NORTH CAROLINA STATE FILE - WILLS - Availability of Wills By County ==================================================================== 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. These 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. This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Robert M Butler rmbnc@worldnet.att.net ==================================================================== WILLS....NORTH CAROLINA by COUNTIES 001--Alamance County: Formed 1849 from Orange County. There has been no significant loss of either recorded or original wills of the county. 002--Albemarle County: Formed about 1664 and consisted, generally, of the northeastern part of the present North Carolina, north of Albemarle Sound and east of the Chowan River. Albemarle County initially included four precincts: Currituck, Pasquotank, Perquimans, and Chowan. There is no indication that Albemarle functioned in the traditional manner of a county, and it disappeared when its precincts were renamed as counties in 1739. 003--Alexander County: Formed 1847 from Iredell, Caldwell, and Wilkes counties. Recording of wills did not begin until 1865. and only a few wills probated before that date have survived. Some records of the county were destroyed by Federal troops in April, 1865. 004--Alleghany County: Formed 1859 from Ashe County. Recording in Will Book A began in 1871, and a few wills for a period 1862-1867 were recorded in a record book for inventories, marriages, and wills which is identified as Will Book 1 and which is now in the State Archives. Only a few original wills for the period prior to 1871 have survived. 005--Anson County: Formed 1750 from Bladen County. Wills in the county apparently were not recorded on a regular basis until about 1822, although surviving original wills probated prior to 1822 were registered much later in Will Books 1 and 2 in rough alphabetical order. In April, 1868, fire destroyed the Anson County courthouse, although will books and original wills survived. In 1906, Will Books 1, A, and B were recopied. Many wills probated after 1760 are recorded in the will books and most of the original wills from which they were copied have survived. 006--Ashe County: Formed 1799 from Wilkes County. Recording of wills on a regular basis apparently began about 1853, although wills proved at earlier dates were later entered into what are now known as Will Books A, B, and C. Some records are believed to have been destroyed in 1865. 007--Avery County: Formed 1911 from Mitchell, Watauga, and Caldwell counties. Not included in this index. 008--Bath County: Formed in 1696 from the territory south of Albemarle Sound. It consisted initially of Archdale (Craven), Pamptecough (Beaufort), and Wickham (Hyde) precincts. Discontinued in 1739 when precincts were renamed counties. There is some indication that there was a county court for Bath, but its records descended to Beaufort County, the court of which continued to sit at Bath Town, the county seat of Bath County. 009--Beaufort County: Created about 1705 as Pamptecough Precinct of Bath County; name changed to Beaufort about 1712. The county court sat at Bath Town and represented both Beaufort and Hyde counties until about 1739 when the precinct system was superseded. The Beaufort County court continued to sit at Bath Town until 1785 when Washington was made the county seat; there are, therefore, some Bath and Hyde county wills and deeds among Beaufort County records. In March. 1808, Beaufort County began a series of court clerk's recording dockets popularly known as Orphan Books (OB). There is some indication that wills probated in the county prior to 1808 were recorded in an "orphan book," but that record volume has not survived. A few early wills were recorded in Deed Book 1; and wills proved prior to 1808 were at a much later date entered into a record book identified as Old Will Book (OWB). Beaufort County discontinued the Orphan Book system in 1868 and initiated Will Book 1 in that year. As of May 11 1986, all original wills of Beaufort County were in the custody of the county clerk of superior court. The orphan books are in the State Archives. 010--Bertie County: Formed 1722 from Chowan County. Recording of wills apparently began in 1760, although surviving original wills contain some indication that they were recorded at a later date. Will Book E (1797-1805) has been copied, and the pagination of the copy does not correspond with the original. Some original wills probated late in the 19th century are missing. 011--Bladen County: Formed 1734 from New Hanover County. Two fires, the most recent in January, 1893, destroyed many court records. A few early wills were recorded in deed books, but wills were not regularly recorded until about 1834. Will Book 1 contains wills recorded from the early 1830s until 1862; Will Book 2 contains wills recorded from 1866 until 1892. Both will books, however, contain wills for the period from 1760 until the early 1830s. In 1958 photostatic copies of 47 wills from the records of the secretary of state in the State-Archives were obtained and were recorded at the end of Will Book 2; they have not been included in this index as records of Bladen County because they are indexed with all of the secretary of state wills. The existing Will Books 1 and 2 appear to be copies because they are all in the same handwriting; there is, however, no indication of the date they were made. As of June 1, 1986, the few surviving original wills of Bladen County remained in the custody of the county clerk of superior court. 012-Brunswick County: Formed 1764 from New Hanover and Bladen counties. Recording of wills on a regular basis apparently began about 1869, although Will Book A contains some indication that wills were actually entered at a later date. In 1908 the General Assembly (Ch. 106, Public Laws, 1908 Extra Session) directed that all unrecorded wills of Brunswick County dated before January 1, 1875, that had been proved according to law, were to be recorded and indexed. This was to include all wills that had been recorded in county court minutes or other record books as well as all wills recorded in the register of deeds office. The wills contained in several record books and some original wills previously unrecorded were entered in the volume identified as Will Book B. Some early wills (1764-1783) were recorded in Deed Books A and B. 013-Buncombe County: Formed 1791 from Burke and Rutherford counties. A courthouse fire in 1830 destroyed many court records and many of the surviving records were carried off three years later. In 1848 the Buncombe County courthouse burned again, and in 1865 many records were destroyed when the courthouse burned for the third time. Will books for wills probated after 1830 appear to be complete, but many original wills, particularly for the period before 1865, are missing. 