Chatham County Genealogy-- North Carolina Genealogy - North Carolina Genealogy and History resources, links, information and articles

Suggest a resource/link or submit an article for inclusion

Chatham County Genealogy

Sign up for our North Carolina Genealogy newsletter:

The county was formed in 1771 from Orange County. It was named, like Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1758, for William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, who served as British Prime Minister from 1766 to 1768 and opposed harsh colonial policies.

In 1907 parts of Chatham County and Moore County were combined to form Lee County. The award winning PBS Documentary Family Name notes Chatham County as the place the relationship between the African-American and European-American branches of the Alston family originated. George Moses Horton, Historic Poet Laureate of Chatham County, North Carolina (1797?-1883) lived most of his life in Chatham County and is among the few slaves to have published material while still a slave.
Source Wikipedia

The Cape Fear river begins in Chatham County where the Haw and Deep River’s join. This is below B. Everett Jordan Lake which is used for flood control and as a reservoir. It is controlled by the Army Corps of Engineers. It’s also part of the Jordan Lake State Recreation Area. The county is in North Carolina Slate Belt and the groundwater is full of minerals for which a resort near Mt. Vernon Springs gained renown in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The resort is gone, but the springs are owned by a local Church. Chatham county is also home to the only workable coal deposits in the state of North Carolina.

The county seat of Chatham County is Pittsboro. Chatham County contains the following townships: Albright, Baldwin, Bear Creek, Cape Fear, Center, Gulf, Hadley, Haw River, Hickory Mountain, Matthews, New Hope, Oakland, and Williams.

Sites of interest in Chatham County are the Carnivore Preservation Trust, Chatham County Historical Museuem, Jordan Lake Educational State Forest, the North Carolina Railroad Museum and the Fearrington Village and House.

Chatham County NCGenweb Site
Chatham County NCGenweb Archives (Digital Library)

Chatham County Historical Association, Inc.
P.O. Box 913
Pittsboro, NC 27312

[ad#canvas_on_demand_square]

Chatham County Courthouse
PO Box 87
County Courthouse
Pittsboro, NC 27312

Chatham County Public Libraries
The Wren Memorial Library
500 N. 2nd Avenue
Siler City, NC 27344

Census

1790 Federal Census – Hillsborough District – transcription

1800 Federal Census Index

1800 Federal Census transcription – part 1 of 3
1800 Federal Census transcription – part 2 of 3
1800 Federal Census transcription – part 3 of 3

1810 Federal Census Index

1820 Federal Census Index – by last name only

1820 Federal Census transcription Directory opens to listing of text files 1820cena.txt through 1820cend.txt