Iredell County, North Carolina Genealogy

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

Description
Iredell County is located in the Western portion of North Carolina and was named for James Iredell, North Carolina attorney general during the Revolution and delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention who was later appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court by President George Washington.

County Courthouse
The Iredell County Register of Deeds has birth, marriage and death, burial and land records. The Clerk Superior Court has divorce records from 1820 and court records from 1788.

Records about persons in Iredell County are available online in FamilySearch and through the Iredell County Register of Deeds website. See Rowan County, North Carolina for marriage, land and probate records back to 1753 for persons living in what is now Iredell County prior to 1788. The date range of available Iredell County records is shown below:

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Parent County
1788--Iredell County was created on 3 November 1788 from Rowan County, which was created from Anson County, North Carolina in 1753.

County seat: Statesville since 1789.

Boundary Changes
Alexander County, North Carolina was formed from portions of what was then Iredell, Caldwell, Wilkes counties in 1847. For animated maps illustrating North Carolina county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation North Carolina County Boundary Maps" (1664-1965) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Record Loss
1852, 1854--Courthouse fires destroyed some court records.

Populated Places
Early settlers used the names of streams, mills, land owners, and post offices to identify where the land that they owned. Prior to the Revolution in 1755 when Iredell was still part of Rowan County, Fort Dobbs was established near the present day city of Statesville. The first post office in Iredell County, located in Iredell County Court House, came into existence in 1794. The 1800 Census listed the new town of States Ville (sic, later changed to Statesville).

Neighboring Counties

 * Alexander (formed from portions of what was then Iredell, Caldwell, Wilkes counties in 1847)
 * Cabarrus (formed from Mecklenburg County in 1792)
 * Catawba (formed in 1842 from Lincoln County)
 * Davie (formed in 1836 from Rowan County)
 * Lincoln (formed in 1779 from the eastern part of Tyron County)
 * Mecklenburg (formed in 1762 from the western part of Anson County)
 * Rowan (formed in 1753 from the northern part of Anson County)
 * Wilkes (Wilkes County was formed in 1777 from parts of Surry County and Washington District (now Washington County, Tennessee)
 * Yadkin (formed in 1850 from the part of Surry County south of the Yadkin River)

Cemeteries
List of hard copy transcriptions:
 * at FamilySearch — index and images
 * Time is, time was : gravestone art, burial customs and history, Iredell County, North Carolina, by Mildred J. Miller, Pat M. Crooks, date: 1990
 * Iredell County, North Carolina, cemetery records, Author: Lois Schneider; Snow Creek Methodist Church (Iredell County, N.C.); Centre Presbyterian Church (Iredell County, N.C.); New Perth ARP Church (Iredell County, N.C.); Hebron Baptist Church (Iredell County, N.C.); All authors; Publisher:  Troutman, North Carolina : L.M.P. Schneider, 1992.
 * Iredell County, North Carolina, cemetery records, 1700-1970, Author: Daughters of the American Revolution (N.C.). Genealogical Records Committee. Publisher: Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1972.
 * Iredell County North Carolina cemeteries, by Russell C Black; Irene Clanton Black, Print book, Language: English Publisher: Statesville, NC : Russell C. Black, Jr., 1999.
 * Fourth Creek Memorial Burying Ground (Statesville, North Carolina), Author: National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of North Carolina. Publisher: North Carolina : National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of North Carolina, 1967.

Census
The following information comes from the Census images and published summaries. The last page of the Census sometimes contains the totals for each column in the Census. It was not until the 1860 Census that the county Census takers began designating districts and post offices on the Census records, except for the 1800 Census that had a separate page for the newly created town of States Ville.

Notes:
 * 1790 Census: The FamilySearch Index for the 1790 Iredell County Census is missing several page, e.g. pages 390, 391, and 402. The pages are in the film record but missing from the index.  This has been reported to FamilySearch.  For an alternate index, see WikiTree.
 * 1800 Census: The 1800 Census District Headquarters was located in Salisbury, Rowan County.  The Census for Iredell, Mecklenburg, Rowan, and several surrounding counties list Salisbury as the location in the index for these counties, even though Salisbury was and still is located in Rowan County.  The 1800 Census has a double entry for the 11 heads of household and 95 inhabitants of States Ville, Iredell County--one entry under Iredell County and one entry under the States Ville section of the Census.  The overall number of inhabitants for Iredell County is correct.

Church Records
Most of the early Iredell County churches are described in Homer Keever's book or in the two volume series, The Heritage of Iredell County. Some churches have written histories of their churches, as listed below (on-going effort).

