Guilford County, North Carolina Genealogy

United States   North Carolina    Guilford County

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

County Courthouse
Guilford County Courthouse 201 S Eugene St PO Box 3427 Greensboro, NC 27402 Phone: 336-641-7556

Courthouse Burned 1872 Many older records still avialble Register of Deeds has birth and death records from 1913

Parent County
1770--Guilford County was created 5 December 1770 from Orange and Rowan Counties, but it did not start administration of its territory until 1 April 1771, so no Guilford records exist before that date.

County seat: Greensboro

Boundary Changes
The law creating Guilford County was passed in 1770, and the county started administration of its territory on April 1, 1771. Any land records prior to that time will be in the records of other counties. Approximately, the western two-thirds of the county came from Rowan County, and the eastern one-third came from Orange County. Rowan was created in 1753 from Anson County, and Orange was created in 1752 from parts of Johnston, Bladen, and Granville counties.

"Old Guilford County" was three times larger than present-day Guilford County, since Randolph County was created from the southern third of Guilford in 1779, and Rockingham County was created from the northern third of Old Guilford in 1785.

For animated maps illustrating North Carolina county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation North Carolina County Boundary Maps" (1664-1965) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Record Loss
1872--Courthouse fire resulted in some loss of records.

For a list of record loss in North Carolina counties see: North Carolina Counties with Burned Courthouses

Populated Places

 * Archdale (part)
 * Browns Summit
 * Forest Oaks
 * Gibsonville
 * Greensboro (Wikipedia link)
 * High Point
 * Jamestown
 * Kernersville (part)
 * McLeansville
 * Oak Ridge
 * Pleasant Garden
 * Sedalia
 * Stokesdale
 * Summerfield
 * Whitsett

Neighboring Counties

 * Alamance
 * Davidson
 * Forsyth
 * Randolph
 * Rockingham
 * Stokes

African American

 * Bennett College yearbooks - 1961 to 2002
 * Bennett College scrapbook from 1945

Cemeteries

 * Alamance Presbyterian Church Cemetery (online list of 1,852 interments in Find A Grave)
 * Buffalo Presbyterian Church Cemetery (online list of 376 interments in Find A Grave)
 * Centre Friends Meeting (online list of 541 interments in Find A Grave)
 * Cobles Lutheran Cemetery (online list of 603 interments in Find A Grave)
 * The Churches and Cemeteries of Old Guilford County, North Carolina (GenWeb)
 * Find A Grave: Guilford County
 * Floral Garden Memorial Park (online list of 1,471 interments in Find A Grave)
 * Forest Lawn Cemetery (online list of 1,393 interments in Find A Grave)
 * Friedens Lutheran Church Cemetery (online list of 1,827 interments in Find A Grave)
 * Green Hill Cemetery (online list of 2,782 interments in Find A Grave)
 * Guilford County, North Carolina (The Tombstone Transcription Project)
 * Guilford County, North Carolina Cemeteries (Cemetery Census)
 * Guilford Memorial Park (online list of 1,745 interments in Find A Grave)
 * Guilford Memorial Park BillionGraves. Google map, photos with transcription of photographed headstones.
 * New Garden Friends Meeting Cemetery, Greensboro (Benbow listings only)
 * Search Greensboro Cemeteries, a growing index to many cemeteries in Guilford County.
 * Union Cemetery is one of the most important burial sites for African Americans in Guilford County. The list is of all marked graves. It has been in use since the 1880s.

Baptist

 * Caraway Creek. Founded before 1773.
 * Cross Roads. Constituted 1786.
 * Sandy Creek. Founded 1755. Later located in Randolph County.

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


 * Greensboro

German Reformed

 * Old Brick Church, near Whitsett, N.C. Organized late 1700s.

Lutheran

 * Friedens Church, near Gibsonville, N.C. Organized before 1791.
 * Low's Lutheran Church, near Kimesville, N.C. Organized about 1771.

Presbyterian

 * Alamance Church, near Greensboro, N.C. Organized about 1764.
 * Buffalo Church, Greensboro, N.C. Organized about 1764.

Court

 * Guilford NCGenWeb Court and Land Records page

Land
The deed books are online! http://rdlxweb.co.guilford.nc.us/guilfordNameSearch.php Click on Old Index Books to find the indices.

