North Carolina Emigration and Immigration: Difference between revisions

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North Carolina’s treacherous coastline prevented significant immigration by sea. Most immigrants arrived at major northern ports such as New York, Baltimore, Boston, and Philadelphia. The [https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/United_States_Emigration_and_Immigration United States Emigration and Immigration] Wiki article lists several important sources for finding information about immigrants to this country. These sources include many references to people who settled in North Carolina. [[Tracing Immigrant Origins|Tracing Immigrant Origins]] introduces the principles, research strategies, and additional record types you can use to identify an immigrant’s original hometown. {{Adoption NCGenWeb}}  
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=== People  ===
|<div id="fsButtons"><span class="online_records_button">[[United States Immigration Online Genealogy Records]]</span></div>
 
|}
The earliest pre-statehood settlers of North Carolina were generally of English descent and came from Virginia and South Carolina to the Coastal Plain region, between 1650 and 1730. In the early 1700s, small groups of French Huguenot, German Palatine, and Swiss immigrants founded towns on the coast. Between 1729 and 1775, several thousand Scottish settlers came directly from the Scottish Highlands and the Western Isles to settle the upper Cape Fear Valley.
==How to Find the Records==
 
=== Online Resources ===
During the same period, many Ulster Scots and Germans came overland down the Great Philadelphia Wagon Road into the central and western portions of the state. African Americans were brought to North Carolina very early and now constitute about one-fifth of the state’s population. Histories of Germans, Scots, and African Americans are listed in the Family History Library Catalog under NORTH CAROLINA - MINORITIES.  
*'''1500s-1900s''' [https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7486/?arrival=_north+carolina-usa_36&count=50 All U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s] at Ancestry - index only ($); ''Also at [https://www.myheritage.com/research/collection-10017/passenger-immigration-lists-1500-1900?s=1&formId=pili&formMode=1&useTranslation=1&exactSearch=&action=query&initialFormIds=immigration&p=1&qimmigration=Event+et.immigration+ep.North%2F3Carolina+epmo.similar MyHeritage]''; index only ($); includes those with Destination of North Carolina
 
*'''1774-1775''' {{FSC|170905|item|disp=''Records of Emigrants from England and Scotland to North Carolina, 1774-1775''}}
Although most of the Cherokee Indians were removed from North Carolina in the late 1830s, some remained and many of their descendants still live in the western part of the state. See [[Indians of North Carolina|Indians of North Carolina]] for further information about American Indians in North Carolina.
*'''1895-1956''' [https://www.myheritage.com/research/collection-10942/united-states-border-crossings-from-canada-1895-1956?s=1&formId=collection_10942:searchFormDef&formMode=1&useTranslation=1&exactSearch=&action=query&initialFormIds=master,immigration&p=1&qevents-event1=Event+et.any+ep.North%2F3Carolina+epmo.similar&qevents=List United States, Border Crossings from Canada, 1895-1956] at MyHeritage - index & images ($); includes those with Destination of North Carolina
 
*'''1908-1958''' [https://www.myheritage.com/research/collection-20347/north-carolina-passenger-crew-lists?s=275764761 North Carolina, Passenger and Crew Lists] at MyHeritage — index & images ($)
North Carolina did not attract heavy settlement after the Revolutionary War and lost much of its population in the westward movement to Tennessee, Illinois, and other new states and territories.
*'''1908-1958''' [https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/2072744 North Carolina, Wilmington and Morehead City Passenger and Crew Lists, 1908-1958] at FamilySearch - [[North Carolina, Wilmington and Morehead City Passenger and Crew Lists - FamilySearch Historical Records|How to Use this Collection]]; index & images
 
*'''1908-1958''' [https://www.findmypast.com/search/results?datasetname=united%20states%2c%20passenger%20and%20crew%20lists&state=north%20carolina&datasettitle=north%20carolina%2c%20wilmington%20and%20morehead%20city%20passenger%20lists%2c%201908-1958&sid=999 United States, Passenger and Crew Lists - North Carolina, Wilmington And Morehead City Passenger Lists, 1908-1958] at Findmypast - index & images ($)
<!--{12089989062661} --><!--{12089989062662} -->
*[https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1gEPDH-Y5EEmL_78yhM2a4zc81C6_yVU&ll=2.0214455198272887%2C156.72834639000985&z=3 World Passenger Lists Map]
=== Records  ===
 
*Clay, James W. ''North Carolina Atlas''. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press, 1975. (Family History Library book {{FHL|975.6 E3c|disp=975.6 E3c}}; film {{FHL|1597810|film|disp=1597810}} item 2.) This atlas shows the formation of counties and the patterns of European settlement.
 
