The following resources may be useful for you as you research your Washington County ancestors:
Archives
Bibles
- Bible records from the county – see a list
Biographies
- Armistead, William Anthony (1809-1856)
- Daly, Augustin (1838-1899) – playwright
- Davenport, William Stanley – (1859-1924)
- Fagan, Wiliam Long – (1839-1914)
- Halsey, Benjamin Foster – (1863-1928)
- Riddick, Diamond Matthew – (1873 – ?)
Births
- North Carolina Births and Christenings, 1866-1964
- Search for births in the Roanoke Beacon Newspaper Index – choose “birth” under the Content Type field
Cemeteries
- Haskett, Veronica Jones. Washington County, North Carolina Cemeteries, 1769-1997. Plymouth, N.C.: V. Haskett, 2001 – a 4 volume set of cemetery listings in the county. [Find in a Library]
- Redford, Dorothy Spruill. As Long As You Call My Name, I Live: Somerset Place Slave Burial Register, 1785-1865. [Somerset Place, N.C.]: Somerset Place Foundation, Inc, 2001. – located at the NC State Library
- Washington County burials listed on FindAGrave.com
- Washington County burials recorded in the late 1930′s
- Individual cemetery listings – a few individual listings
Census
- 1800 Washington Co. Census - transcribed by Charles Barnum, formatted by Gordon Basnight
- 1810 Washington Co. Census - transcribed by Charles Barnum, formatted by Gordon Basnight
- 1820 Washington Co. Census - transcribed by Charles Barnum, formatted by Gordon Basnight
- 1830 Washington Co. Census
- 1840 Washington Co. Census
- 1850 Washington Co. Census
- 1850 Census (Mortality Schedule) - search the index for free at FamilySearch.org
- 1850 Census (Slave Schedule) - search the index for free at FamilySearch.org
- 1860 Washington Co. Census
- 1870 Census - search the index for free at FamilySearch.org
- 1880 Washington Co. Census
- 1900 Census - search the index for free at FamilySearch.org
- 1910 Census - search the index for free at FamilySearch.org
- 1920 Census - search the index for free at FamilySearch.org
- 1930 Census – search the index for free at FamilySearch.org
- 1940 Census
- search for free – at FamilySearch.org
- search for free at Ancestry.com (free until the end of 2013)
Churches
- Concord Primitive Baptist Church & Concord Primitive Baptist Church Preservation Society, Inc. - Sherlyan Phelps is the contact person.
- Mt. Hebron A.M.E. Zion Church Photos
- New Chapel Missionary Baptist Church Photos
- Piney Grove Baptist Church
- Skewarkey Church Records (partial)
Court Proceedings
- January 13, 1899 – Commissioners’ Proceedings
- March 10, 1899 – Commissioners’ Proceedings
- May 5, 1899 – Superior Court Proceedings
- May 12, 1899 – Commissioners’ Proceedings
- June 5, 1899 – Commissioners’ Proceedings
- August 25, 1899 – Commissioners’ Proceedings
Deaths/Obituaries
- 1906-1930 – NC Death Certificates – 1906-1930- from Family Record Search. Microfilm images of death certificates
- 1913-1980 - Washington County Death Index — deaths recorded by the Register of Deeds
- 1799-early 1900s - Washington County Deaths — reported in various newspapers; an ongoing project
- List of Washington County Obituaries – various obits submitted to this site; dates vary
- 1898 – 1994 - North Carolina Deaths and Burials, 1898-1994 – from Family Record Search
- 1962 – present — Social Security Death Index (learn more) – freely available from
- GenealogyBank (updated weekly; requires registration)
- FamilySearch
Deeds
- Linda Haas Davenport has compiled a book of more than 950 deed transcriptions from Washington County covering 1799-1814. — Washington County, North Carolina Abstracts of Deed Books A-B-C (1799-1814): Including Some Dated Earlier. Broken Arrow, OK: L.H. Davenport, 2008. You can view the surname index on her websitewhere you can also purchase a copy. If unable to purchase a copy, check for a library that may hold the book by goinghere.
- The Register of Deeds office has online searching of deeds from 1996 to present. Deeds from 1974 – 1996 can be viewed if you have the Deed Book # and page. Read the blog entryfor more details on how it works.
