Edgecombe County, North Carolina Vital Records, 1720-1880
Description (from source site)
This database is abstracted from a book published by the Tarboro Historical Society in 1881 (with an addendum in 1920), called Early Families of Edgecombe County, North Carolina, Its Past and Present. The book is divided into two sections: the first is a general history of Edgecombe County, and the second is a biography of about 2,000 families in the area. It is a valuable and scarce resource for genealogists studying the region and its families, and it is invaluable for filling in the blanks in state and federal records. Because of its narrative nature, the book often answers questions not addressed in census and state records. It is an excellent supplement to more traditional, available records.
The book covers approximately 280 years and roughly five or six generations. There were a relatively small number of families at any one time, and even fewer names. There are, for example, a LOT of Mary Barneses and John Ruffinses. In such cases, even the most insignificant bit of information is important in tracking a particular individual. Case in point: There are six Samuel Moores all living at the same time; they are differentiated only by the names of theirs mothers (two of them have a John Moore for a father): Mary, Margaret, Nancy, Harriet, Sarah, and Jinsey.
Edgecombe County, North Carolina was formed in 1741 from Bertie County. The county seat is Tarboro. Parts of Edgecombe were later divided into Nash, Halifax, Wilson, and Martin counties, and thus are valuable to researchers of those areas. Edgecombe was an established, relatively affluent county, and many of it residents later moved west and south, particularly to Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, and Florida. Because of its relative prosperity, people traveled frequently and often owned property in several counties or even states.
Sources Herrin, Cynthia, comp. Edgecombe County, North Carolina, Vital Records, 1720 - 1880. [database online] Provo, UT: Ancestry.com, 2000-. Original data: Early Families of Edgecombe County, North Carolina, Its Past and Present. NC: The Tarboro Society for Genealogy and Biography, 1881 (with an appendix added in 1920). "Compiled by the Ladies' Tarboro, NC Genealogy and Library Association for the Preservation, Dissemination and Exultation of the History of Edgecombe Co., NC."
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