Alamance County, North Carolina Genealogy

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

Description
Alamance County is located in the north-central portion of North Carolina and is called after the creek by the same name, Alamance - a Native American word describing the blue-colored mud found in the creekbed.

County Courthouse
Alamance County Courthouse 212 West Elm Street Graham, NC 27253 Phone: 336-570-5200 Alamance County Website Clerk Superior Court has divorce, probate records from 1832, and court records from 1849. Register of Deeds has birth, marriage, death and land records.

For more information about the history of the Alamance County Courthouse, visit the Wikipedia page

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

History Timeline
Alamance County was named after Great Alamance Creek, site of the Battle of Alamance (May 16, 1771). This pre-Revolutionary War battle in which militia under the command of Governor William Tryon crushed the Regulator movement, a movement by the poor citizens of the back country who were tired of corrupt government and wanted to regulate themselves. The Great Alamance Creek, and in turn the Little Alamance Creek, according to legend, were named after a local Native American word to describe the blue mud that was found at the bottom of the creeks. Other legends say that the name came from another local Native American word meaning "noisy river" or for the Alamanni region of Rhineland, Germany, where many of the early settlers would have come from. Before being formed as a county, the region had at least one known small Southeastern tribe of Native American in the 18th century - the Sissipahaw who lived in the area bound by modern Saxapahaw, the area known as the Hawfields, and Haw River in the county European settlers entered the region in the late 17th century chiefly following Native American trading paths, and set up their farms what they called the "Haw Old Fields", fertile ground previously tilled by the Sissipahaw. The paths later became the basis of the railroad and interstate highway routes. (from Wikipedia)

Cemeteries

 * at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images

Church Records

 * 1700-1970 - at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images

Presbyterian List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * Hawfields. Founded about 1755. Previously located in Orange. Official website.
 * FamilySearch Places

Court Records
Transcribed court records (USGenWeb Archives):
 * John Ireland vs D. A. Montgomery, 1859
 * A. F. Lambeth vs James T. Bird, 1862
 * Dicky Moore &amp; Hiram James, Agreement, 1854
 * John Murray Estate Sale, 1860
 * Juanite Murray vs W. E. Hay, 1892
 * George W. Swepson vs McAden &amp; Rouse, 1864

Emigration and Immigration

 * 1764 Passenger List of the Charming Molly. Virginia Pioneers $

Ethnic, Political, and Religious Groups

 * 1862-1870   at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1863-1872   at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; images only

Land and Property Records
Transcribed land records: (NCGenWeb) and (USGenWeb Archives)
 * Bradford-Taylor Land Sales
 * Land Grants Index
 * Abemilick Barbee et al to Thomas Reding, 1795
 * Sidney Burnett Et Al to John A. Reddin, 1909
 * Stephen Carrell et al to Thomas Reding, 1792
 * John Reading to James Thompson, 1798
 * William Redding to William Woods, 1879
 * Thomas Reding Land Grant, 1780
 * Thomas Reding Land Grant, 1797
 * Thomas Reding to James Crabtree, 1798
 * Thomas Reding to John Reding, 1798
 * James Roney to Alexander Benson, 1801
 * John Thompson to Thomas Thompson, 1828
 * Thomas Thompson to John Newlin, 1828
 * Thomas Thompson to John Newlin, 1829
 * Alamance County Register of Deeds 118 West Harden Street PO Box 837 Graham, NC 27253 Phone: 336-570-6565 Website Has copies of land records dating from 1793; contact for details. You may also check for deed records at Alamance County Deeds Records Search

Maps and Gazetteers

 * FamilySearch Places:Cities and Towns- How to Use FS Places

Military Records
Revolutionary War 
 * 1779-1782  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images

Civil War 
 * 1861-1865  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1861-1865  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 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  - How to Use this Collection; index and images


 * - 6th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry
 * - 8th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry
 * - 13th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry formerly the 3rd Volunteers., Company E
 * - 15th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry, formerly the 5th Volunteers, Company H
 * - 4th Battalion, North Carolina Junior Reserves, Company B
 * - 6th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry, Company F
 * - 6th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry, Company K
 * - 7th Regiment, North Carolina Senior Reserves, Captain George F Fisher's Company
 * - 7th Regiment, North Carolina Senior Reserves, Company A
 * - 8th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry, Company I

World War I 
 * 1917-1919  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images

World War II 
 * 1940-1948  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images