*United States. Bureau of Customs. ''Copies of Lists of Passengers Arriving at Miscellaneous Ports on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts and at Ports on the Great Lakes, 1820–1873''. National Archives Microfilm Publications, M575. Washington, DC: National Archives, 1964. {{FHL|66154|film|disp=FHL films 830231 (first of 26)}} Incomplete lists of passengers for five minor ports in North Carolina: Beaufort, 1865; Edentown, 1820; New Berne, 1820–1865; Plymouth, 1820–1840; and Washington, 1820–1848.  


====Cultural Groups====
:*Indexes to these minor ports lists<br>United States. Bureau of Customs. ''A Supplemental Index to Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Atlantic and Gulf Coast Ports, 1820–1874''. National Archives Microfilm Publications, M334. Washington, DC: National Archives, 1960. {{FHL|67478|item|disp=FHL films 418161–418348)}} A comprehensive list of about 140,000 immigrants to America from Britain is:
*[https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/49091/ British Aliens in the United States During the War of 1812], e-book
*'''1920-1939''' [https://www.myheritage.com/research/collection-10924/germany-bremen-emigration-lists-1920-1939?s=1&formId=collection_10924:searchFormDef&formMode=1&useTranslation=1&exactSearch=&action=query&initialFormIds=master,immigration&p=1&qevents-event1=Event+et.any+ep.North%2F3Carolina+epmo.similar&qevents=List Germany, Bremen Emigration Lists, 1920-1939] at MyHeritage - index only ($); includes those with Destination of North Carolina
*[https://www.myheritage.com/research/collection-10019/germans-immigrating-to-the-united-states?s=1&formId=immigration-norels&formMode=1&useTranslation=1&exactSearch=&action=query&initialFormIds=immigration,pili&p=1&qimmigration=Event+et.immigration+ep.North%2F3carolina+epmo.similar Germans Immigrating to the United States] at MyHeritage - index only ($); includes those with Destination of North Carolina
*[https://www.myheritage.com/research/collection-10030/italians-immigrating-to-the-united-states?s=1&formId=immigration-norels&formMode=1&useTranslation=1&exactSearch=&action=query&initialFormIds=immigration,pili,immigration-norels&p=1&qimmigration=Event+et.immigration+ep.North%2F3Carolina+epmo.similar Italians Immigrating to the United States] at MyHeritage - index only ($); includes those with Destination of North Carolina
*[https://www.myheritage.com/research/collection-10029/russians-immigrating-to-the-united-states?s=1&formId=immigration-norels&formMode=1&useTranslation=1&exactSearch=&action=query&initialFormIds=immigration,pili,immigration-norels&p=1&qimmigration=Event+et.immigration+ep.North%2F3Carolina+epmo.similar Russians Immigrating to the United States] at MyHeritage - index only ($); includes those with Destination of North Carolina


==== Passport Records Online  ====
*Newsome, Albert Ray, ''Records of Emigrants from England and Scotland to North Carolina, 1774-1775'' (Raleigh, NC : State Dept. of Archives and History, 1962) {{WorldCat|12182612|disp=At various libraries (WorldCat)}};  {{FHL|170905|item|disp=FHL book 975.6 A1 no. 30}} Digital version available [https://dcms.lds.org/view/action/ieViewer.do?from_proxy=true&dps_pid=IE109480&dps_dvs=1339026712594~722&dps_pid=IE109480&change_lng=en online.]  
*'''1795-1925''' {{RecordSearch|2185145|United States Passport Applications, 1795-1925}} at FamilySearch - [[United States, Passport Applications - FamilySearch Historical Records|How to Use this Collection]]; index & images
*'''1795-1925''' [http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1174 U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925] Index and images, at Ancestry ($)