Baptist

 * Grassy Knob Constituted 1789 near present day Union Grove, Iredell County.

Methodist

 * McKendree United Methodist Church, located in Mooresville, organized in the 1790s

Presbyterian

 * Bethany Presbyterian Church, located in Statesville, Iredell County, organized in 1778
 * Bethesda Presbyterian Church, located in Statesville, Iredell County, organized in 1775
 * Centre Church, Mount Mourne, Iredell County. Organized 1765. Originally known as the Osbourne Meeting House and located in Rowan County.
 * Concord Presbyterian Church, located in Statesville, Iredell County, organized in 1775
 * Coddle Creek Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, organized in 1761 near present day Mooresville, Iredell County
 * Fourth Creek Meeting House and Congregation, located in Rowan County (present day Statesville, Iredell County) organized about 1750.
 * New Sterling Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, located in Stony Point, Iredell County, organized in 1787

County Records

 * 1833-1970 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Court

 * United States Freedmen's Bureau, Freedmen's Court Records, 1865-1872
 * North Carolina Freedmen's Bureau Field Office Recors

Directories

 * Statesville: 1910

Genealogy
The following Iredell family histories have been located:
 * A history of Major Amos Sharpe, Iredell County, North Carolina, by Mildred J. Miller, published 1975
 * The family of John Sharpe, Revolutionary soldier, by by Mildred J. Miller, published 1976
 * History of the Campbell Family compiled by H. P. Van Hoy in 1925. Zerox copy of the original history from the H. P. Van Hoy family. This is the history of the Campbell Family compiled in 1925 by H. P. Van Hoy, a descendant of Sarah Campbell, daughter of John R. Campbell, who married William A. Van Hoy. It was given out at the first annual Campbell family reunion in Union Grove, Iredell, North Carolina. It was written based on recollections of the oldest living descendants in 1925 that lived in Union Grove, North Carolina and correspondence with descendants in Izard County Arkansas, as well as research of property deeds.
 * Templeton - Templeton, Ronald H. "Possible North Carolina/South Carolina Templeton Relationships," The South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research, Vol. 35, No. 3 (Summer 2007):123-130. Presents discoveries of previously unknown kinships based on the Templeton DNA study.
 * Iredell County Surnames', Linkpendium, Link, accessed Jan 11, 2019
 * National Register of Historic Places in Iredell County, Wikipedia, Link, accessed Jan 11, 2019

Land
Land records for residents of Iredell County are found in either the Iredell or Rowan County register of deeds search sites. Land records, Granville and State land grants back to 1750 are now searchable on-line at one of the following links:
 * North Carolina Land Grants Search, Search
 * Iredell County Register of Deeds Search
 * Rowan County Register of Deeds, Rowan County Deeds Search

Local Histories

 * Iredell Piedmont County, by Homer M. Keever, with illustrations by Louise Gilbert and maps by Mildred Jenkins Miller, published for the Iredell County Bicentennial Commission by Brady Printing Company from type set by the Statesville Record and Landmark, copyright, November 1976
 * Towards a New History: Iredell County, North Carolina, A Thesis by JAMIE LEANNE HAGER, Submitted to the Graduate School Appalachian State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS, May 2010 Department of History
 * The Heritage of Iredell County, 1980, published by the Genealogical Society of Iredell County, PO Box 946, Statesville, North Carolina 28677, ISBN 0-89459-087-1, 642 pages with index
 * The Heritage of Iredell County, NC Vol II - 2000, published by the Genealogical Society of Iredell County, PO Box 946, Statesville, North Carolina 29866, LC # 00-110956, 574 pages with index
 * Iredell County Early Settlers, NCGenWeb, Link (based on Homer Keever's book )

Maps

 * A 1773 Map depicts landowners in the Fourth Creek Congregation, Iredell County, N.C. Notes at the bottom of the map give directions to the center of the congregation. One of the notes reads, "At the "Meeting House' Statesville was located in 1790. The Court House of Iredell County, N. Ca." A transcription of the map appears in Homer Keever's book and The Heritage of Iredell County.  The original map is in the North Carolina archives and a copy can be seen on-line.

