A History of Rowan County, North Carolina (1881 / 1916) - Searchable Genealogy PDF

Uncover your Carolina Piedmont, Scotch-Irish, and German Palatine roots in the definitive nineteenth-century chronicle of colonial Rowan County, North Carolina—digitally restored with a pure white reading background, full-text OCR searchability, and a newly compiled researcher's guide and surname index.

Originally published in Salisbury, North Carolina, in 1881 by the Reverend Jethro Rumple, D.D. (1827–1906), and expanded in 1916 by the Elizabeth Maxwell Steele Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, A History of Rowan County, North Carolina, Containing Sketches of Prominent Families and Distinguished Men is one of the most important primary genealogical sources for the American South. When Rowan County was formed in 1753, its vast frontier boundaries stretched from the Yadkin and Catawba rivers across the Blue Ridge Mountains and northward to the Virginia border—encompassing the ancestral territory of more than thirty modern North Carolina counties, including Iredell, Davidson, Davie, Cabarrus, Mecklenburg, Guilford, Rockingham, Stokes, Forsyth, Surry, Wilkes, Burke, and Alexander.

Compiled directly from colonial Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions minutes beginning in 1753, early Salisbury town deeds, family Bibles, Revolutionary War pension records, church registers, and personal family papers, this 650+ page volume preserves thousands of pioneer names, relationships, homestead locations, and military records for families who migrated down the Great Wagon Road from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

What You Will Discover Inside This Restored Digital Edition

• Colonial Settlers, Land Grants & First Courts (1745–1770): Detailed lists of the earliest Scotch-Irish, German Palatine, and English settlers along Fourth Creek, Third Creek, Cathey's Settlement (Thyatira), Second Creek, Crane Creek, Grants Creek, and the Forks of the Yadkin, along with the first Rowan County magistrates of 1753, colonial sheriffs, clerks, tavern keepers, and Salisbury lot holders.
• The War of the Regulation & Revolutionary War Records (1768–1783): Full transcriptions of the Rowan County Resolutions of August 1774, complete minutes and membership lists of the Rowan County Committee of Safety (1774–1776), delegates to the five North Carolina Provincial Congresses, officers of the Rowan Militia and Continental Line, and first-hand accounts of General Nathanael Greene's 1781 retreat across the Trading Ford on the Yadkin River.
• Extensive Biographical & Genealogical Family Sketches: Multi-generational lineages and biographical histories of Rowan County's founding families—including the Locke, Brandon, Cathey, Frohock, Craige, Macay, Henderson, Pearson, Stokes, Chambers, Boyden, Fisher, Beard, Cowan, Caldwell, Kerr, McCorkle, Gillespie, Graham, Knox, Brevard, Osborne, Davidson, Rutherford, and Braun (Brown) families.
• Historic Colonial Congregations & Parish Registers: In-depth congregational histories naming founding elders, pastors, vestrymen, and early members of Thyatira (Cathey's), Fourth Creek, Third Creek, Back Creek, Unity, Franklin, and Salisbury Presbyterian Churches; Organ (Zion), St. John's, and Pine (Union) Lutheran Churches; Grace (Lower Stone) and Savitz's German Reformed Churches; St. Luke's Parish and Christ Episcopal Church; the Jersey Settlement Baptist Church; and the Yadkin Valley Methodist circuits.
• Complete 1861–1865 Rowan County Roll of Honor (104-Page Appendix): A comprehensive company-by-company military roster of more than 2,000 officers and privates from Rowan County who served in the Civil War across the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 10th (Rowan Artillery), 13th, 14th, 20th, 33rd, 34th, 42nd, 46th, 48th, 49th, 53rd, 54th, 57th, and 66th North Carolina Regiments and the 4th NC Cavalry—recording enlistment dates, ages, promotions, wounds, captures, and battle casualties.
• Fairbairn's Crests Digital Enhancements: Professionally cleaned high-contrast typography on a pure white (#FFFFFF) background for effortless screen reading and home printing, embedded full-text OCR searchability (Ctrl+F / Cmd+F), a Researcher's Guide with exact page-offset tables and 19th-century spelling variants, and a consolidated Back-of-Book Surname & Place Index.

Parishes, Churches, Settlements & Military Units Indexed in This Volume

Salisbury • Trading Ford on the Yadkin River • Forks of the Yadkin • Thyatira Presbyterian Church (Cathey's Meeting House) • Fourth Creek Settlement (Statesville) • Third Creek Presbyterian Church • Back Creek Presbyterian Church • Unity & Franklin Presbyterian Churches • Organ Lutheran Church (Zion) • St. John's Lutheran Church (Salisbury) • Pine / Union Lutheran Church • Grace (Lower Stone) German Reformed Church • Mount Zion (Savitz's) Reformed Church • St. Luke's Parish & Episcopal Church • Christ Episcopal Church (Rowan/Davie) • St. Andrew's Church • Jersey Settlement & Jersey Baptist Meeting House • Abbotts Creek • Grants Creek • Crane Creek • Second Creek • Dutch Buffalo Creek • Coldwater Creek • Sills Creek • Withrow's Creek • Dunn's Mountain • Young's Mountain • Old Stone House (1766 Michael Braun Homestead) • Gold Hill • Rowan County Committee of Safety (1774–1776) • North Carolina Provincial Congress • Rowan County Continental Line & Militia • War of 1812 Rowan Light Horse • 4th NC Cavalry • 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 10th (Rowan Artillery), 13th, 14th, 20th, 33rd, 34th, 42nd, 46th, 48th, 49th, 53rd, 54th, 57th & 66th North Carolina Regiments.

