How were divorces conducted in the mid 1800 in North Carolina, specifically Cumberland County? Were divorces filed in the county where the couple last resided together or could a spouse move to the other side of NC and then file for divorce where he happened to settle? Was a wife legally allowed to divorce her husband?
Contact: Frankie Lewis

In 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779, 1781, 1782, 1784 and 1787 the North Carolina Provisional Congress passed confiscation acts which provided for the seizure of the property of loyalists during the Revolutionary War. Records survive regarding this process in many North Carolina counties including: Anson, Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Camden, Carteret, Chatham, Chowan, Craven, Currituck, Dobbs, Duplin, Edgecombe, Guilford, Halifax, Hertford, Hyde, Nash, Montgomery, Moore, New Hanover, Orange, Randolph, Rowan, Sampson, Tyrell, Wake and Wayne. Noticeably absent from this list is Cumberland County which was a hot bed of loyalist activity during the war. Why are no records available for Cumberland County? After the war sheriff's sales were held to dispose of the land seized. There were sheriff's sales in Cumberland County as shown in the available records but I am not aware of any attempts to categorize them as sales to dispose of land seized from loyalists. Can someone explain why Cumberland County is not included with the other counties listed above? The most complete description of these confiscation acts, that I am aware of, is "Loyalists in North Carolina During the Revolution" by Robert O. DeMond which is now out-of-print. Is there another more complete source that I am not aware of? Thanks for any help offered with regard to this question about Cumberland County and the confiscation acts of North Carolina.

Contact: Doug Purcell or Myrtle Bridges