administrative importance are kept.

   A wonderful array of federal military records are available in major libraries and archives and through microfilm rental programs. (Heritage Quest, a division of AGLL, Inc., PO Box 329, Bountiful, UT 84011-0329, is a source of rental microfilms.) With sufficient identifying information, you may request a search of the registers of enlistments or the compiled military service records. The minimum information required for a search is (1) the soldier’s full name, (2) the war in which he or she served or period of service, and (3) the state from which he or she served. For the Civil War, you must also indicate whether the person served in Union or Confederate forces. A separate copy of the form must be used for military service, pension, and bounty-land warrant applications. Submit requests for information about individuals who served in the military before World War I on NATF form 80 (Order for Copies of Veterans Records). Write to the National Archives and Records Administration, General Reference Branch, Washington, DC 20408 to obtain copies of NATF form 80. Always ask for “all records” for an individual.

   Make requests for information about U.S. Army officers separated from the service after 1912 on standard form 180 (Request Pertaining to Military Records) and send it to the Military Personnel Records Center, 9700 Page Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63132.

U.S. Military Records
   By far the most comprehensive study of military records and how to use them is found in James C. Neagles’s U.S. Military Records: A Guide to Federal and State Sources, Colonial America to the Present. Neagles’s guide addresses primary and secondary military sources and accessibility, including the following information-rich sources:

Records of state militias and the National Guard
Records of the army, navy, and other branches of the U.S. military
Records of the military academies
Post-service records
Pensions
Bounty-land grants
Bonuses and family assistance
Soldier’s homes
Military burials
Military installations
Censuses of veterans
Conscription
Civilian affairs

Back to top

North Carolina Vital Records - On 10 March 1913, the North Carolina General Assembly ratified an act requiring the registration of births and deaths in the state; virtually full compliance was achieved by 1920, with some delayed birth records for earlier dates eventually added. The indexes to these records are available in the county where the event took place or on microfilm at the North Carolina State Archives and the FHL.

See Also Researching in Vital Records - Vital records, as their name suggests, are connected with central life events: birth, marriage, and death. Maintained by civil authorities, they are prime sources of genealogical information; but, unfortunately, official vital records are available only for relatively recent periods. These records, despite their recent creation in the United States, are critically important in genealogical research, often supplying details on family members well back into the nineteenth century.......

Original copies of birth certificates can be obtained from Department of Environmental, Health and Natural Resources, Vital Records Section, P.O. Box 29537, Raleigh, North Carolina 27626. The register of deeds in the county where the birth was filed also may be able to provide a copy of the birth certificate.

Copies of death records filed at the county register of deeds office and dated before 1930 are at the North Carolina State Archives, Archives and Records Section (see Archives, Libraries, and Societies). Death records dated from 1930 are at the Vital Records Section cited above. However, counties maintain copies as well.

Most marriages before 1868 were not recorded. A 1669 law required that each marriage be registered, but compliance was apparently low. Marriages could be solemnized by Church of England ministers or any member of the Council, including the Governor; in 1741, the right to perform marriages was extended to justices of the peace. Citizens were required to publish banns three times or obtain a marriage license; most marriages were by publication of banns. When the marriage was by license, the groom executed a marriage bond in the bride's county of residence; some marriage bonds have survived for about half of North Carolina's counties. Index to Marriage Bonds Filed in the North Carolina State Archives is a microfiche index to both brides and grooms of marriage bonds available at the North Carolina State Archives. The index may be used in the Search Room at the Archives, and a copy is available through the FHL. See Archives, Libraries, and Societies for information about searches by mail at the North Carolina State Archives.

After 1868, the register of deeds in each county was given the task of issuing marriage licenses. These licenses and their accompanying certificates offer a wealth of information, including age when married, parents' names, if the parents were living, parents' residences, and consent when required. Marriage records from 1868 to 1962 are on file with the register of deeds in the county where the marriage took place. Most North Carolina marriage records dating from 1868 to 1950 have been microfilmed and are available at the North Carolina State Archives and the FHL. Marriage records dating from 1962 are available at the Division of Health Services.

The superior court in each county has granted divorce decrees since 1814. Details about divorces that were not included in court minutes are very valuable to researchers. They include “loose papers” that discuss reasons for the divorce, details of the family's composition, children's ages, and other information. Copies of pre-1868 divorce records are at the North Carolina State Archives; records dating from 1868 are available from each county's superior court clerk.

• Ordering Vital Records Online - Getting documents by mail can take a long as six weeks or more. Through VitalChek Express Certificate Service you can get Birth, Marriage, Divorce & Death Certificates Signed, Sealed, & Delivered in as few as three business days!
  

