Publications

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The following books contain genealogical or historical information about North Carolina or Guilford County, and they are good research resources. Websites or addresses for suppliers are listed near the bottom of this page. Update of this page is done as needed.
The county coordinator’s comments and explanations are in italics.

NORTH CAROLINA RESEARCH GUIDES AND SOURCES
& BOOKS WITH REGIONAL INFORMATION

North Carolina Research ~ Genealogy and Local History, Second Edition.
– – – Helen F. M. Leary, C.G., F.A.S.G., editor.
Published by North Carolina Genealogical Society, Raleigh, NC, 1996. 626 pages. ISBN 0-936370-10-6.
Extensive and detailed coverage of research techniques and issues, county records, state records, federal records, private records, and nonwritten records.

North Carolina Through Four Centuries.
– – – William S. Powell.
Published by The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC, and London, 1989. 652 pages including index. ISBN 0-8078-1846-1.
“William S. Powell, the leading authority on the history of North Carolina, is professor emeritus of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has been associated with the university for more than thirty-five years, first as librarian and curator of the North Carolina Collection, then as professor of history. Under Powell’s leadership the North Carolina Collection became one of the finest regional research libraries in America….”
Extensive and detailed coverage of the history of North Carolina through its people and events, starting with its natural history and native peoples, and continuing through to the late 20th century. This is the gold standard in North Carolina history.

Carolina Cradle ~ Settlement of the Northwest Carolina Frontier, 1747-1762.
– – – Robert W. Ramsey.
Published by The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC. It was originally published in 1964, with reprints currently available. 251 pages with index. 2000 reprint has ISBN 0-8078-4189-7.
“This account of the settlement of one segment of the North Carolina frontier – the land between the Yadkin and Catawba rivers – examines the process by which the piedmont South was populated.” This book largely focuses on Old Rowan County, and the economic, religious, social, and geographical influences that led to its settlement.
This well-footnoted work is illustrated with helpful maps, and a lot of its information can be applied to research in Guilford County, two-thirds of which came from Old Rowan County. It is a classic for those of us who research in early North Carolina records. There are many, many names of early settlers and information on their backgrounds, but there are also errors, so verify the information with independent document search and evaluation. Try any of the genealogy book mail-order houses to order this one.

RESEARCH & REFERENCE SOURCES FOR GUILFORD COUNTY & GREENSBORO

1790 – 1800 – 1810 Population Schedules, Guilford County, NC
– – – compiled by Ruth Hackney Kirkman.
Published by The Guilford County Genealogical Society, Greensboro, NC.

1820 Census of Guilford County, North Carolina, with Account of Manufacturing Establishments in Guilford County, 1820, Second Edition
– – – edited by Mary A. Browning & Lawrence E. Jarrell.
Published by The Guilford County Genealogical Society, Greensboro, NC, 1998.

1830 Census of Guilford County, North Carolina
– – – compiled by Lawrence E. Jarrell.
Published by The Guilford County Genealogical Society, Greensboro, NC, 1997.

1840 Census of Guilford County, North Carolina
– – – compiled by Lawrence E. Jarrell.
Published by The Guilford County Genealogical Society, Greensboro, NC, 1997.

Guilford County, North Carolina, 1850 Census ~ Schedule I: Population
– – – transcribed by Jane Smith Hill, edited by Lawrence E. Jarrell.
Published by The Guilford County Genealogical Society, Greensboro, NC.

Guilford County 1860 ~ Annotated Abstract of the U.S. Population Schedule of 1860, for Guilford County, North Carolina
– – – compiled by Mary A. Browning & Dixie Matheny Normandy.
Published by The Guilford County Genealogical Society, Greensboro, NC, 1991. 320 pages with index.

Guilford County Census Books from Guilford County Genealogical Society
This link takes you to the publications page listing the census books for 1790 through 1860 which are shown above.

SK Publications – Guilford Census
This link takes you to a commercial site where you may also purchase census books.

Abstracts of Marriage Bonds and Additional Data, Guilford County, North Carolina;
Volume I: 1771-1840, and Volume II: 1781-1868
– – – compiled by Ruth Thompson and Louise J. Hartgrove.
Published by Guilford County Genealogical Society.
These volumes are annotated with information from the pedigrees of GCGS members, and that information is therefore based on the conclusions of others, and not information contained in the marriage bonds themselves.

