Caldwell County, North Carolina Genealogy

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

Description
Caldwell County is located in the Western portion of North Carolina and was named for Joseph Caldwell, the first president of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

County Courthouse
Caldwell County Courthouse 905 West Ave NW Lenoir NC 28645 Phone: 828-757-1310 Caldwell County Website Register of Deeds has birth, marriage, death and land Clerk Superior Court has divorce, Court and Probate Records

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

History Timeline
Caldwell County was formed in 1841 from Burke and Wilkes counties. It was named in honor of Joseph Caldwell, the first president of the University of North Carolina. He strongly advocated a public school system and a railroad across the center of the State from Morehead City to Tennessee.

Caldwell County is in the west central section of the State and is bordered by Alexander, Catawba, Burke, Avery, Watauga and Wilkes counties. The present land area is 471.60 square miles and the 2000 population was 77,386.

The court was ordered to be held at the store of George Powell near the house of George Smith, Jr., until a courthouse was erected. Commissioners were named to select a site as near the center as possible, acquire land and a town, and erect a courthouse. Lenoir, named in honor of William Lenoir, is the county seat.

Bible Records

 * Bible Records at North Carolina Digital Archives - index and images
 * Caldwell County, NC Bibles at USGenWeb Archives

Cemeteries

 * at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images  Also at: Ancestry ($)

Church Records

 * 1700-1970 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images

Baptist List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * Yadkin - Minutes (1787-1946) on microfilm at the University of NC Davis Library (Serial 1-1280 1786-1946).
 * FamilySearch Places

Court Records
Caldwell County Courthouse 216 Main St NW PO Box 1376 Lenoir, NC 28645 Phone: 828-759-8403 Website
 * 1837-1934 (*); Superior Court and Clerk of Superior Court at FamilySearch Catalog — images
 * 1841-1868 (*); County Court at FamilySearch Catalog — images

Directories

 * Lenoir City Directory - 1930/1931

Ethnic, Political, and Religious Groups

 * 1862-1870   at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1863-1872   at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; images only

Funeral Homes

 * Bass-Smith Funeral Home in Granite Falls
 * Evans Funeral Service in Lenoir
 * Greer-McElveen Funeral Home and Crematory in Lenoir
 * Mackie Funeral Home in Granite Falls
 * Pendry’s Lenoir Funeral Home in Lenoir

Land and Property Records
The Register of Deeds office is the primary custodian of permanent records for the county. We record a variety of real property documents including deeds, deeds of trust, mortgage cancellations, powers of attorney, maps and others. The Vital Records Division maintains Caldwell County birth records, death records, marriage licenses issued in Caldwell County, Military Discharges, and Notary records. Our online records search can be accessed from this site and contains all of our real estate indexes since the formation of the county and images of all of our real estate documents from the early 1900's forward. Indexes of all of our vital records can also be found there.

Caldwell County Register of Deeds

Caldwell County Registry of Deeds Records Search

Local Histories

 * Caldwell County History - from the Caldwell County Government website
 * Caldwell County Government

Maps and Gazetteers

 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Migration
Early migration routes to and from Caldwell County for European settlers included:


 * Old Cherokee Path pre-historic

Military Records
Revolutionary War 
 * 1778-1833 Delamar Transcripts of Revolutionary War Petitions at North Carolina Genealogical Society - index ($)
 * 1779-1782 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images

Civil War 


 * 1861-1865 at FamilySearch.org - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1861-1865 at FamilySearch.org - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1861-1865 U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry
 * 1861-1865 U.S., Union Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry
 * 1885-1953 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1885 and 1901 1885 and 1901 Confederate Pension Applications at North Carolina Digital Collections - index and images


 * - 11th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry
 * - 11th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry, Company B
 * - 5th Regiment, North Carolina Senior Reserves, Company C
 * - 5th Regiment, North Carolina Senior Reserves, Company F
 * - 5th Regiment, North Carolina Senior Reserves, Company I
 * - 8th Battalion, North Carolina Junior Reserves, Company C

World War I 
 * 1914-1918 World War I Papers at North Carolina Digital Collections - index and images
 * 1917-1919 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images

World War II 
 * 1939-1945 World Ward II Papers at North Carolina Digital Collections - index and images
 * 1940-1948 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images

Newspapers

 * North Carolina Newspapers at DigitalNC

Other Records
Voter Registration
 * 1868-1898 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images