Revolutionary War

 * 1779 - 1782 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * United States, Revolutionary War Pension Payment Ledgers (FamilySearch Historical Records) will often contain the date of death of a pensioner
 * Many of the Revolutionary War veterans that were residents of Iredell County after 1788 fought in the Rowan County Regiment of the North Carolina Militia during the Revolutionary War. A listing of known persons that resided in Iredell County during their lifetime is available on-line. This list was based on an earlier survey of Revolutionary War Veterans by the Genealogical Society of Iredell County The 1840 Census also contains the names of Revolutionary War Pensioners living in Iredell County and their age.
 * J.D. Lewis has an on-line database of North Carolina Revolutionary War Soldiers that contains the rosters of North Carolina military units and service records of members, including the 1st and 2nd Rowan County Regiment.
 * The Daughter of the American Revolution (DAR) has an on-line database of revolutionary ancestors that can be searched by anyone.  The database contains the veterans date and place of birth and death, unit, and lineage to DAR members applications  (Link, accessed Jan 10, 2019)
 * The Rowan County Committee of Safety was set up as one of the county committees set up prior to the Revolutionary War that took the lead in organizing resistance to British rule. Many of the members of this committee lived in what became Iredell County

Civil War
Online Records
 * 1861 - 1865 - at FamilySearch.org — index and images
 * 1861 - 1865 - at FamilySearch.org — index and images
 * 1861 - 1865 - U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry — index (free)
 * 1861 - 1865 - U.S., Union Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry — index (free)
 * 1885 - 1953 - at FamilySearch — index and images


 * - 4th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry
 * - 7th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry
 * - 11th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry
 * - 11th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry, Company E
 * - 2nd Regiment, North Carolina Cavalry, Company B
 * - 4th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry, Company A
 * - 4th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry, Company C
 * - 4th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry, Company H
 * - 4th Regiment, North Carolina Senior Reserves, Company D
 * - 5th Regiment, North Carolina Senior Reserves, Company F
 * - 8th Battalion, North Carolina Junior Reserves, Company A

World War I

 * 1917 - 1919 - at FamilySearch — index and images

World War II

 * 1940 - 1948 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers

 * Iredell County people in NC Newspapers - name listing of people from the county as located in misc. newspaper articles; time span varies. Articles indexed in the NC People in the Papers database.
 * Iredell County newspapers - a listing of newspapers published in the county &amp; libraries that hold them; via the Library of Congress. If you find a paper of interest on microfilm, you may be able to request it via Interlibrary Loan with your local public library.
 * Statesville Record and Landmark - current newspaper of Statesville
 * Mooresville Tribune - another current paper

Probate
Online Probate Records


 * 1660 - 1790 - North Carolina Will Abstracts 1660-1790 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1663 - 1979 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1665 - 1998 - North Carolina Wills and Probate Records 1665-1998 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1735 - 1970 - at FamilySearch.org — images
 * 1760 - 1800 - North Carolina Will Abstracts 1760-1800 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * Pre - 1790 - Pre-1790 Wills stored at the North Carolina State Archives are online - free. Website tips.
 * 1790 - 1965 - have been digitized by FamilySearch - free.
 * 1790 - 1865 - SAMPUBCO - Browsable index of testators of wills. - Free
 * 1800 - 1808 - Images of Wills and Estates. North Carolina Pioneers ($)
 * 1788 - 1870 - List of Estate Files, North Carolina Genealogical Society, Link

Taxation

 * 1800 - Land Valuations for Direct Tax, 1800 (images) online at FamilySearch
 * 1815 - Tax Lists, Iredell County, 1815 (images) online at North Carolina Digital Collections

Birth

 * 1800 - 2000 - at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1866 - 1964 - at FamilySearch.org — index

Death

 * 1898 - 1994 - at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1906 - 1930 - at FamilySearch.org — index and images
 * 1908 - 2004 - North Carolina Death Indexes 1908-2004 at Ancestry.com — index $
 * 1909 - 1975 - North Carolina Death Certificates 1909-1975 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1931 - 1994 - at FamilySearch.org — index

Divorce

 * 1926 - 1975 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1958 - 2004 - North Carolina Divorce Index 1958-2004 at Ancestry.com — index $

Marriages

 * 1741 - 2004 - North Carolina, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
 * 1893 - 1934 - Iredell County Marriage Index 1893-1934 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1741 - 2004 - North Carolina Marriage Index 1741-2004 at Ancestry.com — index $
 * 1759 - 1979 - at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1762 - 1979 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1763 - 1868 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Societies and Libraries
Genealogical Society of Iredell County PO Box 946 Statesville 28687 200 S Center St Statesville, NC 28677 Telephone Number: 704-878-5384
 * Publication: Iredell County Tracks, available in the Iredell County Public Library Local History section only

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to Family History Centers
 * Lake Norman North Carolina Family History Center (Mooresville)
 * Statesville North Carolina Family History Center

Websites

 * Iredell County, NC History, Records, Facts and Genealogy (Genealogy Inc)
 * Iredell County, NCGenWeb - free genealogy resources; part of the national USGenWeb Project