014--Burke County: Formed 1777 from Rowan County. In April, 1865, a detachment of Union troops from General Stoneman’s command threw records from the courthouse and burned them. Will books and the original wills were included. Some original wills probated prior to 1865 survived and are in the State Archives; included are copies of wills from other sources such as North Carolina Supreme Court original case papers. As of June 1, 1986, original wills proved after 1868 remained in the custody of the county clerk of superior court. 015--Bute County: Formed I764 from Granville County; abolished 1779 when the county was divided between Franklin and Warren counties. Wills were recorded in record books that contained inventories, accounts, and other estate data. Bute County Record Book 1 is in the State Archives; Records Books 2 and 3 became Warren County Will Books 1 and 2. Surviving original wills are in the State Archives as records of Bute County. Some original wills probated in Warren County after 1779 are in the Bute County records in the Archives. 016--Cabarrus County: Formed 1792 from Mecklenburg County. Recording of wills in Will Book 1 began in 1843, although wills had been copied into the minutes of the county court of pleas and quarter sessions beginning in 1830. In 1875, a courthouse fire destroyed some records, including most of the original wills. The surviving original wills were principally for testators with surnames beginning with the letters H. M, W, and Y. At a later date, these surviving wills were copied into Will Book A. Many of the original wills are missing. 017-Caldwell County: Formed 1841 from Burke and Wilkes counties. Recording of wills began in 1841, and there appears to have been no significant loss of records. 018--Camden County: Formed 1777 from Pasquotank County. Will Books A and B. covering the period to 1822, are missing; the late William Perry Johnson stated that they were burned during the Civil War but did not indicate the source of his information. The earliest probate date of surviving original wills is 1859. It is known that Union troops moved across Camden County when returning to Currituck Court House after occupying Elizabeth City in December, 1863; there is, however, no indication that Camden County courthouse was burned or that records of the county were destroyed. 019-Carteret County: Formed 1722 from Craven County. Beginning in 1765, wills were recorded in a "Record of Wills and Bonds" by Rob Read, clerk of court. This record book is in the State Archives and is bound into a miscellaneous volume, beginning at leaf 55; the volume has a shelf call number 019.405.1. There is some indication that part of this volume, which is identified as Record Book A, may have been lost. Some of the original wills recorded in what is now identified as Will Book A indicate that they were recorded in Will Book B. The existing Will Book A does not begin until 1830. Wills probated prior to 1830 were recorded in Will Book D and the first several pages of Will Book E in 1908. The court of pleas and quarter sessions of Carteret County was "Suspended by U. S. Martial Law" after February, 1862, and no wills were probated in the county until November term, 1865. 020--Caswell County: Formed 1777 from Orange County. Recording of wills began in 1777 in what are identified as record books (RB). These books were lettered A through T (excluding J); beginning in 1868; the county maintained will books that are identified by letters beginning with A. As of June 1, 1986, original wills of the county for the period after 1867 are in the custody of the Caswell County clerk of superior court. 021--Catawba-County: Formed 1842 from Lincoln County. The first wills were recorded in 1843. Except for some original wills for the period 1869-1878 which are in the State Archives, as of June 1, 1986, all other surviving original wills are in the custody of the Catawba County clerk of superior court. 022--Chatham County: Formed 1771 from Orange County. Recording of wills in the record book identified as Will Book A began in 1798; according to the originals of the first wills registered in the volume, it was initially identified as "Book D." From February court, 1784, until February court, 1794, wills were recorded in a record book identified as "Deeds, Bills of Sale, Inventories of Estates, Wills," which is referred to in entries for Chatham County wills as RB-1. This record volume is now in the State Archives; the shelf call number is 022.801.23. This record book was originally identified as "Book B." "Book C," which includes deeds, bills of sale, inventories of estates, accounts of sale as well as wills for the period 1794-1798, is also in the State Archives and is referred to as RB-2. The volume is identified as "Record of Wills. Book A, Part 1 (shelf number 022.801.18). "Book A." containing recorded copies of wills for the period prior to 1784 has disappeared. 023--Cherokee County: Formed 1839 from Macon County. In 1865, Union troops burned the courthouse, destroying most of the clerk's records. Recording of wills did not resume until 1869. 024--Chowan County: Originally formed as a precinct of Albemarle County, with Edenton serving as seat of the provincial government at various times during the colonial period. Recording of wills on a regular basis appears to have begun in the period 1803-1807 in what was originally identified as Will Book A. At about the same time, however, original wills that had been proved but not registered were copied into two record volumes identified as Will Books A and B. The first Will Book A was then renumbered as Will Book C. The record book identified herein as Chowan County Will Book 1 is actually the register in which wills proved before the Edenton District Superior Court were recorded in the period 1760-1772. Some of the original wills now filed with Chowan County records appear to be strays from the records of the provincial secretary that are now identified as secretary of state wills in the State Archives. 025--Clay County: Formed 1861 from Cherokee County. In May, 1870, the county jail and courthouse burned, destroying all of the court records, including will books and original wills. 26--Cleveland County: Formed 1841 from Rutherford and Lincoln counties. There has been no significant loss of records of the county. 