Pitt County, North Carolina Genealogy

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

Description
Pitt County is located in the eastern portion of North Carolina and was named for William Pitt, Earl of Chatham.

County Courthouse
Pitt County Courthouse 100 W. Third Street PO Box 35 Greenville, NC 27835 Phone: 252-830-4128 Pitt County Website Register of Deeds has birth and death records from 1913, marriage records from 1866 and land records from 1762. Clerk Superior Court has divorce, probate and court records from 1885.

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
Pitt was formed in 1760 from Beaufort County. The act was to become effective January 1, 1761. It was named for William Pitt the Elder, who was then Secretary of State for the Southern Department and Leader of the House of Commons. William Pitt was an English statesman and orator, born in London, England. He studied at Oxford University and in 1731, Pitt joined the army. Pitt led the young "Patriot" Whigs and in 1756 became secretary of state, where he was a pro-freedom speaker in British Colonial government. Pitt County is in the eastern part of North Carolina and is surrounded by Beaufort, Craven, Edgecombe, Greene, Lenoir, Martin, and Wilson counties. Courts were first held at the home of John Hardy until a courthouse could be built. The courthouse was built on Hardy's land near Hardy's Chapel. In 1771 Martinsboro was established, and in 1774 the courthouse was moved there. In 1787 Martinsboro's name was changed to Greenville, which is still the county seat.

Biographies

 * Pitt County Biographies

Church Records

 * 1700-1970 - at FamilySearch — index

Baptist List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * Flat Swamp. Constituted 1776.
 * Immanuel. Perfect Church Record for Immanuel Baptist Church, Greenville, N.C.. at East Carolina University - Digital Collections
 * Red Bank. Constituted 1758.
 * Whitfield's Meeting House. Established by 1789.
 * FamilySearch Places

Court Records

 * Pitt County Court Records
 * Pitt County Supreme Court Records
 * Pitt County Records (North Carolina State Archives)

Directories

 * 1916-17 The Greenville, N. C. city directory. at East Carolina University - Digital Collections

Land and Property Records

 * Pitt County transcribed deeds (NC Archives)
 * Pitt County Register of Deeds 100 West Third Street PO Box 35 Greenville, NC 27858-1806 Phone: 252-902-1650 Website This office records land documents including deeds, deeds of trust, subdivision maps, leases, easements, assignments, agreements, deeds of trust cancellations, corporate documents, assumed names, and files Uniform Commercial Code financing statements on personal property. This office also serves as the custodian of certificates of births and deaths occurring in the County, issues marriage licenses, and certifies birth, death, and marriage certificates in the County. Veterans' military discharge records and notary public commissions are also kept here, and this office administers the oath to all notaries public. Recording fees and fees for certificates are charged.

Local Histories

 * Emily Loftin Collection
 * Simpson-Bryan Collection
 * Sketches of Pitt County, a brief history of the county, 1704-1910. In addition to brief history, contains sketches of prominent Pitt County men and women. (ECU Digital collection)

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Pitt County Townships
 * 1895 Pitt County
 * 1770 John Collett Map
 * Formation of North Carolina Counties Map
 * Pitt County from NC Digital Maps Collection
 * Map of Greenville, N.C., Date: June, 1933
 * FamilySearch Places:Cities and Towns- How to Use FS Places

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


 * - 8th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry
 * - 17th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry (1st Organization), Company C
 * - 2nd Regiment, North Carolina Junior Reserves, Company H
 * - 8th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry, Company G

Civil War Battles  The following Civil War battle was fought in Pitt County:


 * June 5, 1862 Tranter's Creek
 * Map showing Civil War battles in North Carolina.

World War I 
 * 1917-1919  at FamilySearch

World War II 
 * 1940-1948  at FamilySearch

Other Records

 * Historic Places in Pitt County, included in National Register of Historical Places.