Directories
- 1872 – NC Business Directory
- 1902 – NC Yearbook
- 1903 – NC Yearbook & Business Directory
- 1904 – NC Yearbook & Business Directory
- 1905 – NC Yearbook & Business Directory
- 1906 – NC Yearbook & Business Directory
- 1910 – NC Yearbook & Business Directory
- 1911 – NC Yearbook & Business Directory
- 1912 – NC Yearbook & Business Directory
- 1913 – NC Yearbook & Business Directory
- 1914 – NC Yearbook & Business Directory
- 1915 – NC Yearbook & Business Directory
- 1916 – NC Yearbook & Business Directory
- 1960 – Hill’s Plymouth Directory
- 1962 – Hill’s Plymouth Directory
Education
- Washington County students from the NC Yearbook Index – the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center has been making college yearbooks from across the state available online. Check this list of Washington County students for your relatives/ancestors. Not all graduates had a hometown associated, so be sure to also do a surname search. The index is an ongoing project.
- Plymouth Colored High School – 1944 Commencement Program - my grandmother, Alice McNair, is one of the graduating class members. (Link contributed by Taneya Koonce)
- Plymouth Academy
- 1899 – commencement
- 1900 – commencement
- Plymouth State Normal School (African-American school)
Family Sites
- Ambrose and Davenport Families – includes Ambrose and Davenport deed indexes and much more helpful information. Hosted by Linda Haas Davenport.
- Howcutt & Howcott Family History – website of Francis Howcutt who tracks Howcott families of Washington County.
- McNair Family (African-American) – information about the descendants of Rufus McNair & Mariah Wimberly of Washington & Edgecombe counties. Includes links to census records, vital records, pictures, etc. Note: for security purposes, information about individuals currently living is restricted. Hosted by yours truly, your county site coordinator, Taneya.
- Norman Genealogy
- Owens Family & Friends – hosted by John Owens, this site has information on the descendants of John Owens I (d. 1700s) and wife Ann of Tyrrell County
- Phelps Y-DNA & Genealogy in Northeastern North Carolina
- William Sexton Family of Roper, NC
Genealogical Society Newsletters
Historic Places
Maps
Marriages
- Marriages submitted to this site – dates vary
- Marriages, 1851 – 1890 - compilation of licences of Washington County
- Marriages of Washington County – misc. marriages as reported in the Roanoke Beacon and other area newspapers. Current focus is on the late 1890s – early 1900s. This is an ongoing project – the NC People in the Papers database.
- North Carolina Marriages 1759-1979 – from Family Record Search
- 1799-1893 NC Marriage Records — full-text of Carrie Broughton’s Marriages from the NC Raleigh Register & Gazette series of books. Files are PDF files available for viewing online or for downloading. This work includes marriages from all over the state.
Military
Newspapers
- Roanoke Beacon – full-text and digitized issues from 1889-1918 available online!
- Various news items from the newspapers
- Abstracts from Roanoke Beacon Newspaper Plymouth, Washington County, N.C. – located at the Haas/Davenport Homepage. Covers the year 1889.
- Past Washington County Newspapers – click on the links for information about libraries that may hold microfilmed issues. Also check with the NC Newspaper Project for details on ordering microfilm reproductions.
- The Old flag. (Plymouth, N.C.) 1865-186?
- The Plymouth banner. (Plymouth, N.C.) 1856-185?
- The Plymouth news. (Plymouth, N.C.) 1849-18??
- The Roanoke beacon and the Washington County news. (Plymouth, N.C.) 1929-1959
- The Roanoke beacon. (Plymouth, N.C.) 1889-1929
- The Roanoke beacon. (Plymouth, N.C.) 1959-current
- Roanoke cresset. (Plymouth, N.C.) 1858-18??
- The Washington County times. (Plymouth, N.C.) 1908-19??
- NC Newspaper Digitization Project – search the full-text of several different NC newspapers from the mid 1700s – late 1800s. Though no papers from Washington county are included, newspapers often included information from other areas in the state.
Queries
Surnames
Wills & Estates
- Index to estate records available at the NC Division of Archives & History
- Name index to estate records available at the NC Archives [pdf file]
- List of Wills
- Allsbrook, William – August 25, 1856
- Armistead, Richard – March 1, 1815
- Beasley, Elizabeth F. – September 1873
- Davenport, Jestin – March 19, 1888
- Harrison, Asa H. – January 30, 1883
- Harrison, Edmond - December 30, 1870
- Harrison, Sabra E. - October 23, 1901
- Padgett, Emma E. – January 9, 1905
- Snell, Asa - December 18, 1878
- Snell, Jordan – January 4, 1896
- Spruill, Frederick – May 5, 1859
- Spruill, Mary – May 31, 1873
- Spruill, William A. – dated January 14, 1888 proved June 11, 1890
- Spruill, William N. – dated March 15, 1848
- Index to Washington County Guardian Records @ NC State Archives

