Chatham County, North CarolinaEdit This Page
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| Chatham County, North Carolina | |||||||||
| Map | |||||||||
 Location in the state of North Carolina | |||||||||
 Location of North Carolina in the U.S. | |||||||||
| Facts | |||||||||
| Founded | 1770 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| County Seat | Pittsboro | ||||||||
| Courthouse | |||||||||
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United States 
North Carolina Chatham County
Contents |
County Courthouse
History
The bill for establishing Chatham County was introduced in the Colonial Assembly, held at New Berne, December 5, 1770. But the bill was not ratified until January 26, 1771 and became effective the first day of April in 1771. The county was named for the first Earl of Chatham - William Pitt, 1708-1778). According to history, the Earl of Chatham was a true believer in the right of America and defended these rights in the British Parliament. Perhaps that zeal of patriotism transmitted itself to the inhabitants of Chatham County, because the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions struck the customary extolling of the King and his titles, in 1773, long before the first shot rang out in New England. Even though Chatham was a Crown Province of North Carolina until statehood was established on July 4, 1776. The county seat of Pittsboro was named for William Pitt, the younger, who was the youngest prime minister of Great Britain. He was 24 years of age, at the time.
Chatham was created from Orange County whose area was ten times what it is now. Because of political factions and difficulty in holding court and recording documents, the distance being so great, the counties of Guilford, Wake and Surry were created at the same time as Chatham. As a deterent to the meeting and assembly of these factions and to facilitate the governing of them. Chatham is in the center of the state, in the hilly, timber covered section of the state. The counties that are neighbors are: Almance, Durham, Harnett, Lee, Moore, Orange, Randolph and Wake.
Parent County
1770--Chatham County was created 5 December 1770 from Orange County. County seat: Pittsboro [1]
Boundary Changes
Record Loss
Many court records missing.
Places/Localities
Populated Places
Neighboring Counties
Resources
Cemeteries
- Buckhorn Methodist Church Cemetery
- Asbury Methodist Church Cemetery
- Center Grove Cemetery
- Fall Creek Church Cemetery
- Ebenezer Methodist Church Cemetery
- Bell's Baptist Church Cemetery
- Martha's Chapel Church Cemetery
- Mt. Zion Methodist Church Cemetery
- Tick Creek Baptist Church Cemetery
- Rives Chapel Church Cemetery
- Meronies Methodist Cemetery
- Antioch Christian Church Cemetery
- Bell-Clark Cemetery
- Dowdy Family Cemetery
- Mays Chapel Cemetery
Church
Court
Chatham County Courthouse
Clerk of Superior Court
(Wills & Estates)
ADDRESS: P.O. Box, 369, (12 East St.)
Pittsboro, NC 27312
Phone No. (919) 542-3240
Certified copies of documents are $2.00 for the first page,
.25 for additional pages.
Uncertified copies are $1.00 for the first page and
.25 for additional pages.
The following links will take you to an index or transcribed court records for the years as indicated:
- Court of Pleas & Quarter Sessions 1774-1779
- Court of Pleas & Quarter Sessions Aug 1792
- Court of Pleas & Quarter Sessions 1794
- Court of Pleas & Quarter Sessions 1795
- Court of Pleas & Quarter Sessions 1797-1800
- Court of Pleas & Quarter Sessions 1805
Other Court Records:
- Apprenticeship Bonds 1784-1837
- Orphan Bonds 1774-1800
- Guardian Accounts 1800-1830
- Guardian Accounts 1828-1842
- Bastardy Bonds 1775-1799
- Bastardy Bonds 1871-1879
Land
Courthouse Annex - Register of Deeds
P.O. Box 756,
Pittsboro, NC 27312
Ph. No. (919) 542-8235
Chatham County deed records are indexed and copies of the actual documents are available online starting from 1771.
Access to Chatham County Deeds Online Search
Local Histories
- Chatham County Families
- Chatham County Migrations
- Letters: William Crutchfield to Wm. P. Pickard
- Paris T. Utley Letters
- Aaron Harlan Biography
- James Fauntleroy Taylor, 1791-1828
- Isham Sims Upchurch, 1909
- Deacon White
- Nathaniel J. Alston Bible
- William Brantley Family Bible
- Solomon Bunting Family Bible
- Foushee Family Bible
- Dr. Abner Holton Family Bible
- Alexander Leander & Fannie M. Harper Phillips Family Bible
- James Martin & Rachel Heding Bible
- Abraham Rencher Family Bible
- Thomas Roe Family Bible
- John Rowe Family Bible
- William Searcy Bible
- Nathan Alexander Stedman Family Bible
- Utley Family Bible
- Julia Emma Utley Family Bible
- John Wesley & Ora Lee (Marks)Utley Family Bible (1)
- John Wesley & Ora Lee (Marks)Utley Family Bible (2)
- John White Family Bible
Maps
- Township Map of Chatham County
- Chatham County in 1870
- Chatham County Old Trails & Creeks-1770's
- North Carolina 1779 - with waterways
- State Map Paths & Trails- 1660-1775
- Colonial Maps of the U.S.
Military
- War of 1812 Muster Roll for Chatham County
- Civil War: Cedar Fork Rifles
- Militia Officers of Chatham County in the Revolutionary War
- Revolutionary War Timeline
- Revolutionary War & Bible Records - series of books with family info; online index of names included under Master Index
Newspapers
- Transcribed Chatham Co. Newspaper Archives 1847-1887
- Transcribed Chatham Co., Newspaper Archives 1888
- The Raleigh Register October 22 - 29, 1799
- North Carolina Newspaper Project - from the State Library
- North Carolina Newspaper Digitization Project
Probate
Copies of wills and estate records can be obtained from the Register of Deeds Office. Information on fees are available on their website:
Chatham County Courthouse Annex
12 East Street
P.O. Box 756
Pittsboro, NC 27312
(919) 542-8235
The following links will take you to an Index to Chatham County Wills and Estate Records:
- Estate Records-Vol. 1, 1821-1836
- Wills & Estates 1782-1794
- Wills & Estates 1795-1799
- Wills & Estates 1798-1819
- Wills & Estates 1818-1833
- Wills & Estates 1834-1857
- Wills & Estates 1856-1868
- Index to Estates 1800-1812
- Index to Estates 1812-1822
- Index to Estates 1847-1850
The Following links will take you to a series of Wills that have been abstracted:
- Surnames A-B
- Surnames C-D
- Surnames E- F- G
- Surnames H- J- K
- Surnames L- M- N
- Surnames O- P- Q- R
- Surnames S
- Surnames T- V
- Surnames W- Y- Z
Taxation
- 1795 Chatham County Tax List
- 1815 Chatham County Tax List
- 1755 Orange County Tax List (many Chatham Co. families were included before formation of Chatham)
Vital Records
Societies and Libraries
Web Sites
- USGenWeb Project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
- Chatham County NCGenWeb Project
- Chatham County USGenWeb Archives
- Family History Library Catalog
References
- ↑ The Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America,10th ed. (Draper, UT:Everton Publishers, 2002).
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