Warren County, North Carolina Genealogy

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

County Courthouse
Warren County Courthouse 109 S. Main Street Warrenton, NC 27589 (252) 257-3261

Mailing Address: PO Box 709 Warrenton, NC 27589 Register of deeds has birth and death records from 1913 marriage and land records from 1764 Clerk Superior Court has divorce and probate records from 1764 and court records from 1968

Register of Deeds PO Box 506 Warrenton, NC 27589 Phone: 252-257-3265 Fax: 252-257-7011 Website

Clerk Superior Court PO Box 709 Warrenton, NC 27589 Phone: (252) 257-6300

History
Warren and Franklin Counties were formed in 1779 from Bute County which had been established in 1764. For several years the inhabitants of Bute had longed for a division of the county because of the hardships to fulfill civil duties from the remote parts of the very large county. On 26 April 1777 Mr. Benjamin Seawell introduced a petition in the North Carolina General Assembly from the several inhabitants of Bute for a division of the County. For some reason the division was not made. Two years later, in 1779, Mr. Edward Jones introduced another petition 'for the division. A bill was slated and enacted into law on 20 January 1779:

.... That from and after the passing of this Act the County of Buts shall be divided into two distinct Counties by a direct line from the Granville line to Halifax or Nash County line as the case may be, leaving in each part or division an equal quantity of Acres as near as can be ascertained ... and all that part or division which lies North of said line and adjacent to Virginia shall be a distinct County by the name of Warren, and all that part or division that lies South of said line shall be a distinct County by the name of Franklin;.. (SRNC, XXIV, 227) On 29 January 1779 the General Assembly meeting at Halifax appointed the Commissioners for dividing Bute County. Julius Nichols, John Faulcon, William Duke, John Norwood, and Matthew Thomas were to be responsible for measuring the bounds of Bute County, running the dividing line, and choosing sites near the center of each county whore courthouses and public buildings were to be built. Later in 1779 two other acts of Assembly established Warrenton and Louisburg as County Seats of Warren and Franklin Counties respectively,

In 1786 Warren County annexed more territory, a part of Granville County:

.... Beginning at the point where the line of division between Warren and Granville Counties shall touch the line of division between this State and the State of Virginia, and running thence west along the said line to Nutbush Creek, thence up said creek as it meanders to the mouth of Anderson's Swamp, thence up the said swamp to the fork, thence up the south fork of the said swamp to Stark's mill, thence 'by a line to be run due south until it shall touch the aforesaid line of division between Warren and Granville, be, and the same is hereby annexed to and shall remain a part of the County of Warren .... (SRNC, XXIV, 866)

Warren County remains today the same except for a western part which was cut off to form a part of Vance County when it was formed in 1881.

Bute Co. was formed from Granville Co. in 1764 and abolished in 1779 when it was divided into Warren Co. and Franklin Co. The courthouse of Bute Co. was located at a place called "Buffalo Rice Path" on land owned by Jethro Sumner about 6 miles southeast of present Warrenton, North Carolina. Most of the records of Bute County are still located in Warren Co. though some may be found in Franklin Co.

Parent County
1779--Warren County was created from Bute County. Bute County was abolished in 1779. County seat: Warrenton

Boundary Changes
Territory north of Roanoke River, in Roanoke Township, transferred from Northampton County to Warren County in late 1800's. Portion of Warren along western border, became part of Vance County in 1881. Town of Littleton, previously spread over Warren &amp; Halifax, transferred entirely to Halifax in 1970's.

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
1935--Fire burned courthouse, some record loss.

County Court Records from about 1814 -1823 are missing. Deed Books 15 and 16, 1799-1803, are missing from the court house and from the NC Archives.

For the status of records for all North Carolina Counties see:Status of Courthouse Records in North Carolina

Townships
Fishing Creek, Fork, Hawtree, Judkins, Nutbush, River, Roanoke, Sandy Creek, Shocco, Sixpound, Smith Creek, Warrenton

Populated Places

 * Communities and Township Information

Neighboring Counties

 * Brunswick County, Virginia
 * Franklin
 * Halifax
 * Mecklenburg County, Virginia
 * Nash
 * Northampton
 * Vance

African Americans

 * 1867-1964 - Warren County Colored Marriage Books A-Z Index 1867-1964 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free.
 * A number of Slavery and Free People of Color records for Warren County are on Warren County African American Page

Cemeteries

 * Burchett Chapel Cemetery
 * Fork Chapel Baptist Church Cemetery
 * Greater Lovely Hill Baptist Church Cemetery
 * Locust Grove Baptist Church Cemetery
 * Odell Baptist Church Cemetery
 * Shocco Chapel Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery
 * Spring Green Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery
 * Walnut Grove Baptist Church Cemetery
 * White Rock Baptist Church Cemetery

Baptist

 * Mill Pond. Constituted 1774.
 * Tanner's Creek. Established by 1772.
 * Upper Fishing Creek, aka Reedy Creek. Church built 1771. Edwards published a list of early members in Materials Towards a History of the Baptists... (1772), 132-133. Originally located in Bute County.

