Duplin County, North Carolina Genealogy

Guide to Duplin County, North Carolina ancestry, genealogy and family history, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Description
Duplin County is located in the southeastern portion of North Carolina and was named for Thomas Hay, Lord Duplin, a member of the English Board of Trade and Plantations.

County Courthouse
Duplin County North Carolina 118 Duplin Street Kenansville, NC 28349 Phone: 910-296-2108 Duplin County Website Register of Deeds has birth and death records from 1913, marriage records from 1749, maps and land records from 1749, and business records from 1899. Clerk Superior Court has probate and court records.

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

History Timeline
Duplin County was created in 1750 from the northern part of New Hanover County and is named for Thomas Hay, Viscount Dupplin, later 9th Earl of Kinnoull. The earliest immigrants were Welsh, who arrived in the 1700′s, and soon followed by German Palatines and the Swiss in the 1730′s and 1740′s. The Scotch-Irish arrived in 1736 with Henry McCulloch, a wealthy London merchant, to settle on a rich and fertile 71,160-acre land granted to him from the British Crown. The French Huguenots and English, who migrated from Virginia along with Scottish Highlanders who came from the upper Cape Fear region, also were among the earliest settlers to the area along with African-Americans. The early settlements were primarily along the river and larger creeks as these were the best means of transportation. Henry McCulloch established several settlements. One on the east bank of the Northeast Cape Fear River named Sarecta, became Duplin’s first incorporated town in 1787. Another settlement was established on the west side of the river on Goshen Swamp, and a third at a place referred to as Golden Grove, later to become the Town of Kenansville. (Source: Duplin County History).

Cemeteries

 * at FamilySearch

Church Records

 * 1700-1970 - at FamilySearch — index

Baptist
 * Bear Marsh Constituted 1763.
 * Bear Swamp Constituted 1791.
 * Bull Tail aka Wells Chapel, Wallace, N.C. Established 1756. Official website.
 * Great Cohara Constituted 1759.
 * Muddy Creek Constituted 1792.
 * Naughungo Established by 1808.

Church of England
 * St. Gabriel's Parish Established 1749.


 * Surviving records include Warden's Records of the Poor (1799-1817), which are kept at the North Carolina State Archives. Microfilm copy:.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Ward and Branch Records of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints


 * Albertson

Presbyterian Scots-Irish immigrants established Presbyterian churches in colonial Duplin County.

List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * Grove Church Founded about 1737.
 * Rockfish Church Organized about 1756.
 * FamilySearch Places

Ethnic, Political, and Religious Groups
African Americans 
 * Melton, Carol K.W. and Joseph W. Wescott III. 1870 Federal Census: The African American Population of Duplin County, North Carolina. Rose Hill, N.C.: Duplin County Historical Foundation, 2000. . Published records of the first U.S. Federal census enumerating freed slaves taken in 1870.
 * Duplin Register of Deeds, African-American cohabitation records

