Guide to Stanly Co. Genealogical Research
Table of Contents
1) Guidelines for sending lookup requests 2) Basic Research 3) African-American Research 4) Native American Research 5) A Quick Guide to Stanly Co. Records 5.1) Birth and death records 5.2) Marriage records 5.3) Will and Estate Records 5.4) Cemetery Records 5.5) Deeds 5.6) Tax Lists 5.7) Censuses 5.8) Illegitimacy 5.9) Church Records 5.10) Divorce 5.11) Civil War Records 5.12) Newspapers 5.13) Neighboring Counties 5.14) Montgomery Co. (parent county of Stanly Co.) 6) Good Genealogy Books 7) Suggestions for reading about North Carolina or southern social history
1) Guidelines for sending lookup requests
If you live in Stanly Co., please do not ask me for lookups. The Stanly Co. library has a genealogy room that can be used for research. When requesting a lookup, please send me as much information as possible about what you already know, so that I don't waste time redoing your research. Lookups are a way of getting people started in Stanly Co. genealogy. I will not do a lookup for a person I know has been doing Stanly Co. genealogy for several years, but who has still not bought the available publications from the Stanly Co. Genealogical Society. Exceptions are for books that are no longer available from the Stanly Co. Genealogical Society, such as the 1800-1840 Montgomery Co. censuses and Abandoned Cemeteries of Stanly County.
Example of a bad query:
"I am looking for information on my great-grandfather John Smith. He was married to Mary. His son was Thomas. Can you help me?"
The major problem with this query is that there are no dates listed for any of the individuals. Even if you do not know the exact date, try to include an approximate date.
Example of a good query:
"I am looking for the parents of my great-grandfather, John Brown. He was born around 1879. He married Mary Smith around 1901. Could you check the marriage records for John and Mary's marriage?"
2) Basic Research
First, It is important to find out as much as possible from your family. Ask your relatives about when and where people were born, died, and married. Family stories are useful, but can often contain incorrect information and need to be verified. Reading a beginning genealogy book before you start your research, could make your search better organized and more successful (see list of recommended books at end of this page). You should start with yourself and then proceed backwards, making links between parents and child, using a variety of records. Make sure to note down your sources of information. It is important to prove each relationship before going backwards so not to be climbing the wrong family tree.
Try to obtain vital records using any dates provided. Death certificates are important, since there are no pre-1913 birth certificates in Stanly Co. Census records are also important. You should start with the 1920 census (the most recent available) and find any ancestors who would have been alive and thus on that census and continue working backwards. When you find a new ancestor, you should also trace him or her forward on the census. Example: You find a marriage record that listed the parents of William Smith (b. ca 1860) as Thomas and Mary Smith. You should check census records for Thomas and Mary Smith both before 1860 and from 1860 on, even if William is no longer living in their household.
If you are tracing an ancestor who died before 1913 and thus would have no death certificate, you should try to trace siblings to see if they died after 1913, leaving a death certificate. Death certificates usually listed the deceased individual's parents. However, death certificates can be wrong, especially if the person filling out the death certificate was not a close family member. Death certificates should be verified with more research.
Once you have a death date on an individual, you should try to obtain a probate record for that person. Usually most people who had property left either a will or an estate record. Other records that contain information about family relationships are deeds, which usually involve land or slaves. Estate and wills can be ordered from the North Carolina Archives. See section on estate records for more information.
If you have many Stanly Co. ancestors, I encourage you to join the Stanly Co. Genealogical Society. Membership is only seven dollars and members receive a journal four times a year. One benefit of joining the society is that they publish a list of members each year in the last issue that includes the surnames that an individual is researching. Since the majority of Stanly Co. researchers are not online, this is a way of making contact with often more experienced researchers, who might have some information on your family. The Internet Often people on mailing lists and query boards are beginning researchers with poor research skills (or no research skills) and who often pass on incorrect information (see section on Native American research). I frequently see incorrect information on Stanly Co. families on mailing lists and query boards. Unless someone has documented evidence, you should consider their statements as possibly unreliable and needing to be verified.
3) African-American Research
The majority of African Americans in Stanly Co. before the end of the Civil War were slaves. There were 49 free people of color on the 1850 Stanly Co. census and 45 on the 1860 Stanly Co. census. In 1850, there were 1,436 enslaved African-Americans in Stanly Co., comprising about 21 percent of the total Stanly Co. population. In 1860, there were 1169 slaves, comprising about 15 percent of the total population. Based on an examination of the 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880 censuses, the majority of African Americans after the Civil War, have the same surnames as the major slaveholding families in Stanly Co.
Thus in researching an African-American ancestor before 1865, you might first focus on the records of white families with the same surname as your formerly enslaved ancestor. Important records that might have listed your enslaved ancestor would be deeds, wills, and estate records. The 1850 and 1860 Stanly Co. censuses do not list slaves by name; instead slaves were listed under their owners' name by only age, gender, and color (black or mulatto).
Unfortunately, Stanly Co. Marriages 1851-1904, do not include the majority of black Stanly Co. marriages from that time period. Black marriages were separate from white marriages and were not abstracted by the Stanly Co. Genealogical Society. Records of black marriages are on four separate microfilms at the NC Archives.
