Forsyth County, North Carolina Genealogy

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

County Courthouse
Forsyth County Courthouse 102 W 3rd Street P O Box 20639 Winston Salem, NC 27101 Phone: 316-727-2903

Register of Deeds has birth, marriage and death records Clerk Superior Court has divorce, probate and court records from 1849 Register of Deeds Forsyth County Government Center 201 N Chestnut Street Winston-Salem, NC 27101-4120 Telephone: 336-703-2700 Fax: 336-748-3158 Website  Clerk of Superior Court PO Box 20099 Winston-Salem, NC 27120-0099 Work Phone: (336) 779-6300

Parent County
1849--Forsyth County was created 16 January 1849 from Stokes County. County seat: Winston-Salem

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

 * Davidson
 * Davie
 * Guilford
 * Rockingham
 * Stokes
 * Surry
 * Yadkin

Dunker

 * Fraternity Church of the Brethren, near Clemmons, N.C. Established about 1775. Previously located in Surry and Stokes counties.

Lutheran

 * Nazareth Church aka Old Dutch Meeting House. Organized about 1778 by German settlers. Formerly located in Surry and Stokes counties.

Moravian

 * Friedberg Church. Begun 1759; organized 1773. Formerly located in Surry and Stokes counties.

Land

 * Deeds: 1849-1965 -- can be searched online on the Forsyth County Register of Deeds website.

Maps

 * Forsyth County Maps - via the NC Maps project

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 — images


 * - 2nd Battalion, North Carolina Infantry
 * - 2nd Battalion, North Carolina Infantry, Company G
 * - 4th Battalion, North Carolina Junior Reserves, Company B
 * - 7th Regiment, North Carolina Senior Reserves, Captain Eli E Holland's Company
 * - 7th Regiment, North Carolina Senior Reserves, Captain George F Fisher's Company
 * - 7th Regiment, North Carolina Senior Reserves, Company B

World War I

 * 1917 - 1919 - at FamilySearch — index and images

World War II

 * 1940 - 1948 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers

 * Forsyth county newspapers - a listing of newspapers published in the county &amp; libraries that hold them; via the Library of Congress
 * Forsyth 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.

Probate
Online Probate Records


 * 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
 * 1842 - 1932 - have been digitized by FamilySearch - free.

Births

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

Marriages

 * 1799 - 1893 - Forsyth 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.
 * 1849 - 1929 - Forsyth County Marriage Index 1849-1929 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free.
 * Forsyth County Marriages - on the NCGenWeb Archives
 * 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

Divorce

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

Deaths

 * Forsyth county deaths - list of county area deaths reported in various newspapers; dates range from late 1700s to 1900s.
 * Misc. Obituaries - on the NCGenWeb Archives site
 * 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

Yearbooks

 * Wake Forest University: 1903-2008
 * Wake Forest University School of Medicine Yearbooks: 1943-2011
 * Salem College: 1902-1983
 * Forsyth County students at North Carolina colleges - a list alphabetized by surname from the NCGenWeb Yearbook Index

Societies and Libraries
Forsyth County Genealogical Society PO Box 5715 Winston Salem 27113 Website


 * Forsyth County Historical Society
 * Forsyth County Public Library (NC Room)

Family History Centers

 * Winston-Salem North Carolina Family History Center

Web Sites

 * Forsyth County, NC History, Records, Facts and Genealogy (Genealogy Inc)
 * NCGenWeb: Forsyth County - part of the USGenWeb Project