Guilford County, North Carolina, Court Minutes ~ August Term of Court 1781 to May Term 1788
– – – transcribed by Jane Smith Hill.
Published by Guilford County Genealogical Society, Greensboro, NC, 1999. 186 pages + index.

Index to Deceased: Guilford County, North Carolina, Court Records, August 1781 – February 1811
– – Mary A. Browning.  Published by the author, 1983. Distributed by Pacificana Books.

Abstracts of Land Entrys: Guilford Co., NC, 1779-1796, and Rockingham Co., NC, 1790-1795
– – compiled by Dr. Albert Bruce Pruitt.  Published by the author, 1987. Available through Carolina Books.

Abstracts of Land Warrants, Guilford County, NC, 1778-1932
– – compiled by Dr. A. B. Pruitt.  Published by the author, 2000. Available through Carolina Books.

Guilford County, North Carolina, Land Grants, 1778-1934
– – compiled by Elizabeth “Pat” Shaw Bailey.
Published by the author, 1993. Reprinted by Mountain Press, Signal Mountain, TN, 2001.

Guilford County Deed Book One
Guilford County Deed Book Two, 1779-1784 – – both edited by William D. Bennett, C.G.
Privately published by the author, Raleigh, NC, 1990 (#1), and 1993 (#2). Available through Margaret M. Hofmann.

Abstracts of Deeds, Guilford Co., NC ~ Books 3, 4, 5, & 6 (1784-1799)
Abstracts of Deeds, Guilford Co., NC ~ Books 7, 8, & 9 (1799-1809)
Abstracts of Deeds, Guilford Co., NC ~ Books 10, 11, 12, & 13 (1809-1819)
Abstracts of Deeds, Guilford Co., NC ~ Books 14, 15, & 16 (1819-1826)
Abstracts of Deeds, Guilford Co., NC ~ Books 17 & 18 (1824-1833)
Abstracts of Deeds, Guilford Co., NC ~ Books 19, 20, & 21 (1825-1836)
Abstracts of Deeds, Guilford Co., NC ~ Books 22, 23, & 24 (1835-1839)
Abstracts of Deeds, Guilford Co., NC ~ Books 25 & 26 (1839-1842)
Abstracts of Deeds, Guilford Co., NC ~ Books 27, 28, & 29 (1842-1847)
– – – all of these were abstracted and compiled by Dr. A. B. Pruitt. (This is a series currently in progress.)
Published by the author. Available through Carolina Books.

Guilford County, North Carolina, Will Abstracts, 1771-1841
– – – compiled by Irene B. Webster.   Published by the author, 1979.

An Annotated Digest of Will Book A, Guilford County, North Carolina, 1771 – May Court 1816
– – – compiled by Jane Smith Hill. Published by Heritage Books, Inc., 2007. (More details than the Webster abstracts.)

Guilford County Cemeteries ~ Volume I: Western Section, & Volume II: Eastern Section
– – – edited by Mary A. Browning.  Published by Guilford County Genealogical Society, Greensboro, NC.

Family Burying Grounds and Abandoned Church Cemeteries in Guilford County, N.C., and Immediate Environs
– – – compiled by O. Norris Smith.  Published by Guilford County Genealogical Society, 1978.

New Garden Cemetery, 1754-1994
– – – Denzel Hinshaw Dickerson, editor.  Published by The New Garden Cemetery Association, Greensboro, NC.
Contact New Garden Meeting in Greensboro, to see who has copies for sale: www.ngfm.org

Springfield Monthly Meeting Cemetery Records
Published by Springfield Memorial Association, High Point, NC.

Guilford County N.C. Road and Bridge Records, Volume 1, 1799-1839
Guilford County N.C. Road and Bridge Records, Volume 2, 1840-1854
Guilford County N.C. Road and Bridge Records, Volume 3, 1855-1890
– – – all by Stewart E. Dunaway

LOCAL HISTORIES & BIOGRAPHIES

Greensboro, North Carolina ~ The County Seat of Guilford
– – – by Ethel Stephens Arnett, written under the direction of Walter Clinton Jackson.
Published by The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC, 1955.
It can be found through used book dealers, or at times on Ebay.
This 468-page illustrated and indexed history of Greensboro is the most thorough and most accurate one I’ve found so far.

Guilford County, North Carolina ~ A Brief History
– – – compiled by Alexander R. Stoesen.
Published by the North Carolina Division of Archives and History, 1993. 89 pages including index. ISBN 0-86526-258-6.