I have checked Somebody Knows My Name, a book about Freedman marriages in North Carolina, but there are no records remaining for Stanly Co. There are a few black marriages in the abstracted Stanly Co. marriage records.
There is a box of Stanly Co. records concerning slaves and free people of color at the NC Archives. Most of these records involve crime, such as interracial gambling or sexual relationships, like the prosecution of a free African-American woman for having a relationship with a slave man or a slave man being prosecuted because of his relationship with a married white woman.
The following is an interesting article about former slave women and their children in NC: Reconstructing 'Free Woman': African-American Women, Apprenticeship, and Custody Rights during Reconstruction.
4) Native American Research
Stories of Indian ancestry are extremely common among Southerners. For more information, see: Facts and Myths about Indians in Stanly Co..
5) A Quick Guide to Stanly Co. Records
5.1) Birth and death records
North Carolina started recording births and deaths in 1913. Vital records can be ordered from the Stanly Co. Register of Deeds. Here is a website that can help with vital records: http://hermes.sches.ehnr.state.nc.us/SCHS/certificates/
5.2) Marriage records
There are no existing Stanly Co. marriage records before 1851. Marriage records between 1851 and 1867 contain the name of bride, groom, date of marriage, and minister. After 1867, Stanly Co. marriages list the parents of both bride and groom. Marriage records of whites have been abstracted to 1904. After 1904, marriage records can be ordered from the Stanly Co. courthouse, the NC Archives, or can be borrowed from a Family History Center.
5.3) Will and Estate Records
Wills and Estates can be vital in proving a connection between a parent and child. There is a index to pre-1900 North Carolina wills. The index is of all persons who left a will before 1900 and includes the date and county in which a will was probated as well as the page number of the will. Stanly Co. Will Book II (1868-1910) has been abstracted and is available online.
For estate records, there is an online Index to Estate Records of Stanly County. These records can be obtained from the NC Archives. There is a search fee for people who are not residents of North Carolina and there is a charge for making copies. Their webpage is: http://www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/sections/archives/arch/default.htm
5.4) Cemetery Records
There is an 1939 Historical Records Survey of all pre-1914 graves in Stanly Co. The NC Archives has a card index to the entire Historical Records Survey. There are also three books of Stanly Co. cemetery transcriptions. Abandoned Cemetery of Stanly Co. (published by SCGS and no longer in print) and Cemetery Records of Stanly Co. volumes 1 & 2. See the USGenWeb Archives for abstracted cemetery records and the Stanly Co. USGenWeb page.
5.5) Deeds
Deeds involve transfer of land or other forms of property, such as slaves. There is an index to Stanly Co. deeds on thirteen rolls (grantee/grantor) of microfilm and there are 89 microfilm rolls of deeds (1841-1955). These microfilm rolls can be borrowed at a Mormon Family History Center or purchased from the NC Archives. Like wills and estate records, deeds can be used to prove relationships.
5.6) Tax Lists
There are tax lists available for Stanly Co. between 1841 and 1869 on microfilm. If you are trying to pinpoint when an individual might have died or left the area, you should check these records. You can buy the microfilm of the tax records from the NC Archives or borrow it at a Mormon FHC. The Stanly Co. Genealogical Society has also published the 1889 Stanly Co. Tax List as a substitute for the destroyed 1890 census.
5.7) Censuses
The Stanly Co. Genealogical Society has published the 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880 Stanly Co. censuses, which are available for purchase. The 1850 Stanly Co. census has been abstracted and placed on-line in the USGenWeb Archives.
5.8) Illegitimacy
Bastardy was common in Stanly Co. If your ancestor's marriage record does not include a father's name or if there were two different surnames listed for the person's mother and father and the child bears the mother's surname, then that person might have been illegitimate. If your ancestor was listed in a female headed household over several censuses with the mother having several children but no husband ever listed, then your ancestor might be illegitimate. If you suspect that your ancestor was illegitimate, there is an incomplete set of Stanly Co. bastardy bonds at the NC Archives. Also bastardy bonds were recorded in the court minutes. Contact me for more information on illegitimate Stanly Co. children. I have some of the bastardy records copied.
5.9) Church Records
There are a few church records available on microfilm. Minutes of Pleasant Grove Baptist Church, 1853-1874 has been microfilmed by the Family History Library and can be ordered from an FHC. Bethel Lutheran Church has baptism records from 1817-1883 and New Bethel Lutheran Church has baptism records from 1837-1912. These records are abstracted in Tombstone Records of Stanly Co., volume 1. These records are also available on microfilm from the FHL.
5.10) Divorce
There are two boxes of Stanly Co. divorces records at the NC Archives. These are mainly records from the 1870s, 1880s, 1890s, and early 1900s. Earlier divorces can be found in Stanly Co. court minutes. I do not know how common divorce was in Stanly Co. before 1870s. Divorces were usually granted for sexual misconduct, such as adultery, a man marrying a woman already pregnant by another man, desertion, or abuse. Two Stanly Co. pre-Civil War divorces involve the wife's illicit relationship with a black man (one a slave, the other a free man of color). I have some of these divorce records copied, so contact me if you suspect your ancestors were divorced. I have abstracted a few divorce records, which can be seen at: http://www.eskimo.com/~lcsims/divorces.html.