North Carolina’s treacherous coastline prevented significant immigration by sea. Most immigrants arrived at major northern ports such as New York, Baltimore, Boston, and Philadelphia. *Immigrants to New Jersey frequently arrived in the United States at nearby larger ports with better harbors, especially New York; Wilmington, Delaware; Boston,
*''Wayne County, Indiana, settlers from North and South Carolina,'' {{FHL|156490|item|disp=FHL film 908530 item 6; book 977.263 H2w}}
Massachusetts; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:
:*[[Delaware Emigration and Immigration#Online Resources|Delaware Emigration and Immigration Online Resources]]
:*[[Massachusetts Emigration and Immigration#Online Resources|Massachusetts Emigration and Immigration Online Resources]]
:*[[New York Emigration and Immigration#Online Resources|New York Emigration and Immigration Online Resources]]
:*[[Pennsylvania Emigration and Immigration#Online Resources|Pennsylvania Emigration and Immigration Online Resources]]


===Offices to Contact===
*Meyer, Duane, ''The Highland Scots of North Carolina, 1732-1776'' (Chapel Hill, NC : University of NC Press, [1966]) {{WorldCat|466801|disp=At various libraries (WorldCat)}}; {{FHL|178202|item|disp=FHL book 975.6 F2me}}
Although many records are included in the online records listed above, there are other records available through these archives and offices. For example, there are many minor ports that have not yet been digitized. There are also records for more recent time periods. For privacy reasons, some records can only be accessed after providing proof that your ancestor is now deceased.
====National Archives and Records Administration====
*The [https://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/overview '''National Archives (NARA)'''] has immigration records for arrivals to the United States from foreign ports between approximately 1820 and 1982. The records are arranged by [https://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/passenger-arrival.html#https://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/passenger-arrival.html#where '''Port of Arrival (See Part 5).''']
:*You may do research in immigration records in person at the National Archives Building, 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20408-0001. 
*Some [https://www.archives.gov/locations '''National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) regional facilities'''] have selected immigration records; call to verify their availability or check the online Microfilm Catalog.
*Libraries with large genealogical collections, such as the [https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog '''FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City, Utah'''] and the [https://acpl-cms.wise.oclc.org/genealogy '''Allen County Piblic Library'''] also have selected NARA microfilm publications.
:*Order copies of passenger arrival records with [https://www.archives.gov/files/forms/pdf/natf-81.pdf '''NATF Form 81'''.]
=====North Carolina Ports in NARA Records=====
*[https://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/port/atlantic-gulf-great-lakes.html Beaufort, North Carolina, 1865]
*[https://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/port/atlantic-gulf-great-lakes.html Edenton, North Carolina, 1820]
*[https://eservices.archives.gov/orderonline/start.swe?SWECmd=GotoView&SWEBHWND=&_sn=d5lX08DUaDOh3tEXa6h1RFMPKfFcNGT4XfaM8cWH6bLduds7YpfZsk4X4KHVhImlPV9i.VY21pzWXxV55fZIc9mo3Lu6WG2ybysyEn23hIWwyt7voC6MlektTMU7NZ2nLDjgUDLU9gMKxogWbbAFqjyLOBrdzkDe46gMVGrkLE0No7PeSpuoCD9vOfIyfe5ComVGUw6rFPc_&SWEView=GPEA+Microfilm+Landing+Page+View+MIF&SRN=&SWEHo=eservices.archives.gov&SWETS=1617407806&SWEScreen=GPEA+Microfilm+MIF Morehead City, North Carolina, 1908-1958]
*[https://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/port/atlantic-gulf-great-lakes.html New Bern, North Carolina, 1820-1865]
*[https://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/port/atlantic-gulf-great-lakes.html Plymouth, North Carolina, 1820-1840]
*[https://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/port/atlantic-gulf-great-lakes.html Washington, North Carolina, 1820-1848]
*[https://eservices.archives.gov/orderonline/start.swe?SWECmd=GotoView&SWEScreen=GPEA+Microfilm+MIF&SWEView=GPEA+Microfilm+Landing+Page+View+MIF Wilmington, North Carolina, 1908-1958]