Genealogies

 * Alderman - Stone, Spessard. Lineage of John Carlton. [Wauchula, Fla.?]: S. Stone, 1991.
 * Bradley - Clegg, Reed L. Richard Bradley and Descendants: Lives and Times of Richard, Thomas, Henry, Samuel Carroll, James Harvey Bradley Families. Salt Lake City, Utah: R.L. Clegg Publishers, (1999?).
 * Broadhurst - Wooten, David Robert. We All Become Forefathers: Genealogies of the Wooten, Boykin, Whitaker and Broadhurst Families. 1993.
 * Bullard - Bullard, Spencer Ardell. William and Nathan Bullard Family: History and Genealogy. Lakewood, Colo.: S.A. Bullard, 2004.
 * Carlton - Morris, Scott. Liberty Worth Fighting For: The Sacrifice of a South Georgia Wiregrass Family in the War Between the States. Sale City, Ga.: S. Morris, 1990.
 * Carlton - Stone, Spessard. Lineage of John Carlton. [Wauchula, Fla.?]: S. Stone, 1991. ; 1998 edition:
 * Churchill - Churchill, Levis Allen and Dorothy Churchill Moye Sumrell. Churchill/Churchwell, Duplin, Greene, Lenoir, Pitt Counties, North Carolina. Greenville, N.C.: L.A. Churchill, 1993.
 * Churchwell - See Churchill.
 * Clark Crook, Billie Louise and Simeon English Clark. Our Clark Family: Or Texas Clarks. Austin, Texas: B.L. Clark, 1957.
 * Dickson - Carr, James Ozborn. The Dickson Letters. Wilmington, N.C.: n.p., 1933.
 * Flowers - Hendrix, Mary Louise Flowers. Flowers Kith and Kin: A Record of the Descendants of Thomas Flowers through Henry and Nancy Adams Flowers. Jackson, Miss.: Hendrix, 1943.
 * Fowler - Hollis, Jane Cook. Immigrated to Tennessee: Chronicles of a Fowler Family. Memphis, Tenn.: J.C. Hollis, 1991.
 * Grady - Grady, Benjamin, Louis Carr Hendry and Henry A. Grady. John Grady (1710-1787) of Dobbs and Duplin, with Some of His Descendants. Wilson, N.C.: P.D. Gold Publishing, 1930.
 * Gulley - John, Paul. John Gulley Genealogy, a Planter in Alabama and Arkansas and His Descendants: Also the Families of Bizzell, Godley, Ligon, Mendenhall, Purifoy and Others of England and Colonial America. Houston, Texas: P. John, 1991.
 * Hutchison - Hutchison: Family Records. MSS. Microfilmed 1974.
 * Lanier Ingersoll, Louise. Lanier: A Genealogy of the Family Who Came to Virginia and Their French Ancestors in London. Washington, D.C.: Goetz Printing Company, 1965. Digital version at World Vital Records ($).
 * Lanier - Morris, Scott. Liberty Worth Fighting For: The Sacrifice of a South Georgia Wiregrass Family in the War Between the States. Sale City, Ga.: S. Morris, 1990.
 * Lewis - Lewis, J.D. My Neck of the Woods: The Lewis Families of Southeastern North Carolina and Northeastern South Carolina. Little River, S.C.: J.D. Lewis, 2002.
 * McCallop - Headley, Katy McCaleb. MacKillop (McCaleb) Clan of Scotland and the United States. 2 vols. Chillicothe, Mo.: E.P. Ellsberry, 1964.
 * McCanne - McCanne, Elizabeth C. A Brief Autobiography. Typescript. Microfilmed 1994.
 * Merritt - Merritt, Edward and Leora Hiatt McEachern. The Merritts of Sampson and Duplin Counties, North Carolina. Typescript, 1968.
 * Middleton - Brown, Leslie H. "John Middleton of Hampton, Va., and Onslow County, N.C.," The American Genealogist, Vol. 55, No. 3 (Jul. 1979):161-162.
 * Parrish - Lytton, Eugene R. Josiah Parrish, 1771-1846, Migrated to Alachua County, Florida 1823, Volunteer Soldier in the War of 1812. Typescript. Microfilmed 2001.
 * Powell - Andrea, Leonardo. Powell MSS., 1962, Photocopy, Polk County Historical Library, Bartow, Fla.
 * Sheffield - Hussey, Ray Walter. Descendants of John Hussey and Barbara Sheffield. Kernville, Calif.: R.W. Hussey, 1986.
 * Sloan - Sloan, Stanley E. John Sloan, ca. 1783-ca. 1863: Descendants &amp; Allied Families. Tucson, Ariz.: S. Sloan, 1988.
 * Sloan - Bryant, Catherine M. The Dixon Sloan Family of Colquitt County, Ga.: Includes Families of Laura Sloan Pelham, W. P. Sloan, Amanda Sloan Webb, Oscar N. Sloan, Ella Sloan Bryant. n.p.: C. Bryant, 1988.
 * Smith - Draughon, Eleanor Daphine Smith. Descendants of Elijah Smith of Duplin County, North Carolina. Durham, N.C.: E.D.S. Smith, 1971.
 * Sullivan - Pringle, Elizabeth Muir. Sullivans of Duplin County, North Carolina. 2 vols. Ogden, Utah: E.M. Pringle, 2007. FamilySearch Digital Library;.
 * Wade - Rosser, John C. Some Descendants of Joseph and Mary Wade of Duplin County, North Carolina Godwin, N.C.: J. Rosser, 1992.
 * Ward - Ward, James Mayfield. The Noble Family of Ward. n.p.: J.M. Ward, 1975.
 * Watkins - Watkins, William Bismarck. The Watkins Family of North Carolina: Particularly Enumerating Those Descendants of Levin Watkins of Duplin County, N.C., Who Emigrated to Alabama and Mississippi Early in the Nineteenth Century. Jackson, Tenn.: McCowat-Mercer, [1915].
 * Wells - Wells, James W. Descendants of Jacob Wells of Duplin County, North Carolina. Benton, Ark.: n.p., 1973.
 * Wilkins - Murphy, Nathan W. Early Families of Muhlenburg County, Kentucky: Vincent, Wright, McElwain, Wilkins and Jarvis Hanson, Ky.: David W. Murphy &amp; Associates, 1999.
 * Williamson - Wise, Bel. Williamson Relatives. Typescript, 1977.

Land and Property Records
The Duplin County Register of Deeds Office has a complete record of all property conveyances dating back to 1750 when the county was founded. All of the indexes to Duplin County property records from 1784 thru the present are available for searching both at the Register of Deeds Office and also remotely via their internet website: rod.duplincounty.org. Additionally, all of the property records books have been scanned and are available for viewing and downloading with the exception of books 20, 22, 33, 43, 106, 249, 276, and 318. These books are however available at the Register of Deeds Office.

A number of land records have been transcribed and are available at the following sites:


 * NCGenWeb Deeds Database- perform a Search of the deeds
 * Duplin County Deeds at NCGenWeb Archives
 * The FamilySearch Catalog lists some in Duplin County, North Carolina Genealogy. (In the Catalog, click on the link to a title to see details.) Some of the books – and others – may be on Google Books, on WorldCat, or available at public libraries.

