Gaston County, North Carolina Genealogy
Guide to Gaston County, North Carolina ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.
| Gaston County, North Carolina | |||||||||
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 Location in the state of North Carolina | |||||||||
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| Founded | December 21, 1846 | ||||||||
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| County Seat | Gastonia | ||||||||
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Contents
County Courthouse
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Gaston County Courthouse
325 N Marietta St
Box 1578
Gastonia, NC 28053
Phone: 704-868-7684
Register of Deeds has birth, marriage and death records from 1913
Land records from 1847
Clerk Superior Court has divorce and court records[1]
Register of Deeds
PO Box 1578
Gastonia, NC 28021
Telephone: 704-862-7680
Fax: 704-862-7519
Website
Clerk of Superior Court
325 N Marietta St #1004
Gastonia, NC 28052
Telephone: (704) 852-3100
History
The earliest European settlers of Gaston County were principally Scots Irish, Pennsylvania Dutch, and English. In the 1750s, Dutch settler James Kuykendall and others constructed the Fort at the Point at the junction of the Catawba and South Fork Rivers. The fort was built because of ongoing hostilities with the Cherokee, but it was apparently never attacked. Tensions between the settlers and the Native American inhabitants (primarily of the Catawba tribe) were eased considerably when the boundary dispute between North Carolina and South Carolina was settled in 1772, after which most of the Catawba settled on a reservation near Fort Mill, South Carolina.
Most early farms were small, cultivated primarily by White yeoman farmers of English ancestry. North Carolina's colonial policy restricted the size of land grants, and in Gaston County they tended to be about 400 acres (1.6 km2) each. One of the earliest grants in the area was given to Captain Samuel Cobrin, commander of a local militia company, on September 29, 1750.
Between 1845 and 1848, Gaston County experienced an industrial boom. During this three-year period, the first three cotton mills in the County were established. Some authorities[who?] say that the first one was established by Thomas R. Tate on Mountain Island, near the present site of Duke Energy's Mountain Island Dam and Hydroelectric Station. Other sources say that the first mill was established by the Linebergers and others on the South Fork River near McAdenville. Most sources agree that among the first three mills in operation in the County was the Stowesville Mill, founded by Jasper Stowe and Associates in the South Point Community south of Belmont. Gaston County still leads all other counties in the country both in the number of spindles in operation and in the number of bales of cotton consumed.
(Source: Wikipedia)
Parent County
1846--Gaston County was created 21 December 1846 from Lincoln County.
County seat: Gastonia [2]
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
1874--Courthouse fire destroyed many court records.
Places/Localities
Populated Places
Neighboring Counties
Resources
Cemeteries
| Tombstone Transcriptions Online | Tombstone Transcriptions in Print | List of Cemeteries in the county |
| Findagrave.com | Family History Library | Findagrave.com |
| NCGenWeb | WorldCat | Billion Graves |
| NCGenWeb Archives | ||
| Tombstone Project | ||
| North Carolina Cemeteries | ||
| Billion Graves | ||
| See North Carolina Cemeteries for more information. | ||
Census
For tips on accessing Gaston County, North Carolina Genealogy census records online, see: North Carolina Census.
Church
Court
Land
- The Bureau of Land Management General Land Office web site has searchable land records for North Carolina.
