A Branch of the Ross Home Library
From Bath to Beaufort, 1696 - 1712
Old Bath County, no longer extant, was formed in 1696 and named after John Grenville, Earl of Bath. Its first settlers were mostly of English background--second, third, and even fourth generation sons of the Albemarle region and/or southern provinces of Virginia, who moved into the area on foot. A few came north from the failing colony at Clarendon. By 1705, the Council divided Bath into three new "Precincts": Pamptecough (later Beaufort), Wickham (later Hyde), and Archdale (later Craven). The precincts soon became populous enough to designate as counties, at about which time (1712) they were renamed as we know them today.
Beaufort County, named for Henry, Duke of Beaufort, is one of the oldest seven of North Carolina's counties, but originally held in its jurisdiction much more land. In 1760, the western portion of Beaufort was cut off with the establishment of Pitt County. The town of Bath, which had been the seat of the older county, became a small, sleepy town in the newer county, and the court house was eventually moved to the new town of Washington, established in 1771. The new seat remains the largest town in the county, and is perched on the Pamlico River at the point of its narrowing into the smaller watercourse of the Tar River.
Resources and Links for Study
- History of Beaufort and Pitt County Formation.
Excerpt from "The Changing Shape of Pitt County, North Carolina: 1761-1895"- Beaufort Co. Militia, 1781. "Affective Men in the Beaufort Ragiment"
- Brief Abstracts, American Recorder, 1815-1825.
- Free Church on Chocowinity.
- Church Meeting Minutes, Chocowinity, Beau. Co., 1858.
- Beaufort Co. Map, Major Towns & Waterways.
External Links
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- Bath County Immigrants: 1695 - 1702 (*)
- Beaufort/Hyde County 1715 Corn Tax
- Beaufort County 1764 Tax List
- Beaufort County Census Records:
- 1790 Beaufort Co., NC Census
- 1800 Beaufort Co., NC Census
- 1810 Beaufort Co., NC Census
- 1820 Beaufort Co., NC Census
- Index to Beaufort Co. Marriages in the NC Marriages Database, an NCGenWeb project.
- Beaufort County Resources at Rootsweb; search engines for all webpages, GenConnect boards, and mailing lists.
- Beaufort County Mailing List at Rootsweb, subscribe; put "subscribe" in the body, no signature.
- Beaufort County Genealogical Society. An active group with a long list of publications for sale. Membership includes subscription to the biannual Pamptico Tracings.
- Beaufort Community College.
- Historic Albemarle Tour, includes:
- Political Graveyard, Beaufort County. Lawrence Kestenbaum, creator. Gravestones of politicians arranged by county and state.
- Beaufort Co. Sites on the National Register.
- Pitt County Family Researchers. An active group since 1994, includes its parent and neighboring counties in its library. A must-visit site! Join the PCFR open mail list; instructions provided. This website houses many valuable resources.
- NCGenWeb Home Page. Find our neighboring counties here.
- NCGenWeb Archives, Beaufort County. Source material. Please consider contributing transcriptions!
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Copyright © 19992004 Elizabeth Ross. Information on these web pages may be copied for personal use only, providing credit is given to the author and/or contributor . Commercial distribution in any manner is strictly prohibited; non-commercial distribution by book, periodical, website, or mail list, in part or in whole, must demonstrate proof of permission from the contributor. Graphics are the property of Elizabeth Ross unless otherwise indicated, all rights reserved. Rootsweb logo is the property of Rootsweb, Inc.
Created: Nov. 12, 1999.
Last modified: May 1, 2004