Albemarle County, North Carolina Genealogy

In 1664 Albemarle County was created as one of the original three counties of the North Carolina charter. Albemarle was the only one of the three to flourish. Albemarle was the area northeast of the Chowan River to the Virginia border. Although growth was slow, settlers trickled in from Virginia.

The four precincts of Shaftesbury/Chowan, Currituck, Pasquotank, and Berkeley/Perquimans had been carved out of Albemarle by October 1668. By 1669 the original Albemarle County had ceased to exist.

Also, for a brief period from about 1680 to the mid-1680s the Pasquotank Precinct was changed to Albemarle Precinct (not to be confused with the much larger Albemarle County), but the precinct residents preferred Pasquotank, so it was changed back.

Records of the extinct Albemarle County can be found in repositories of Chowan, Currituck, Pasquotank, and Perquimans counties, or at the North Carolina State Archives.

Miscellaneous Records

 * Remaining miscellaneous records of several types from 1678 to 1739 are contained in one microfilm reel of 564 pages labeled as 2 volumes filmed at the North Carolina State Archives in 1941 available here at Family Search. An abstract of these records was published by Weynette Parks Haun in 1982 entitled Old Albemarle County North Carolina Miscellaneous Records, 1678-1937.
 * An additional 28 miscellaneous documents 1664-1675 at the Archives are also found here at Family Search, although they appear to contain information more useful to historians than genealogists.

Land and Property

 * Old Albemarle County, North Carolina, book of land warrants and surveys, 1681-1706 by Weynette Parks Haun (1984). See also NC Archives Secretary of State Land Grants on-line database.

Probate

 * The earliest North Carolina wills were filed at the state level in Raleigh until 1760. They are available in the Transcription of provincial North Carolina wills, 1663-1729/30, vols.1 (2nd ed. 2014) & 2 (2nd ed. 2008) by John A. Brayton, Memphis, TN, 2003-2005.

Taxation

 * 1694 - Survey, Albemarle County, 1694 (index) in NC Taxpayers vol. 2.

Websites

 * Historical Albemarle County, NCGenWeb
 * Online Probate - Higher Court Records 1670-1696 North Carolina Pioneers ($)