Newspapers

 * Alamance Gleaner. Full text digital issues in Google News Archive; includes 1881-1910
 * Alamance 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.
 * Mebane Gleaner (1911-1914). Full-text digital issues (NC Digital Heritage Center)

Other Records
County Records
 * 1833-1970 - at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images. (incomplete)

Voter Registration
 * 1868-1898 - at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images

Probate Records

 * North Carolina Probate Records tips

Online Probate Records
 * 1660-1790 North Carolina Will Abstracts 1660-1790 at Ancestry $
 * 1663-1979  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1665-1998 North Carolina Wills and Probate Records 1665-1998 at Ancestry $
 * 1720-1960 - at FamilySearch.org - How to Use this Collection; images only (by County)
 * 1735-1970  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; images only (by County)
 * 1760-1800 North Carolina Will Abstracts 1760-1800 at Ancestry $
 * 1849-1963  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; images only (by County)
 * 1849-1963 Alamance County North Carolina list of will book testators SAMPUBCO
 * Online Probate Records. Images of Wills, Estates, Orders 1692-95; Images of Wills & Estates 1695-99; 1717-20; 1722-1730;1775-1785;1786-1792. Virginia Pioneers $

Transcribed wills or estate records: (NCGenWeb) and (USGenWeb Archives)
 * Will of David Bradford
 * Will of James Dickey of Orange County
 * Will of Nancy Bird
 * Index of Alamance County Wills
 * Catherine Cortner Coble, 1843
 * George Coble, 1815
 * Jehu Hall, 1855
 * Joseph Harder, 1873
 * John Hughes Sr, 1827
 * John Rudd, 1849
 * Nancy Rudd, 1829
 * Nathan Stafford, 1893
 * Elizabeth Thompson, 1842
 * Emily Thompson, 1905
 * Joseph Thompson, 1842
 * Robert Thompson, 1840
 * Thomas Thompson, 1836
 * William P. Thompson, 1870
 * Alamance County Clerk of Court Website Has copies of probate records from 1832, including wills, estate records, and records associated with the administration of an estate.

School Records
Yearbooks 
 * Elon University: 1913-2009
 * Alamance County students at North Carolina colleges. Yearbook Index. (NCGenWeb)

Social Security Records

 * 1935-2014 at FamilySearch - How to use this collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
 * 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry ($) — index, click here for more information.

Vital Records

 * 1800-2000 - at FamilySearch  - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * Alamance County Register of Deeds has birth, marriage, and death records.

Birth

 * 1800-2000  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index
 * 1866-1964  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index
 * 1913-1922  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * Webster Births
 * Wrenn Births

Marriage

 * 1741-2004 North Carolina, United States Marriages at FindMyPast
 * 1741-2004 North Carolina Marriage Index 1741-2004 at Ancestry $
 * 1759-1979  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; Index
 * 1762-1979   at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1763-1868  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1849-1917, 1938-1961 Alamance County Marriage Books 1 thru 5 and A thru Z Index 1849-1917 and 1938-1961 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch.
 * 1850-1866 North Carolina Pioneers Marriage Records $
 * 1852-1868 Almace County Marriages 1852-1868 North Carolina Pioneers $
 * Clapp Marriages
 * Murray Marriages
 * Webster Marriages
 * Foster Marriage Records
 * State Dispatch Marriage Records-1909
 * Clark/Clarke Marriages
 * Alamance County Marriages
 * Alamance County Marriages

Death

 * 1898-1994  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1906-1930  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection;index and images
 * 1908-2004 North Carolina Death Indexes 1908-2004 at Ancestry $
 * 1909-1975 North Carolina Death Certificates 1909-1975 at Ancestry $
 * 1931-1994  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * Webster Death Records
 * Wrenn Death Records
 * Foster Death Records
 * Summers Death Records
 * Sutton Death Records
 * Sykes Death Records

Divorce

 * 1926-1975  at FamilySearch  - How to Use this Collection; index and images

Libraries

 * Caswell North Carolina Family History Center
 * Durham North Carolina Family History Center
 * Elon North Carolina Family History Center

Societies

 * Alamance County Genealogical Society PO Box 3052 Burlington, NC 27215-3052 Website

Websites

 * NCGenWeb: Alamance County genealogy resources; part of the national USGenWeb Project
 * Alamance County NCGenWeb Archives - many additional records
 * North Carolina Pioneers North Carolina Pioneers $
 * – 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.