Military Records
Revolutionary War 
 * 1779-1782  at FamilySearch

Civil War 
 * 1861-1865  at FamilySearch
 * 1861-1865  at FamilySearch
 * 1861-1865 U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry
 * 1861-1865 U.S., Union Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry
 * 1885-1953  at FamilySearch


 * - 3rd Regiment, North Carolina Infantry
 * - 12th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry, 1st Company C
 * - 1st Regiment, North Carolina Cavalry, Company I
 * - 2nd Regiment, North Carolina Junior Reserves, Company A
 * - 3rd Regiment, North Carolina Infantry, Company B
 * - 3rd Regiment, North Carolina State Troops, Company B
 * - 8th Battalion, North Carolina Cavalry (Partisan Rangers), 5th Company
 * - 8th Regiment, North Carolina Senior Reserves, Captain Henry Broadhurst's Company

World War I 
 * 1917-1919  at FamilySearch

World War II 
 * 1940-1948  at FamilySearch

Newspapers

 * 1799-1893 Duplin County marriages. May be included throughout Carrie Broughton's 6-volume index of the Raleigh Register &amp; State Gazette newspaper (1799-1893). Marriages are listed by year and PDF files are searchable. Available on the North Carolina Digital Collections website.
 * Duplin County deaths. List of county area deaths reported in various newspapers; dates range from late 1700s to 1900s.
 * Duplin County newspapers. Listing of newspapers published in the county &amp; libraries that hold them. (Library of Congress). If you find a paper of interest on microfilm, you may be able to request it via Interlibrary Loan with your local public library.
 * Duplin County residents in the newspaper. Name listing of people from the county as located in misc. newspaper articles; time span varies. Articles indexed in the NC People in the Papers database from the NCGenWeb project.
 * North Carolina Newspaper Digitization Project. Full-text papers from 1752-1890s. Search for your Duplin County ancestors to see if they were mentioned.

Obituaries

 * Duplin County Obituaries (USGenWeb Archives)

Other Records
County Records
 * 1833-1970 at FamilySearch

Probate Records

 * North Carolina Probate Records tips.

Online Probate Records
 * 1660-1790 North Carolina Will Abstracts 1660-1790 at Ancestry $
 * 1663-1979  at FamilySearch
 * 1665-1998 North Carolina Wills and Probate Records 1665-1998 at Ancestry $
 * 1735-1970  at FamilySearch
 * 1760-1800 North Carolina Will Abstracts 1760-1800 at Ancestry $
 * 1760-1962  at FamilySearch
 * Pre-1790  Pre-1790 Duplin County, North Carolina Genealogy Wills (North Carolina State Archives)
 * Images of Wills and Estates, Book A, 1760-1848 North Carolina Pioneers $
 * Wills &amp; Estates from the NCGenWeb Archives

School Records
Yearbooks 
 * Duplin County students at North Carolina colleges. Yearbook Index. (NCGenWeb)

Tax Records

 * 1783 Tax Lists, Duplin County, 1783 (index) in NC Taxpayers vol. 2 at Ancestry $
 * 1783-1817 Tax Lists, 1783-1817 (images) at FamilySearch
 * 1786-1838 (gaps) Tax Lists, 1786-1788, 1811-1813, 1816-1818, 1834, 1838 (images) at FamilySearch
 * 1811-1817 Tax Lists, 1811-1817, Duplin County, North Carolina (images) at FamilySearch
 * 1815 Tax Lists, Duplin County, 1815 (images) at North Carolina Digital Collections

Vital Records

 * 1800-2000 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Birth

 * 1800-2000   at FamilySearch
 * 1866-1964   at FamilySearch
 * 1913-1922   at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1913-Present Duplin County Births, 1913-present. Search all birth records online; includes more than 2,000 delayed birth certificates.

Marriage

 * 1741-2004 North Carolina, United States Marriages at FindMyPast
 * 1741-2004 North Carolina Marriage Index 1741-2004 at Ancestry $
 * 1759-1979  at FamilySearch
 * 1762-1979  at FamilySearch
 * 1763-1868  at FamilySearch
 * 1867-1961 Duplin County Marriage Index 1867-1961 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch.
 * 1867-Present Register of Deeds, Duplin County Marriages, 1867-present
 * Duplin County Marriages (USGenWeb Archives)

Death

 * 1898-1994  at FamilySearch
 * 1906-1930  at FamilySearch
 * 1908-2004 North Carolina Death Indexes 1908-2004 at Ancestry $
 * 1909-1975 North Carolina Death Certificates 1909-1975 at Ancestry $
 * 1913-Present Register of Deeds Duplin County Death Certificates, 1913-present
 * 1931-1994  at FamilySearch

Divorce

 * 1926-1975  at FamilySearch
 * 1958-2004 North Carolina Divorce Index 1958-2004 at Ancestry $

Societies

 * Duplin County Historical Society PO Box 220 Rose Hill, NC 28458-0220

Websites

 * Duplin County, NCGenWeb genealogy resources; part of the national USGenWeb Project
 * Duplin County, NCGenWeb Archives
 * – The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records.