Probate Records
Online Probate Indexes and Records


 * 1660-1790 North Carolina Will Abstracts 1660-1790 at Ancestry ($)
 * 1663-1789 Secretary of State Wills at North Carolina Digital Collections - index and images
 * 1663-1978 (*); at FamilySearch Catalog — images
 * 1663-1979 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1665-1998 North Carolina Wills and Probate Records 1665-1998 at Ancestry ($)
 * 1720-1960 at FamilySearch.org How to Use this Collection; images only (by Coun
 * 1735-1970 at FamilySearch.org - How to Use this Collection; images only (by County)
 * 1760-1800 North Carolina Will Abstracts 1760-1800 at Ancestry ($)
 * 1827-1915 at FamilySearch.org - How to Use this Collection; images only (by County)
 * 1827-1966 (*); Superior Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
 * 1909-1934 (*); at FamilySearch Catalog — images

The Caldwell County Clerk of the Court has probate records starting with 1830, if they have not been transferred to the North Carolina State Archives.

The Clerk of Superior Court is elected for four years and must be a resident of the county in which he or she is elected. Unlike clerks of court in other states, the Clerk of Superior Court in North Carolina has numerous judicial functions.

As judge of probate, the Clerk has exclusive original jurisdiction over matters relating to the probate of wills, and the administration of estates, including appointing personal representatives, auditing their accounting, and removing them from office if necessary. The Clerk also presides over many other legal matters including adoptions, incompetency proceedings, condemnation of private lands for public use, and foreclosures. The Clerk is responsible for all clerical and record-keeping functions of the district and superior court. In addition, the Clerk receives and disburses money collected each year from court fees and fines.

Clerk of Superior Court (828) 759-8402 Ext. 8376

Caldwell County Courthouse 216 Main St NW Lenoir, NC 28645 Mailing Address: PO Box 1376 Lenoir, NC 28645

School Records

 * Caldwell County college students - a name list of students at various NC colleges with identified hometowns in the county
 * Davenport College: a few yearbooks between 1905-1932

Social Security Records

 * 1935-2014 at FamilySearch - How to use this collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
 * 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry ($) — index, click here for more information.

Vital Records

 * The Caldwell County Register of Deeds offers online access to indexes of their Vital Records.
 * Do a Records Search:Caldwell County Records Search

Online Records
 * 1800-2000 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images

Birth

 * 1800-2000 at FamilySearch.org - How to Use this Collection; index
 * 1866-1964 at FamilySearch.org - How to Use this Collection; index
 * 1913-1922 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images

Marriage

 * 1741-2004 North Carolina, United States Marriages at Findmypast
 * 1741-2004 North Carolina Marriage Index 1741-2004 at Ancestry $
 * 1759-1979 at FamilySearch.org - How to Use this Collection; Index
 * 1762-1979 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1763-1868 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1841-1956 - Caldwell County Marriage Books 1-8 Index 1841-1956 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch.
 * 1878-1882 Caldwell County marriage licenses, 1878-1882 - index available from NC State Library

Death

 * 1898-1994 at FamilySearch.org - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1906-1930 at FamilySearch.org - How to Use this Collection;index and images   Also at:  MyHeritage ($)
 * 1908-2004 - North Carolina Death Indexes 1908-2004 at Ancestry $
 * 1909-1975 North Carolina Death Certificates 1909-1975 at Ancestry $
 * 1931-1994 at FamilySearch.org - How to Use this Collection; index and images

Divorce

 * 1926-1975 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1958-2004 North Carolina Divorce Index 1958-2004 at Ancestry $

Family History Centers

 * Hickory North Carolina Family History Center

Libraries
Caldwell County Public Library System Website
 * There are three branches in the system.

Museums
Caldwell Heritage Museum 112 Vaiden St Lenoir, NC 28645 Telephone 828-758-4004 Email [mailto:caldwellheritagemusuem1841@gmail.com caldwellheritagemusuem1841@gmail.com] Website Facebook

Societies
Caldwell County Genealogical Society PO Box 2476 Lenoir, NC 28645-2476 Telephone 828-758-1075 Lenoir and Caldwell County History Facebook

Websites

 * Caldwell County NCGenWeb- free genealogy resources; a site within the USGenWeb Project
 * USGenWeb Archives-Caldwell County, NC
 * NCpedia
 * – The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records.