5.11) Civil War Records
There is a list of Stanly Co. Civil War soldiers that was printed in the Stanly Co. Genealogical Journal. There is a series of volumes on NC Civil War that can be found at many libraries. Soldiers listed by regiment with usually a paragraph of text on each soldier (place of enlistment, wounds, etc). North Carolina had the highest desertion rate of any state with about 25 percent of soldiers deserting, usually to return home to help their families. Several Stanly Co. soldiers were shot for desertion. Also many Stanly Co. soldiers refused to re-enlist and were consequently assigned to prison guard duty.
5.12) Newspapers
Stanly Co. did not have any local newspaper for most of the 19th century. Some newspapers are available on microfilm for purchase. See the newspaper project at the NC Archives at: http://www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/sections/archives/arch/news.htm.
5.13) Neighboring Counties
If you cannot find your Stanly Co. ancestor marrying in Stanly Co. or listed in Stanly Co. for a given census year, you should check the surrounding counties. Many Stanly Countians married or moved across county lines. For example, there seem to be more Stanly Countians in Cabarrus Co. records than in Montgomery Co. records, possibly because there is a river between Stanly and Montgomery Counties, which probably was more of a barrier. So take into account geographical features, such as rivers. Often if a bride and groom were from different counties, they married in the bride's county of residence.
5.14) Montgomery Co. (parent county of Stanly Co.)
Stanly Co. was formed from Montgomery Co. in 1841. This presents a problem for Stanly Co. researchers since many of Montgomery Co. records were destroyed in a courthouse fire in 1835. Montgomery Co. was created from Anson Co. in 1779 and so between 1779 to 1835, there are many missing records. There is also a gap in the Montgomery Co. census records, since the 1820 Montgomery Co. census no longer exists. There are some land and deed records available:
Jackson, Vivian Poe and Marilyn Poe Laird. Montgomery County, North Carolina: the Earliest Extant Deeds 1774-1842. Pope Publishers, 1987?
Pruitt, A. B. Abstracts of land entries: Montgomery County, North Carolina Land Entries, 1778-1795, 1988.
The Stanly Co. Genealogical Society has also abstracted the 1800, 1810, 1830, 1840 Montgomery Co. censuses.
6) Good Genealogy Books
(Many of these books, especially Croom's, can be found used at many used book sites, such as half.com, for a discounted price)
Cerny, Johni and Arlene Eakle. Ancestry's Guide to Research: Case Studies in American Genealogy. Ancestry, 1985.
Croom, Emily. Unpuzzling your Past. (Croom has three other books that are also useful.)
Greenwood, Val. The Researcher's Guide to American Genealogy. Genealogical Publishing Co., 2000 (3rd edition).
Woodtor, Dee Parmer. Finding a Place Called Home: A Guide to African-American Genealogy and Historical Identity. Random House, 1999.
The following is a book that tells you what records are available for each county in North Carolina:
Guide to Research Materials in the North Carolina State Archives: County Records. Department of Cultural Resources, Division of Archives and History, Archives and Records Section, Raleigh, 1997.
A more advanced and specialized book for North Carolina is:
Leary, Helen. North Carolina Research: Genealogy and Local History. North Carolina Genealogical Society, 1996.
7) Suggestions for reading about North Carolina or southern social history
Often it is interesting to learn about the social and political history of your ancestors' world. The following is a list of books that I have found useful.
Bolton, Charles C. Poor Whites of the Antebellum South: Tenants and Laborers in Central North Carolina and Northeast Mississippi. Duke University Press, 1994.
Bynum, Victoria. Unruly Women: The Politics of Social & Sexual Control in the Old South. The University of North Carolina Press, 1992.
Cecil-Fronsman, William. Common Whites: Class and Culture in Antebellum NorthCarolina. University Press of Kentucky, 1992.
Crofts, Daniel W. Reluctant Confederates: Upper South Unionists in theSecession Crisis. University of North Carolina Press, c1989.
Foner, Eric. Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877. Harper & Row, 1988.
Genovese, Euguene. Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made. Vintage Books, 1972.
Gutman, Herbert. The Black Family in Slavery and Freedom, 1750-1925. Pantheon Books, c1976.
Hahn, Steven. The Roots of Southern Populism: Yeomen Farmers and the Transformation of the Georgia Upcountry, 1850-1890. Oxford University Press, 1983.
Hall, Jacquelyn Dowd and et al. Like a Family: The Making of a Southern Cotton Mill World. W. W. Norton & Co., 1987.
McCurry, Stephanie. Masters of Small Worlds: Yeoman Households, Gender Relations, & the Political Culture of the Antebellum South Carolina Low County. Oxford University Press, 1995.
Merrell, James. The Indians' New World: Catawbas and their Neighbors from European Contact through the Era of Removal. Published for the Institute of Early American History and Culture, Williamsburg, VA., by the University of North Carolina Press, c1989.