Johnston County, North Carolina Genealogy

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

County Courthouse
Johnston County Courthouse 207 East Johnston Street P O Box 118 Smithfield, NC 27577-4515 Phone:919-989-5160 Register of Deeds has marriage and land records Clerk Superior Court has probate and court records

Register of Deeds P.O. Box 118 Smithfield, NC 27520 Phone: 919-989-5160 Fax: 919-989-5160 Website

Clerk Superior Court P.O. Box 297 Smithfield, NC 27577 Phone: (919) 209-5400

Parent County
1746--Johnston County was created 28 June 1746 from Craven County. County seat: Smithfield

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

 * Franklin
 * Harnett
 * Nash
 * Sampson
 * Wake
 * Wayne
 * Wilson

Census
Links to Free, Online Census Records from 1790-1940 - johnstoncountygenealogy.org/resources/resource.asp?id=5

Baptist

 * Mill Creek. Established by 1808.
 * Rocky Spring. Constituted 1793.
 * Three Creeks. Established by 1789.

Church of England

 * St. Patrick's Parish. Established 1756.

Court
Links to Court Records - http://johnstoncountygenealogy.org/resources/resource.asp?id=7

Genealogy

 * [Humphries] Holcomb, Brent Howard. Ancestors and Descendants of Charles Humphries (d. 1837) of Union District, South Carolina, 1677-1984. Columbia, S.C., 1985..

Local Histories

 * A Very Short History of the County (Johnston Count)

Historical Timeline

 * June 28, 1746 - Royal Governor Gabriel Johnston signs legislation creating the County of Johnston.
 * Oct. 18, 1775 - Independent North Carolina's Provincial Council holds its first meeting at Johnston County Courthouse (Smithfield).
 * May 9, 1777 - Town of Smithfield chartered by the N.C. General Assembly.
 * May 3-15, 1779 - N.C. General Assembly meets in Smithfield.
 * Feb. 16, 1861 - Town of Boon Hill chartered - renamed Princeton in 1873.
 * March 19-21, 1865 - Civil War Battle of Bentonville rages as the "bloodiest battle ever fought on North Carolina soil."
 * April 12, 1869 - Town of Clayton chartered.
 * Feb. 11, 1873 - Town of Selma chartered.
 * Jan. 30, 1874 - Town of Pine Level chartered.
 * March 7, 1887 - Towns of Benson and Kenly chartered.
 * March 11, 1889 - Town of Four Oaks chartered.
 * May 1, 1899 - Town of Jerome chartered - renamed Micro in 1905.
 * Aug. 15, 1945 - Farmers Day in Smithfield celebrates the end of World War II.
 * Sept. 1, 1965 - Johnston County's public schools begin racial desegregation, completed by consolidation of high schools in 1969.
 * Oct. 1, 1991 - Land-use zoning instituted throughout Johnston County as suburbanization follows recently completed I-40 from Raleigh.
 * Aug. 2, 1996 - Town of Wilson's Mills re-chartered (original charter issued in 1927, revoked in 1971).
 * Nov. 3, 2009 - Town of Archer Lodge incorporated by a majority vote of residents within its proposed borders.

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


 * - 5th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry
 * - 2nd Regiment, North Carolina Junior Reserves, Company H
 * - 5th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry, Company C
 * - 7th Battalion, North Carolina Cavalry, Company F
 * - 7th Battalion, North Carolina Cavalry, Company G
 * - 8th Regiment, North Carolina Senior Reserves, Captain John Daniel's Company

Civil War Battle
The following Civil War battle was fought in Johnston County:


 * March 19-21, 1865 = Bentonville, also known as Bentonsville


 * Map showing Civil War battles in North Carolina.

World War I

 * 1917 - 1919 - at FamilySearch — index and images

World War II

 * 1940 - 1948 - at FamilySearch — index and images

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
 * Pre - 1790 - Pre-1790 Wills stored at the North Carolina State Archives are online - free. Website tips.
 * 1760 - 1962 - have been digitized by FamilySearch - free.
 * 1760 - 1859 - Images of Wills and Estates. North Carolina Pioneers ($)

Taxation

 * 1779 - Tax Lists, New Bern District, 1779 (index) in NC Taxpayers vol. 2, online at Ancestry ($)
 * 1779 - Tax Lists, New Bern District, 1779 (images) online at North Carolina Digital Collections
 * 1784 - Tax Lists, Johnston County, 1784 (index) in NC Taxpayers vol. 2, online at Ancestry ($)
 * 1784 - Tax Lists, Johnston County, 1784 (images) online at North Carolina Digital Collections
 * 1809-1819, 1863 - Tax Lists, 1809-1819, 1863 (images) online at FamilySearch
 * 1815 - Tax Lists, Johnston County, 1815 (images) online at North Carolina Digital Collections

Birth

 * 1800 - 2000 - at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1850 - 1895 - Johnston County Bastardy Bonds 1850-1895 at USGenWeb - free.
 * 1866 - 1964 - at FamilySearch.org — index

Death

 * Deaths at the Johnston County NCGenWeb site - free.
 * Obituaries from the Smithfield Herald are included in GenealogyBank from Jan 2011 forward ($)
 * Johnson County Deaths - list of county area deaths reported in various newspapers; dates range from late 1700s to 1900s.
 * 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

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

Marriage

 * 1741 - 2004 - North Carolina, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
 * 1764 - 1930 - Johnston County Marriage Index 1764-1930 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free.
 * Marriages at the Johnston County NCGenWeb site - free.
 * 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

Societies and Libraries
Johnston County Genealogical Society PO Box 2373 Smithfield, NC 27577-2373 Telephone Number: 828-631-2646 website

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Websites

 * Johnston County, NC History, Records, Facts and Genealogy (Genealogy Inc)
 * NCGenWeb Johnston County
 * Johnston County Heritage Center
 * Johnston County, NCGenWeb Archives