Alamance County, North Carolina Genealogy

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

County Courthouse


Alamance County Courthouse 124 West Elm Street Graham, North Carolina 27253-2802 Phone: 336-570-6565 Clerk Superior Court has divorce, probate &amp; Court records from 1849 Register of Deeds has birth, marriage, death and land records

Register of Deeds PO Box 837 Graham, NC. 27253 Telephone: (336) 570.6565 Website

Clerk Superior Court #1 Court Square Rm 100 Graham, NC 27253 Telephone: (336) 570-5200

On July 17, 1849, the Alamance County Commissioners voted to spend $8,000 to construct a courthouse in a 75-acre (300,000 m2) area located approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) south of the Providence Church. The County Commissioners expected to pay for the courthouse through the sale of land in the new county seat of Graham. They also levied an ad valorem tax on property of 35.25 cents per $100 valuation and a poll tax of 73.75 cents. The courthouse was constructed with brick for the sum of $6,400 and was opened in 1852. In 1888, 2 new wings were added to the courthouse and the exterior of the courthouse was stuccoed. The courthouse remained open until 1923, when the County Commissioners voted for a new courthouse to replace the over 70-year-old building. The original courthouse was demolished. The only remaining piece of the old courthouse is the 400 lb (180 kg) bell from the cupola, which currently resides at Sesquicentennial Park in Courthouse Square in Graham.

(from Wikipedia)

History
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)

Parent County
1849--Alamance County was created 29 January 1849 from Orange County. County seat: Graham

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
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Neighboring Counties

 * Caswell
 * Chatham
 * Guilford
 * Orange
 * Randolph
 * Rockingham

Presbyterian

 * Hawfields. Founded about 1755. Previously located in Orange County. Official website.

Court
Alamance County Clerk of Court

Physical Location:

Temporary Old Courthouse (formerly known as the Agricultural Building) 201 West Elm Street Graham, NC 27253.

Mailing Address:

Old Courthouse Alamance County Clerk of Superior Court 1 Court Square, Graham, NC 27253.

336-570-5200

Has Court Records starting from 1849 and Probate Records from 1832.

A number of Court records have been transcribed at the following sites:


 * 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

Land
Alamance County Register of Deeds 118 West Harden Street P.O. Box 837 Graham, NC 27253 (336)570-6565

Alamance County has copies of land records dating from 1793; contact them for the availability &amp; fees for specific records.

You may also check for deed records in the Alamance County Deeds Records Search

A number of Land Records have been transcribed and are available at the following sites:


 * 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

Revolutionary War

 * 1779 - 1782 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Civil War

 * 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


 * -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 — index and images

World War II

 * 1940 - 1948 - at FamilySearch — 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 from the NC Digital Heritage Center

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
 * 1849 - 1963 - have been digitized by FamilySearch - free.
 * 1849 -1 963 - Alamance County North Carolina list of will book testators SAMPUBCO - Browsable index of testators of wills. - Free


 * Alamance County Clerk of Court has copies of Probate records from 1832, including wills, estate records, and records associated with the administration of an estate.

There are copies of transcribed wills or estate records at the following sites:


 * 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

Vital Records
Alamance County Register of Deeds

118 West Harden Street P.O. Box 837 Graham, NC 27253 (336)570-6565

Copies of Births, Marriages, and Death Records may be obtained from the Register of Deeds. Contact them for a complete listing of prices and availability.

Birth

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

Death

 * 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

Marriage

 * 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 - free.
 * 1762 – 1979 -  at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1763 - 1868 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1759 - 1979 - at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1741 - 2004 - North Carolina Marriage Index 1741-2004 at Ancestry.com — index $
 * 1852 - 1868 - Almace County Marriages 1852-1868 North Carolina Pioneers $

A number of Vital Records have been transcribed and are available as follows:


 * Webster Births
 * Wrenn Births
 * Clapp Marriages
 * Murray Marriages
 * Webster Marriages
 * Foster Marriage Records
 * State Dispatch Marriage Records-1909
 * Clark/Clarke Marriages
 * Alamance County Marriages
 * Webster Death Records
 * Wrenn Death Records
 * Foster Death Records
 * Summers Death Records
 * Sutton Death Records
 * Sykes Death Records
 * Alamance County Marriages from NCGenWeb Archives

Yearbooks

 * Elon University: 1913-2009
 * Alamance County students at North Carolina colleges - a list via the NCGenWeb Yearbook Index

Societies and Libraries
Alamance County Genealogical Society PO Box 3052 Burlington, NC 27215-3052 Website

Websites

 * Alamance County, NC History, Records, Facts and Genealogy (Genealogy Inc)
 * NCGenWeb: Alamance County - free genealogy resources; part of the national USGenWeb Project
 * Alamance County NCGenWeb Archives - many additional records
 * North Carolina Pioneers North Carolina Pioneers $
 * North Carolina Pioneers North Carolina Pioneers $