====U.S. Citizenship and and Immigration Services Genealogy Program====
*Johnston, Hugh B., ''They Moved Away : North Carolinians Who Went to Other States'' (Wilson, NC : Wilson County Genealogical Society (NC), c1997) {{WorldCat|38214181|disp=At various libraries (WorldCat)}};  {{FHL|692205|item|disp=FHL book 975.6 W2j}}
The [https://www.uscis.gov/records/genealogy '''USCIS Genealogy Program'''] is a fee-for-service program that provides researchers with timely access to historical immigration and naturalization records of deceased immigrants. If the immigrant was born less than 100 years ago, you will also need to provide proof of his/her death.
=====Immigration Records Available=====
*[https://www.uscis.gov/history-and-genealogy/genealogy/historical-record-series/a-files-numbered-below-8-million '''A-Files:'''] Immigrant Files, (A-Files) are the individual alien case files, which became the official file for all immigration records created or consolidated since April 1, 1944.
*[https://www.uscis.gov/records/genealogy/historical-record-series/alien-registration-forms-on-microfilm-1940-1944 '''Alien Registration Forms (AR-2s):'''] Alien Registration Forms (Form AR-2) are copies of approximately 5.5 million Alien Registration Forms completed by all aliens age 14 and older, residing in or entering the United States between August 1, 1940 and March 31, 1944.
*[https://www.uscis.gov/history-and-genealogy/genealogy/historical-record-series/registry-files-march-2-1929-march-31-1944''' Registry Files:'''] Registry Files are records, which document the creation of immigrant arrival records for persons who entered the United States prior to July 1, 1924, and for whom no arrival record could later be found.
*[https://www.uscis.gov/history-and-genealogy/genealogy/historical-record-series/visa-files-july-1-1924-march-31-1944'''Visa Files:'''] Visa Files are original arrival records of immigrants admitted for permanent residence under provisions of the Immigration Act of 1924.<ref>"Genealogy", at USCIS, https://www.uscis.gov/records/genealogy, accessed 26 March 2021.</ref>


=====Requesting a Record=====
*Eaker, Lorena Shell, ''German speaking people west of the Catawba River in North Carolina, 1750-1800 : and some émigrés participation in early settlement of Southeast Missouri'' (Franklin, NC : Genealogy Pub. Service, c1994) {{WorldCat|31738564|disp=At various libraries (WorldCat)}}; {{FHL|694562|item|disp=FHL book 975.6 W2e)}}
*[https://genealogy.uscis.dhs.gov/ '''Web Request Page'''] allows you to request a records, pay fees, and upload supporting documents (proof of death).
*[https://www.uscis.gov/records/genealogy/genealogical-records-help/record-requests-frequently-asked-questions '''Record Requests Frequently Asked Questions''']


==Finding Town of Origin==
*Tyler H. Blethen and Curtis W. Wood, Jr. ''From Ulster to Carolina : the Migration of the Scotch-Irish to southwestern North Carolina'' (Raleigh, NC : North Carolina Dept. of Cultural Resources, c1998) {{WorldCat|39557158|At various libraries (WorldCat)}};  {{FHL|742097|item|disp=FHL book 975.6 F2bL}}
Records in the countries emigrated from are kept on the local level. You must first identify the '''name of the town''' where your ancestors lived to access those records. If you do not yet know the name of the town of your ancestor's birth, there are well-known strategies for a thorough hunt for it.
*[[U. S. Immigration Records: Finding the Town of Origin|'''U. S. Immigration Records: Finding the Town of Origin''']]


==Background==
*North Carolina passenger lists and other lists of immigrants can be found in the Family History Library Catalog by using a Place Search under:
*The earliest pre-statehood settlers of North Carolina were generally of '''English descent''' and came from Virginia and South Carolina to the Coastal Plain region, between 1650 and 1730.
*In the early 1700s, small groups of '''French Huguenot, German Palatine, and Swiss immigrants''' founded towns on the coast.
*Between 1729 and 1775, several thousand '''Scottish settlers''' came directly from the Scottish Highlands and the Western Isles to settle the upper Cape Fear Valley.
*During the same period, many '''Ulster Scots and Germans''' came overland down the Great Philadelphia Wagon Road into the central and western portions of the state.
*'''African Americans''' were brought to North Carolina very early and now constitute about one-fifth of the state’s population.
*North Carolina did not attract heavy settlement after the Revolutionary War and lost much of its population in the '''westward movement to Tennessee, Illinois, and other new states and territories'''.