027--Columbus County: Formed 1808 from Brunswick and Bladen counties. Recording of wills in the regular course of business appears to have started about 1852. In 1846 the county court employed a person to transcribe all of the unrecorded wills in the clerk's office; forty-five wills were copied. It is not known if all of the wills offered for probate survived to be recorded at that time. 028-Craven County: Formed 1705 as Archdale Precinct of Bath County; name changed to Craven about 1712. Early records are believed to have been destroyed during the Tuscarora Indian War of 1712. Most, but not all, original wills were filed with the provincial secretary prior to 1760 and thereafter some Craven County wills were filed in the secretary of state records. From 1765 until December term, 1784, wills were not recorded but the originals were filed in the clerk's office. Beginning with December court, 1784, will books were maintained, although part of Will Book C appears to have been lost. After March term, 1862, until September term, 1865, no wills were recorded in Craven County. There is some indication that wills were proved in other counties during that period; at least one is known to have been proved in Lenoir County, the records of which burned in 1879 and 1880. 029--Cumberland County: Formed 1754 from Bladen County. A few wills were recorded in Deed Book I about 1760, but regular recording of wills did not begin until 1797 when Will Book A was initiated. Some of the original wills are missing. 030--Currituck County: Originally formed as a precinct of Albemarle County. Recording of wills in the county began in 1772 and will books have survived although Will Book 2 has been severely damaged by water. Most of the surviving original wills were proved after 1853, although there are a few wills probated before that date. No wills were proved in the county between March court, 1862, and September court, 1865. during occupation by the Union army. 031--Dare County: Formed 1870 from Currituck, Tyrrell, and Hyde counties. There has been no significant loss of either recorded or original wills of the county. 032--Davidson County: Formed 1822 from Rowan County. Recording of wills began in 1823. The first two will books were not numbered but they were usually referred to as Will Books 1 and 2; they were so cited at the time the wills were recorded. Although some original wills are missing, there has been no significant loss of records. 033--Davie County: Formed 1836 from Rowan County. Recording of wills began upon the creation of the county. As of June 1, 1986, original wills probated after 1866 were in the custody of the Davie County clerk of superior court. Original wills probated prior to that date were in the State Archives; many of them are illegible because of water damage to the documents. 034--Dobbs County: Formed 1758 from the eastern portion of Johnston County. It was abolished in 1791 when Glasgow (Greene) and Lenoir counties were formed. Lenoir County succeeded to the records of Dobbs County, and they were destroyed when the Lenoir County courthouse burned in 1878 and 1880. The wills cited as from Dobbs County are from the secretary of state wills or certified copies filed in another county. 035--Duplin County: Formed 1750 from New Hanover County. Recording of wills in separate will books began in 1830. The record book containing wills for the period 1835-1845 is missing, although approximately 50 original wills for that period have survived. At a later date, surviving unrecorded wills proved before 1830 and filed in the clerk's office were entered in a record book identified as Will Book A. These generally include wills proved before the county court between about 1760 and 1830, although a few wills probated later than 1830 were included. Some very early wills (1750-1766) were recorded in early registers which remained in Sampson County when it was created from Duplin in 1784; these record books are now identified as Sampson County Deed Books 1. 2, and 3 and are so noted in entries for Duplin County. 036--Durham County: Formed 1881 from Orange and Wake Counties. Recording of wills began immediately, and there has been no significant loss of records. As of April 1, 1986, all original wills were in the custody of the Durham County clerk of superior court. 037--Edgecombe County: Formed 1741 from Bertie County. Recording of wills began in 1760. The original wills for 1884 and 1885 are missing; with this exception, there has been no significant loss of records in the county. Most of the wills that were not recorded (as indicated by "Orig. Only" in the "Recorded Copy" column) were not accepted by the county court and thus were never probated. 038--Forsyth County: Formed 1849 from Stokes County. There has been no significant loss of either recorded or original wills of the county. Many of the wills proved in Stokes County before 1849 were for testators who lived in that portion of the county that became Forsyth. 039--Franklin County: Formed 1779 from Bute County. Although recording of wills appeared to have started with the formation of the county, neither the registered copy or the original will, in many instances, show the probate date. Until 1868 wills were recorded with other estate documents such as inventories, reports of sale, and division of real and personal property in registers that are now identified as will books. Will Books O and P were relabeled “Record of Accounts” after they were copied; the originals of these two volumes are in the State Archives in the estates classification of records of the county. Will Book P contains no wills; there is no Will Book T. Although there has been no significant loss of records of the county, some of the original will are missing. 040--Gaston County: Formed 1846 from Lincoln County. A courthouse fire in December, 1874, resulted in the destruction of some records. The will books appear to be complete, but some of the early original wills are missing. 041--Gates County: Formed 1779 from Chowan, Hertford, and Perquimans Counties. Recording of wills began immediately, and there has been no significant loss of either recorded or original wills of the county. 042--Glasgow county: Formed 1791 from Dobbs County. Name changed to Green County in 1799. No records of Glasgow County are know to have survived. 043--Graham County: Formed 1872 from Cherokee County. Recording of wills appears to have started about 1886, but virtually none of the original wills survived. 044--Granville County: Formed 1746 from Edgecombe County. Surviving will record books date from 1772, although original wills that were probated at an earlier date indicate that they were recorded. After 1772 there has been no significant loss of either recorded or original wills of the county. As of June 1, 1985, all original wills were in the custody of the Granville County clerk of superior court. 