Probate Records
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 $
 * 1785-1805 Images of Wills and Settlements. North Carolina Pioneers $
 * 1858-1963  at FamilySearch
 * Pre-1790 Pre-1790 Pitt County, North Carolina Genealogy Wills (North Carolina State Archives)
 * Pitt County transcribed wills and estate records. (USGenWeb Archives)
 * Clerk of Superior Court Pitt County Courthouse 100 W. Third Street PO Box 6067 Greenville, NC 27835 Phone: 252-695-7100 Website The Clerk of Superior Court is elected for four years and must be a resident of the county in which he or she is elected. Unlike clerks of court in other states, the Clerk of Superior Court in North Carolina has numerous judicial functions. As judge of probate, the Clerk has exclusive original jurisdiction over matters relating to the probate of wills, and the administration of estates, including appointing personal representatives, auditing their accounting, and removing them from office if necessary. The Clerk also presides over many other legal matters including adoptions, incompetency proceedings, condemnation of private lands for public use, and foreclosures. The Clerk is responsible for all clerical and record-keeping functions of the district and superior court. In addition, the Clerk receives and disburses money collected each year from court fees and fines.

School Records
Yearbooks 
 * East Carolina University - The Tecoan: 1923-1952. The Tecoan, yearbook published by the students of East Carolina Teachers College from 1923-1952.
 * East Carolina University - The Buccaneer: 1953-1979. The name of the yearbook changed to The Buccaneer in 1953. The Buccaneer was published from 1953-1990, with a two year suspension from 1976-1978. Publication resumed in 2007.
 * East Carolina University - The Buccaneer:1953-2015 (vol. 76) and The Tecoan: 1923-1952. (ECU Digital Collections)
 * Pitt County students from NC colleges. Yearbook index. (NCGenWeb)

Social Security Records

 * 1935-2014 at FamilySearch - How to use this collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
 * 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry ($) — index, click here for more information.

Tax Records

 * 1762 Tax Lists, Pitt County, 1762 (index) in NC Taxpayers vol. 2 at Ancestry $
 * 1762 Tax Lists, Pitt County, 1762 (images) at North Carolina Digital Collections
 * 1762 List of Taxables, Pitt County for the Year 1762 (images) at FamilySearch
 * 1762 Tax Lists, Pitt County, 1762 (images) at FamilySearch
 * 1763 Tax Lists, Pitt County, 1763 (index) in NC Taxpayers vol. 2 at Ancestry $
 * 1763 Tax Lists, Pitt County, 1763 (images) at North Carolina Digital Collections
 * 1764 Tax Lists, Pitt County, 1764 (index) in NC Taxpayers vol. 2 at Ancestry $
 * 1764 Tax Lists, Pitt County, 1764 (images) at North Carolina Digital Collections
 * 1775 Tax Lists, Pitt County, 1775 (index) in NC Taxpayers vol. 2 at Ancestry $
 * 1775 Tax Lists, Pitt County, 1775 (images) at North Carolina Digital Collections
 * 1779 Tax Lists, New Bern District, 1779 (index) in NC Taxpayers vol. 2 at Ancestry $
 * 1779 Tax Lists, New Bern District, 1779 (images) at North Carolina Digital Collections
 * 1786 Tax Lists, Pitt County, 1786 (index) in NC Taxpayers vol. 2 at Ancestry $
 * 1786 Tax Lists, Pitt County, 1786 (images) at North Carolina Digital Collections
 * 1786 1786 Tax List (images) at FamilySearch
 * 1815 Tax Lists, Pitt 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
 * 1871-1956 Pitt County Birth Index 1871-1956. Batch  at FamilySearch
 * 1913-1922  at FamilySearch — index and images

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
 * 1851-1867 Pitt County Marriage Register, 1851-1867 at East Carolina University
 * 1866-1961 Pitt County Marriage Index 1866-1961 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch

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 $
 * 1931-1994  at FamilySearch

Divorce

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

Family History Centers

 * Greenville North Carolina Family History Center
 * Introduction to Family History Centers

Libraries

 * East Carolina University, Joyner Library East 5th Stree Greenville, NC 27858 Website ECU has a large collection of Pitt County and surrounding county images, texts, and audio/video in their Digital Collection.

Societies

 * Pitt County Historical Society, Inc. PO Box 1554 Greenville, NC 27835-1554 Website
 * Pitt County Family Researchers PO Box 20339 Greenville, NC 27858 Website

Websites

 * – 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.
 * NCGenWeb: Pitt County
 * Pitt County at Our Family Tree