North Carolina Counties Their formation and the counties where most of the "Isley" families lived

North Carolina counties today

There are currently 100 counties. The list below gives the county name, date of formation, and the county or counties from which it was created. The list also includes original names and counties that are no longer in existence. Alamance, 1849, Orange. Albemarle*, 1664, Original County. Dissolved 1739. Alexander, 1847, Iredell, Caldwell, Wilkes. Alleghany, 1859, Ashe. Anson, 1750. Bladen. Archdale*, 1705 Bath. Name changed to Craven 1712. Ashe, 1799, Wilkes. Avery, 1911, Caldwell, Mitchell, Watauga. Bath*, 1696, Original County. Dissolved 1739. Beaufort, 1712, Name changed from Pamptecough. Berkeley*, 1670, Albemarle. Name changed to Perquimans 1681. Bertie, 1722, Chowan. Bladen, 1734, New Hanover. Brunswick, 1764. New Hanover, Bladen. Buncombe,1791, Burke, Rutherford. Burke, 1777, Rowan. Bute* 1764, Granville. Divided into Warren, Franklin 1779. Cabarrus, 1792, Mecklenburg. Caldwell, 1841, Burke, Wilkes. Camden, 1777, Pasquotank. Carteret, 1722, Craven. Caswell, 1777, Orange. Catawba, 1842, Lincoln. Chatham, 1770, Orange. Cherokee, 1839, Macon. Chowan, 1685, Name changed from Shaftesbury. Clarendon*, 1664, Original County, Discontinued 1667. Clay, 1861, Cherokee. Cleveland, 1841, Rutherford, Lincoln. Columbus, 1808, Bladen, Brunswick Craven, 1712, Name changed from Archdale. Cumberland, 1754, Bladen. Currituck, 1670, Albemarle. Dare, 1870, Currituck, Tyrrell, Hyde. Davidson*, (TN) 1783 Washington (TN). Ceded to U.S. in 1790. Davidson, 1822, Rowan. Davie, 1836, Rowan. Dobbs*, 1758, Johnston. Divided into Glasgow, Lenoir 1791. Duplin, 1750, New Hanover. Durham, 1881, Orange, Wake. Edgecombe, 1741, Bertie. Forsyth, 1849, Stokes. Franklin, 1779, Bute. Gaston, 1846, Lincoln. Gates, 1778, Chowan, Hertford, Perquimans. Glasgow*, 1791, Dobbs. Name changed to Greene 1799. Graham, 1872, Cherokee. Granville, 1746, Edgecombe. Greene*, (TN) 1783 Washington (TN). Ceded to U.S. in 1790. Greene, 1799, Name changed from Glasgow 1799. Guilford, 1770, Rowan, Orange. Halifax, 1758, Edgecombe. Harnett, 1855, Cumberland. Hawkins,* (TN) 1787 Sullivan (TN). Ceded to U.S. in 1790. Haywood, 1808, Buncombe. Henderson, 1838, Buncombe. Hertford, 1759, Bertie, Chowan, Northampton. Hoke, 1911, Cumberland, Robeson. Hyde, 1712, Name changed from Wickham. Iredell, 1788, Rowan. Jackson, 1851, Haywood, Macon. Johnston, 1746, Craven. Jones, 1778, Craven. Lee, 1907, Chatham, Moore. Lenoir, 1791, Dobbs. Lincoln, 1779, Tryon. Macon, 1828, Haywood. Madison, 1851, Buncombe, Yancey. Martin, 1774, Halifax, Tyrrell. McDowell, 1842, Burke, Rutherford. Mecklenburg, 1762, Anson. Mitchell, 1861, Watauga, Yancey. Montgomery, 1778, Anson. Moore, 1784, Cumberland. Nash, 1777, Edgecombe. New Hanover, 1729, Craven. Northampton, 1741 ,Bertie. Onslow, 1734, New Hanover. Orange, 1752, Bladen, Granville, Johnston. Pamlico, 1872, Beaufort, Craven. Pamptecough*, 1705, Bath. Name changed to Beaufort 1712. Pasquotank, 1670, Albemarle. Pender, 1875, New Hanover. Perquiman,s 1681, Name changed from Berkeley. Person, 1791, Caswell. Pitt, 1760, Beaufort. Polk*, 1847, Henderson, Rutherford. Abolished 1848. Polk, 1855, Henderson, Rutherford. Randolph, 1778, Guilford. Richmond, 1779, Anson. Robeson, 1786, Bladen. Rockingham, 1785, Guilford. Rowan, 1753, Anson. Rutherford, 1779, Tryon. Sampson, 1784, Duplin. Scotland, 1899, Richmond. Shaftesbury*, 1670, Albemarle. Name changed to Chowan 1685. Stanley, 1841, Montgomery. Stokes, 1789, Surry. Sullivan*(TN), 1779, Washington (TN). Ceded to U.S. in 1790. Sumner*, (TN) 1787 Davidson (TN). Ceded to U.S. in 1790. Surry, 1770, Rowan. Swain, 1871, Jackson, Macon. Tennessee* (TN), 1788, Davidson (TN). Ceded to U.S. in 1790. Transylvania, 1861, Henderson, Jackson. Tryon*, 1768, Mecklenburg. Divided into Lincoln, Rutherford 1779. Tyrrel, 1729, Bertie, Chowan, Currituck, Pasquotank. Union, 1842, Anson, Mecklenburg. Vance, 1881, Franklin, Granville, Warren. Wake, 1770, Cumberland, Johnston, Orange. Walton* (GA), 1803, Formed by GA inside NC. Abolished 1812. Warren, 1779, Bute. Washington*(TN), 1776, Western lands. Ceded to U.S. in 1790. Washington, 1799, Tyrrell. Watauga, 1849, Ashe, Caldwell, Wilkes, Yancey. Wayne, 1779, Dobbs. Wickham*, 1705, Bath. Name changed to Hyde 1712. Wilkes,1777, Surry, Washington (TN). Wilson, 1855, Edgecombe, Johnston, Nash, Wayne. Yadkin, 1850, Surry. Yancey, 1833, Buncombe, Burke. 1. All counties marked with an asterisk * are no longer extant or no longer within the bounds of North Carolina. North Carolina currently has 100 counties. 2. All counties formed from Bath and Albemarle were actually "Precincts" of those two counties until 1739 when they all became designated as "counties", when Albemarle and Bath Counties were dissolved. 3. The 7 Counties marked (TN) are in what is now the State of Tennessee, but when created, where considered in North Carolina. This territory was ceded to the U.S. Government in 1790. From 1790 through 1796 this land was known as the "Territory South of the Ohio River". In 1796 it became the State of Tennessee. 4. Walton County, Georgia was formed erroneously by the State of Georgia inside North Carolina's boundaries in 1803. This caused quite a bit of confusion at the time. The county boundaries are impossible to figure out, but was in the area of modern Jackson and Transylvania Counties. In those days (1803-1812) the area was also claimed by Buncombe and Haywood Counties. (Information compiled by Marvin A. Grant, Jr., Copyright © 1997-2004)

