Warren County Voter Registration Lists 1902 - 1908

The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution passed during Reconstruction had given every male aged 21 and over the right to vote, "regardless of race, color or previous condition of servitude". North Carolina passed a number of State Constitutional laws and amendments in response, including poll taxes, literacy requirements, and "grandfather clauses" stating that if a resident or their ancestor was eligible to vote by a certain year, they were exempt from the literacy tests. Most of these laws effectively eliminated all African Americans because at first the date for eligibility was 1860, a date which eliminated former slaves, as well as Free People of Color since they hadn't been allowed to vote since 1835 in North Carolina.   One of the laws,  Public Law 1901, Chapter 550*, restricted voting to those whose ancestors were eligible for voting on January 1, 1867 or prior, and each registrant had to sign an oath stating such, giving them until 1908 to become permanent registered voters. The resulting lists provide an interesting source of information about the residents of all races which may also confirm the ancestry of some of the men who registered.   The following is the list for Warren County residents who registered during this time:

©2015 by Deloris Williams and Ginger Christmas-Beattie for the NCGenWeb Project.  No portion of this or any document appearing on this site is to be used for other than personal research.  Any republication or reposting is expressly forbidden without the written consent of the owner. Last updated 11/30/2015