Northampton County, North Carolina Genealogy

United States   North Carolina    Northampton County

History
Northampton County was formed in 1741 from Bertie County and was named in honor of James Crompton Earl of Northampton, an English nobleman. Located in the northeastern section of the state, it is bounded by the State of Virginia and neighboring North Carolina counties of Halifax, Bertie and Hertford. The Roanoke River determines the southwest boarder of Northampton following its flow from the Roanoke Rapids Lake in the northwestern corner of Northampton County. The Meherrin River marks the northeastern border. The present land area is 536 square miles and the 2003 estimated population was 21,782. Jackson is the seat of Northampton County and is an extremely fertile area along the Roanoke River with cotton, corn and peanuts being its principal crops. The first courthouse was built here in 1742 and was known as Northampton Courthouse; Jackson, NC was incorporated in 1823 and named after Andrew Jackson who was born near the NC/SC line, studied law in Salisbury, NC and later became the seventh President of the United States.

During the Nat Turner slave insurrection of 1831 in the adjoining Southampton County, Virginia, NC militia were mobilized at Jackson, NC in readiness for the anticipated slave uprising that was quelled prior to the militia's intervention. The Northampton County Courthouse was built in 1859 and it is purported that Cornwallis visited a tavern that was located diagonally opposite the Courthouse. Lafayette, the first Frenchman to come to the aid of the American revolutionary cause and whom the United States Congress commissioned a major general of the Continental Army on July 31, 1777 dined in Jackson on his 1825 triumphal visit to North Carolina.

Parent County
1741--Northampton County was created from Bertie County. County seat: Jackson

Record Loss
Some records are missing.

Neighboring Counties

 * Bertie
 * Brunswick County, Virginia
 * Greensville County, Virginia
 * Halifax
 * Hertford
 * Southampton County, Virginia
 * Warren

Cemeteries

 * SearchNorthampton County Cemeteries at NCGenWeb

Church

 * See a listing of Northampton County Churches at NCGenWeb

Family Histories
A great deal of information about several early Northampton County families is presented in:


 * Dozier, Rebecca Leach, Lou Woodard King and Penn Perry. Twelve Northhampton County, North Carolina Families, 1650-1850: Bridgers, Daughtry, Futrell, Jenkins, Joyner, Lassiter, Martin, Odom, Parker, Stephenson, Sumner, Woodard. Baltimore, Md.: Gateway Press, 2004.

Bibliography


 * [Boddie] Leary, Helen F.M. "The Two William Boddies of North Carolina," The American Genealogist, Vol. 66, No. 1 (Jan. 1991):16-29; Vol. 62, No. 2 (Apr. 1991):106-110; Vol. 66, No. 3 (Jul. 1991):148-153. Available at.

Land
The Northampton County Register of Deeds Office has real estate records extending back as far as 1741.

Northampton County Register of Deeds Thomas Bragg Street Jasper Eley Annex Building PO Box 128 Jackson, NC 27845 Phone: (252)534-2511

Maps
The Northampton County NCGenWeb site has an array of maps and mapping projects using the Google Earth application. For a complete listing of map records click onto Northampton County Places

Northampton County maps from the NC State Archives Digital Maps Collection

Civil War
Civil War Confederate units - Brief history, counties where recruited, etc.

Probate
Probate records, including wills &amp; estate records are handled by the Northampton County Clerk of the Superior Court, located at the County Courthouse. Contact their office for details of what is available and fees.

Northampton County Courthouse 104 West Jefferson St PO Box 217 Jackson, NC 27845 (252) 574-3100

A number of probate records have been transcribed or images and can be viewed on the following sites:


 * NC Probate Records, 1735-1970: Northampton - from FamilySearch
 * Index to Wills - NCGenWeb Northampton Co.

Web Sites

 * USGenWeb Project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
 * NCGenWeb Northampton County
 * Northampton County, NCGenWeb Archives
 * Northampton County, NCGenWeb Archives