Swain County, North Carolina Genealogy

United States   North Carolina    Swain County

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

County Courthouse
1 Mitchell St P O box 417 Bryson, NC 28713 Phone: 828-488-9273

Register of Deeds has birth and death records from 1913 marriage records from 1907 and land records Clerk Superior Court has divorce and court records from 1900 and probate records

History
European settlement began soon after the Cherokee Indian cession of 1798. These Europeans settled in the areas along the Oconaluftee and Tuckaseegee Rivers. The Cherokees surrendered the remainder of the land in a treaty on February 27, 1819. In 1871 the North Carolina General Assembly passed an act making Swain a North Carolina county, taking land from Jackson and Macon county. It was named for David L. Swain a former governor of North Carolina and president of the University of North Carolina.

The first court was held at Cold Spring Meeting House. Commissioners were to select a site for the courthouse and lay out a town named Charleston, to become the county seat. Charleston was renamed Bryson City in 1889 in honor of Colonel Thad Dillard Bryson.

Swain County began probating wills in 1876.

Parent County
1871--Swain County was created from Jackson and Macon Counties. County seat: Bryson City

Boundary Changes
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
1879--Courthouse fire destroyed many records.

1908-- Swain County Courthouse in Bryson City burned by rioters, January 7, 1908. No records were saved.

For a list of record loss in North Carolina counties see: North Carolina Counties with Burned Courthouses

Neighboring Counties

 * Blount County, Tennessee
 * Cocke County, Tennessee
 * Graham
 * Haywood
 * Jackson
 * Macon
 * Sevier County, Tennessee

Cemeteries

 * List of Cemeteries - at Swain Co. NCGenWeb site
 * Birdtown Cemetery - at Cemetery Census
 * Swain County Cemeteries - at Find-a-Grave

Maps
1895 Map of Swain County, North Carolina

Civil War
Civil War Confederate units - Brief history, counties where recruited, etc.

Probate

 * 1873-1966 - have been digitized by FamilySearch - free.

Birth Records

 * 1800 - 2000 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1866 - 1964 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1868-1953 - Swain County Birth Index 1868-1953. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

Death Records

 * 1898 - 1994 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 Records

 * 1958 - 2004North Carolina Divorce Index 1958-2004 at Ancestry.com — index $

Marriage Records

 * 1741 - 2004 North Carolina Marriage Index 1741-2004 at Ancestry.com — index $
 * 1759 - 1979 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1762 - 1969 at FamilySearch.org — index and images


 * 1871-1922 - Swain County Marriage Index 1871-1922. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

Societies and Libraries

 * Swain County Genealogy Society

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Web Sites

 * Swain 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.
 * Swain County, NCGenWeb
 * Swain County, NCGenWeb