Ashe County, North Carolina Genealogy

United States   North Carolina    Ashe County

Brief History
The line between Virginia and North Carolina was established in 1749 by a surveying party led by Peter Jefferson, thus establishing the northern border of what became Ashe County. The first recorded visit to the area occurred in 1752 when Bishop Augustus Spangenberg, head of the Moravian Church of America, came, looking for 100,000 acres of land upon which to settle.

The area that became Ashe County was part of Anson County during the early period; part of Rowan County in 1753, Surry County in 1771, Wilkes County in 1777 and was briefly part of the State of Franklin from 1784-89. After Franklin it was claimed as part of Washington County (part of the Southwest Territory, and later Tennessee) until it was annexed back by North Carolina into Wilkes County again in 1792. It was incorporated as a separate entity by the North Carolina General Assembly in 1799 and was named for Samuel Ashe, a Revolutionary War Patriot and Governor of North Carolina. The county seat of Jefferson, the first town in the nation to be named for Thomas Jefferson, was also established in 1799. Thomas Jefferson was Vice-President of the United States at the time.

Parent County
1799 -- Ashe County was created 18 November 1799 from Wilkes County. County seat: Jefferson

Boundary Changes
There have been several small adjustments to Ashe County borders.

Record Loss
1865 -- A courthouse fire destroyed many records, but many survived and are available.

Populated Places
U.S. Federal Census Townships (names bold on first appearence)


 * 1860 - Jefferson, North Eastern District, North Fork, Oldfields, Peak Creek, Scattering, South Eastern District, Town
 * 1870 - Chestnut Hill, Helton, Horse Creek, Jefferson, Laurel, Oldfields, Peak Creek, Pine Swamp, Piney Creek, Staggs Creek
 * 1880 - Chestnut Hill, Helton, Horse Creek, Jefferson, Laurel, North Fork, Oldfields, Peak Creek, Pine Swamp, Piney Creek, Staggs Creek
 * 1900 - Chestnut Hill, Clifton, Creston, Grassy Creek, Helton, Horse Creek, Jefferson, Laurel, North Fork, Obids, Oldfields, Peak Creek, Pine Swamp, Piney Creek, Walnut Hill
 * 1910 - Chestnut Hill, Clifton, Grassy Creek, Helton, Horse Creek, Jefferson, Laurel, North Fork, Obids, Oldfields, Peak Creek, Pine Swamp, Piney Creek, Walnut Hill
 * 1920 - Chestnut Hill, Clifton, Creston, Grassy Creek, Helton, Horse Creek, Jefferson, Laurel, North Fork, Obids, Oldfields, Peak Creek, Pine Swamp, Piney Creek, Walnut Hill
 * 1930 - Chestnut Hill, Clifton, Creston, Elk, Grassy Creek, Helton, Horse Creek, Hurricane, Jefferson, Lansing, Laurel, North Fork, Obids, Oldfields, Peak Creek, Pine Swamp, Piney Creek, Pond Mountain, Todd, Walnut Hill, West Jefferson

Cemeteries

 * Bethany United Methodist Cemetery (online list at Interment.net)
 * Laurance Cemetery (online list at Interment.net)
 * Zion Methodist Cemetery (online list at Interment.net)

Census

 * 1800 census, Ashe County, North Carolina (New River Notes)
 * 1800 census, Ashe County, North Carolina (U.S. GenWeb Archives)
 * 1810 census, Ashe County, North Carolina (New River Notes)
 * 1810 census, Ashe County, North Carolina, Pt. 1 | Pt. 2 | Pt. 3 (U.S. GenWeb Archives)
 * 1820 census, Ashe County, North Carolina (New River Notes)
 * 1820 census, Ashe County, North Carolina, Index | Notes | Part 1 | Part 2 (U.S. GenWeb Archives)
 * 1830 census, Ashe County, North Carolina, Index | Notes | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 (U.S. GenWeb Archives)
 * 1840 census, Ashe County, North Carolina, Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 (U.S. GenWeb Archives)
 * 1850 census, Ashe County, North Carolina (U.S. GenWeb Archives)
 * 1850 census, Ashe County, North Carolina (U.S. GenWeb Archives)
 * 1860 census, Ashe County, North Carolina (images) (U.S. GenWeb Archives)
 * 1870 census, Ashe County, North Carolina (New River Notes)

Church

 * Fletcher, James Floyd. A History of the Ashe County, North Carolina and New River, Virginia Baptist Associations. 1982. (Google Books link, no preview)
 * Stafford, Garland R. Methodism in Ashe County, North Carolina from the Beginning to 1961. 1974. (Google Books link, no preview)

Published Sources
County histories often provide important details of events and people of the local area. They often list such things as the names of first settlers, dates of settlement of communities, names of those who served in military organizations, details about the establishment of churches and businesses in the county and its towns, and many other facts helpful to the genealogist and family historian.