Local Histories
Maps
Migration
Early migration routes to and from Gaston County for European settlers included:[3]
- Occaneechi Path pre-historic
- Lower Cherokee Traders' Path pre-historic
- Catawba and Northern Trail pre-historic
- Fall Line Road about 1735 (overlapped Occaneechi Path)
- Great Valley Road (south fork) 1740s (overlapped Occaneechi Path)
- Upper Road about 1783 (overlapped Lower Cherokee Traders' Path)
Military
Revolutionary War
- 1779 - 1782 - North Carolina Revolutionary Pay Vouchers 1779-1782 at FamilySearch — index and images
Civil War
Online Records
- 1861 - 1865 - North Carolina, Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865 at FamilySearch.org — index and images
- 1861 - 1865 - North Carolina, Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers, 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 - North Carolina, Confederate Soldiers and Widows Pension Applications, 1885-1953 at FamilySearch — index and images
Regiments. Service men in Gaston County, North Carolina Genealogy served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are companies that were specifically formed in Gaston County, North Carolina Genealogy:
- - 11th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry
- - 11th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry, Company A
- - 11th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry, Company I
- - 16th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry, Company M
- - 1st Regiment, North Carolina Detailed Men, Company B
- - 2nd Regiment, North Carolina Junior Reserves, Company C
- - 4th Regiment, North Carolina Senior Reserves, Company E
- - 5th Regiment, North Carolina Senior Reserves, Company E
World War I
- 1917 - 1919 - North Carolina, World War I Service Cards, 1917-1919 at FamilySearch — index and images
World War II
- 1940 - 1948 - North Carolina, Discharge and Statement of Service Records, 1940-1948 at FamilySearch — index and images
Newspapers
Probate
Online Probate Records
- 1660 - 1790 - North Carolina Will Abstracts 1660-1790 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
- 1663 - 1979 - North Carolina Estate Files, 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 - North Carolina Probate Records 1735-1970 at FamilySearch.org — images
- 1760 - 1800 - North Carolina Will Abstracts 1760-1800 at Ancestry.com — index and images
- 1849 - 1964 - NC County Records: Gaston County includes indexed images of Estates 1839-1970 and Guardianships 1849-1964
- Images of Wills and Estates 1847-67; 1869-98; 1898-1916 North Carolina Pioneers ($)
Schools
- Sacred Heart College - founded in 1892 by the order of the Roman Catholic Sisters of Mercy. Closed in 1987.
- Gaston County College Students - a name list of students at various NC colleges with identified hometowns in the county.
Taxation
Vital Records
Birth
- 1800 - 2000 - North Carolina Birth Index 1800-2000 at FamilySearch.org — index
- 1866 - 1964 - North Carolina Births and Christenings 1866-1964 at FamilySearch.org — index
Marriages
- 1741 - 2004 - North Carolina, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
- 1848 - 1929 - Gaston County Marriage Index 1848-1929 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free.
- 1741 - 2004 - North Carolina Marriage Index 1741-2004 at Ancestry.com — index $
- 1759 - 1979 - North Carolina Marriages 1759-1979 at FamilySearch.org — index
- 1762 - 1979 - North Carolina, County Marriages, 1762-1979 at FamilySearch — index and images
- 1763 - 1868 - North Carolina, Civil Marriages, 1763-1868 at FamilySearch — index and images
Divorce
- 1926 - 1975 - North Carolina, County Divorce Records, 1926-1975 at FamilySearch — index and images
- 1958 - 2004 - North Carolina Divorce Index 1958-2004 at Ancestry.com — index $
Deaths
- 1910 - 1956 - Gaston County Death Index 1910-1956 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free.[4]
- 1898 - 1994 - North Carolina Deaths and Burials, 1898-1994 at FamilySearch.org — index
- 1906 - 1930 - North Carolina Deaths 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 - North Carolina Deaths 1931-1994 at FamilySearch.org — index
Societies and Libraries
Gaston-Lincoln Genealogical Society
PO Box 584
Mt. Holly, NC 28120
Website
Family History Centers
Family history centers provide one-on-one assistance and free access to premium genealogical websites. In addition, many centers have free how-to genealogy classes. See family history center for more information. Search the online FHC directory for a nearby family history center.
Websites
- Gaston County, NC History, Records, Facts and Genealogy (Genealogy Inc)
- Gaston County, NCGenWeb - free genealogy resources; part of the national USGenWeb project.
- FamilySearch Catalog
References
- ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Gaston County, North Carolina. Page 509 At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 2002.
- ↑ The Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America,10th ed. (Draper, UT:Everton Publishers, 2002).
- ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), 847-61. (FHL Book 973 D27e 2002) WorldCat entry., and William E. Myer, Indian Trails of the Southeast. (Nashville, Tenn.: Blue and Gray Press, 1971), 12-14, and the book's pocket map "The Trail System of the Southeastern United States in the Early Colonial Period" (1923). (FHL Book 970.1 M992i) WorldCat entry.
- ↑ Genealogical Society of Utah, Parish and Vital Records List (July 1998). Microfiche. Digital version at https://www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/images/9/91/Iginorthcarolinag.pdf.