045--Greene County: Originally formed as Glasgow County from Dobbs County in 1791; name of the county was changed to Greene in 1799. A courthouse fire in 1876 burned many of the clerk's records, including pre-1868 will books and all original wills probated prior to 1876. Will Book 1, which begins with wills probated in 1868, was originally identified in notations on surviving original wills as "Will Book K." 046--Guilford County Formed 1771 from Rowan and Orange counties. Recording of wills began with August term, 1816, of the county court. Will Book A, which was started in 1816, was subsequently renumbered as Will Book B. and wills proved before 1816 were entered in a new Will Book A. There are two boxes of Guilford County wills in the State Archives that are identified as "unrecorded;" some of those probated before 1868 were recorded in county court minute dockets rather than in will books. In several instances, the authenticity of the so-called unrecorded wills was rejected by decision of a jury. According to testimony before the Salisbury District Court in 1789, the records of the Guilford County court were destroyed by the British army at the Battle of Guilford Court House in 1781; there does not, however, appear to have been any significant loss of original wills probated prior to that date. 047--Halifax County Formed 1758 from Edgecombe County. Recording of wills in the county began about 1759. The will books for the county are complete, but many of the original wills probated prior to 1850 are missing. Will Books 1 and 2 in the county are later-day copies of the originals which are in the State Archives. 048--Harnett County: Formed 1855 from Cumberland County. The county courthouse burned in 1892 and again in 1894. Recorded and original wills have survived only from 1892. As of May 1, 1986, all surviving original wills were in the custody of the Harnett County clerk of superior court. Original wills are filed in special proceedings files that are arranged numerically by a number assigned as the transaction occurred. There is an index for wills only that shows the number of the file that includes the original will. 049--Haywood County: Formed 1808 from Buncombe County. Wills appear to have been recorded irregularly until 1868, although a number of wills were recorded at earlier dates. In 1885 the General Assembly directed the clerk of superior court (Ch. 8, 1885 Public and Private Laws) to record all wills the recording of which had been lost or destroyed but the originals of which were on file in his office. Several wills which initially had been probated earlier were subsequently recorded after 1885. There is some indication on early surviving original wills that another will register had been maintained. The second volume of recorded wills and inventories (WI) is numbered "1/2"; because of computer limitations, this is shown in the "Recorded Copy" 'column as "WI-1-2," followed by a slant (/) and the page number. 050--Henderson County: Formed 1838 from Buncombe County. Recording of wills did not begin until 1841. As of June 1, 1986, all surviving original wills that were probated in Henderson County were in the custody of the clerk of superior court. A few wills that were not probated are in the State Archives, as are a number of out-of-state wills that appear to have been filed as exhibits in a civil action in Henderson County at a late date. 051--Hertford County: Formed 1759 from Chowan, Bertie, and Northampton counties. In March, 1830, the courthouse burned, destroying most of the clerk’s records, including will books and original laws of the 1830-1831 General Assembly, filing of copies of the wills recorded in Will Book 1, which started with the next term of court, show a probate date prior to 1830. Chapter 96, laws of 1831-1832 General Assembly, strengthened the authority of the county to replace records destroyed in the fire. In February, 1862, the town of Winton, the county seat, was captured by Union army and naval forces during the course of which the courthouse again burned. Most of the original wills proved between 1830 and 1862 were destroyed, but the will books (of which there were two in 1862) survived. 052--Hoke County: Formed 1911 from Cumberland and Robeson counties. Not included in this index. 053--Hyde County: Formed about 1705 as Wickham Precinct of Bath County; name changed to Hyde about 1712. The county court sat in Bath Town and represented both Hyde and Beaufort counties until 1739 when the precinct system was superseded. The Beaufort County court continued to sit at Bath Town and succeeded to the records of the combined court. There are, therefore, some Hyde County wills and deeds among Beaufort County records. About 1756 Hyde County court began keeping a record of wills and other estate data which it identified as an orphan book. This record was discontinued about 1764 and is now in the State Archives. In 1765 the county began a series containing wills, inventories, and accounts which it identified as will books. In 1899 and 1900 only the wills from Will Books 1, 2, and 3 were copied into a record that the county identified as Will Book 1 2 3; because of the limitations of space, this transcribed record is identified in, the listing of Hyde County wills as "RW-1" (Record of Wills 1). The originals of Will Books I and 2 are in the State Archives; as of May 1. 1986. The original of Will Book 3 was in the custody of the Hyde County clerk of superior court. After RW-1, the next wills are recorded in Will Book 4, pages 168-201 of which are blank. Entries in Will Book 9 and 10 indicate that many were not recorded until 1868. The first part of Will Book 10 consists of a 1828 and 1829 trial docket of the Hyde County court of pleas and quarter sessions. Many of the original wills for the early period of the county are missing. 054--Iredell County: Formed 1854 from Rowan County. In 1854 fire destroyed most of Statesville. the county seat, but will books and most of the original wills survived. Surviving original wills appear to have been copied into the first 275 pages of Will Book 1 about 1810; thereafter wills appear to have been recorded as they were proved. As of June 1, 1986, surviving original wills proved to 1870 were in the State Archives; original wills after that date were in the custody of the Iredell County clerk of superior court. 055--Jackson County: Formed 1851 from Haywood and Macon counties. The first will was proved in the county in 1853, and until 1868 wills were recorded in a record identified as Inventory Docket (ID). Two wills were copied into the minutes of the county court of pleas and quarter sessions without being otherwise recorded. Beginning in 1869 wills were recorded in will books. None of the original wills of the county have survived. apparently having been lost when the county seat moved from Webster to Sylva in 1913. There was an earlier disastrous fire in Webster, but it is not known if the courthouse was burned. 