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Rowan County, North Carolina, occupying territory comprised ultimately of forty-five counties, which when erected encompassed most of the western part of the state and all of Tennessee, was a conduit through which poured thousands of early pioneers and settlers. It was formed in 1753 from Anson County, whose early records were lost to fire. Anson had been formed from Bladen County, where many records were similarly destroyed--once in 1765 and again in 1893. In Rowan, where there has been no major loss of records, lies the earliest extant set of court records for the entire area. Twenty-four counties in North Carolina and all of Tennessee have been formed from the area that once constituted Rowan County, and in consideration of this ample domain Rumple's History is no small consequence to the common heritage of the people of western North Carolina and Tennessee and to their scattered seed.

Based on official courthouse records, private family documents and manuscripts, and the personal recollections of many who have since been gathered to their fathers, Rumple's work has all the characteristics of a well-formulated county history cum genealogy. With a genial and attentive eye on family history and tradition, chapters are devoted to the following subjects: first settlers; county organization; the courthouse; early settlers in Salisbury; Indian Wars; religious denominations and early churches; the Revolution; Committee of Safety; old families on the Yadkin River; old families of Rowan; the War of 1812; and the roll of Rowan County soldiers in the Confederate Army--the Roll itself occupying no less than 70 pages of text.

This edition of Rumple's History includes a comprehensive index, as well as a Foreword written specially for this edition by the distinguished genealogist Jo White Linn.