Wayne County, NC - Heritage Series Reprinted with permission of the Mount Olive Tribune and cannot be reproduced without permission. Duplin County Records "Our Heritage" By Claude Moore Friday, May 22, 1992 Duplin County was authorized by an act of the Colonial Assembly and was laid out by a surveyor in 1750. It was originally a part of New Hanover County which was created in 1729. The new seat of government for Duplin was located three miles west of Warsaw on the old New Bern Road and this remained the county seat until 1784 when Sampson and Duplin were separated. The courthouse, jail and Anglican Chapel (St. Gabriel's Perish) were frame buildings and nothing remains today on this site. In 1784 the Duplin County seat was moved to its present location and was later called Kenansville. From 1750 until 1868 the counties were run by a Court of Pleas and Quarter sessions and by law had about two dozen duties. This court was made up of Justices who were appointed by the General Assembly. The county court minutes from 1750 until 1784 are missing but we hope that some day they will turn up somewhere in Duplin. The following records are in the office of the Clerk of the Superior Court. The court minutes from 1784 to 1848 are complete and contain valuable genealogical data. There is one box of inventories of estates and wills, and 11 boxes of marriage bonds, 1749-1868. There are two boxes of apprentice bonds, four volumes of marriage records: 1867-1872, 1872-1902, 1902-1914, 1915-1928; four volumes of minutes of the Board of County Commissioners; tax lists, 1783-1817, 1786, 1813, 1818, and 1834; one volume of meridian records, 1902-1932; tax returns 1895-1917, and 1918-1925. There are many volumes pertaining to the Court of Pleas and Quarter sessions, the Inferior and Superior Courts. There are six volumes of inventories and accounts of estates and guardianships; list of magistrates 1887-1962; one volume of magistrates bonds, 1917-1961; one volume of maiden names of divorced women, 1944-1961; two volumes of maps of land divisions, 1920-1962; three volumes of poll tax records; nine volumes of Record of Settlement, 1869-1962; five volumes of Professional Registers, 1889-1961; and numerous miscellaneous records. In the Register of Deeds office are all the deed books from 1750 until the present. Duplin has had copied the New Hanover records 1729-1750 which are available for researchers. There are eight volumes of records of Armed Forces Discharges, 1918-1962; 21 volumes of Minutes of the Board of County Commissioners; one volume of marriage bonds, 1749-1861 and one volume of marriages of the Freed People, 1866. There are 62 volumes of births, 1914-present, and death records from 1913 to present. There are six volumes of records of the early Masonic lodges. All deeds are now microfilmed and may be had from the State Department of Cultural Resources. It has been recommended that many boxes of loose papers be transferred to the Archives in Raleigh. Duplin County has had no courthouse fires but the county records had to be hidden during the American Revolution. ============================================================== 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. File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Guy Potts ==============================================================