Local Histories

 * Arnett, Ethel Stephens, Greensboro, North Carolina: The County Seat of Guilford, Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press, 1955, 1983 (excerpt) (Google Books link)
 * Arnett, Ethel Stephens, The Saura and Keyauwee in the Land that Became Guilfod, Randolph, and Rockingham, Greensboro, North Carolina: Media, 1975.
 * Batchelor, John, The Guilford County Schools: A History, Winston-Salem, North Carolina: John F. Blair, 1991.
 * Bowles, David, Spring House (Book 1 in the Westward Sagas), Plum Creek Press, 2006.
 * Greensboro Business Directory, 1886 (GenWeb Archives)
 * Guilford County Bicentennial Commission, Guilford County, a Brief History, Greensboro, North Carolina: Guilford County Bicentennial Commission, 1971.
 * Guilford County, NC GenWeb Local History (includes links to book excerpts)
 * Hatch, Charles E., Jr., The Battle of Guilford Courthouse, Washington, D.C.: National Park Service, 1971.
 * Haworth, Cecil E., Deep River Friends: A Valiant People, Greensboro, North Carolina: North Carolina Friends Historical Society, 1985.
 * Haworth, Sara A., Springfield, 1773-1940: A History of the Establishment and Growth of the Springfield Monthly Meeting of Friends, High Point, North Carolina: Barber-Hall Printing Company, 1940.
 * High Point Business Directory, 1886 (GenWeb Archives)
 * Hill, Jane Smith, An Annotated Digest of Will Book A, Guilford County, North Carolina, 1771-May Court 1816, Heritage Books, 2007. (Google Books link)
 * Hughes, Fred, Guilford County: A Map Supplement, The Custom House, 1988. (Google Books link)
 * Jordan, Pauls Stahls, Women of Guilford County, North Carolina: A Study of Women's Contributions, 1740-1979, Greensboro, North Carolina: Women of Guilford, 1979. (Google Books link)
 * Kars, Marjoleine, Breaking Loose Together: The Regulator Rebellion in Pre-Revolutionary North Carolina.
 * Pegg, William Wesley, Sr., Something of the Story of Deep River, Greensboro, North Carolina: Self-published, 1980.
 * Robinson, Blackwell P., and Alexander R. Stoesen, ed. by Sydney M. Cone, Jr., The History of Guilford County, North Carolina, U.S.A. to 1980, A.D., 1981.
 * Salsi, Lynn, and Burke Salsi, Guilford County: Heart of the Piedmont (The Making of America series), Arcadia Publishing, 2002. (Google Books link)
 * Scarlette, Gladys, Summerfield, North Carolina: A Pictorial History, Greensboro, North Carolina: Younts, 1995.
 * Sharpe, Stella Gentry, Tobe, Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press, 1939.
 * Sloan, John Alexander, Reminiscences of the Guilford Grays, Co. B, 27th N.C. Regiment, Washington, D.C.: R.C. Polkinhorn, 1883.
 * Stockard, Sallie Walker, The History of Guilford County, North Carolina, 1902 (complete text in Google Books) (complete text in Internet Archive)
 * Stoesen, Alexander R., Guilford County: A Brief History, 2000 (Google Books link) (NC Office of Archives &amp; History Publications Shop)
 * Teague, Bobbie T., Cane Creek: Mother of Meetings, North Carolina Friends Historical Society, 1995.
 * Weatherly, Andrew Earl, The First Hundred Years of Historic Guilford, 1771-1871, Greensboro, North Carolina: Greensboro Print Company, 1972.
 * Zopf, Paul E., The People of Guilford: Growth and Changes in the Population of Guilford County, Greensboro, North Carolina: Chamber of Commerce, 1972.