==Immigration Records==
:'''NORTH CAROLINA - EMIGRATION AND IMMIGRATION'''
'''Immigration''' refers to people coming into a country. '''Emigration''' refers to people leaving a country to go to another.  Immigration records usually take the form of ship's '''passenger lists''' collected at the port of entry. See [[North Carolina Emigration and Immigration#Online Resources|'''Online Resources'''.]]
===What can I find in them?===
====[[North Carolina Emigration and Immigration #Online Resources|Information in Passenger Lists]]====
*'''Before 1820''' - Passenger lists before 1820 included '''name, departure information and arrival details'''.  The names of wives and children were often not included. 


*'''1820-1891''' - Customs Passenger Lists between 1820 and 1891 asked for '''each immigrant’s name, their age, their sex, their occupation, and their country of origin''', but not the city or town of origin.
:'''NORTH CAROLINA, [COUNTY] - EMIGRATION AND IMMIGRATION'''


*'''1891-1954''' - Information given on passenger lists from 1891 to 1954 included:
=== Migration  ===
**name, age, sex,
**nationality, occupation, marital status,
**last residence, final destination in the U.S.,
**whether they had been to the U.S. before (and if so, when, where and how long),
**if joining a relative, who this person was, where they lived, and their relationship,
**whether able to read and write,
**whether in possession of a train ticket to their final destination, who paid for the passage,
**amount of money the immigrant had in their possession,
**whether the passenger had ever been in prison, a poorhouse, or in an institution for the insane,
**whether the passenger was a polygamist,
**and immigrant's state of health.


*'''1906--'''  - In 1906, the '''physical description and place of birth''' were included, and a year later, the '''name and address of the passenger’s closest living relative in the country of origin''' was included.
Three of the major roads used to reach North Carolina were:


====[[North Carolina Emigration and Immigration#Passport Records Online|Information in Passports]] ====
*[[King's Highway]]  
Over the years, passports and passport applications contained different amounts of information about the passport applicant. The first passports that are available begin in 1795. These usually contained the individual's name, description of individual, and age. More information was required on later passport applications, such as:
*[[Fall Line Road]]
*[[Great Valley Road]]


*Birthplace 
Other migration routes are listed on the [[North Carolina]] page.
*Birth date
*Naturalization information
*Arrival information, if foreign born


== In-Country Migration  ==
Free native-born North Carolinians, alive in 1850, who had left the state, resettled as follows:<ref name="Lynch">These statistics do not account for the large number of North Carolinians who had migrated and died before the year 1850. See: William O. Lynch, "The Westward Flow of Southern Colonists before 1861," ''The Journal of Southern History,'' Vol. 9, No. 3 (Aug. 1943):303-327. Digital version at [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2191319 JSTOR] ($).</ref>
===North Carolina Migration Routes===
 
[[Atlantic Coast Ports]]{{·}} [[Black Fox Trail]] {{·}} [[Catawba and Northern Trail]] {{·}} [[Catawba Trail]] {{·}} [[Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad]] {{·}} [[Fall Line Road]] [[Fall Line Road|Southern Road]] {{·}} [[Fayetteville, Elizabethtown, and Wilmington Trail]] {{·}} [[Great Valley Road]] {{·}} [[Jonesboro Road]] {{·}} [[King's Highway]] {{·}} [[Lower Cherokee Traders' Path]] {{·}} [[New River and Southern Trail]] {{·}} [[Occaneechi Path]] {{·}} [[Old Cherokee Path]] {{·}} [[Rutherford's War Trace]] {{·}} [[Secondary Coast Road]] {{·}} [[Unicoi Trail]] {{·}} [[Upper Road]] {{·}} [[Wilmington, Highpoint, and Northern Trail]]
{| border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" width="100%"
==For Further Reading==
|-
The FamilySearch Library has additional sources listed in their catalog:
| bgcolor="#cccccc" | '''State'''
*{{FSC|United States, North Carolina - Emigration and immigration|subject|subject-id=478986908|disp=United States, North Carolina - Emigration and immigration}}
| bgcolor="#cccccc" | '''Persons Born in North Carolina'''
*{{FSC|United States, North Carolina - Minorities|subject|subject-id=813785263|disp=United States, North Carolina - Minorities}}
| bgcolor="#cccccc" | '''Percentage'''
|-
| Tennessee
| 72,027
|-
| Georgia
| 37,522
|-
| Indiana
| 33,175
|-
| Alabama
| 28,521
|-
| Mississippi
| 21,487
|-
| Missouri
| 17,009
|-
| Kentucky
| 14,279
|-
| Illinois
| 13,851
|-
| Arkansas
| 8,772
|-
| South Carolina
| 6,173
|-
| Texas
| 5,155
|-
| Ohio  
| 4,807
|-
| Florida
| 3,537
|-
| Louisiana
| 2,923
|}
 
