Sign up for Genealogy Pointers »

Anson County, which at its formation in 1750 encompassed all of central and western North Carolina and portions of South Carolina, is the parent of the North Carolina counties of Mecklenburg, Montgomery, Richmond, Rowan, and Union. The work at hand, written by journalist and historian Mary Medley and sponsored by the Anson County Historical Society, is the only comprehensive history of Anson County. The narrative spans over 225 years of the county's growth from a vast wilderness to a thriving industrial and agricultural community.

The first third of the volume traces politics in the county, with important chapters devoted to Anson's fiercely independent Regulator movement preceding the American Revolution. The middle portion of the volume covers Anson's social history: education, religion, agriculture and industry, social and cultural life, etc. Genealogists will undoubtedly be most interested in the final third of the book. It is here that the author provides biographical sketches of scores of Anson "Men and Women of Note" and the following important source records: First Land Grants in Anson County; Early Deeds from Anson County Deed Book I; Anson County Marriage Records, 1786-87; various Anson County Revolutionary War and War of 1812 pension lists; and a number of lists of elected and appointed officials spanning the history of Anson County.