Person County, North Carolina Genealogy

United States   North Carolina    Person County

Guide to Person County North Carolina genealogy. Birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

County Courthouse
Person County Courthouse 105 South Main St Roxboro, NC 27573 Phone 336-503-5200

History
Person was formed in 1791 from Caswell. The act was to become effective February 1, 1792. In 1792 the eastern four districts of Caswell County became Person County. It was named in honor of General Thomas Person, a Revolutionary Patriot, a member of the Council of Safety and a trustee of the University of North Carolina. He gave a large sum of money to the University, and a building was erected in his honor, which is called Person Hall. It is in the north central section of the State and is bounded by Granville, Durham, Orange and Caswell counties, and the State of Virginia. The present area is 390.87 square miles and the 1990 population was 30,180. In 1792 Pittman's was mentioned in an act as the place where the courthouse was to be established. In 1793 Roxboro was established as the courthouse and is now the county seat.

Parent County
1791--Person County was created from Caswell County. County seat: Roxboro

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

Neighboring Counties

 * Caswell
 * Durham
 * Granville
 * Halifax
 * Orange

Cemeteries
Following sites have various listings of Person County Cemeteries:


 * Index to Person County Cemeteries - NCGenWeb
 * Cemetery Census: Person County
 * Find-A-Grave: Person County
 * Person County Cemeteries - NCGenWeb Archives
 * USGW Tombstone Transcription Project

Baptist

 * Flat River. Constituted 1777.
 * Head of Mayo Creek. Constituted 1793.
 * South Hico River Lower Church. Constituted 1793.
 * South Hico River Upper Church. Constituted 1792.

Court
Person County Clerk of Court's Office Person County Courthouse 105 South Main St Roxboro, NC 27573 Phone 336-503-5200

Ethnic and Religous Groups
Redford, Dorothy Spruill. As Long as You Call My Name, I Live: Somerset Place Slave Burial Register, 1785-1865.FHL 975.6165 V3r

Redford, Dorothy Spruill and Michael D'orso. Somerset Homecoming: Recovering a Lost Heritage. New York, New York : Doubleday, c 1988. FHL 929.273 L732r

Redford, Dorothy Spruill. Somerset's Slave Community: an Antebellum Genealogical Study. [Portsmouth, Va.] D. S. Redford, 9C. 1986)

Land
Person County Register of Deeds Office P. O. Box 209 21 Abbitt Street Roxboro, NC 27573 Phone 336-597-1733

Website also includes online searchable database for deeds.

Register's office has copies of birth, marriage &amp; death records as well as land records.

Local Histories

 * Reminiscences : A sketch and letters descriptive of life in Person County in former days - free online book at Archives.org
 * Resources: Books - at NCGenWeb has dozens of listings of Person County books

Maps

 * Person County Maps Page

Civil War
Civil War Confederate units - Brief history, counties where recruited, etc.

U.S. Colored Troops-Person County - list of soldiers from Person Co.

Newspapers

 * List of Person County Newspapers - both current &amp; past
 * Library of Congress: Chronicling America
 * State Library: North Carolina Newspapers

Probate

 * 1792-1966 - have been digitized by FamilySearch - free.
 * Transcribed Wills &amp; Estates

Taxation
Some Person County Tax Lists are available in transcribed records online. Following are links to them:


 * 1792- Nash District
 * 1793- Nash District
 * 1794- Nash District
 * 1797- Nash District
 * 1798- Nash District
 * 1800- Nash District

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Libraries

 * Person County Library - includes a local history room, large amount of genealogy information
 * UNC-Chapel Hill Library Catalog: Person County

Societies

 * Person County Historical Society PO Box 887 Roxboro, NC 27573 336-597-3134 pchs@esinc.net
 * Caswell County Historical Association
 * Piedmont Genealogical Society P. O. Box 2272 Danville, VA 24541

Web Sites

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