Robeson

Genealogy Records Available to Members

Images of Wills 1787-1847
Images of Wills 1847-1869
1790 Census Records
List of Miscellaneous Records at North Carolina State Archives 1817 to 1939

This Generation Fails in Cursive Writing

It appears that cursiving writing is a lost art and that the school systems have failed in teaching cursive writing. Genealogists have been dealing with cursive on a regular research basis. Cursive is relatively easy to read during the 19th century; however, when the researcher gets back to the 17th century and before, a script which was used for centuries and understood by the population, was used. Latin is also prevalent. The genealogist uses a chart to help understand the characters. One solution is to write the surname in the colonial script and starting searching the indexes. Today, there seems to be a goodly amount of photo copies on the internet, asking the audience to help interpret the 19th century writing. Although we all need help, lest we forget our history? Can we no longer read anything except recent cursive?

There is one thing for certain, unless we learn the colonial script (and some latin phrases also) we will not trace very far back in time. A good many books have been written abstracting old records. Such books are an excellent guide-line to our acquiring the actual document and reading it for ourselves. The clerk was no angel. He sat in his office copying from the original will, estate, deed, marriage, etc., misspellings, errors and all. It is rather common to note that the surname in the first line of a last will and testament is spelled one way, and the signature differently. What is the correct spelling? Thus, it behooves the genealogist to read all of the documents with the same surname, and make comparisons. Another issue with the clerk is the fact that he sometimes omitted the names of an heir which was usually a skipped sentence. This is why we need to read every smidget of the old records. The only way to avoid further error, is to locate the actual documents, read them, and double-check the references given by others. It only takes one error to veer off the mark and get into the wrong generation! Use this chart

Names of Families in Robeson County Genealogy Records

Robeson County was formed in 1787 from part of Bladen County. It was named in honor of Colonel Thomas Robeson of Tar Heel, North Carolina, a hero of the Revolutionary War. The University of North Carolina at Pembroke, a historically Native American college that started as a normal school, is located in the county. The county seat is Lumberton, North Carolina.

The Robesonian Aug 20 1873 Lumberton NC

” A man by the name of Joseph Hinson familiarly known as Fighting Joe, the mail carrier between Wadesboro and Salisbury, was found dead in his buddy on Thursday last. The horse went up to a gentleman’s gate on the route and stopped when some of the family went out to the buggy and discovered Hinson lying on the seat dead. He was about 30 or 35 years old and when last seen alive appeared to be in robust health. His home was in Montgomery County.”

The Robesonian Feb 3, 1897

” Seminole War Captain. Capt. Haley T. Blocker, a captain in the Seminole war, died in Tuscaloosa, Florida. He was born in Edgefield District, SC April 2, 1818, and moved to Florida about the year 1869. He was also a captain in the Confederate Army.”

The Robesonian February 10 1897

” Mountain Murders. Terrible Triangular Fight with Knives and Pistols. A horrible tragedy was enacted in Polk County North Carolina a few miles above Spartanburg Monday night at about 11 o clock says Columbia State. Will and Joe Gunnell, two alleged moonshiners were cut and shot to death by a man named Jenkins, while Jenkins lies mortally wounded. The facts of the killing as near as could be obtained are as follows: Will Gunnell and Jenkins became involved in a difficulty Saturday night in which Gunnell was considerably worsted.”