Alamance County

Few facts in Alamance history are more disputed than the origin of the name "Alamance". Although some sources claim that Alamance was named by early German immigrants who came here from the "Alemanni" region of the Rhineland, others claim that the Indians called the Alamance Creek by the Indian word "Amonsi" or "Alamons," which meant "noisy river" or by another word which meant "blue clay". Alamance was formed 29 January1849 from Orange County. The first court was ordered to be held at Providence Meeting House until a courthouse could be erected, provided the justices of the peace at the first session did not select some other place for all subsequent courts until the buildings were completed. Commissioners were named to select a site in the center of the county, acquire land, erect a courthouse, and lay out a town by the name of Graham. Graham was established in 1851 and is the county seat.

Alamance Townships

Alamance County - 1895

In 1861, the United States began to fragment due to growing questions of states' rights concerning issues of money, agriculture, representation, and slavery.  In February of that year, a peace conference was held in Washington, DC.  North Carolina sent five delegates to this conference, including Chief Justice Thomas Ruffin of Haw River, an Alamance County community.  Justice Ruffin was opposed to secession, but was voted down.  Later on, President Buchanan said that if Ruffin had persisted, the war might have been averted.  In March, 1861, Alamance County residents voted against North Carolina's secession from the Union, 1,114 to 254.  Hostilities would later prove that vote moot. Alamance County joined the rest of North Carolina as the state split off from the Union and joined the Confederate States.  Although no battles took place in the county itself, Alamance County did send its share of sons and brothers to the front lines.  Only in the last months of the war did the residents of the county see a significant number of troops.  Most important of these events was when President Jefferson Davis dictated a note to General Johnston for Union General Sherman.  General Johnston delivered that note, stopping in Company Shops to drop off some of the last of his men. Some of the most  significant effects of the Civil War were seen after the war.  Alamance County briefly became a center of attention when, in 1870, a confrontation between local residents and an apparently corrupt Army colonel led to several people being wrongfully accused and arrested for various crimes.  Only after involvement by a U. S. District Judge were these men and women freed and cleared of crimes.  This event came to be known as the Kirk-Holden War.