The History of Guilford County, North Carolina
– – – by Sallie W. Stockard, typed and indexed by Ruth F. Thompson.
Published 1902. Re-published by The Guilford County Genealogical Society.
This book also includes some brief family genealogies, and there are a number of errors in those, so that particular information should not be taken at face value.

Guilford County, N.C. ~ a map supplement
– – – compiled by Fred Hughes.
Published by The Custom House, Jamestown, NC, 1988. 137 pages + 2 indexes (names & subjects).
The Custom House has gone out of business, but this is still available from the Guilford County Genealogical Society.
This book contains various articles on the history of Guilford County, and a list of landowners in political boundaries of today as abstracted from the Hughes map (1750-1790).

Founders and Builders of Greensboro, 1808 – 1908
– – – compiled by Bettie D. Caldwell.
Published by Jos. J. Stone & Company, Greensboro, NC, 1925. 356 pages, including index.
Reproduction available by special order from Higginson Book Company.
Fifty biographical sketches and portraits of prominent men, and a few women, during the first century or so of Greensboro’s history, including some of their individual family history. Those included are:
Peter Adams, James W. Albright, Professor William F. Alderman, Dr. DeWitt Clinton Benbow, Frances Webb Bumpass, Thomas Caldwell, Rev. Eli Caruthers, Caesar Cone, Rev. Jesse A. Cuninggim, Judge John McClintock Dick, Judge Robert Paine Dick, Judge John Henry Dillard, Rev. Peter Doub, Judge Robert M. Douglas, Alexander Perry Eckel, Col. Daniel Gillespie, John Adams Gilmer, Col. John Alexander Gilmer, Caroline C. Gorrell, Ralph Gorrell, Julius A. Gray, Rev. John A. Gretter, Minna Raven Hildesheimer, Henry Humphreys, Rev. Turner Myrick Jones, Jeduthun H. Lindsay, Jesse Harper Lindsay, John McClintock Logan, Dr. Charles Duncan McIver, Dr. Nereus Mendenhall, Rev. John Lafayette Michaux, James Turner Morehead, Col. James Turner Morehead, Gov. John Motley Morehead, Joseph Motley Morehead, Rev. William D. Paisley, Clark Porter and his Drug Store, Joseph Martin Reece, Gov. Alfred Moore Scales, Col. Junius I. Scales, Judge David Schenck, John William Scott, Judge Thomas Settle, Robert Moderwell Sloan, Rev. J. Henry Smith, D.D.; Lyndon Swaim, Letitia Harper Walker, Jesse Rankin Wharton, Dr. Calvin H. Wiley.

Greensboro, 1808 – 1904 ~ Facts, Figures, Traditions, and Reminiscences
– – – collated by Jas. W. Albright.
Published by the author, 1904. 134 pages, including the index; illustrated. Available from Higginson Book Company.
This book has chapters on the history of Greensboro and surrounding Guilford, schools and colleges, men who spearheaded the town’s development, civic and political leadership, churches, banks, hotels, press, Confederate experiences, merchants, manufacturers, industries, organizations, parks, military rosters, and miscellaneous.

The First Hundred Years of Historic Guilford, 1771-1871
– – – by A. Earl Weatherly.
Published by Greensboro Printing Company, Greensboro, NC, 1972. Copyright by author.
This book can possibly be found through used-book dealers or on internet auction sites.
This is a well-illustrated “postal history” of Guilford, centering around old stamps and letters, using the author’s collection as illustrations of the county’s history, including sections on currency, railroad, slavery, confederacy, and reconstruction.

Women of Guilford County, North Carolina ~ A Study of Women’s Contributions, 1740 – 1979
– – – by Paula Stahls Jordan, author, & Kathy Warden Manning, researcher.
Published by Women of Guilford through Greensboro Printing Company, Greensboro, NC, 1979. 198 pages, including index.
My own copy was purchased through Ebay; try internet auction sites or used-book dealers.
Includes stories of individual women as well as the contributions of women’s groups and organizations to the history and development of Guilford County.

History of Buffalo Presbyterian Church and Her People, Greensboro, N.C.
– – – by Rev. S. M. Rankin.
Published by Jos. J. Stone & Co., Greensboro, NC, ~1923. 230 pages including index, illustrated.
It can be found through used book dealers, or at times on Ebay.
If you had ancestors who belonged to Buffalo Presbyterian, this book gives the church’s history, and also short family genealogies.

