Warren County, North Carolina Genealogy

United States

North Carolina

Warren County

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

North Carolina Online Genealogy Records

County Facts County seat: Warrenton Organized: 1779 Parent County(s): Bute Neighboring Counties Brunswick (VA)  • Franklin  • Halifax  • Mecklenburg (VA)  • Nash  • Northampton  • Vance See County Maps Courthouse Location Map Adoption Adopt-a-wiki page This page adopted by: NCGenWeb Project who welcome you to contribute. Adopt a page today

County Information

Description

The county was named for Joseph Warren of Massachusetts, a physician and general in the American Revolutionary War who was killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill. It is located on the north central border of the state.

County Courthouse

Warren County Courthouse
109 S. Main Street
PO Box 709
Warrenton, NC 27589
Phone: 252-257-3261
Warren County Website

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.

Warren County, North Carolina Record Dates

Information for this chart was taken from various sources, often containing conflicting dates. This information should be taken as a guide and should be verified by contacting the county and/or the state government agency.

Known Beginning Dates for Major County Records
Birth*	Marriage	Death*	Court	Land	Probate	Census
1913	1764	1913	1968	1764	1764	1784
Statewide registration for births and deaths started in 1913. General compliance by 1920.

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 For suggestions about research in places that suffered historic record losses, see: Burned Counties. By Michael John Neill at 24-7 Family History Circle. When the Records are Gone. By Arlene Eakle at Arlene Eakle's Tennessee Blog. Burned Counties Research in the FamilySearch Research Wiki.

Boundary Changes

1779 Warren County was created from Bute County, which was abolished in 1779. County seat: Warrenton 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 & 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.

Populated Places

For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Towns
Macon	Norlina	Warrenton
Unincorporated communities
Afton Alert Arcola Axtell Bucks Springs Burchettte Chapel Bute Bridge Bute City Church Hill Cole Bridge Coley Spring Cool Springs Countyline Creek Creekside Crossroads Point Crowder Pond Drewry Eaton Ferry Elams Elbron Embro Enterprise Epworth Essex Fishing Creek Fiveforks Greenwood Village Grove Hill	Hawtree Hecksgrove Hollister Inez Jones Springs Judkins Kimball Point Kimballtown Lake Gaston Lake Gaston Esates Largo Lake Limertown Lirbera Littleton Lizard Creek Manson Marmaduke Nocava Nutbush Oakville Odell Oine Old Bethlehem Pancrea Springs Parktown Paschall Perry Hill Perrytown Polar Mountain	Providence Quick City Red hill Richardson Ridgeway River Roanoke Robertson Ferry Rocky Hill Rose Hill Russell Union Sandy Creek Schoco Seoul Shocco Creek Shocco Springs Six Pound Smith Creek Snow Hill Soul City Timbuktu Tradepost Crossroads Vaughan Vicksboro Warren Hills Warren Plains Wildwood Wise

History Timeline

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 Bute 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.

Resources

Cemeteries

Cemeteries of Warren County, North Carolina online and in print
Tombstone Transcriptions Online	Findagrave.com NCGenWeb NCGenWeb Archives Tombstone Project North Carolina Cemeteries Billion Graves
Tombstone Transcriptions in Print (Often more complete)	Family History Library WorldCat
List of Cemeteries in the County	Findagrave.com Billion Graves FamilySearch Places
See North Carolina Cemeteries for more information

 

• 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

Census Records

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1790	9,379	—
1800	11,284	20.3%
1810	11,004	−2.5%
1820	11,158	1.4%
1830	11,877	6.4%
1840	12,919	8.8%
1850	13,912	7.7%
1860	15,726	13.0%
1870	17,768	13.0%
1880	22,619	27.3%
1890	19,360	−14.4%
1900	19,151	−1.1%
1910	20,266	5.8%
1920	21,593	6.5%
1930	23,364	8.2%
1940	23,145	−0.9%
1950	23,539	1.7%
1960	19,652	−16.5%
1970	15,810	−19.6%
1980	16,232	2.7%
1990	17,265	6.4%
2000	19,972	15.7%
2010	20,972	5.0%
Source: "Wikipedia.org".

Church Records

• 1700-1970 - North Carolina, Church Records, 1700-1970 at FamilySearch — index

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.

List of Churches and Church Parishes

• FamilySearch Places
  

Ethnic, Political, and Religious Groups

African Americans

• 1867-1964 Warren County Colored Marriage Books A-Z Index 1867-1964 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch
• Warren County Marriage Bond, series II, Colored
• A number of Slavery and Free People of Color records for Warren County are on Warren County African American Page

Land and Property 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:

-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 and Gazetteers

NC Warren

• Historical Map of Granville-Bute-Warren-Franklin 1741-1930
• North Carolina Maps Collection: Warren County. (University of NC Digital Collection)
• North Carolina Map-1780
• Historic Maps Overlays. Selected historic maps over current day road maps or satellite images.
• FamilySearch Places:Cities and Towns- How to Use FS Places

Military Records

• Warren County Military Page (NCGenWeb)

Revolutionary War

• 1779-1782 North Carolina Revolutionary Pay Vouchers 1779-1782 at FamilySearch

Civil War

• 1861-1865 North Carolina, Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865 at FamilySearch
• 1861-1865 North Carolina, Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers, 1861-1865 at FamilySearch
• 1861-1865 U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry
• 1861-1865 U.S., Union Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry
• 1885-1953 North Carolina, Confederate Soldiers and Widows Pension Applications, 1885-1953 at FamilySearch

Regiments. Men in Warren County 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 Warren County:

