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North Carolina Public Records
| How
To Search Public and Vital Records -
Vital records are records of life events important enough that
some level of government acquires, organizes, and preserves
them. While the term "vital records" is often applied
to a wide variety of life events... Read
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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 are found recorded with the Register of Deeds in each county
after 1868. Prior to that time 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 will
be found in almost every county.
For birth records after 1913, and death records after 1930, write:
North Carolina Dept. Of Environment, Health and Natural Resources,
Vital Records Section, 225 North McDowell Street, P.O. Box 29537,
Raleigh, NC 27626-0537
For death records after 1913 and before 1930, write:
North Carolina State Archives, Archives and Records Section, 109
East Jones Street, Raleigh, NC 27601-2807
For earlier records, write to the register of deeds
of the county in question.
North Carolina Land Records
North Carolina is a state-land state. Lands were usually obtained
from the state or from other individuals. Early acquisitions were
made from British proprietors. 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.
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). The British Crown purchased
the province in 1729, and began selling lands in 1735. This purchase
included all but the proprietorship of Granville. 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). For Granville grants, 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. The Granville land
records are indexed in full in the Lord Granville Index in the Land
Grant Office of the Secretary of State.
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 with the county Register of Deeds.
North Carolina Court Records
Court records entail probate records, guardianship, naturalization,
and a wide variety of other sources. It should be remembered that
there are different levels of jurisdiction for courts in the United
States, all of which should be considered for research under various
circumstances. Court of Common Pleas, Orphan's Court, Probate Court,
District Court, Superior Court, and Supreme Court. See: "Research
in Court Records" by Arlene H. Eakle, found in Loretto Dennis
Szucs and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking, eds., The Source: A Guidebook
to American Genealogy, rev. ed. (Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1997).
North Carolina Military Records
Though North Carolinians served in wars prior to the Revolutionary
War, little documentation still exists. 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: Genealogical Publishing
Co., 1986). Revolutionary soldiers of North Carolina can be found
in Roster of Soldiers from North Carolina in the American Revolution
(1932; reprint, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1977). Also,
the comprehensive index to Revolutionary War Records on fifty-eight
reels of microfilm is available at the National Archives, the FHL
and other selected libraries. As well, bounty lands were given by
North Carolina, entailing lands in present-day Tennessee.
War of 1812 service can be researched in Muster Rolls of the Soldiers
of the War of 1812: Detached from the Militia of North Carolina,
in 1812 and 1814 (1851; reprint, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing
Co., 1976). Unfortunately, this source must be carefully verified
in original records. Civil War 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: State
Department of Archives and History, 1981–present). The newest
publication is a reprint of Walter Clark's Histories of Several
Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina in the Great War, 1861-
1865. Wilmington, NC: Broadfoot Publishing Company, 1996. North
Carolina offered pensions to Confederate veterans and their widows
beginning in 1885. Pension records and the accompanying index are
available at the North Carolina State Archives; the index is available
on microfilm at the FHL. 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.
Additional Sources
Leary, Helen F. M., editor. North Carolina Research: Genealogy and
Local History Raleigh: North Carolina Genealogical Society, 1996.
Powell, William S. The North Carolina Gazetteer. Chapel Hill: University
of North Carolina Press, 1968.
North Carolina Department of Archives and History. Guide to Research
Materials in the North Carolina State Archives, Section B: County
Records 10th rev. ed. Raleigh: North Carolina Department of Archives
and History, 1990.
North Carolina Vital
Records:
Event: Birth or death
Cost of copy: $10.00
Address:
NC Vital Records
P.O. Box 29537
Raleigh, NC 27626-0537
Remarks: State office has had birth records since
October 1913 and death records since January 1, 1946. Death records
from 1913 through 1945 are available from NC State Archives, 109
East Jones Street, Raleigh, NC 27601-2807. Additional copies of
the same record ordered at the same time are $5.00 each. Check or
money order should be made payable to NC Vital Records. Personal
checks are accepted. To verify current fees, the telephone number
is (919) 733-3526. Information on how to obtain certified copies
is also available via the internet at NC Vital Records .
Search All North Carolina Records
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Event: Marriage (State)
Cost of copy: $10.00
Address:
NC Vital Records
P.O. Box 29537
Raleigh, NC 27626-0537
Remarks: Records since January 1962.
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Event: Marriage (county)
Cost of copy: $3.00
Address: See remarks
Remarks: Registrar of Deeds in county where marriage
was performed.
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Event: Divorce (State)
Cost of copy: $10.00
Address:
NC Vital Records
P.O. Box 29537
Raleigh, NC 27626-0537
Remarks: Records since January 1958.
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Event: Divorce (court)
Cost of copy: Varies
Address: See remarks
Remarks: Clerk of Superior Court where divorce was
granted.
Search All North Carolina Records
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