Something of the Story of Deep River
– – – William Wesley Pegg, Sr.
Published by The Guilford County Genealogical Society, Greensboro, NC, 1999. 101 pages including index.

Historical Places In & Around Jamestown, N. C., by Mary A. Browning; ISBN 0615193307; available through book stores or through her website www.mabrowning.com or directly from www.atlasbooks.com.  47 pp., spiral bound, indexed. $12.00 + tax and shipping.

Roads to Jamestown ~ A View and Review of the Old Town
– – – by C. Yvonne Belle Thomas.
Published by BookCrafters, Fredericksburg, VA, 1997. 85 pages + notes, index, and maps.
Try used book dealers or internet auction sites to find this one.

The Saura and Keyauwee in the Land That Became Guilford, Randolph, and Rockingham
– – – Ethel Stephens Arnett.
Published by Media, Inc., Printers and Publishers, Greensboro, NC, 1975. 92 pages including index.
Try used-book dealers or internet auction sites to find this one.

O. Henry from Polecat Creek
– – – by Ethel Stephens Arnett. Published by Piedmont Press, Greensboro, NC, 1962.
Try used-book dealers or internet auction sites to find this book.
This is a biography of William Sydney Porter, which contains information about his ancestors as well.

William Swaim, Fighting Editor ~ The Story of O. Henry’s Grandfather
– – – by Ethel Stephens Arnett. Published by Piedmont Press, Greensboro, NC, 1963.
Try used-book dealers or internet auction sites to find this book.
This is a biography of William Swaim, editor of “The Greensboro Patriot” newspaper, and grandfather of O. Henry, and it also contains information about the Swaim family and their ancestors.

John Motley Morehead and the Development of North Carolina, 1796-1866, an “e-book” in the NCGW Digital Library

Giants in the Land: North Carolina Yearly Meeting Leaders, by Billy M. Britt, published in Greensboro in 2012 by the NC Yearly Meeting of Friends. This book contains biographies of Mary Williams Chawner Woody, Eli Reece, Alice Paige White, Eli Franklin Craven, Lewis W. McFarland, Fredric Earl Carter, Hope Hubbard, Murray Cox Johnson, Luby Randolph Casey, Algie Inman Newlin, Byron Allen Haworth, Sam and Miriam Levering, A. Scott Parker, Seth Bennett Hinshaw, J. Isaac Harris, and J. Victor Murchison. A good number of these individuals had Guilford roots.

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COMPILED FAMILY GENEALOGIES
A wise researcher will verify all data and conclusions in these.

Guilford‘s Scotch-Irish
– – – William C. Rankin. Published by the author, date uncertain.
Can be found at times on Ebay in CD format.

Notes on the Browder Family of Tidewater Virginia, 1695 – 1850
– – – Blanche Penland Browder.
Published by the author, 1984.
Includes Guilford and Rockingham County, NC, information.

Genealogies of the Caffey, Iseley & Ireland Families of Rockingham, Guilford, & Alamance Counties in North Carolina
– – – Beatrice M. Caffey Reed.
Published by the author, 1891.

AREA MAPS

Guilford County, North Carolina, 1895 map and booklet
– – – reprinted by the Pleasant Garden Historical Society, Inc. It was originally published about 1895 by Dr. DeWitt Clinton Benbow.
This is a large map on quality, heavy, poster paper, with the different townships in varying attractive pastel colors, and showing the location of many farms and homes in the county. The booklet provides information and an index to the different homesites shown on the map.
The price of the map is $15.00, the booklet is $5.00, and shipping and handling fees are $5.00. If you live within driving distance of Greensboro, someone can meet you at a pre-arranged place and time, and save you the postage fee.
Please order from Pleasant Garden Historical Society, Inc., P. O. Box 201, Pleasant Garden, NC, 27313; or contact Jean Greeson.

North Carolina Maps website

CensusFinder website maps

SUPPLIERS FOR THE BOOKS MENTIONED ABOVE — & OTHERS BOOKS + MAPS

North Carolina Genealogical Society

Guilford County Genealogical Society

Carolina Books – ABP Abstracts
This website also has an informative article on the land grant procedure in North Carolina.

Higginson Book Company

Margaret M. Hofmann
I would suggest that you write or e-mail for current availability, as the website listings are not current at times.

Mountain Press

North Carolina Friends Historical Society

North Carolina Office of Archives & History, Historical Publications

Southern Historical Press

The University of North Carolina Press

Mary A. Browning

Abebooks
This is the internet search website I use to find used books.