- 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

- 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 North Carolina, World War I Service Cards, 1917-1919 at FamilySearch

World War II

• 1940-1948 North Carolina, Discharge and Statement of Service Records, 1940-1948 at FamilySearch

Newspapers

• 1825-1898 Marriages from Raleigh Newspapers 1825-1889
• The Warren Record
• Henderson Daily Dispatch
• Deaths from Newspapers-Pt.1
• Deaths from Newspapers-Pt.2

Probate Records

Online Probate Records

• 1660-1790 North Carolina Will Abstracts 1660-1790 at Ancestry $
• 1663-1979 North Carolina Estate Files 1663-1979 at FamilySearch
• 1665-1998 North Carolina Wills and Probate Records 1665-1998 at Ancestry $
• 1735-1970 North Carolina Probate Records 1735-1970 at FamilySearch
• 1760-1800 North Carolina Will Abstracts 1760-1800 at Ancestry $
• 1764-1964 Will Books 1 to 58 (1764-1964) at FamilySearch
• 1789-1798 Indexes to Deeds 1789-1791; 1791-1794; 1794-1796; 1796-1798 North Carolina Pioneers $
• 1804-1810 Indexes to Deeds 1804-1809; 1807-1810 North Carolina Pioneers $
• Pre-1790 Pre-1790 Warren County, North Carolina Genealogy Wills (North Carolina State Archives)

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
Phone: 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.

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 & 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 & 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, NC 27699-4614

Physical address:
109 E. Jones St.
Raleigh, NC 27601
Phone: 919-807-7310

A number of Wills & 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 at FamilySearch

Social Security Records

• 1935-2014 United States Social Security Death Index at FamilySearch - How to use this collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
• 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry ($) — index, click here for more information.

Tax Records

• 1766 Tax Lists, Bute County, 1766 (index) in NC Taxpayers vol. 2 at Ancestry $
• 1771 Tax Lists, Bute County, 1771 (index) in NC Taxpayers at Ancestry $
• 1771 Tax Lists, Bute County, 1771 (images) at FamilySearch
• 1771 Tax Lists, Warren County, 1771 (index) in NC Taxpayers at Ancestry $
• 1777-1778 List of Taxables, 1777-1778 (images) at FamilySearch
• 1779 Tax Lists, Warren County, 1779 (index) in NC Taxpayers at Ancestry $
• 1779 Tax Lists, Warren County, 1779 (images) at North Carolina Digital Collections
• 1779-1808 Tax List, 1779-1808 (images) at FamilySearch
• 1784 Tax Lists, Warren County, 1784 (index) in NC Taxpayers at Ancestry $
• 1784 Tax Lists, Warren County, 1784 (images) at North Carolina Digital Collections
• 1795 Tax Lists, Warrenton (Warren County), 1795 (images) at North Carolina Digital Collections
• 1811 1811 Tax List (transcript) at NCGenWeb
• 1814 1814 Tax List (transcript) at NCGenWeb
• 1815 Tax Lists, Warren County, 1815 (images) at North Carolina Digital Collections
• 1840 1840 Sandy Creek Tax List (transcript) 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 & Death Records beginning 1914
  Marriages since 1867
• Warren County-Vital Records

Online Records

• 1800-2000 - North Carolina, Department of Archives and History, Index to Vital Records, 1800-2000 at FamilySearch — index and images

Birth

• 1779-1868 Bastardy Bonds for Warren County 1779-1868 (NCGenWeb)
• 1800-2000 North Carolina Birth Index 1800-2000 at FamilySearch
• 1866-1964 North Carolina Births and Christenings 1866-1964 at FamilySearch
• 1913-1922 North Carolina, Center for Health Statistics, Vital Records Unit, County Birth Records, 1913-1922 at FamilySearch — index and images
• Birth Records from WWI Draft Registrations (NCGenWeb)

Marriage

• 1741-2004 North Carolina, United States Marriages at FindMyPast
• 1741-2004 North Carolina Marriage Index 1741-2004 at Ancestry $
• 1759-1979 North Carolina Marriages 1759-1979 at FamilySearch
• 1762-1979 North Carolina, County Marriages, 1762-1979 at FamilySearch
• 1763-1868 North Carolina, Civil Marriages, 1763-1868 at FamilySearch
• 1779-1868 Marriage Bonds, 1779-1868
• 1861-1934 Warren County Marriage Index 1861-1934 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch
• 1865-1900 Warren County Marriages 1865-1900
• 1867-1964 Warren County Colored Marriage Books A-Z Index 1867-1964 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch
• Warren County Marriage Bond, series II, Colored

Death

• 1898-1994 North Carolina Deaths and Burials, 1898-1994 at FamilySearch
• 1906-1930 North Carolina Deaths 1906-1930 at FamilySearch
• 1908-2004 North Carolina Death Indexes 1908-2004 at Ancestry $
• 1909-1975 North Carolina Death Certificates 1909-1975 at Ancestry $
• 1931-1994 North Carolina Deaths 1931-1994 at FamilySearch

Divorce

• 1926-1975 North Carolina, County Divorce Records, 1926-1975 at FamilySearch
• 1958-2004 North Carolina Divorce Index 1958-2004 at Ancestry $

Research Facilities

Family History Centers

Family History Centers provide one-on-one assistance, free access to center-only databases, and to premium genealogical websites.
FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries have access to most center-only databases, but may not always have full services normally provided by a family history center.

• Family History Center and Affiliate Library Locator

Local Centers and Libraries

• Introduction to Family History Centers

Societies

• 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
  Website

Websites

• 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
• FamilySearch Catalog – The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records.