056--Johnston County: Formed 1746 from Craven County. In 1758 Dobbs County was formed from the eastern portion of Johnston County and the county court moved westward to Hinton's Quarter, leaving its records in Dobbs. The volume was not great, but with the exception of a grantee index to deeds all early records of Johnston County were destroyed when the courthouse in Lenoir, which had succeeded to the records of Dobbs, burned in 1878 and 1880. Although existing Will Book 1 begins in 1787, Johnson began to record wills as early as 1759; in the State Archives a fragment of a record book containing wills has been mounted and bound into Deed Book D. This fragment is in very poor condition and is obviously not complete; it does, however, include four wills not otherwise recorded. Reference to wills bound with Deed Book D is to the leaf (L) on which four pages of the original volume has been mounted. There is some evidence that Will Books 1 and 2 were copied at a later date; an original will recorded in Will Book 1 at page 430 contains a notation that it was recorded in book 10, page 12. Johnston County also maintained record books bearing varying titles but usually referred to as "Record of Estates." These have been indexed by the staff of the State Archives. At least eleven wills not otherwise recorded were entered in these estate books which are cited as "Est" followed by the volume and page number. Only one of the original wills so recorded has survived. Will Book I begins with wills proved in 1787; after recording wills proved in 1860, the same volume included wills proved between 1760 and 1770. Will Book 2 includes wills proved from 1860 to 1868, then wills probated in the period 1892-1896, followed by wills proved in the 1770s and later. Except for the early record books of wills, there has been no significant loss of records of the county. 057--Jones County: Formed 1779 from Craven County. The first will was recorded in 1781. In 1862, in a battle between Union and Confederate troops, the Jones County courthouse burned. The record volume in which wills were recorded survived, as did virtually all of the original wills. It should be noted, however, that no wills were recorded in the period 1862-1863 or in 1867. 058--Lee County: Formed 1907 from Moore and Chatham counties. Not included in this index. 059--Lenoir County: Formed 1791 from Dobbs County. In 1878 and again in 1880 the county courthouse burned, destroying most records. A will book that began in 1869 survived, but original wills probated prior to 1878 were destroyed. As of May 1. 1986, all surviving original wills were in the custody of the Lenoir County clerk of superior court. 060--Lincoln County: Formed 1779 from Tryon County, the records of which were turned over to Lincoln. Lincoln County began to record wills in 1824. In 1899, following ratification of an act by the General Assembly requiring the indexing of all wills filed in the clerk's office and an order on June 5, 1899, by the Lincoln County board of commissioners, a cross index of all wills was prepared. Included were all surviving original wills probated prior to September term, 1824, as well as those proved at a later date. A total of 1,201 wills were indexed, including 455 proved through 1824. A few of the pre- 1824 wills that were indexed are now missing. Several wills that have been out of public custody have been included in the Lincoln County listing and are indicated by the symbol AR/CRX. Some original wills probated by the Tryon County court are included with the Lincoln County wills in the State Archives. 061--Macon County: Formed 1828 from Haywood County. Recording of wills began in 1830. There is no known loss of records and the will books appear to be complete, but many of the original wills are missing. 062--Madison County: Formed 1851 from Buncombe and Yancey counties. Recording of wills began in 1851 and there has been no significant loss of records. 063--Martin County: Formed 1774 from Halifax and Tyrrell counties. The county courthouse burned in 1885, and although the recorded will books from time of the formation of the county survived, original wills probated before 1885 were destroyed. 064-McDowell County: Formed 1842 from Burke and Rutherford counties. Recording of wills appears to have started upon creation of the county and there has been no substantial loss of records. 065--Mecklenburg County: Form 1762 from Anson County. About 1850 the county began to record wills as they were proved. With the exception of some pages in Will Book I, beginning in the 1840s. the first nine will books appear to have been copied at a later date. Will Books A-I are in the State Archives. There appears to have been no significant loss of records. 066--Mitchell County: Formed 1861 from Yancey, Watauga, Caldwell, Burke, and McDowell counties. Will record books that have survived date from 1889, although surviving original wills that were probated at an earlier date indicate that wills were recorded in other record volumes that have not survived. 067-Montgomery County: Formed 1779 from Anson County. The courthouse burned in 1843, destroying almost all of the clerk's records including will books and original wills. Beginning with the September, 1843, term of the county court, a new will book was started and identified as Will Book 1. Later, certified copies of wills proved before 1843 were reprobated and were recorded. Another fire in 1886 damaged some of the records but reports of loss appear to have been exaggerated. 068--Moore County: Formed 1785 from Cumberland County. Recording of wills did not begin until 1794. Will Book A also contains court minutes, bonds, and other data; the page numbers in the record volume were assigned at a later date. The book appears to consist of several separate volumes that were combined and bound together. After 1868 original wills were placed in special proceedings files; in September 1889, the courthouse burned and virtually all loose records, including original wills proved prior to 1868 as well as special proceedings files, were destroyed. The will books survived, as did other records in bound form. Surviving original wills after 1889 are in the special proceedings files and may be located by means of a probate docket in the office of the Moore County clerk of superior court. Many of the original wills are missing. A few wills are in the State Archives and some are in the custody of the county clerk of superior court, but virtually none of the original wills probated in Moore County have survived. 069--Nash County: Formed 1777 from Edgecombe County. Recording of wills began in 1778; until about 1873 wills were registered in four volumes identified as "Record of Wills" and numbered 1-4. Later, these four record books were copied into Will Book 1; the wills were numbered as they were copied and the original books were annotated with the will numbers. The four "Record of Wills" volumes are in the State Archives; entries for Nash County, however, are from the recopied Will Book 1. 