North Carolina

North Carolina Census Research

Federal census records for North Carolina began in1790. The 1790 enumeration is missing for Caswell, Granville, and Orange counties; the 1810 is missing the counties of Craven, Greene, New Hanover, and Wake, (though the information has been substituted in most publications with tax lists); and the 1820 is complete except for Currituck, Franklin, Martin, Montgomery, Randolph and Wake counties. The only surviving portions of the mostly destroyed 1890 census are South Point and River Ben townships in Gaston County, and Township No. 2 in Cleveland County.

In 1784 the North Carolina General Assembly requested that a list of inhabitants be taken. Compliance was slow and apparently incomplete, with some counties not responding until 1786.  Tax lists may be used to substitute for other early censuses.

North Carolina Vital Records

North Carolina began requiring statewide registration of births and deaths in March, 1913. Compliance was considered full by 1920. Marriage records were recorded with the Register of Deeds in each county after 1868.  Earlier marriages could be solemnized by numerous authorities, so records were sporadically kept. Marriage bonds are available for about half of the counties, and some marriages may be found at the county level.

• North Carolina Division of Vital Records: Holds records of births from 1913; deaths from 1930; marriages from 1962; divorce certificates from 1958.
   

North Carolina Research Resources

The organizations listed below provide information about North Carolina history and genealogy.  In addition to these state-level resources, many counties and towns maintain important genealogical collections in local libraries, genealogical societies, or historical societies, so check for a local resource when researching

•  North Carolina State Archive: The Archives’ online projects include collections of particular interest to genealogists, including searchable images of North Carolina family records, newspapers, and maps. 
• State Library of North Carolina – genealogy page: The Library’s collections include the Digital Repository, which contains “North Carolina Family Records Online”.
• North Carolina Collection - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: Information on the collection holdings at the Wilson Library.
• DigitalNC: This digital heritage site contains a growing collection of newspapers, city directories, scrapbooks, photographs, and newspapers.
• North Carolina History Project
•  North Carolina Genealogical Society
• North Carolina GenWeb
• The National Archives at Atlanta: This facility maintains records from Federal agencies and courts in North Carolina, including census, military, court, naturalization, and immigration records.

Regional and Specialty Research

• Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County – Carolina room
• Forsyth County Library – North Carolina room
• Outer Banks History Center