Anson County was named in
honor of British Admiral Lord George Anson, a First Lord of the Admiralty.
He commanded the vessel which brought Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Germany, to her future husband King George III. Germans to the area around
Anson County, as did many settlers from the British Isles, Africa, and
Moravia. In 1750 Anson County was formed from Bladen County. At that time,
it reached all the way to the Mississippi River. Although it has been cut in
physical size five times since then, the people of that county have enabled
its presence to reach beyond the Mississippi to the far corners of the
world.
The following counties were
once part of Anson County:
Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe,
Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Cabarrus, Caldwell, Catawba, Cherokee, Clay,
Cleveland, Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Gaston, Graham, Guilford, Haywood,
Henderson, Iredell, Jackson, Lincoln, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mecklenburg,
Mitchell, Montgomery, Polk, Randolph, Richmond, Rockingham, Rowan,
Rutherford, Scotland, Stanly, Stokes, Surry, Swain, Transylvania, Tryon,
Union, Watauga, Wilkes, Yadkin, and Yancey.
From New and Complete
Gazetteer of the United States, Thomas J. Baldwin and J. Thomas, M.D.,
Lippincott, Grambo & Co., Philadelphia, PA, 1854 (page 46):
ANSON - A county in the S.
part of North Carolina, bordering on South Carolina, has an area of 650
square miles. Rocky River forms its entire boundary on the N., and the
Yadkin or Pedee on the E. It is also drained by Brown's and Lane's
creeks. The surface is undulating or hilly; the soil is mostly
fertile. C otton is the staple product: Indian corn is also cultivated.
In 1850 this county produced 389,828 bushels of corn; 35,796 of wheat;
95,113 of sweet potatoes, and 10,864 bales of cotton. The quantity of
cotton was the greatest produced by any county in the state except Surry.
It contained 26 churches and 2 newspaper establishments. There were 11
corn and flour mills, 9 saw mills, and 2 tanneries. Granite underlies
a portion of the county. The forests contain the white oak and other
hard timber. The Yadkin furnishes motive-power for several cotton
factories in this county. It is intersected by a plank-road leading to
Cheraw, South Carolina. Capital, Wadesborough. Formed in 1749,
and named in honour of Admiral Anson, the famous navigator.
Population, 13,489, of whom 6657 were free, and 6832 slaves.
Also, see the history
articles in the Archives for Anson, including the 1868 fire that burned the
Courthouse:
Anson
County, NC Archives
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