070-New Hanover County: Formed 1729 from Craven County. Some wills were recorded in deed books as early as 1737, but that practice was discontinued about 1763. Recording in will books began about 1798. In September, 1845, the court of pleas and quarter sessions found that there were in the office of the clerk "a number of wills and partitions of real estate which have not been duly registered." The court ordered that such documents be recorded "forthwith." Those previously unrecorded wills were registered in the first 472 pages of what is now identified as Will Book C. If an original will contained any indication that it had previously been registered, it was not copied at that time. The remainder of Will Book C contains copies of wills probated beginning in 1848. Will Books A and B were subsequently copied into a single record book which is now identified as Will Book AB; the originals of Will Books A and B are now in the State Archives. The New Hanover County courthouse burned in 1840, following earlier fires in 1798 and 1819. Most of the records survived, although some were damaged by fire and water. 071--Northampton County: Formed 1741 from Bertie County. Recording of wills began in 1760; many of the original wills for the early period are missing. Apparently the record book identified as Will Book 1 in the listing for Northampton County wills was copied from an earlier book of records; one original will bears the notation that it was recorded in Book A. page 411, but it is now recorded in Will Book 1, page 392. Other than early original wills for the period 1760 to mid-1770s, there has been no significant loss of records. 072--Onslow County: Formed 1734 from New Hanover County. In 1752 a hurricane destroyed the courthouse and most of the records of the county court were lost. In 1755 the second day of the January term of county court could not be held because a storm had destroyed the place where the court was meeting. Again, in 1786 a tornado blew the courthouse away and many records were lost. Early recorded wills are in two record books, Record of Wills, 1757-1783 (RW) and Wills and Inventories, 1774-1790 (WI). The latter volume does not contain any inventories, but it does have a will index and listing of guardian bonds. Both of the original volumes were dismantled and the pages were individually mounted on sheets which were then bound. Each sheet is numbered in each volume; these sheets are called "leafs (L)" and this sheet number is cited instead of page numbers in these two record books. The page numbers in the Record of Wills (RW) are illegible, and in the Wills and Inventories (WI) several different record books appear to have been mounted and bound within the same covers. It appears that Will Book A was compiled about 1937 from old wills in the clerk's office; additional unrecorded old wills that were in the State Archives were not included in the compilation. The county began to record wills in the regular course of business about 1827. Despite early losses of records there appears to be no significant number of missing wills. 073--Orange County: Formed 1752 from Johnston, Bladen, and Granville counties. Recording of wills began as early as 1757. According to tradition, when the British army approached Hillsborough in 1781 records of the county were buried in the woods a few miles away. As a result, some were reportedly destroyed. The books in which wills were recorded appear to be complete, although many of the early original wills are missing. As of May 1, 1986, Orange County wills probated through 1855 were in the State Archives; all others probated after 1855 were in the custody of the county clerk of superior court. In a few instances, wills bearing dates after 1855 that were not probated are also in the State Archives. 074--Pamlico County: Formed 1872 from Craven and Beaufort counties. Recording of wills began in 1872 and there has been no significant loss of records. 075--Pasquotank County: Originally formed as a precinct of Albemarle County. Recording of wills began about 1761, and it appears that Will Book I was the first register for wills. In 1798 the county court found that there were a number of wills proved, while Thomas MacKnight was clerk, that had not been recorded; and the current clerk was ordered to record them. It appears that they were recorded in Will Book H. In 1862, after a Union flotilla won a decisive naval victory at the narrows of the Pasquotank River near Elizabeth City, the county court ordered Officials to remove Public records from the courthouse. The Courthouse burned a few days later but there appears to have been no significant loss of records. In December, 1863, Union army forces occupied Elizabeth City. again with no significant loss of records. In 1875 the first three will books were copied into a single volume which is identified as Will Book HIK; it should be noted, however, that they were copied in the order of I H K. The originals of Will Books H, I, and K are now in the State Archives, and entries for Pasquotank County from these volumes were made from the originals. The County also has two will books identified by the letter "M." The first covers the period 1798-1824 and the second 1853- 1867, with the latter overlapping, chronologically between the two volumes identified as "M”, the first is identified as “M1” and the second as '”M2” in entries for Pasquotank County 076--Pender County: Formed 1875 from the New Hanover County. Recording of wills began immediately, and as of June 15, 1986, all surviving original wills were in the custody of the county clerk of superior court. 077--Perquimans County: Originally formed as a precinct of Albemarle County. The first recorded will was proved in 1762 and was registered in a record volume identified as Will Book C. Will Book C was copied at a later date and the copy remains in the county. Fragments of the original Will BooK C. with many pages missing, are in the State Archives. Part ot it is mounted and bound with pages the original Deed Book B and identified as Deeds and Wills;" and parts are in the CRX material for Perquimans County. 078--Person County: Formed 1792 from Caswell County. Recording of wills began 1792 in record books identified as "Wills, Inventories, Sales of Estates, and Taxables. Except for Book 7, these record books were not numbered; the first fifteen of them are in the State Archives and for internal control purposes they have been numbered. In wills for Person County they are identified by the symbol "WI" and by the control number assigned by the State Archives. as follows: 1792-1797 - WI-1 1797-1801 - WI-2 1801-1804 - WI-3 1805-1807 -WI-4 1807-1811 -WI-5 1811-1815 -WI-6 1815-1817 -WI-7 1877-1820 -WI-8 1820-1823 -WI-9 1823-1827 -WI-10 1827-1830 -WI-11 1831-1835 -WI-12 1835-1837 -WI-13 1837-1841 -WI-14 1841-1843 -WI-15 From December term, 1843, until December term, 1847, there is a gap in the recorded wills of Person County and one record book apparently has been lost. Beginning with December term, 1847, the record books in which wills were recorded were identified as "Record of Wills" and are cited as will books (WB) in the listing for Person County. The record book for the period 1847- 1851 is identified as Will Book 13; for 1852-1857, as Will Book 17; and 1857- 1867, as Will Book 18. There are no recorded wills from September term, 1867, until December 1868, when Will Book 19 begins. As of April 1, 1986, approximately 100 original wills of the county are in the State Archives. Less than 200 original wills remain in the custody of the Person County clerk of superior court; more than half of the wills probated in the county prior to 1901 are missing. 