Robeson County, North Carolina Genealogy

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

Description
Robeson County is located in the south-central portion of North Carolina and shares a border with South Carolina. It was named for Revolutionary War Colonel Thomas Robeson.

County Courthouse
Robeson County Courthouse 500 N Elm Street PO Box 22 Lumberton, NC 28358 Phone: 919-671-3044 Robeson County Website Register of Deeds has been recorded from 1913, marriage records from 1787, death records from 1915, brand land records from 1799. Clerk Superior Court has divorce and court records from 1920 and probate records from 1868.

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:

Church Records

 * 1700-1970 - at FamilySearch — index

Baptist
 * Ash Pole. Organized 1796.
 * First Baptist Church, Lumberton, N.C.
 * Saddle Tree Creek. Constituted by 1788. Lemuel Burkitt and Jesse Read, A Concise History of the Kehukee Baptist Association: From Its Original Rise Down to 1808 (1808), Chapter 16. Available online at Internet Archives.

Presbyterian List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * History of the First Presbyterian Church, Maxton, NC, 1878-1958. (Eastern NC Digital Library)
 * Yearbook and Directory of the Rowland Presbyterian Church, Rowland, N.C (Eastern NC Digital Library)
 * FamilySearch Places

Ethnic, Political, and Religious Groups
African Americans Many free African American families moved to Robeson County from Virginia in the 1700s.

Genealogies

 * [Lewis] Lewis, J.D. My Neck of the Woods: The Lewis Families of Southeastern North Carolina and Northeastern South Carolina. Little River, S.C.: J.D. Lewis, 2002.

Land and Property Records

 * Misc County Deed Transcriptions (USGenWeb Archives)

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Maps of Robeson County (NC Maps collection)
 * FamilySearch Places:Cities and Towns- How to Use FS Places

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


 * - 3rd Regiment, North Carolina Artillery, Company E
 * - 7th Battalion, North Carolina Junior Reserves, Company C
 * - 8th Regiment, North Carolina Senior Reserves, Captain Nathaniel McLean's Company
 * - 8th Regiment, North Carolina Senior Reserves, Captain Neill McNeill's Company
 * - 12th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry, 1st Company D
 * - 51st Regiment, North Carolina Militia Company F

World War I 
 * 1917-1919  at FamilySearch

World War II 
 * 1940-1948  at FamilySearch

Newspapers

 * 1799-1893 Robeson County marriages. May be included throughout Carrie Broughton's 6-volume index of the Raleigh Register &amp; State Gazette newspaper (1799-1893). Marriages are listed by year and PDF files are searchable. Available on the North Carolina Digital Collections website.
 * Newspapers published in Robeson County. Listing of newspapers published in the county libraries that hold them. (Library of Congress)
 * Misc. newspaper articles (USGenWeb Archives)
 * Robeson 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. (NCGenWeb)

Obituaries

 * Misc. Robeson County Obituaries (USGenWeb Archives)

Probate Records
Online Probate Records
 * 1660-1790 North Carolina Will Abstracts 1660-1790 at Ancestry $
 * 1663-1979  at FamilySearch
 * 1665-1998 North Carolina Wills and Probate Records 1665-1998 at Ancestry $
 * 1735-1970  at FamilySearch
 * 1760-1800 North Carolina Will Abstracts 1760-1800 at Ancestry $
 * 1783-1966 Bonds and records (North Carolina), 1736-1957 at FamilySearch
 * Pre-1790  Pre-1790 Robeson County, North Carolina Genealogy Wills (North Carolina State Archives)
 * Miscellaneous Robeson County wills, transcriptions (USGenWeb Archives)

School Records

 * Robeson County College Students. Name list of students at various NC colleges with identified hometowns in Robeson. Yearbook Index. (NCGenWeb)
 * Flora McDonald College yearbooks from 1921-1961. (Internet Archive)
 * Presbyterian Junior College yearbooks from the mid 1930s-1960s. (Internet Archive)
 * UNC-Pembroke yearbooks from the 1940s to the 1980s. (Internet Archive)
 * Flora Macdonald College, published by Ralph Walter Page, 1920.

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 — index and images
 * Uncertified copies of vital records can be ordered for a small fee from the Durham County Register of Deeds.

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
 * 1850-1944 Robeson County Marriage Index 1850-1944 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch
 * Robeson County Marriages (NCGenWeb)
 * Misc. Robeson County Marriages (USGenWeb Archives)

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
 * Pembroke North Carolina Family History Center

Societies

 * Robeson County Historical and Genealogical Society PO Box 2292 Lumberton, NC 28359 Website
 * Southeastern North Carolina Genealogical Society PO Box 468 Chadbourn, NC 28431-0468 Website

Websites

 * Robeson County NCGenWeb
 * – 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.