North Carolina Biography

Online Resources

 * University of NC Biographical Index
 * North Carolina Digital Collection - Books on North Carolina Families
 * North Carolina County and Town Histories with biographies
 * Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press, editor William S. Powell, Six volumes, published from 1979 to 1996, available and searchable through NCPedia
 * North Carolina, the Old North State and the new, Vol. 1 and 2, ($), index/images. Also at HathiTrust, no charge/no index Vol. 3, Vol. 4Vol. 5
 * History of North Carolina, ($), index/images
 * History of North Carolina, Biography...Vol. 4, Vol. 5, Vol. 6, e-books
 * Biographical history of North Carolina from colonial times to the present, Vol. 1, Vol. 2, Vol. 3, Vol. 4, Vol. 5, Vol. 6,Vol. 7, Vol. 8, published 1905-1907, editors, Samuel A. Ashe, Stephen B. Weeks, Charles L. Van Noppen.
 * Sketches of North Carolina, historical and biographical, illustrative of the principles of a portion of her early settlers
 * Prominent people of North Carolina: brief biographies of leading people for ready reference purposes, 1906
 * Reminiscences and memoirs of North Carolina and eminent North Carolinians.
 * Cyclopedia of Eminent and Representative Men of the Carolinas of the Nineteenth Century, Volume 2 Brant & Fuller, 1892
 * Sketches of Prominent Living North Carolinians by Jerome Dowd, Edwards & Broughton 1888

Biographies provide useful genealogical information such as a person’s birth date and place; names of family members, including maiden names; education; occupation; and social, political, and religious affiliation. They may also contain a physical description of the person, previous residences, and immigration information. Biographies are the product of family knowledge or previous research about early settlers and prominent citizens of a state, county, or town. Local histories may contain biographical sketches of lesser-known people.

North Carolina Library
The North Carolina State Library has the most complete collection of North Carolina biographical materials. Their collection also includes some digitized biographies.

University of North Carolina
University of North Carolina's North Carolina Collection Biographical Index contains citations to biographical sketches about North Carolinians. Over five hundred volumes, primarily from the North Carolina Collection and other libraries at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, have been indexed to date.

Biographical Encyclopedias
Representative biographical encyclopedias are:


 * Ashe, Samuel A’Court, ed. Biographical History of North Carolina from Colonial Times to the Present. 9 vols. (Greensboro, North Carolina: Charles L. Van Noppen, 1905–17.), Eight volumes and  is an index to volumes 1–8.


 * Powell, William S. Dictionary of North Carolina Biography. 6 vols. (Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press, 1979–96.), ) The biographies in this source are alphabetical.

See United States Biographies for information on nationwide biographical collections. See also North Carolina History and North Carolina Genealogy for additional sources.

Family History Library
The Family History Library has many volumes containing biographical sketches of residents of North Carolina. For an index, see Donald Hehir’s Carolina Families: A Bibliography of Books about North and South Carolina Families (Bowie, Maryland) ,

To find biographies and published family histories on specific surnames in the FamilySearch Catalog, use a Last Names Search. Using the available filters will help to limit the search.

The Family History Library has many collected biographies and local county histories with biographical sketches of residents. These can be found in the FamilySearch Catalog by using a Place Search under:


 * NORTH CAROLINA- BIOGRAPHY


 * NORTH CAROLINA, [COUNTY] BIOGRAPHY