079--Pitt County: Formed 1760 from Beaufort County. On January 8. 1858, the courthouse burned, destroying virtually all of the clerk's records, including will books and original wills. By legislation ratified January 9, 1959 (Ch. 32, Public Laws of 1858-1859 Session), the General Assembly permitted the filing of copies of documents when the court records had been burned and the filing of oral or written statements of the contents of wills in such instances. Although the legislation was occasioned by the burning of the Pitt County courthouse, it had general applicability throughout the state. In Pitt County, copies of a number of wills were refiled with the clerk and were probated again. There is also some indication that families refiled copies of wills without requesting that they be probated a second time; the will of Elizabeth Tison, for example, bears a notation that it is a copy of "Grandma Tyson's will." 080--Polk County: Formed 1855 from Rutherford and Henderson counties. In an act ratified January 18, 1847, the General Assembly created a Polk County from Rutherford County and that portion of Henderson County that had originally belonged to Rutherford. By action ratified January 16, 1849, the act creating Polk County was repealed. All records of the Polk County court of pleas and quarter sessions were required to be delivered to the clerk of the Rutherford County court of pleas and quarter sessions; none of them have survived, either as records of Polk or of Rutherford County. When Polk County was re-established in 1855, wills for the period 1855-1867 were recorded in a record identified as a Will Docket (WD). This record is now in the State Archives. In August, 1892, the seventeen wills originally recorded in the Will Docket were copied into Will Book I which started in 1868. There has been no significant loss of records of the county after 1855. 081--Randolph County: Formed 1779 from Guilford County. Recording of wills began in 1784. Some of the original wills are missing, and many of those that have survived appear to have been damaged by water. Some of the water damaged originals are virtually illegible. 082--Richmond County: Formed 1779 from Anson County. Apparently wills began to be recorded on a regular basis about 1830. In 1835 all surviving unrecorded wills were transcribed into a record book that is now identified as Will Book 1. A fragment of an original record of wills and inventories for the period 1789-1807 has survived and is now in the State Archives. One of the wills recorded in this fragment has not been otherwise recorded and is referred to in the wills for Richmond County by Archives stack number 082.801.1. An additional record book in the State Archives that is identified as "Wills Proved in County Court (1848-1864)" also contains recorded copies of wills. This appears to be another copy of Will Book 4. 083--Robeson County: Formed 1787 from Bladen County. Wills were not recorded on a regular basis until about 1830, when the county court ordered that all unrecorded wills were to be recorded. All of the wills on the first 250 pages of Will Book 1 are in the same handwriting and appear to have been entered at that time. In May term, 1838, the court found "that there still remains a number unrecorded," and James Storm was ordered to record the balance of the wills. Although there has been no major loss of records, some of the original wills are missing. 084--Rockingham County: Formed 1785 from Guilford County. Recording of wills did not begin until 1804, and surviving originals of recorded wills were in the custody of the clerk of superior court as of June 1, 1986. About 1955 a group of unrecorded wills was found in the courthouse; in 1957 photostatic copies of these wills were placed in a record book identified by the title Old Wills Discovered in Office Dated Prior to 1804 (OW). The originals of these unrecorded wills are in the State Archives. 085--Rowan County: Formed 1753 from Anson County. Recording of wills began in 1760, and there has been no significant loss of records. From about 1780 to about 1800, the county appears to have recorded wills in blocks arranged by first letter of the surname but not in alphabetical order. Several of the Rowan County original wills are in German and unless they were translated at the time of probate, the contents were not recorded in the will books. Ute-Ingrid Seidler translated and abstracted German language wills of Rowan County in the State Archives in North Carolina Genealogical Society Journal, Vol. 1, No-. 3 (July, 1975), pp. 136-140. 086--Rutherford County: Formed 1779 from Tryon County. Surviving registers of recorded wills date from 1782, probably because the site of the meetings of the county court was not fixed in the early years of the county. Will Books A, B, and C are recording dockets containing powers of attorney, bonds, and estate data. It was not until Will Book D (1822) that only wills were registered in the will books. Until the county court was discontinued in 1868, the probate date of a will was indicated in a caption at the top of each page identifying the term of court at which the action was taken. Typewritten copies of Will Books A-F and G-H were made at a later date; entries for Rutherford County were made from microfilm copies of the original record books which are in the custody of the clerk of superior court. There was a Courthouse fire in 1907, but there appears to have been no significant loss of either recorded or original wills. 087--Sampson County: Formed 1784 from Duplin County. Recording of wills on a regular basis beqan about 1820. At a later date, wills that had been proved prior to 1820 as well as wills that had not been probated were entered into a record book identified as Will Book A. Although a few original wills are missing, there has been no significant loss of records. 088--Scotland County: Formed 1899 from Richmond County. The first will was probated in January, 1901; Scotland County, therefore, is not included in this index. 089--Stanly County: Formed 1841 from Montgomery County. The first will was recorded in 1841. Although there has been no known loss of records, many of the original wills are missing. 090--Stokes County: Formed 1789 from Surry County. The first will was recorded in 1790. In Will Books 1 and 2. only the left-sided pages are numbered sequentially with the right side pages numbered “1/2”. In the listing for Stokes County, only the left side page numbers are used. The first twenty-five pages of Will Book 5 consists of an index. There has been no significant loss of records. It should be noted that many of the wills proved in Stokes County prior to 1849 are from the part of the county that subsequently became Forsyth County. 