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Carteret County, North Carolina, was formed from Craven County in 1722, although the deeds for the Carteret precinct of Craven County begin in 1713, the starting point for this work publication from noted genealogist John Anderson Brayton.

Mr. Brayton's abstracts of the earliest extant deeds for Carteret County tell us a great deal about the origins and identities of its pioneering families. Many of them flowed in from Beaufort, Craven, Pasquotank, and Perquimans counties, North Carolina, and Norfolk County, Virginia. During the nearly fifty years under investigation, dozens of families arrived from New England, including a number whose estate divisions related to Bristol County, Massachusetts. Mr. Brayton has extracted everything from these early deeds possessing a kernel of genealogical value, including the date, names of all parties noted in the deed including prior owners, terms of sale, name and geographical markings of the property, and the names of witnesses. The abstracts identify upwards of 3,000 inhabitants of Carteret County, as revealed in the volume’s name index. To expedite the research process further, Mr. Brayton has also added a location index, an index to slaves, and a list of his previous publications. All in all, this is another excellent source from one of America's leading genealogists working today.