Maps

 * Some maps are linked to this page: Guilford NCGenWeb page on local history

General and miscellaneous

 * Military: Guilford Co. (U.S. GenWeb Archives)
 * Military Records &amp; Information (Guilford Co. GenWeb)

Revolutionary War

 * Index to Individuals Present at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse (March 15, 1781) (Greensboro Libraries)

Civil War
Civil War Confederate units - Brief history, counties where recruited, etc.
 * Moore, Carol. Greensboro's Confederate Soldiers (Images of America series). Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2008. | Google Books page (limited preview)
 * 1861 - 1865 at FamilySearch.org — index and images
 * 1861 - 1865 at FamilySearch.org — index and images
 * -2nd Regiment, North Carolina Infantry
 * - 2nd Regiment, North Carolina Cavalry, Company F :- 2nd Regiment, North Carolina Infantry, 2nd Company E :- 4th Battalion, North Carolina Junior Reserves, Company A :- 5th Regiment, North Carolina Cavalry (63rd Regiment Volunteers), Company I :- 5th Regiment, North Carolina Cavalry (63rd Regiment Volunteers), Company K :- 7th Regiment, North Carolina Senior Reserves, Captain George F Fisher's Company :- 7th Regiment, North Carolina Senior Reserves, Company C :- 7th Regiment, North Carolina Senior Reserves, Company D

World War II

 * Guilford County Men &amp; Women Who Served in World War II

Newspapers

 * Greensboro News &amp; Record

Probate

 * Pre-1790 - Pre-1790 Wills stored at the North Carolina State Archives are online - free. Website tips.


 * 1771-1943 - have been digitized by FamilySearch - free.


 * Guilford County Widows’ Year’s Support, 1894-1968 - available in Word or PDF format from the NC State Archives

Vital Records

 * Guilford County Register of Deeds Vital Records Information

Births

 * Guilford County Bastardy Bonds at USGenWeb - free.
 * 1800 - 2000 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1866 - 1964 at FamilySearch.org — index

Death

 * 1898 - 1994 at FamilySearch.org — index and images
 * 1908 - 2004 North Carolina Death Indexes 1908-2004 at Ancestry.com — index $
 * 1909-1975 North Carolina Death Certificates 1909-1975 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1931 - 1994 at FamilySearch.org — index

Divorce

 * 1958 - 2004North Carolina Divorce Index 1958-2004 at Ancestry.com — index $

Marriages

 * 1771-1899 - Guilford County Marriage and Death Records, 1771-1899 (Greensboro Libraries, with online search)
 * 1868-1961 - Guilford County Marriage Index 1868-1961 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free.
 * Guilford County Marriages at USGenWeb - free (scroll to bottom of the page)
 * 1741 - 2004 North Carolina Marriage Index 1741-2004 at Ancestry.com — index $
 * 1759 - 1979 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1762 - 1969 at FamilySearch.org — index and images

Yearbooks

 * Bennett College: 1962-2002 (Historically Black College)
 * Greensboro College: 1908-2005
 * Guilford College: 1911-2005
 * High Point University: 1927-2007
 * North Carolina Agricultural &amp; Technical College: 1929-2009
 * UNC-Greensboro: 1902-1993


 * Guilford County students at North Carolina colleges - a list alphabetized by surname from the NCGenWeb Yearbook Index

Societies and Libraries

 * Friends Historical Collection at Guilford College
 * Greensboro Libraries
 * Greensboro Libraries: Central Library (includes the Genealogy Collection), 219 No. Church St.
 * Greensboro Libraries: Genealogy
 * Guilford County Genealogical Society
 * High Point Library Public Library &amp; its Heritage Research Center
 * Penny Postcards from North Carolina: Guilford County
 * UNC-Chapel Hill Library's North Carolina Collection, Guilford County materials

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
 * Goldsboro North Carolina Family History Center

Web Sites

 * Guilford County, NC History, Records, Facts and Genealogy (Genealogy Inc)
 * African Americans in Guilford County
 * Family History Catalog: Guilford County, North Carolina
 * Guilford County Genealogy (North Carolina Genealogy)
 * Guilford County Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Guilford County Historic Preservation Commission
 * Guilford County Markers (The Historical Marker Database)
 * Guilford County, North Carolina (RootsWeb)
 * Guilford County, North Carolina (Wikipedia)
 * Guilford County, North Carolina GenWeb (has a lot of information on its website)
 * Guilford County, North Carolina GenWeb Archives
 * Guilford County Website: History
 * History of Guilford County, North Carolina (with several biographies)
 * The History of Guilford County, North Carolina (GenGateway)
 * History of the Sheriffs of Guilford (Guilford County Sheriff's Office)
 * Librarian's Guide to Guilford County, NC: History Page
 * Local History Books: Guilford County
 * North Carolina - Guilford County (National Register of Historic Places)