Court
Warren County has a number of missing Court records, in particular, most of the records from 1813 to 1823 are missing, reason is unknown.

Warren County Courthouse 109 S. Main Street Warrenton, NC 27589

(252) 257-3261

Land
Warren County Register of Deeds 109 S. Main Street PO Box 506 Warrenton, NC 27589 Phone: (252) 257 3265

The Registry cannot do research for you but the following records are available to the public: Real Estate since 1756

Warren County Online Deeds Search -currently from abt 1974

A number of Deeds for Warren County have been transcribed, check the following sites:


 * Index to Warren County Deeds, A-Z
 * Harper to Courtney-1834
 * Harper to Kearney-1834
 * North Carolina to Harper-1780
 * Walker to Cook-1848
 * Sims to Davis-1806
 * Christmas to Green-1817
 * Dickerson to Moore-1768
 * Dickerson to Christmas-1769

Maps

 * Historical Map of Granville-Bute-Warren-Franklin 1741-1930
 * North Carolina Maps Collection: Warren County - from the UNC Digital Collection
 * North Carolina Map-1780
 * Historic Maps Overlays - selected historic maps over current day road maps or satellite images

Military

 * Warren County Military Page (NCGenWeb Warren Co.)

Revolutionary War

 * 1779 - 1782 - at FamilySearch — index and images

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


 * - 8th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry
 * - 12th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry, 2nd Company C
 * - 12th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry, Company F
 * - 12th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry, Company K
 * - 14th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry, formerly the 4th Volunteers, Company A
 * - 1st Brigade, North Carolina Reserves, Company A
 * - 1st Regiment, North Carolina Cavalry, Company E
 * - 1st Regiment, North Carolina Junior Reserves, Company A<br
 * - 3rd Battalion, North Carolina Senior Reserves, Captain D W William's Company
 * - 8th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry, Company F


 * Index to Warren County residents - who served in Civil War

World War I

 * 1917 - 1919 - at FamilySearch — index and images

World War II

 * 1940 - 1948 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers

 * The Warren Record
 * Henderson Daily Dispatch

Probate
Online Probate Records


 * 1660 - 1790 - North Carolina Will Abstracts 1660-1790 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1663 - 1979 - at FamilySearch.org — 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
 * Indexes to Deeds 1789-1791; 1791-1794; 1794-1796; 1796-1798; 1804-1809; 1807-1810 North Carolina Pioneers ($)

Warren County has copies of wills and estate records available from the Office of the Clerk of the Superior Court. Please be specific about what you want when you contact the office.

Warren County Courthouse 109 S. Main Street Warrenton, NC 27589 Clerk of Superior Court 252-257-3261

It is generally more cost effective to order copies of records directly from the County, however, most originals of the early records have been sent to the State Archives and what remains in the County offices are hand-copied translations of those originals, so you may want to keep that in mind.

Records can be ordered from the North Carolina State Archives by contacting them giving them specific information on what you are looking for. Click onto this page for a detailed guide on Contacting the NC State Archives.


 * Pre-1790  - Pre-1790  Wills stored at the North Carolina State Archives are online - free. Website tips.
 * 1764 - 1964 - have been digitized by FamilySearch - free.

Most original wills, inventories, settlements and other materials associated with estate records have been sent to the State Archives. The Archives has the following available on microfilm:


 * 1763 - 1963 - Index to Wills, 1763-1963 (1 reel)
 * 1764 - 1863 - Records of Wills, Accounts, Inventories &amp; Settlements, 1764-1863 (16 reels)
 * 1820 - 1821 - Division of Estates, 1820-1821 (1 reel)
 * 1863 - 1964 - Record of Wills, 1863-1964 (3 reels)
 * 1868 - 1964 - Record of Accounts, 1868-1964 (5 reels)
 * 1878 - 1964 - Record of Settlements, 1878-1964 (3 reels)
 * 1905 - 1906 - Record of Administrators and Guardians, 1905-1906 (1 reel)
 * 1912 - 1964 - Record of Administrators, 1912-1964; Cross Index to Administrators, 1866-1965 (3 reels)
 * 1919 - 1964 - Record of Executors, 1919-1964; Cross Index to Administrators &amp; Executors, 1927-1936 (1 reel)
 * 1923 - 1964 - Inheritance Tax Records, 1923-1964 (1 reel)
 * 1926 - 1964 - Record of Guardians, 1926-1964; Cross Index to Guardians, 1926-1936 (1 reel)

The North Carolina State Archives will give you pricing information when you contact them for ordering microfilm.

