Alamance County, North Carolina Genealogy

United States   North Carolina    Alamance County

County Courthouse
On July 17, 1849, the Alamance County Commissioners voted to spend $8,000 to construct a courthouse in a 75-acre (300,000 m2) area located approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) south of the Providence Church. The County Commissioners expected to pay for the courthouse through the sale of land in the new county seat of Graham. They also levied an ad valorem tax on property of 35.25 cents per $100 valuation and a poll tax of 73.75 cents. The courthouse was constructed with brick for the sum of $6,400 and was opened in 1852. In 1888, 2 new wings were added to the courthouse and the exterior of the courthouse was stuccoed. The courthouse remained open until 1923, when the County Commissioners voted for a new courthouse to replace the over 70-year-old building. The original courthouse was demolished. The only remaining piece of the old courthouse is the 400 lb (180 kg) bell from the cupola, which currently resides at Sesquicentennial Park in Courthouse Square in Graham.

(from Wikipedia)

History
Alamance County was named after Great Alamance Creek, site of the Battle of Alamance (May 16, 1771). This pre-Revelutionary War battle in which militia under the command of Governor William Tryon crushed the Regulator movement. The Great Alamance Creek, and in turn the Little Alamance Creek, according to legend, were named after a local Native American word to describe the blue mud that was found at the bottom of the creeks. Other legends say that the name came from another local Native American word meaning "noisy river" or for the Alamanni region of Rhineland, Germany, where many of the early settlers would have come from. Before being formed as a county, the region had at least one known small Southeastern tribe of Native American in the 18th century - the Sissipahaw who lived in the area bound by modern Saxapahaw, the area known as the Hawfields, and Haw River in the county European settlers entered the region in the late 17th century chiefly following Native American trading paths, and set up their farms what they called the "Haw Old Fields", fertile ground previously tilled by the Sissipahaw. The paths later became the basis of the railroad and interstate highway routes.

(from Wikipedia)

Parent County
1849--Alamance County was created 29 January 1849 from Orange County. County seat: Graham

Neighboring Counties

 * Caswell
 * Chatham
 * Guilford
 * Orange
 * Randolph
 * Rockingham

Court
Alamance County Clerk of Court

Physical Location:

Temporary Old Courthouse (formerly known as the Agricultural Building) 201 West Elm Street Graham, NC 27253.

Mailing Address:

Old Courthouse Alamance County Clerk of Superior Court 1 Court Square, Graham, NC 27253.

336-570-5200

Has Court Records starting from 1849 and Probate Records from 1832.

Probate
Alamance County Clerk of the Court has copies of Probate records from 1832, including wills, estate records, and records associated with the administration of an estate.

There are copies of transcribed wills or estate records at the following sites:


 * Will of David Bradford
 * Will of James Dickey of Orange County
 * Will of Nancy Bird
 * Index of Alamance County Wills
 * Catherine Cortner Coble, 1843
 * George Coble, 1815
 * Jehu Hall, 1855
 * Joseph Harder, 1873
 * John Hughes Sr, 1827
 * John Rudd, 1849
 * Nancy Rudd, 1829
 * Nathan Stafford, 1893
 * Elizabeth Thompson, 1842
 * Emily Thompson, 1905
 * Joseph Thompson, 1842
 * Robert Thompson, 1840
 * Thomas Thompson, 1836
 * William P. Thompson, 1870

Yearbooks

 * Elon University: 1913-2009
 * Alamance County students at North Carolina colleges - a list via the NCGenWeb Yearbook Index

Web Sites

 * NCGenWeb: Alamance County - free genealogy resources; part of the national USGenWeb Project