Surnames Indexed in This Volume (320+ Pioneer & Roster Families)

Adams, Agner, Albright, Aldrich, Alexander, Allemong, Allen, Allison, Anderson, Andrews, Arends (Arndt), Arey, Armstrong, Atwell, Austin, Avery, Ayers, Bailey (Baily),aird, Baker, Barber, Barr, Barringer (Behringer), Basinger, Baxter, Beard, Beaver, Bell, Benson, Bernhardt (Barnhardt),zon, Black, Blackmer,Blackwelder, Boger, Bone, Booe, Boone, Bost, Bostian (Bastian), Boyden, Bradshaw, Brandon, Braun (Brown), Brevard, Briggs,Brogden, Brooks, Bruner, Bryan, Buis (Buie),Bunn, Burke,Burns, Butler, Caldwell, Campbell,ca, Carson, Carter, Casper, Cathey, Cauble, Chambers, Chunn, Clark (Clarke), Clement, Clodfelter,Cochran, Coffin, Cole, Coleman, Collins, Cook, Cooper, Corl, Correll, Corriher, Coughenour, Cowan, Cox, Cozort, Craige (Craig), Crawford, Cress, Crouse, Crowell, Cruse, Culp, Cummins, Cunningham, Daniel, Davidson, Davis, Deal, DeJournette, Denny, Dickson (Dixon), Dobbins, Donaldson, Douglas, Dunn, Earnhardt, Eddleman, Eller, Elliott, Ellis, Empie, Ennis, Erwin (Irwin), Evans, Falls, File, Fisher, Fleming, Foard (Ford), Foster, Foutz, Fraley,Freeze (Frieze), Frick, Frohock, Fry, Fulk, Fullenwider, Gaither, Galbraith, Gardner, Garver, Gheen, Gibson, Giles, Gillespie,Gilmer, Glascock, Glover, Goodman, Graham, Gray, Green, Gregory, Griffith, Grubb, Gullet, Hall, Hamilton, Hampton, Harbin, Harris, Harrison, Hartman, Hawkins, Haynes, Heilig, Henderson, Hendricks (Hendrix),Henry, Hill, Hinkle, Hodge, Hoffman, Holshouser (Holhouser), Holmes, Honbarger, Horah, Houston, Howard, Hudson, Huff, Hughes, Hunt, Hunter, Husbands, Hyde, Ide, Irby, Ireland, Jackson, Jacobs,Jenkins, Jetton, Johnson, Johnston, Jones, Josey, Julian, Karriker, Kelly, Kennedy, Kerr, Kesler, Ketchey, Kilpatrick, Kimball, Kincaid, King, Kinney, Kluttz (Klutts), Knox, Krider, Lambeth, Lantz (Lentz), Leach, Lee, Lefler, Lemly, Lewis, Lingle, Link, Linn (Lynn), Linster,Litaker, Little, Locke, Long, Lorentz, Lowrance, Luckey, Lyerly, Macay (McCay), Malone, Marlin, Martin, Mason,のマ, Matthew, Maxwell, May, McCanless (McCandless), McCarn, McClean, McConnaughey, McCorkle, McCubbins, McCulloch (McCulloh), McDaniel, McDowell, McGuire, McKesson, McKnight, McLaughlin, McNeely, McPherson, McRorie, Menius, Miller, Mills, Minsey, Mitchell, Mock, Monroe, Montgomery, Moore, Mooring, Morgan, Morris, Morrison, Moss, Misenheimer, Murdoch, Murphy, Myers, Nail,Neely, Nesbit, Nesmith, Nichols, Nisbet, Nussman, Oliphant, Orrell, Osborne, Overcash, Overman, Owen, Owens, Paisley, Palmer, Parker, Parks,Partee, Patrick, Patterson, Patton, Pearson, Peeler, Penninger, Pharr, Phifer, Phillips, Pinkston,Plummer, Polk, Pool (Poole), Potts, Powell, Propst, Purviance, Ramsay (Ramsey), Randleman (Rendleman), Rankin, Ray, Reck, Reed, Reese, Reid, Ribelin, Rice, Rimer, Ritchie, Roberts, Robinson, Rogers, Rose, Roseborough, Ross, Rothrock, Rowe, Rufty, Rumple, Rusher, Rutherford, Safley, Sanders, Savitz, Scott, Sears, Sechler (Seckler), Shaver, Shaw, Shepherd,Shinn, Shuping, Simonton,Sloan, Smart, Smith,Snider, Sossamon, Spears, Steele, Stewart, Stirewalt (Steigerwalt), Stokes, Stone, Stoner, Storch (Stork),Stuart, Summerell, Sumner, Swicegood, Swink, Taylor, Thomason, Thompson, Todd, Torrence, Travis, Trexler, Trott, Trotter, Turner, Upright, Vardell, Verble, Waddell, Walker, Wallace, Waller, Walton, Ward, Watson, Watts, Weaver, Webb, West, Wetmore, White,Whitsel, Wiley, Wilhelm,Wilkinson, Williams, Williamson, Willis, Wilson, Winders, Winecoff, Winslett (Winslow), Wise, Witherspoon, Wood,Woodson, Worke (Work), Wright, Wyatt, Yancey, Yoder, Yost, Young, Zimmerman.

Digital Product Specifications

• Format: High-Resolution Searchable PDF (Digital E-Book)
• Length: 670+ Total Pages (Original 659-page 1916 Expanded Edition + New Front Matter, Researcher's Guide & Consolidated Surname/Place Index)
• Page Treatment: Restored Pure White (#FFFFFF) Background with Crisp Dark Typography & Embedded Full-Text OCR Layer
• Delivery: Instant Digital Download upon checkout