 * Anderson-Green, Paula Hathaway. A Hot-Bed of Musicians: Traditional Music in the Upper New River Valley (discusses Ashe County folk musicians and briefly mentions their family connections). (Google Books link)
 * Arthur, John Preston. Western North Carolina: A History (from 1730 to 1913), Raleigh, North Carolina: Edwards &amp; Broughton Printing Company, 1914. (Google Books link)
 * Ashe County Historical Society. Ashe County Revisited (Images of America series). Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing, 2002 (photo history). (Google Books link)
 * Ashe County Historical Society. Marriage Records of Ashe County, North Carolina 1801-1872, with Some After 1872. Ashe County Historical Society, 1989. (Google Books link)
 * Ashe County, North Carolina 1870 Federal Census Index, Precision Indexing, 1993. (Google Books link)
 * Cooper, Leland R. and Mary Lee Cooper. The People of the New River: Oral Histories from the Ashe, Alleghany, and Watauga Counties of North Carolina. McFarland, 2001. (Google Books link) (publisher's page)
 * Cox, A.B., Footprints on the Sands of Time: A History of Southwestern Virginia and Northwestern North Carolina, Sparta, North Carolina: Star Publishing Company, 1900. (complete text in New River Notes)
 * Crawford, Martin. Ashe County's Civil War: Community and Society in the Appalachian South. The University Press of Virginia, 2001. (Google Books link)
 * Fletcher, Arthur L. Ashe County: A History. Jefferson, North Carolina: Ashe County Research Assn., 1963; McFarland &amp; Co., 2009. (Google Books link)
 * Goss, Bernard. The Heritage of Ashe County, North Carolina. Winston-Salem, North Carolina : Ashe County Heritage Book Committee in cooperation with the History Division of Hunter Pub. Co., c1984.
 * Houck, John, Clarice Weaver, and Carol Williams, Ashe County Historical Society. Ashe County (Images of America series), Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing, 2000, 2003 (a photo history of the county). (Google Books link)
 * Miller, Danny. The Miller Families of Ashe County, NC, 2007. (Google Books link)
 * People from Ashe County, North Carolina, General Books, 2010. (Google Books link)
 * Reeves, Eleanor Baker. A Factual History of Early Ashe County, North Carolina: Its People, Places and Events. 1986.

Land

 * Ashe County Register of Deeds is responsible for recording and maintaining the Land Records for Ashe County.

See the Maps section of this article for information about plat and ownership maps.

For more information about land in North Carolina please refer to the North Carolina Land and Property page.

Civil War (1861-1865)

 * Crawford, Martin. Ashe County's Civil War: Community and Society in the Appalachian South (Nation Divided: New Studies in Civil War History). Sep. 2001.

World War I (1917-1918)
World War I draft registration cards, 1917-1918, for Ashe County have been microfilmed. Copies of these records are available at the Family History Library (their ) and are also available online at Ancestry.com, for a subscription fee. The original cards are maintained in the Southeast Regional Archives of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in East Point, Georgia and have been microfilmed by the National Archives as their Microcopy M1509.

Probate
The recording of wills and probate proceedings for the residents of Ashe County are the responsibility of the Clerk of Superior Court in the County Courthouse.

Taxation

 * [1815] Mullins, Johnny C. "Ashe County, North Carolina - 1815 Tax List," The Mountain Empire Genealogical Quarterly, Vol. 2, No. 4 (Winter 1983):236-238; Vol. 3, No. 1 (Spring 1984):10-11. ff.

Vital Records
Vital records maintained by Ashe County are the responsibility of the Register of Deeds in the County Courthouse. Divorces are included in the duties of the Clerk of Superior Court at the Courthouse.

Birth

 * starting 1913
 * near full compliance by 1920

Marriage

 * starting in 1828
 * starting in 1868, register of deeds issued marriage licenses

Death

 * starting in 1913
 * near full compliance by 1920

Divorce

 * Superior court issues since 1814

Yearbooks

 * Ashe County students at NC colleges - a list via the NCGenWeb Yearbook Index

Societies and Libraries

 * Ashe County Historical Society
 * Ashe County Public Library, 148 Library Dr., West Jefferson, NC 28694
 * Museum of Ashe County History

Web Sites

 * The Ashe County NCGenWeb Project, a member of The NCGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project
 * Ashe County Government: History
 * Ashe County, North Carolina Genealogy Forum
 * Ashe County, North Carolina History, Records, Facts, Genealogy, and Ancestry (Family History 101)
 * Linkpedium: Ashe County Genealogy and Family History, referencing links to resources for Ashe County
 * My North Carolina web site, referencing links to resources for Ashe County
 * New River Notes: Ashe County, North Carolina section