Skip to Main Content

Researching Southeast North Carolina History

This guide explains how to research local history at UNC Wilmington's Center for Southeast North Carolina Archives and History. The guide includes both collections and digitized content available onsite at the Center as well as materials accessible freely

Census Records

Census records capture data about people and families in the United States, usually including age, race, occupation, literacy, and other demographic information for the members in each household. A census has been taken in the United States every 10 years since 1790. The data was gathered by household and organized by enumeration district, so in addition to capturing personal information, census records can be valuable tools for studying the demographics of various neighborhoods and towns.

Census records for individuals and households are accessible online for each decade from 1790 to 1950. Census data from 1960 to 2020 is closed for 72 years from the date of creation. However, demographic information and statistics for 2010-2020 and scattered information from the 2000 census can be accessed online via data.census.gov.

To search census records, use one of the following links.

Other Genealogical Records

Birth, marriage, and death records

Birth and death certificates were not issued in the state of North Carolina until 1913 and 1909 respectively, and these records are usually accessible via the county Register of Deeds office or at the State Archives of North Carolina. Additionally, birth, marriage, and death records can be searched using the FamilySearch and Ancestry websites linked above. Pre-1913 birth indexes and early marriage records are included in these databases.

School records

If you know where your ancestors attended school, you may be able to locate some school records for them. Grades and registration information are protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) while a person is still living. If your ancestor attended college, you will find that most college libraries maintain archival collections of yearbooks, student newspapers, and course catalogs. Most local libraries keep copies of high school yearbooks. You can also access college and high school yearbooks for many North Carolina schools online via the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center.

Military records

Military records from the American Revolution through World War II can be searched via FamilySearch (see link in above section). Post-WWII records are protected for living individuals. However, you can search records for casualties and POWs for more recent wars at https://www.militaryindexes.com/. The National Archives is the primary repository for all military records in this country, regardless of a servicemember's branch of service, time period served, or state of residence. The National Archives website includes a guide to military records research organized by branch, war or conflict, and topic. You may also find their Guide to Genealogy Research in Military Records useful.

Wills and Probate Records

Wills and probate records are created for individuals upon their death. Historical wills and probate records can be extremely valuable for genealogy research, because they contain information such as family relationships, property references, and references to enslaved people. North Carolina wills and probate records from the 1660s through the late 20th century can be searched online via HeritageQuest or FamilySearch.

Obituaries and Gravesites

Obituaries and cemetery records are good for establishing basic biographical data and familial relationships when researching a family tree. Findagrave.com is a free database of cemetery records that includes family relationships, photographs, and obituaries for the deceased when known. Obituaries are published in local newspapers, and these may be accessible online without a newspaper subscription depending on the policies of the particular newspaper and when the person in question died. You can also search historical newspaper databases for obituaries. See the Local Newspapers section of this guide for more information.

Researching Enslaved People and Freedpeople

This collection contains registers of depositors and other records for customers of the U.S. Freedman's Bank, which was incorporated in 1865 by an act signed by President Abraham Lincoln to create an institution where former enslaved people and their dependents could deposit and save their money. The collection includes records for two branches of the Freedman's Bank in southeast North Carolina:

Researching Indigenous Ancestry

Immigration Records