Montgomery County, North Carolina Genealogy

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

County Courthouse
Montgomery County North Carolina East Main Street P O Box 695 Troy, NC 27371 910-576-4271 Courhouse burned 1835 1820 Census missing Register of Deeds has birth, marriage, deeds burial, probate and land records Clerk Superior Court has divorce and court records from 1842. Register of Deeds PO Box 695 Troy, NC 27371 Telephone: 910-576-4271 Fax: 910-576-2209 Website Clerk of Superior Court PO Box 527 Troy, NC 27371 Telephone: (910) 571-3700

Parent County
1779--Montgomery County was established from Anson County. County seat: Troy

When Montgomery County was formed in 1779 from Anson County, It was named in honor of Richard Montgomery who, in 1775, lost his life at the battle of Quebec in the attempt to conquer Canada. Located in the south section of the State of North Carolina, it is bounded by Moore Co, Richmond Co, Stanly Co, Davidson Co, and Randolph County. When the county was first established it was specified that the first court should be held at the home of Henry Munger, and all subsequent courts should be held where the justices of peace decided until a courthouse was built. In 1783 the Assembly authorized the building of the courthouse on land previously purchased for that purpose. There was some dissatisfaction among the people as to the location that had been selected but this didn't sway the commissioners from the location they had selected. In an effort to appease the ones dissatisfied the act provided for adequate ferries across the Yadkin and Uwharrie Rivers on the court, public, and election days. The General Assembly was petitioned to authorize removal of the courthouse in 1785. In 1791 an act was passed directing that the center of the county be located by actual survey, and Stokes was to be established at that place. petitioned to authorize the removal of the courthouse. When the commissioners failed to act new commissioners were named in 1792. At that time the courts were to be held at the home of Mark Kenneth unless the justices decide on some more convenient place. The courthouse battle continued on for several more years with the commissioners in 1815 being named to again locate the center of the county, purchase land, and erect a courthouse. They were authorized to sell the old courthouse and lot in the town of Henderson and apply the proceeds to the erection of the new buildings. In 1816 Laurenceville was named under the authority of a law enacted in 1815 establishing a town at the courthouse. The courthouse was ordered to be moved in 1843 from Laurenceville to the geographical center. Commissioners were named to locate the center, to acquire land, to lay out a town and erect the public buildings. In 1844 Troy was established as the county seat and remains so today.

The above information comes from website - Montgomery County

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
1835, 1840--Courthouse fires destroyed many records. 1886--Fire burned courthouse, most records saved but disorganized.

Neighboring Counties

 * Anson
 * Davidson
 * Moore
 * Randolph
 * Richmond
 * Rowan
 * Stanly

Baptist

 * Fork of Little River. Church built 1758. Originally located in Anson County.
 * Mouth of Hughwarry River. Constituted 1780.
 * Rocky River P.D.R. Constituted 1758.

Methodist

 * Randall's United Methodist Church, near Norwood, N.C. Organized about 1785. Later located in Stanly County.
 * Zion United Methodist Church, near Pee Dee, N.C. Organized 1786. Originally known as Scarborough's Meeting House.

Land
The Register of Deeds office serves as the custodian for real estate and vital records for Montgomery County. The records include deeds, deeds of trust, maps, military discharge records, notary public records, birth certificates, death certificates, and marriage licenses.

Montgomery County Register of Deeds PO Box 695 102 E. Spring St Troy, NC 27371 910-576-4271

Deeds are currently indexed and searchable online from 1999, records are being updated regularly, so check back often.

Do an Online Search

Local Histories

 * Montgomery County Local History
 * Montgomery County Families &amp; Surnames
 * Montgomery County Migrations

Military

 * Montgomery County Military Records - from USGenWeb Archives

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


 * - 1st Brigade, North Carolina Reserves, Company E
 * - 1st Regiment, North Carolina Junior Reserves, Company E
 * - 6th Regiment, North Carolina Senior Reserves, Company A
 * - 6th Regiment, North Carolina Senior Reserves, Company I

World War I

 * 1917 - 1919 - at FamilySearch — index and images

World War II

 * 1940 - 1948 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers
The Montgomery Herald, 139 Bruton St, Troy, NC 27371    910-576-6051

URL - Montgomery Herald

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.
 * 1843 - 1964 - have been digitized by FamilySearch - free.
 * 1843 - 1964 - Montgomery County North Carolina list of will book testators SAMPUBCO - Browsable index of testators of wills. - Free

A number of wills have been transcribed, please visit the following websites:


 * Montgomery County Wills &amp; Estates

The Clerk of Superior Court is elected for four years and must be a resident of the county in which he or she is elected. Unlike clerks of court in other states, the Clerk of Superior Court in North Carolina has numerous judicial functions.

As judge of probate, the Clerk has exclusive original jurisdiction over matters relating to the probate of wills, and the administration of estates, including appointing personal representatives, auditing their accounting, and removing them from office if necessary. The Clerk also presides over many other legal matters including adoptions, incompetency proceedings, condemnation of private lands for public use, and foreclosures. The Clerk is responsible for all clerical and record-keeping functions of the district and superior court. In addition, the Clerk receives and disburses money collected each year from court fees and fines. Montgomery County has probate records starting from 1785, you should contact the Clerk's office for more specific details about the documents that you are seeking. Montgomery County Courthouse 108 East Main Street Troy, NC 27371

Mailing Address: P. O. Box 527 Troy, NC 27371 Clerk of the Superior Court (910) 576-4211

Taxation
Websites with Tax Lists:


 * Montgomery County 1779 Tax List
 * Montgomery County 1780 Tax List

Vital Records
Birth, Marriage and Death Records are available at the Register of Deeds office. Montgomery County has Marriage records from 1779, and Birth &amp; Death records starting from 1913, when the State started requiring the registration of these vital records. Visit the Montgomery County Register of Deeds website to get further details.

The following websites have a number of transcribed Vital Records for Montgomery County:


 * Montgomery County Vital Records NCGenWeb Project
 * Montgomery County Vitals - from the USGenWeb Archives

Birth Records

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

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

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

Marriage Records

 * Montgomery County Marriages USGenWeb Archives
 * Montgomery County, North Carolina Marriage Records at USGenWeb - free.
 * 1843 - 1964 - Montgomery County Marriage Index 1843-1964 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - 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
Montgomery Historical Society P0 Box644 Troy, NC 27371 website


 * Sandhill Regional Library System
 * List of North Carolina Genealogical Societies
 * North Carolina Genealogical Society, P. O. Box 30815, Raleigh, NC 27622-0815
 * Federation of North Carolina Historical Societies, 109 East Jones Street, Raleigh, NC 27607-2807

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Web Sites

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