Northampton County, North Carolina Genealogy

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

Description
Northampton County is located in the northeastern portion of North Carolina and shares a border with Virginia. It was named for James Compton, Earl of Northampton.

County Courthouse
Northampton County Courthouse 102 W. Jefferson Street PO Box 120 Jackson, NC 27845 Phone: 252-534-2511 Northampton County Website Register of Deeds has birth, marriage and death and land records. Clerk Superior Court has divorce records from 1800, probate and court records from 1761.

History Timeline
Northampton County was formed in 1741 from Bertie County and was named in honor of James Crompton Earl of Northampton, an English nobleman. Located in the northeastern section of the state, it is bounded by the State of Virginia and neighboring North Carolina counties of Halifax, Bertie and Hertford. The Roanoke River determines the southwest boarder of Northampton following its flow from the Roanoke Rapids Lake in the northwestern corner of Northampton County. The Meherrin River marks the northeastern border. The present land area is 536 square miles and the 2003 estimated population was 21,782. Jackson is the seat of Northampton County and is an extremely fertile area along the Roanoke River with cotton, corn and peanuts being its principal crops. The first courthouse was built here in 1742 and was known as Northampton Courthouse; Jackson, NC was incorporated in 1823 and named after Andrew Jackson who was born near the NC/SC line, studied law in Salisbury, NC and later became the seventh President of the United States.

During the Nat Turner slave insurrection of 1831 in the adjoining Southampton County, Virginia, NC militia were mobilized at Jackson, NC in readiness for the anticipated slave uprising that was quelled prior to the militia's intervention. The Northampton County Courthouse was built in 1859 and it is purported that Cornwallis visited a tavern that was located diagonally opposite the Courthouse. Lafayette, the first Frenchman to come to the aid of the American revolutionary cause and whom the United States Congress commissioned a major general of the Continental Army on July 31, 1777 dined in Jackson on his 1825 triumphal visit to North Carolina.

Church Records

 * 1700-1970 - at FamilySearch — index
 * Northampton County Churches (NCGenWeb)

Baptist There was a Baptist Church at Potecasi by 1778.

Church of England


 * Northwest Parish. Established by 1727.
 * St. George's Parish. Established by 1762. Vestry minutes begin 1773.

Ethnic, Political, and Religious Groups
African-American


 * Civil War Service of Black Troops Born in Northampton County (NCGenWeb)
 * Freedmen Bank Records (NCGenWeb)
 * Free Black Heads of Family, 1830, Northampton County (NCGenWeb)
 * Cohabitation Records. Includes Husbands and Wives listings. (NCGenWeb)

Genealogies

 * Twelve Northhampton County, North Carolina Families, 1650-1850: Bridgers, Daughtry, Futrell, Jenkins, Joyner, Lassiter, Martin, Odom, Parker, Stephenson, Sumner, Woodard. By Dozier, Rebecca Leach, Lou Woodard King and Penn Perry. Baltimore, Md.: Gateway Press, 2004.
 * [Binford] Bruner, Mary L. Binford Family Genealogy. Greenfield, Ind.: Wm. Mitchell Printing Co., [1925]. Digital version at
 * [Boddie] Leary, Helen F.M. "The Two William Boddies of North Carolina," The American Genealogist, Vol. 66, No. 1 (Jan. 1991):16-29; Vol. 62, No. 2 (Apr. 1991):106-110; Vol. 66, No. 3 (Jul. 1991):148-153. Available at.

Land and Property Records

 * Northampton County Register of Deeds Thomas Bragg Street Jasper Eley Annex Building PO Box 128 Jackson, NC 27845 Phone: 252-534-2511 Real estate records extending back as far as 1741.

Maps and Gazetteers



 * Northampton County Places Maps and mapping projects using the Google Earth application. (NCGenWeb)
 * Northampton County maps from the NC State Archives Digital Maps Collection

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


 * - Northampton County U.S. Colored Troops
 * - 12th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry, Company N
 * - 12th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry, Company O
 * - 15th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry, formerly the 5th Volunteers, Company A
 * - 1st Brigade, North Carolina Reserves, Company K
 * - 1st Regiment, North Carolina Cavalry, Company B
 * - 1st Regiment, North Carolina Junior Reserves, Company K
 * - 2nd Regiment, North Carolina Cavalry, Company H
 * - 3rd Battalion, North Carolina Light Artillery, Company A
 * - 3rd Regiment, North Carolina Infantry, Company K
 * - 4th Regiment, North Carolina Cavalry (59th North Carolina State Troops), Company K

World War I 


 * 1917-1919  at FamilySearch

World War II 


 * 1940-1948  at FamilySearch

Other Records

 * 1773-1814 Wardens of the Poor, Northampton County, North Carolina, Stephen W. Worrel, Amazon KDP, 2019, 139 pp.

Probate Records
Online Probate Records


 * 1660-1790 North Carolina Will Abstracts 1660-1790 at Ancestry $. Original data: Grimes, John Bryan. Abstracts of North Carolina Wills. Raleigh, NC, USA: North Caroline Department of State, 1910.
 * 1663-1979  at FamilySearch. Index and images of estate files from North Carolina counties. The originals were filmed at the North Carolina Department of Archives and History. The estate records contain loose papers relating to the settlement of estates This project was indexed in partnership with the North Carolina Genealogical Society and Library.
 * 1665-1998 North Carolina Wills and Probate Records 1665-1998 at Ancestry $. Probate papers from NC counties, with an extensive collection from Northampton. 2015.
 * 1735-1970  at FamilySearch. Probate papers from NC counties, with an extensive collection from Northampton. 2016.
 * 1741-1961  at FamilySearch
 * 1760-1800 North Carolina Will Abstracts 1760-1800 at Ancestry $
 * Pre-1790 Pre-1790 Northampton County, North Carolina Genealogy Wills (North Carolina State Archives)
 * 1833-1970 NC County Records 1833-1970: Estate Records at FamilySearch; indexed images of Northampton Co. Estate Records are included in this Collection.
 * Index to Wills, Northampton County. (NCGenWeb)

Probate records, including wills &amp; estate records are handled by the Northampton County Clerk of the Superior Court.

Tax Records

 * 1762 Tax Lists, Northampton County, 1762 (index) in NC Taxpayers at Ancestry $
 * 1780 Tax Lists, Northampton County, 1780 (index) in NC Taxpayers vol. 2 at Ancestry $
 * 1780 Tax Lists, Northampton County, 1780 (images)  at North Carolina Digital Collections

Vital Records

 * 1800-2000 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Birth

 * 1800-2000  at FamilySearch
 * 1866-1964  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
 * 1847-1867 Northampton County Marriage Bonds 1847-1867  (USGenWeb)

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

 * Introduction to Family History Centers

Websites

 * USGenWeb Project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
 * – 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 Northampton County
 * Northampton County, NCGenWeb Archives