NC Genealogy Room

The North Carolina Digital Heritage Center has been working with Mark Pace to digitize the unique resources available in the North Carolina Room at the Thornton Library. Below you will find resources of interest to anyone researching Granville County history or genealogy:

RESEARCH AT RICHARD H. THORNTON LIBRARY

Thornton Library is located at 210 Main Street, Oxford, North Carolina. The North Carolina Room is open to researchers during regular library hours. Library hours are Monday – Thursday, 9:00am-8:00pm; Friday, 9:00am-5:00pm; Saturday, 10:00am-5:00pm, but closed on Sundays. If you are planning a visit from out-of-town, it is a good idea to telephone ahead—to verify that your planned trip will not conflict with holiday closings and special events. Upon request, you may arrange an appointment with our genealogy specialist Mark Pace by email, or by calling the Thornton Library at 919-693-1121 and ask to speak with Mark. As he is often busy with people both on the phone and in person, leave him a message and he will return your call.

For other genealogical websites, check out our Online Resources for Genealogy page.

TYPES OF RECORDS AVAILABLE AT THE THORNTON LIBRARY

Francis B. Hays Collection

Unique to Thornton Library is the Francis B. Hays Collection, a series of scrapbooks compiled by Mr. Hays (1867-1959), a former Clerk of Granville Superior Court. The original scrapbooks have been copied and bound into over 150 indexed volumes of newspaper clippings and manuscripts of various topics, ie: Granville County history and development; towns; churches; industry; individual persons; and genealogies of various families.

Edith Howell Wheeler Collection

Dr. Lewis T. Bullock Files

Estelle Bullock Thomas Scrapbook Collection

Ola Burrows Kearney Papers

William Pressley Davis Genealogy Charts

Vertical File Collection

Thornton Library’s constantly increasing vertical file collection contains donated, compiled family histories; xerographic copies of Bible records; and information pertinent to the history and development of Granville County.

Published Abstracts of Original Records

Included in Thornton Library’s collection of published references are all published abstracts of original records from Granville County and surrounding areas. Published abstracts of records for other North Carolina counties and some Virginia counties are available also.

Published County Histories

Census Indexes –North Carolina Census, 1786-1870

(no index has been published for 1880)

Census Microfilm- Granville County, 1786-1920

(some other microfilm available from surrounding counties as well as Virginia and Georgia)

Microfilm – Granville County Newspapers, (Broken Series); 1876-1944, 1968-2021

Microfilm – Granville County Original Records

Apprentice Bonds: 1802-1903, 1912-1913
County Court Minutes: 1746-1868
Equity Minute Docket: 1807-1851
Superior Court Minutes: 1807-1872
Secretary of State Land Entries: 1778-1796
Land Entries: 1792-1904
Record of Accounts: 1868-1878
Administrators’ Bonds: 1868-1876
Record of Guardians: 1790-1860, 1888-1917
Guardian Accounts: 1810-1841
Guardian Accounts: 1841-1868
Record of Settlements: 1868-1874; 1879-1906
Certification of Marriages: 1851-1868
Marriages of Freed People: 1866-1867
Marriage Register: 1867-1924
Tax Lists: 1755-1876, Broken Series
Cross Index to Wills: 1762-1828
Unrecorded Wills: 1749-1771
Record of Wills: 1772-1887
Index to Deeds – Grantor: 1746-1932
Index to Deeds – Grantee: 1746-1932
Record of Deeds: 1746-1869
City of Oxford-Minutes, board of Commissioners: 1853-1879

BASIC FACTS TO REMEMBER

Granville County was formed in 1746 from Edgecombe County.

Granville County borders Mecklenburg County, Virginia, and the North Carolina counties of Vance, Franklin, Wake, Durham, and Person (research may be necessary in the records of one or more of the neighbor counties).

Many early Granville County settlers came to the area from Virginia. Your subject’s previous county of residence may be named in the first Granville County deed issued to him.