  Birth Certificates

  Death Certificates

  Marriage Certificates

  Divorce Records

• Ordering Vital Records by Mail - Birth: $10 per certificate; Death, Marriage and Divorce are $6 per certificate. Please do not send cash. Credit Cards may be uses by using VitalChek services. Fees are non refundable. Additional fees are required for expedited service. Mail a check or money order (no cash) payable to the "Kentucky State Treasurer" along with the necessary information to the following address: 
   Office of Vital Statistics
  275 E. Main St.  1E-A
  Frankfort, KY 40621
  Please include return address on envelope and application form.

Facts on Birth Records - Most early birth records contain very little biographical information. Typical early New England town and church records, for example, give little information beyond the name of the child, date and place of birth, and parents’ names. Some localities listed only the name of the father.

While early birth records can be discouragingly lacking in information, by the mid-nineteenth century birth records in the United States began to include more information. Even though births were not widely recorded during the early years of America’s existence, the records that do exist may be the only source of a birth date for an individual and should always be consulted.

Delayed births are also important vital registrations that you should consider for obtaining biographical information. When Social Security benefits were instituted in 1937, individuals claiming benefits had to document their birth even if the state of their birth did not require registration when they were born. Individuals who were not registered with state or county agencies at the time of their birth often applied for a delayed birth registration. Obtaining passports, insurance, and other benefits also required proof of age.

Applications were accompanied with full name, address, and date and place of birth; father’s name, race, and place of birth; and evidence to support the facts presented. The evidence could be in the form of a baptismal certificate, Bible record, school record, affidavit from the attending physician or midwife, application for an insurance policy, birth certificate of a child, or an affidavit from a person having definite knowledge of the facts. Delayed birth records are usually filed and indexed separately from regular birth registrations, and it may be necessary to request a separate search for them.

• North Carolina Birth Index, 1800-2000
• Search All U.S and Foriegn Birth, Marriage and Death Records
• Search County Birth Records
• Order Birth Certificates Online

Facts on Marriage Records - Because of the importance of the legal distribution and control of property, most states and counties began to record marriages before births and deaths. The recording of a marriage is a two-step process. Traditionally, couples apply for a license to marry, and the applications are usually filed loose among other applications or in bound volumes. Marriage returns are filed once the marriage has taken place. The latter document is the proof of a marriage (not the license application).

Marriage applications are often filled out by both the bride and groom and typically contain a significant amount of genealogical information. They may list full names of the bride and groom, their residences, races, ages, dates and places of birth, previous marriages, occupations, and their parents’ names, places of birth, and occupations.

Marriage certificates are issued by counties after the marriage ceremony is completed, and these are usually found among family items. While the certificates tend to have less biographical data than the application, the name of the individual officiating at the wedding may lead you to religious records by revealing the denomination. The religious records, in turn, may reveal the names of witnesses and other useful information.

Early American records sometimes include marriage bonds, which served as a protection for the future children of the marriage. A bond obligated a prospective groom to pay the bond if he were discovered to be a bigamist or imposter or otherwise ineligible to contract a valid marriage. As long as the marriage was legal, the bond was void. Bonds generally include the groom’s name, name of the surety, the sum, and the date of the agreement.

• Order Marriage Certificates or Divorce Records Online
• North Carolina Marriage Bonds, 1741-1868
• North Carolina Marriage Collection, 1741-2000
• Search U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900
• Search County Marriage Records
• Search County Divorce Records

Facts on Death Records - Early death records in the United States provide little more than the name of the deceased, the date of death, and the place of death. Obituaries and cemetery, court, and other records often provide more information about the deceased than do most official death records created before the last quarter of the 1800s.

By 1900 death records included more details. They often include the name of the deceased; date, place, and cause of death; age at the time of death; place of birth; parents’ names; occupation; name of spouse; name of the person giving the information; the informant’s relationship to the deceased; the name and address of the funeral director; and the place of burial. Race is listed in some records, and modern death certificates generally include a Social Security number.

• North Carolina Death Collection, 1908-1996
• Order Death Certificates Online
• Social Security Death Index
• Obituary Collection
• Search County Death Records
• Find Obituaries in The World's Largest Newspaper Archive at NewpaperArchive.com! - Find thousands of North Carolina obituaries to help you research your family history. Search for a North Carolina newspaper obituary about your ancestor or a celebrity. Begin your search today and find death notices and funeral announcements printed in newspapers from Alabama.
• America's Obituaries (1977 to current) at Genealogybank.com - Obituaries contain helpful information such as names, dates, places of birth, death, marriage and family information. Over 28 million obituaries make this the most complete collection from the 20th and 21st centuries - includes over 1,100 U.S. newspapers. New content added daily!

Back to top