091--Swain County: Formed 1871 from Jackson and Macon counties. Recording of wills began about 1876. As of June 1, 1986, the few surviving original wills of Swain County were in the custody of the county clerk of superior court. 092--Surry County: Formed 1771 from Rowan County. Recording of wills began in 1772, and the will books are complete. Many of the original wills are missing. 093--Transylvania County: Formed 1861 from Henderson and Jackson counties. Recording of wills began in 1862, and there has been no significant loss of either recorded or original wills. 094--Tryon County: Formed 1767 from Mecklenburg County. It was divided into Lincoln and Rutherford counties in 1779 and its records were taken over by Lincoln County. A few wills in the State Archives are filed in miscellaneous records of the county; other surviving original wills probated in Tryon County are in the records of Lincoln County. Tryon County did not record wills other than to indicate probate in the minutes of the county court. 095--This number was not assigned in the State Archives county identification system. 096--Tyrrell County: Formed 1729 from Chowan, Bertie, Currituck, and Pasquotank counties. Although there has been no known disaster that resulted in the destruction of records, some of the early original wills are missing. Recording of wills began in 1750, but many wills that were proved before about 1800 were not recorded, perhaps because the courthouse and the meeting place of the county court moved frequently. Some time before the Historical Records Survey in the 1930s, typewritten copies of the original Will Books 1. 2, and 3 were made; entries for Tyrrell County were made from microfilm copy of the relatively recent typed copy of the will books. The original will books remain in the county. 097--Union County: Formed 1842 from Anson and Mecklenburg counties. The first will was recorded in 1843. As of June 1. 1986, all surviving original wills of the county were in the custody of the county clerk of superior court. 098--Vance County: Formed 1881 from Granville, Warren, and Franklin counties. Recording of wills began immediately and there has been no significant loss of records. As of April 1. 1986, surviving original wills were in the custody of the Vance County clerk of superior court. The wills are filed in special proceedings files in numerical order by a number assigned at the time the action was initiated. Wills may be found by consulting an index to special proceedings which gives the case number of the probate transaction. 099--Wake County: Formed 1771 from Johnston, Cumberland, and Orange counties. Recording of wills began with the organization of the county. Wills were entered into record books that were initially identified by letters. By 1836 Book Y was filled and the county then began using double letters to identify will books. By 1875 the identification of will books had reached the double letters of KK. At some time later, the record books were copied and renumbered with numbers 1-35. Record Books B and C were combined into Record Book 2 at the time of copying. After 1875 wills were registered in will books that were identified by letters. 100--Warren County: Formed 1779 from Bute County. Warren County Will Books 1 and 2 were actually created by the Bute County clerk of county court, and wills recorded therein are cited as records of Bute County. Warren County Will Books 45, 46, 47, and 48 contain only inventories, reports of sale, and accounts. About 1856 the county began to separate estate data from wills, and Will Books 49 and 50 contain only wills. There has been no significant loss of records although some of the original wills are missing. A few of the original wills probated in Warren County are in the records of Bute County in the State Archives. 101--Washington County: Formed 1799 from Tyrrell County. The county courthouse was burned in the naval bombardment of Plymouth, the county seat, in 1862. In 1869 fire again destroyed the courthouse, which was rebuilt and burned again in 1873. Surviving recorded wills begin in 1873; original wills with surnames beginning with the letters R through Z apparently have not survived. 102--Watauga County: Formed 1849 from Ashe, Caldwell, Wilkes, and Yancey counties. In 1865 county records were burned when the courthouse was destroyed by units of Union army cavalry. Another devastating fire in 1873 again destroyed the courthouse and all of the records of the county. 103--Wayne County: Formed 1779 from Dobbs County. Surviving recorded wills date from 1782; earlier recorded and original wills were reportedly destroyed by the British army as it marched from Wilmington to Jamestown in 1781 (see will of Thomas Boykin). Recorded wills from 1782 to 1800 are in two record books which also contain inventories of estates, reports of sales of personal property, and other estate data. These volumes are identified in the Wayne County listing as Wills and Inventories (WI) A and B. These two volumes appear originally to have consisted of several separate record books. Recorded wills for 1792 and 1793 are missing. In 1807 the county began a series of recording dockets (RD) that continued until 1868. Recorded wills for the period 1800 to 1808 have not survived, although several of the original wills for the period indicate that they were "recorded." The fourteen volumes of recording dockets contain not only wills but copies of all other documents (except deeds) filed with the county court. The pagination in the first recording docket volume is confused, with each page showing at least two page numbers. The page numbers used were those that were assigned when the county indexed the volume. In 1868 the county began a series of will books (WB); these remain in the county. The volumes of wills and inventories (WI) and recording dockets (RD) are in the State Archives. 104--Wilkes County: Formed 1777 from Rowan County and the District of Washington. Recording of wills began in 1778. Will Book 1, identified as "Wills, Bonds, Inventories, Bills of Sale," is in the State Archives. Because of an error in numbering the pages in Will Book 1, the pages after page 489 repeat numbers beginning with 450. 105--Wilson County: Formed 1855 from Edgecombe, Nash, Johnston, and Wayne counties. Although some of the original wills are missing, there has been no significant loss of records. 106-Yadkin County: Formed 1850 from Surry County. There has been no significant loss of records, although some original wills are missing. Neither the entries in Will Book 1 or the surviving original wills indicate the date that each will was probated. 107--Yancy County: Formed from Burke and Buncombe Counties. Recording of wills began in 1834, but virtually none of the original wills have survived.