Robeson County, North Carolina Genealogy

Guide to Robeson County, North Carolina ancestry, family history, and genealogy 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 P O Box 22 Lumberton, NC 28358 Phone: 919-671-3044 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.

Register of Deeds 500 N. Elm Street Room 102 Lumberton, NC 28358 Phone: 910-671-3044 Fax: 910-671-3041 Website

Clerk Superior Court P.O. Box 1084 Lumberton, NC 28358 Phone: (910) 272-5900

History
Many free African American families moved to Robeson County from Virginia in the 1700s.

Parent County
1787--Robeson County was created from Bladen County. County seat: Lumberton

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
Many of the court records are missing.

Neighboring Counties

 * Bladen
 * Columbus
 * Cumberland
 * Dillon County, South Carolina
 * Hoke
 * Horry County, South Carolina
 * Marlboro County, South Carolina
 * Scotland

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. Digital version at

Presbyterian

 * [Book] Enter into his gates history of the First Presbyterian Church, Maxton, North Carolina, 1878-1958. - available online via the Eastern NC Digital Library
 * [Book] Year book and directory of the Rowland Presbyterian Church, Rowland, N.C - available online via the Eastern NC Digital Library

County Records

 * 1833-1970 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Education

 * Robeson County College Students; a name list of students at various NC colleges with identified hometowns in the county; via NCGenWeb Yearbook Index
 * Flora McDonald College yearbooks - from 1921-1961; via the Internet Archive
 * Students Yearbooks. Presbyterian Junior College yearbooks

- from the mid 1930s - 1960s; via the Internet Archive


 * UNC-Pembroke yearbooks- from the 1940s to the 1980s; via the Internet Archive
 * Book - Flora McDonald College - published by Ralph Walter Page in 1920.

Genealogy
It is anticipated that this bibliography will eventually identify all known family histories published about residents of this county. Use this list to:


 * Locate publications about direct ancestors
 * Find the most updated accounts of an ancestor's family
 * Identify publications, to quote Elizabeth Shown Mills about an ancestor's "FAN Club" [Friends, Associates, and Neighbors]

Land

 * Misc county deeds- transcriptions submitted to the NCGenWeb Archives.

Maps

 * Maps of Robeson County - online map images via the NC Maps collection.

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
 * 1885 - 1953 - at FamilySearch — images
 * 1861 - 1865 - U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry — index (free)
 * 1885 - 1953 - at FamilySearch — index and images


 * - 51st Regiment, North Carolina Militia Company F
 * - 12th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry, 1st Company D
 * - 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

World War I

 * 1917 - 1919 - at FamilySearch — index and images

World War II

 * 1940 - 1948 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers

 * Newspapers published in Robeson County - a listing of newspapers published in the county libraries that hold them; via the Library of Congress.
 * Misc. newspaper articles - submitted to the NCGenWeb 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.

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 - free. North Carolina Probate Records Website tips.
 * 1783 - 1966 - Bonds and records (North Carolina), 1736-1957 Bonds and records (North Carolina), 1736-1957 have been digitized by FamilySearch - free.
 * Miscellaneous Robeson County wills - transcriptions submitted to the NCGenWeb Archives

Vital Records
Uncertified copies of vital records can be ordered for a small fee from the Register of Deeds. Please visit the Durham County website for more information.

Birth Records

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

Marriage Records

 * 1741 - 2004 - North Carolina, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
 * Robeson County Marriages via NCGenWeb
 * Misc. Robeson County Marriages - submitted by users to the NCGenWeb Archives
 * 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.
 * 1850 - 1944 - Robeson County Marriage Index 1850-1944 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

Death Records

 * Misc. Robeson County Obituaries - via the Durham County NCGenWeb Archives
 * 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

 * 1926 - 1975 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1958 - 2004 - North Carolina Divorce Index 1958-2004 at Ancestry.com — index $

Societies and Libraries
Southeastern North Carolina Genealogical Society PO Box 468 Chadbourn, NC 28431-0468 website

Robeson County Historical and Genealogical Society PO Box 2292 Lumberton NC 28359 Website

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
 * Pembroke North Carolina Family History Center

Websites

 * Robeson County, NC History, Records, Facts and Genealogy (Genealogy Inc)
 * Robeson County NCGenWeb - free genealogy resources; part of the national USGenWeb Project