Images of Lenoir County Wills and Estates 1861 to 1891
Names of Testators: Abbott, Samuel | Aldridge, John H. | Aldridge, William | Armand, William | Bagley, Helen | Bartleson, Elizabeth | Barwick, Craven | Barwick, Edith | Becton, Cora | Blount, Winnifred | Boston, Anney | Byrd, A. W. | Canady, James | Canady, Susan | Capell, Ava | Carr, Matthew | Carraway, Snead | Coward, William | Croom, Charles | Croom, Lucy | Cunningham, Henry | Daugherty, James F. | Davis, Anthony | Davis, David | Davis, Fanny | Davis, James K. | Davis, John M. | Davis, Jonas | Davis, Nannie E. | Deaver, James | Dozier, Samuel | Duningham, Margaret | Dunn, Cynthia | Dunn, Eliza J. | Edwards, Maria | Elliot, Nancy | Emery, Laura | Evans, Telisha | Franklin, William | Grady, B. S. | Grady, Whitfield | Gray, Chauncey | Green, Eliza | Green, Richard | Hardee, Anna | Hardee, Pinckney | Hardy, L. J. |Hardy, Levi | Hardy, Mary | Harper, Charlotte | Harper, J. W. | Hartsfield, Thomas | L. | Harvey, Charles | Hawkins, John | Herring, Alice | Herring, James | Herring, Nancy | Herring, Oliver | Herring, Rachel | Herring, William | Higgins, Edward | Hill, D. | Hill, M. E. | Hines, Nancy | Hooten, Council | Johnson, John | Jones, Elizabeth | Jones, George | Jones, Lewis | Jones, Luisa | Kennedy, Claudius | Kennedy, E. B. | Kennedy, Huldah | Kennedy, Oscar | Kennedy, Victoria | Kennedy, Walter | King, Richard | Lane, Margaret | Lane, Mary | LeShields, William | Loftin, Henderson | Loftin, William | Masters, Chelly | McColter, Emeline | McColter, Jacob McCoy, W. A. | McCoy, William | Mewborn, Sallie | Moore, Ida N. Moore, James | Moore, Needham | Moore, Henry H. | Moore, Thomas | Northcutt, Nancy | Parker, Dinah | Parrott, James | Parrott, J. M. | Peebles, John | Phillips, Council | Phillips, Curtis | Phillips, Elizabeth | Phillips, Hugh | Phillips, Julia Ann | Phillips, Margaret | Phillips, Olivia | Phillips, Thomas S. | Phillips, W. A. | Pitts, Sally | Pope, Emily | Pridgen, Mary Ann | Pugh, Margaret A. | Robinson, Charles | Rountree, Dr. F. M. | Rouse, Alexander | Rouse, Francis | Rouse, Wiley | Shields, John | Smith, Curtis | Smith, Isaiah | Smith, Job | Smith, Martha | Stanly, Barney | Stevenson, John H. | Stilley, Earl | Stroud, Isaac | Sutton, Bettie | Sutton, B. Frank | Sutton, Henrietta | Sutton, Julia Ann | Sutton, William | Taylor, Edwin | Taylor, Fannie | Taylor, James | Taylor, Joseph | Thomas, Hezekiah | Tilghman, Wilson | Waller, Joseph | Walters, Celia | Waters, James | Waters, Jerry | West, William | Whitfield, Demaris | Williams, Austin | Williams, Richard J. and Wilson, Absoly
Names of Families in Lenoir County Wills and Estates
Lenoir County was created on December 4, 1791 from Dobbs County and was named William Lenoir, a captain in the American Revolutionary War who fought at the Battle of Kings Mountain. The county seat is Kinston.
Genealogy Records available to members of
North Carolina Pioneers
- Images of Wills and Estates 1861 to 1891
- Images of Lenoir County Colonial Records
- List of Miscellaneous Records at North Carolina State Archives 1868 to 1949
- List of Civil Actions 1901 to 1913
The Past Under our Feet
The past is under our feet in the dusty layers of soil. The discovery of the age depends upon the depth of the soil. A visit to local cemeteries reveal that fact. People were buried with personal items. And somewhere nearby was the site of the old home place. I once visited an farm house where old newspapers publishing local and National news of a forgotten era was tacked onto the inner walls for insulation. There was a worn path leading to an old broken-down well. No doubt personal items got spilled into the well. Perhaps a button, shoe or eyeglasses. And in the woods was an out-house. Any degree of diggings would fork up more evidence of the family who resided there. As the search continues, the genealogist becomes the knowledgeable historian and archaeologist studying human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, and cultural landscapes. Underneath buildings, houses and parking lots lies the rubbish of the past. Just as treasure hunters search creeks, lakes and sea beds for evidence of sunken ships, the genealogist documents the past with facts, names, dates, places and events. It makes for a more interesting story.
Imagery of the Past
The best way to imagine what it was like a hundred years ago is to go out into the country and visit old houses. The countryside is yet a fine example of an era not-so-far-passed. Old sunken wells where water was drawn in buckets and sipped from gourds grown on the farm remind us of our own modern conveniences. Many of the old barns, although crumbling down, remain on the original site while tractors sit in the yard. Inside the houses, although abandoned and unfurnished, there are reminders. Such as light fixture in the center of the ceiling with a long dangling string, a hole in the ceiling where a tin pipe vented a wooden stove, hearths made of local clay, wooden staircases, and more.
