Person County, North Carolina Genealogy

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

Description
Person County is located in the North-Central portion of North Carolina and shares a border with Virginia. It was named for Revolutionary War General Thomas Person.

History
Person was formed in 1791 from Caswell. The act was to become effective February 1, 1792. In 1792 the eastern four districts of Caswell County became Person County. It was named in honor of General Thomas Person, a Revolutionary Patriot, a member of the Council of Safety and a trustee of the University of North Carolina. He gave a large sum of money to the University, and a building was erected in his honor, which is called Person Hall. It is in the north central section of the State and is bounded by Granville, Durham, Orange and Caswell counties, and the State of Virginia. The present area is 390.87 square miles and the 1990 population was 30,180. In 1792 Pittman's was mentioned in an act as the place where the courthouse was to be established. In 1793 Roxboro was established as the courthouse and is now the county seat.

Parent County
1791--Person County was created from Caswell County. County seat: Roxboro

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
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Neighboring Counties

 * Caswell
 * Durham
 * Granville
 * Halifax
 * Orange

Baptist

 * Flat River. Constituted 1777.
 * Head of Mayo Creek. Constituted 1793.
 * South Hico River Lower Church. Constituted 1793.
 * South Hico River Upper Church. Constituted 1792.

County Records

 * 1833-1970 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Court
Person County Clerk of Court's Office Person County Courthouse 105 South Main St Roxboro, NC 27573 Phone 336-503-5200

Ethnic and Religous Groups
Redford, Dorothy Spruill. As Long as You Call My Name, I Live: Somerset Place Slave Burial Register, 1785-1865.FHL 975.6165 V3r

Redford, Dorothy Spruill and Michael D'orso. Somerset Homecoming: Recovering a Lost Heritage. New York, New York : Doubleday, c 1988. FHL 929.273 L732r

Redford, Dorothy Spruill. Somerset's Slave Community: an Antebellum Genealogical Study. Portsmouth, Va.: D. S. Redford, 9C. 1986)

Land
Person County Register of Deeds Office P. O. Box 209 21 Abbitt Street Roxboro, NC 27573 Phone 336-597-1733

Website also includes online searchable database for deeds.

Register's office has copies of birth, marriage &amp; death records as well as land records.

Local Histories

 * Reminiscences : A sketch and letters descriptive of life in Person County in former days - free online book at Archives.org
 * Resources: Books - at NCGenWeb has dozens of listings of Person County books

Maps

 * Person County Maps Page

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


 * - U.S. Colored Troops-Person County - list of soldiers from Person Co.
 * - 4th Battalion, North Carolina Junior Reserves, Company C
 * - 7th Regiment, North Carolina Senior Reserves, Captain George F Fisher's Company
 * - 7th Regiment, North Carolina Senior Reserves, Captain R S Davie's Company

World War I

 * 1917 - 1919 - at FamilySearch — index and images

World War II

 * 1940 - 1948 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers

 * List of Person County Newspapers - both current &amp; past
 * Library of Congress: Chronicling America
 * State Library: North Carolina Newspapers

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
 * 1792 - 1966 - have been digitized by FamilySearch - free.
 * Transcribed Wills &amp; Estates

Taxation
Some Person County Tax Lists are available in transcribed records online. Following are links to them:


 * 1792- Nash District
 * 1793- Nash District
 * 1794- Nash District
 * 1797- Nash District
 * 1798- Nash District
 * 1800- Nash District

Birth Records

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

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

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.org — index
 * 1762 - 1979 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1763 - 1868 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to Family History Centers

Libraries

 * Person County Library - includes a local history room, large amount of genealogy information
 * UNC-Chapel Hill Library Catalog: Person County

Societies

 * Person County Historical Society PO Box 887 Roxboro, NC 27573 336-597-3134 [mailto:Pchs@esinc.net pchs@esinc.net]
 * Caswell County Historical Association
 * Piedmont Genealogical Society P. O. Box 2272 Danville, VA 24541

Websites

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