Robertson compiled a list of North Carolinians living in Kansas in 1860:
 
*Robertson, Clara Hamlett. ''Kansas Territorial Settlers of 1860 Who were Born in Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina:&nbsp;A Compilation with Historical Annotations and Editorial Comment''. Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1976. {{FHL|978.1 H2ro}}; digital version at [http://www.worldvitalrecords.com/indexinfo.aspx?ix=gpc0806306971_clarahamlettrobertson1976 World Vital Records] ($).
 
Useful sources showing migration patterns are:  
 
*Dollarhide, William. ''Map Guide to American Migration Routes, 1735–1815''. Bountiful, Utah: AGLL Genealogical Services, 1997. (Family History Library book {{FHL|973 E3d|disp=973 E3d}}.) This book contains many good maps.
*Billington, Ray Allen. ''Westward Expansion: A History of the American Frontier''. 5th ed. New York, New York: Macmillan Publishing, 1982. (Family History Library book {{FHL|973 H2bw |disp=973 H2bw}} 1982.) This book has explanations and maps of settlement and migration of various groups.
 
Works on migration within and through North Carolina are listed under:
 
:'''UNITED STATES - MIGRATION, INTERNAL'''
 
:'''NORTH CAROLINA - MIGRATION, INTERNAL'''


== References  ==
== References  ==


{{reflist}}
[[North Carolina|North Carolina]]. Salt Lake City, Utah: Intellectual Reserve, Inc., Family History Department, 1998, 2001.
 
:<br>


{{North Carolina|North Carolina}}  
{{North Carolina|North Carolina}}  


[[Category:North Carolina, United States|Emigration]] [[Category:Scots-Irish]] [[Category:African American Records]] [[Category:United States Emigration and Immigration|1]]
[[Category:North_Carolina|Emigration]] [[Category:English]] [[Category:Scots-Irish]] [[Category:Huguenots]] [[Category:African_Americans]]

Revision as of 18:08, 6 June 2012

United States Emigration and Immigration >North Carolina

North Carolina’s treacherous coastline prevented significant immigration by sea. Most immigrants arrived at major northern ports such as New York, Baltimore, Boston, and Philadelphia. The United States Emigration and Immigration Wiki article lists several important sources for finding information about immigrants to this country. These sources include many references to people who settled in North Carolina. Tracing Immigrant Origins introduces the principles, research strategies, and additional record types you can use to identify an immigrant’s original hometown. Template:Adoption NCGenWeb

People[edit | edit source]

The earliest pre-statehood settlers of North Carolina were generally of English descent and came from Virginia and South Carolina to the Coastal Plain region, between 1650 and 1730. In the early 1700s, small groups of French Huguenot, German Palatine, and Swiss immigrants founded towns on the coast. Between 1729 and 1775, several thousand Scottish settlers came directly from the Scottish Highlands and the Western Isles to settle the upper Cape Fear Valley.

During the same period, many Ulster Scots and Germans came overland down the Great Philadelphia Wagon Road into the central and western portions of the state. African Americans were brought to North Carolina very early and now constitute about one-fifth of the state’s population. Histories of Germans, Scots, and African Americans are listed in the Family History Library Catalog under NORTH CAROLINA - MINORITIES.

