Pender County, North Carolina Genealogy

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

Description
Pender County is located in the Southern portion of North Carolina and was named for Confederate General William D. Pender.

Pender County, North Carolina Record Dates
Pender County Courthouse 300 East Freemont St PO Box 43 Burgaw, North Carolina 28424 Phone: 910-259-1225 Registrar of deeds has birth, marriage and death and land records Clerk Superior Court has divorce, probate and court records

Register of Deeds P.O. Box 43 Burgaw, NC 28425 Phone: 910-259-1205 Fax: 910-259-1299 Website

Clerk Superior Court P.O. Box 310 Burgaw, NC 28425-0310 Phone: (910) 663-3900

History
Pender County was formed in 1875 from New Hanover County. It was named for William Dorsey Pender of Edgecombe County, a Confederate general mortally wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg. It is in the southeastern section of the State and is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean and New Hanover, Brunswick, Columbus, Bladen, Sampson, Duplin and Onslow counties. The present land area is 870.76 square miles (2,255.3 km2) and the 1990 population was 28,855. The county commissioners were ordered to hold their first meeting at Rocky Point. The act provided for the establishment of the town of Cowan as the county seat. In 1877 an act was passed repealing that section of the law relative to the town, and another law was enacted whereby the qualified voters were to vote on the question of moving the county seat to South Washington or any other place which the majority of the voters designated. Whatever place was selected, the town should be called Stanford. In 1879 Stanford was changed to Burgaw, which was by that law incorporated. It is the county seat.

Parent County
1875--Pender County was established from New Hanover County. County seat: Burgaw

Boundary Changes
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
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Neighboring Counties

 * Bladen
 * Brunswick
 * Columbus
 * Duplin
 * New Hanover
 * Onslow
 * Sampson

Cemeteries
Many Pender County Cemeteries have been surveyed and photographed; Following list of Cemeteries can be viewed here:

Pender County Cemeteries


 * at FamilySearch — index and images

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


 * Hampstead

County Records

 * 1833-1970 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Genealogy
It is anticipated that this bibliography will eventually identify all known family histories published about residents of this county. Use this list to:


 * Locate publications about direct ancestors
 * Find the most updated accounts of an ancestor's family
 * Identify publications, to quote Elizabeth Shown Mills, about an ancestor's "FAN Club" [Friends, Associates, and Neighbors]

Land
The Pender County Register of Deeds has copies of Births, Marriages and Death Records as well as Land Records and Deeds Records available to the public from their offices and should be contacted to verify which records they have and what their prices are for obtaining them. Note that most of the originals of the older records have been transferred to the State Archives and that the records contained at the County level are usually hand copied into the County Books. Generally, it is much more cost effective to get documents on the County level rather than through the Archives, so you may want to first check with the County Registrar for the records you are in search of.

Pender County Register of Deeds Howard Holly Building 300 E. Fremont St. Burgaw, NC 28425 Telephone: 910 - 259-1225

Online Search of Land Records (must create a free login)

Maps

 * Pender County Maps Page

Migration
Early migration routes to and from Pender County for European settlers included:


 * Atlantic Ocean
 * King's Highway about 1704
 * Secondary Coast Road late 1730s

Revolutionary War

 * 1779 - 1782 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Civil War
Online Records
 * 1861 - 1865 - at FamilySearch.org — index and images
 * 1861 - 1865 - at FamilySearch.org — index and images
 * 1861 - 1865 - U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry — index (free)
 * 1861 - 1865 - U.S., Union Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry — index (free)
 * 1885 - 1953 - at FamilySearch — index and images

World War I

 * 1917 - 1919 - at FamilySearch — index and images

World War II

 * 1940 - 1948 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Probate
Online Probate Records

The North Carolina State Archives have created an index of Pender County Estates
 * 1660 - 1790 - North Carolina Will Abstracts 1660-1790 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1663 - 1979 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1665 - 1998 - North Carolina Wills and Probate Records 1665-1998 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1735 - 1970 - at FamilySearch.org — images
 * 1760 - 1800 - North Carolina Will Abstracts 1760-1800 at Ancestry.com — index and images
 * 1875 - 1910 - has been digitized by FamilySearch - free.
 * Posquotank County Will and Estate Records from NCGenWeb

The Pender County Clerk of the Superior Court has copies of Wills, Estate and other Probate records available to the public from their offices and should be contacted to verify which records they have and what their prices are for obtaining them. Note that most of the originals of the older records have been transferred to the State Archives and that the records contained at the County level are usually hand copied into the County Books.

Clerk of the Superior Court Pender County Courthouse 100 Wright Street Burgaw, NC

and 100 Dickerson Street Burgaw, NC (910) 663-3900

Birth Records

 * 1800 - 2000 - at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1866 - 1964 - at FamilySearch.org — index

Marriages

 * 1741 - 2004 - North Carolina, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
 * 1741 - 2004 - North Carolina Marriage Index 1741-2004 at Ancestry.com — index $
 * 1759 - 1979 - at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1762 - 1979 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1763 - 1868 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1875 - 1921 - Pender County Marriage Index 1875-1921 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free.

Death Records

 * 1898 - 1994 - at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1906 - 1930 - 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 Records

 * 1926 - 1975 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1958 - 2004 - North Carolina Divorce Index 1958-2004 at Ancestry.com — index $

Yearbooks

 * Pender County Yearbooks

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to Family History Centers

Websites

 * Pender County, NC History, Records, Facts and Genealogy (Genealogy Inc)
 * USGenWeb Project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
 * Pender County NCGenWeb
 * Pender County, NCGenWeb Archives
 * Pender County, NCGenWeb Archives