North Carolina State Archives 4614 Mail Service Center Raleigh, N.C. 27699-4614

Physical address: 109 E. Jones St. Raleigh, N.C. 27601 (919) 807-7310

A number of Wills &amp; Estates have been transcribed and are available as follows:


 * Warren County Wills Index

The early Warren County Court records have been transcribed and published and are available for purchase from the author. The books are:


 * 1780 - 1786 - Warren County, NC Minutes to the Court of Pleas, 1780-1786  (author has put complete book online)
 * 1787 - 1792 - Warren County, NC Minutes to the Court of Pleas, 1787-1792
 * 1793 - 1796 - Warren County, NC Minutes to the Court of Pleas, 1793-1796
 * 1797 - 1800 - Warren County, NC Minutes to the Court of Pleas, 1797-1800
 * 1801 - 1805 - Warren County, NC Minutes to the Court of Pleas, 1801-1805
 * 1806 - 1809 - Warren County, NC Minutes to the Court of Pleas, 1806-1809
 * 1810 - 1813 - Warren County, NC Minutes to the Court of Pleas, 1810-1813

There is an index to the books on the website where you can check for your ancestors name. Please check the site Ancestral Tracks for prices.


 * Warren County Estate Files- complete files are on FamilySearch

Taxation

 * 1777-1778 - List of Taxables, 1777-1778 (images) online at FamilySearch
 * 1779 - Tax Lists, Warren County, 1779 (images) online at North Carolina Digital Collections
 * 1784 - Tax Lists, Warren County, 1784 (images) online at North Carolina Digital Collections
 * 1795 - Tax Lists, Warrenton (Warren County), 1795 (images) online at North Carolina Digital Collections
 * 1811 - 1811 Tax List (transcript) online at NCGenWeb
 * 1814 - 1814 Tax List (transcript) online at NCGenWeb
 * 1815 - Tax Lists, Warren County, 1815 (images) online at North Carolina Digital Collections
 * 1840 - 1840 Sandy Creek Tax List (transcript) online at NCGenWeb

Vital Records
Warren County Register of Deeds 109 S. Main Street PO Box 506 Warrenton, NC 27589 Phone: (252) 257 3265

The Registry cannot do research for you but the following records are available to the public: Birth &amp; Death Records beginning 1914 Marriages since 1867

Birth Records

 * 1800 - 2000 - at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1866 - 1964 - at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1779 - 1868 - Bastardy Bonds for Warren County 1779-1868 NCGenWeb
 * Birth Records from WWI Draft Registrations NCGenWeb

Death Records

 * 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
 * Deaths from Newspapers-Pt.1
 * Deaths from Newspapers-Pt.2

Divorce Records

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

Marriage Records

 * 1741 - 2004 - North Carolina, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
 * 1741 - 2004 - North Carolina Marriage Index 1741-2004 at Ancestry.com — index $
 * 1759 - 1979 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1762 – 1979 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1763 - 1868 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1779 - 1868 - Marriage Bonds, 1779-1868
 * 1825 - 1898 - Marriages from Raleigh Newspapers 1825-1889
 * 1865 - 1900 - Warren County Marriages 1865-1900
 * 1861 - 1934 - Warren County Marriage Index 1861-1934 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free.


 * Warren County Marriage Bond, series II, Colored
 * Warren County-Vital Records

Societies and Libraries
Warren County Historical Association 210 Plummer Street Warrenton, NC 27589

North Carolina Genealogical Society PO Box 30815 Raleigh, NC 27622-0815 Website

Afro American Historical Genealogical Society PO Box 36254 Greensboro, NC 27416 Website


 * Tar River Genealogical Society

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Websites

 * Warren County, NC History, Records, Facts and Genealogy (Genealogy Inc)
 * USGenWeb Project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
 * Warren County NCGenWeb
 * Warren County USGenWeb Archives