Scotland County, North Carolina Genealogy

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

Description
Scotland County is located in the south-central portion of North Carolina and shares a border with South Carolina. It was named for the ancestral home of many of its inhabitants.

County Courthouse
Scotland County Courthouse 212 Biggs Street Laurinburg, NC 28352 Phone: 910-277-2577 Scotland County Website Register of Deeds has birth records from 1913, marriage, death and burial records from 1899, and land records. Clerk Superior Court has divorce, probate and court records from 1899.

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
The earliest settlers in what is now Scotland County were composed largely of Highland Scots. It is fairly well established by several writers of Scottish history that there were Highlanders living in this area as early as 1729, when North Carolina became a royal colony. However, much of the Scot settlement came in the next quarter century. It was during this period that many Scots pushed up the Cape Fear River into the area surrounding their Cross Creek settlement, later Campbellton, now Fayetteville, and consequently, into the area that is now Scotland County. Through the ensuing years, other groups and individuals have come to the county, bringing their own heritage to mingle with that of the Scots, Scotch-Irish, English, Welsh, and African. Some of our present-day citizens can even link their heritage to that of the first Americans -- the Native Americans. So although the name of the county is Scotland and the Scottish influence is quite strong, the Scots have no monopoly on the county or its history. The political beginning for Scotland County came when the legislature of North Carolina, on February 20, 1899, created the new county. The county was formed entirely from Richmond County. The entire area had been a part of Anson County and, before that, a part of Bladen.

The main reason given for the movement to break away from Richmond County was that the county seat, Rockingham, being some twenty to thirty miles away, was too far from the eastern part of the county. Any business in the county seat required an all-day trip and sometimes an overnight stay on the part of many citizens. However, there seem to have been other factors at work, including a strong red shirt movement and much dissatisfaction with the county government at Rockingham. There were charges and counter-charges and strong feeling displayed by both proponents and opponents of the new county. A petition opposing the formation of the new county was circulated in the legislature of 1895 by Richmond County opponents of the separation, and in the petition attention was called to the small number of Populists and Republicans who voted in Laurinburg. The accusation was that the number was so small because of intimidation in the heavily Democratic town. One sentence read: Laurinburg, in politics, ought to be called Rottenburg.

Mr. Maxey John wrote the act which created the county. He had written similar acts twice before. In 1893, the act failed to pass the General Assembly, and in 1895, the act passed, but with a provision for an election in all Richmond County to approve or disapprove the new county. The election failed to approve the new county, and no serious attempt was made in the 1897 session of the General Assembly, which was Republican-Fusionist controlled. However, in 1899, another attempt was made. The act was introduced in the General Assembly by Mr. Hector McLean, who is sometimes called the Father of Scotland County. In the act establishing the county, the legislature designated Laurinburg as the county seat and required that the county commissioners select a site for a jail within a mile of the center of town. The county began to function in December 1900, and the wills and deeds books begin in that month.

Biographies

 * Biographies of Scotland County People &amp; Their Kin

Church Records
List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * 1700-1970 - at FamilySearch — index
 * FamilySearch Places

Court Records
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.

Genealogies

 * The Currie Family of North Carolina
 * The Leroy Farmer Family
 * The Lewis Jernigan Family
 * The Jeremiah Norton Family
 * The Malcolm Bethune Stewart Family
 * The Isaac Williamson Family

Land and Property Records

 * Online Deed Search

Records can also be obtained through the North Carolina State Archives:
 * North Carolina State Archives 109 E. Jones Street Raleigh, NC 27601 Mailing Address: 4614 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699-4614 Phone: 919-807-7310 Check their Manuscript and Archives Reference System Online Catalog for land records processed.

Maps and Gazetteers

 * 1908 Scotland County - from the NC State Archives Digital Collection
 * Laurinburg, NC, 1885
 * Gibson, Scotland County, 1902
 * Scarborough's Map of North &amp; South Carolina, 1900-1906
 * Scotland County Postal Map, 1910
 * Scotland County Road Survey, 1930

Military Records
Revolutionary War 
 * 1779-1782  at FamilySearch

Civil War 
 * 1861-1865  at FamilySearch
 * 1861-1865  at FamilySearch
 * 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

World War I 
 * 1917-1919  at FamilySearch

World War II 
 * 1940-1948  at FamilySearch

Other Records

 * Historical Photos of Laurinburg, North Carolina, by Bill Meacham

Probate Records
Online Probate Records
 * 1660-1790 North Carolina Will Abstracts 1660-1790 at Ancestry $
 * 1663-1979  at FamilySearch
 * 1665-1998 North Carolina Wills and Probate Records 1665-1998 at Ancestry $
 * 1735-1970  at FamilySearch
 * 1760-1800 North Carolina Will Abstracts 1760-1800 at Ancestry $

Vital Records

 * 1800-2000 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * North Carolina State Archives, has death records prior to 1930. Check their Manuscript and Archives Reference System Online Catalog.
 * North Carolina Vital Records: Births (1913-Present); Deaths (1930-Present); Marriages (1962-Present); Divorces (1958-Present)

Birth

 * 1800-2000  at FamilySearch
 * 1866-1964  at FamilySearch
 * 1913-1922  at FamilySearch — index and images
 * Delayed Births Index (USGenWeb)

Marriage

 * 1741-2004 North Carolina, United States Marriages at FindMyPast
 * 1741-2004 North Carolina Marriage Index 1741-2004 at Ancestry $
 * 1759-1979  at FamilySearch
 * 1762-1979  at FamilySearch
 * 1763-1868  at FamilySearch

Death

 * 1898-1994  at FamilySearch
 * 1906-1930  at FamilySearch
 * 1908-2004 North Carolina Death Indexes 1908-2004 at Ancestry $
 * 1909-1975 North Carolina Death Certificates 1909-1975 at Ancestry $
 * 1931-1994  at FamilySearch

Divorce

 * 1926-1975  at FamilySearch
 * 1958-2004 North Carolina Divorce Index 1958-2004 at Ancestry $

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to Family History Centers

Societies

 * Scotland County Genealogical Society PO Box 496 Laurel Hill, NC 28351 Website

Websites

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