Although most of the Cherokee Indians were removed from North Carolina in the late 1830s, some remained and many of their descendants still live in the western part of the state. See Indians of North Carolina for further information about American Indians in North Carolina.

North Carolina did not attract heavy settlement after the Revolutionary War and lost much of its population in the westward movement to Tennessee, Illinois, and other new states and territories.


Records[edit | edit source]

  • Clay, James W. North Carolina Atlas. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press, 1975. (Family History Library book 975.6 E3c; film 1597810 item 2.) This atlas shows the formation of counties and the patterns of European settlement.
  • United States. Bureau of Customs. Copies of Lists of Passengers Arriving at Miscellaneous Ports on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts and at Ports on the Great Lakes, 1820–1873. National Archives Microfilm Publications, M575. Washington, DC: National Archives, 1964. FHL films 830231 (first of 26) Incomplete lists of passengers for five minor ports in North Carolina: Beaufort, 1865; Edentown, 1820; New Berne, 1820–1865; Plymouth, 1820–1840; and Washington, 1820–1848.
  • Indexes to these minor ports lists
    United States. Bureau of Customs. A Supplemental Index to Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Atlantic and Gulf Coast Ports, 1820–1874. National Archives Microfilm Publications, M334. Washington, DC: National Archives, 1960. FHL films 418161–418348) A comprehensive list of about 140,000 immigrants to America from Britain is:
  • Eaker, Lorena Shell, German speaking people west of the Catawba River in North Carolina, 1750-1800 : and some émigrés participation in early settlement of Southeast Missouri (Franklin, NC : Genealogy Pub. Service, c1994) At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL book 975.6 W2e)
  • Tyler H. Blethen and Curtis W. Wood, Jr. From Ulster to Carolina : the Migration of the Scotch-Irish to southwestern North Carolina (Raleigh, NC : North Carolina Dept. of Cultural Resources, c1998) WorldCat 39557158; FHL book 975.6 F2bL
  • North Carolina passenger lists and other lists of immigrants can be found in the Family History Library Catalog by using a Place Search under:
NORTH CAROLINA - EMIGRATION AND IMMIGRATION
NORTH CAROLINA, [COUNTY] - EMIGRATION AND IMMIGRATION

Migration[edit | edit source]

Three of the major roads used to reach North Carolina were:

Other migration routes are listed on the North Carolina page.

Free native-born North Carolinians, alive in 1850, who had left the state, resettled as follows:[1]

State Persons Born in North Carolina Percentage
Tennessee 72,027
Georgia 37,522
Indiana 33,175
Alabama 28,521
Mississippi 21,487
Missouri 17,009
Kentucky 14,279
Illinois 13,851
Arkansas 8,772
South Carolina 6,173
Texas 5,155
Ohio 4,807
Florida 3,537
Louisiana 2,923

Robertson compiled a list of North Carolinians living in Kansas in 1860:

  • Robertson, Clara Hamlett. Kansas Territorial Settlers of 1860 Who were Born in Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina: A Compilation with Historical Annotations and Editorial Comment. Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1976. FHL 978.1 H2ro; digital version at World Vital Records ($).

Useful sources showing migration patterns are:

  • Dollarhide, William. Map Guide to American Migration Routes, 1735–1815. Bountiful, Utah: AGLL Genealogical Services, 1997. (Family History Library book 973 E3d.) This book contains many good maps.
  • Billington, Ray Allen. Westward Expansion: A History of the American Frontier. 5th ed. New York, New York: Macmillan Publishing, 1982. (Family History Library book 973 H2bw 1982.) This book has explanations and maps of settlement and migration of various groups.

Works on migration within and through North Carolina are listed under:

UNITED STATES - MIGRATION, INTERNAL
NORTH CAROLINA - MIGRATION, INTERNAL

References[edit | edit source]

North Carolina. Salt Lake City, Utah: Intellectual Reserve, Inc., Family History Department, 1998, 2001.


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  1. ↑ These statistics do not account for the large number of North Carolinians who had migrated and died before the year 1850. See: William O. Lynch, "The Westward Flow of Southern Colonists before 1861," The Journal of Southern History, Vol. 9, No. 3 (Aug. 1943):303-327. Digital version at JSTOR ($).

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