North Carolina Grantor-Grantee Indices of Johnston, Dobbs And Lenoir Counties Transcribed by Martha Mewborn Marble An Overview Johnston County was formed from the western part of Craven County in 1746 and in 1758, Dobbs County was formed from the eastern portion of Johnston. However, the records of Johnston went with the newly formed Dobbs. In 1779 Wayne County was formed from the western portion of Dobbs and in 1791, most of the remainder of Dobbs was divided into Glasgow, now Greene and Lenoir Counties, and Dobbs ceased to exist. A small portion of what is today Wilson County was originally in Dobbs County. It appears it was the southern part of Wilson that adjoins Wayne. A portion of what is today Duplin County was originally in Dobbs County. The exact area might not be known but Aileen Mewborn indicated that portion adjoins both Wayne and Lenoir Counties today. Her reasoning is based on the watersheds of the various rivers. The records of early Johnston, Dobbs and those portions of other counties formed from Dobbs were placed at the Courthouse in Lenoir County. In 1878, a Courthouse fire in Kinston destroyed many of these records. In 1880 another fire destroyed what was left except for these records which tradition says were saved by a clerk breaking a window and grabbing them. Dr. Charles Holloman was instrumental in locating the Grantee Book at the Courthouse in Kinston many years ago but the Grantor Index did not "appear" until about 25 years ago when the new Courthouse was built. Its whereabouts before that time is in question, but I have heard that Dr. Holloman also found it in the basement of the Courthouse in Kinston. Rumors abound that additional old books are still in the basement which was flooded during Hurricane Floyd. Dr. Holloman assigned approximate dates to each book, transcribed and then published Books 1-5 from the Grantee Index in various issues of "The North Carolina Journal." The Grantee Index on microfilm is almost illegible without transcripts from the Grantor Book to consult. It is said the Grantor Index was prepared from the Grantee Index, but I am inclined to think that is not the case as there are too many differences. It does appear to be a copy of the original book as the handwriting appears to be the same throughout. Greene County also suffered a destruction of its records in a similar fire shortly before the Lenoir County fires. While there is nothing to indicate the nature of the instruments or the relationships between Grantor and Grantee, these books provide us with a list of names in otherwise "burned or partially burned Counties." Researchers can consult the various Collections and other records located on the Dobbs, Wayne, Lenoir, and Greene County NC GenWeb Archives sites for instruments located to date in private hands or public depositaries. The late William (Bill) Murphy published Volume I of Greene County Re-registered deeds. The Lenoir Re-registered deeds can be found in the Colonial Records, also called the Lovit Hines Collection. There are additional re-registered deeds in other books found in both Courthouses and probably some in both Johnston and Wayne County Records. Eventually we hope to locate and transcribe those records. This transcription was taken from the Grantor Index, but double-checked against the Grantee Index for differences in spelling and entries that appear in one but not the other. In many cases an entry appears in one book but not the other and then in the next book you find the reverse. The page number is the key. The researcher also needs to remember that in some cases an instrument was not recorded until well after it was written. Approximate dates of each book as determined by Dr. Holoman are listed at the front of the microfilm roll from which this is taken. This sentence is at the front of the roll, "Following Records have many carbon copies and light pencil or ink and will not be legible on film" so the reader should consult the original. These files have been reformatted for use in USGenWeb by Guy Potts. ============================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. The electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. ==============================================================