HUDSON family census reports, Randolph Co., NC (1790-1840)

At this time, I do not know of a direct connection between my GODWIN family and the HUDSON Family of Randolph County, North Carolina.

However, the family of Nathan Godwin and Lorena Hudson of Lowndes County, Alabama is an exact match to my Godwin Grandfather's Y-DNA on FamilyTreeDNA.

You can view our DNA results here. We are listed under Group 2.

In an effort to determine who the parents of Lorena HUDSON were, I researched as many HUDSON families as I could from Randolph Co., NC, which is where this family is said to have come from.

I researched land grants, deed records, and census reports primarily; there were no Hudson or Hutson wills or estate files recorded in Randolph Co, NC during this time.

Below is a list of Hudson entries in the census reports for Randolph Co., NC from 1790 to 1840. If you have anything to add, please leave a comment below or email me.

For more information about the Nathan Godwin and Lorena Hudson family of Lowndes Co., AL or about the Hudson Family research I have done, see these posts:

Hudson and Godwin Family Research Goals
Hudson Family Research Update 
Nathan Godwin and Lorena Hudson family of Lowndes Co., AL

HUDSON / HUTSON Family Census Reports of Randolph County, North Carolina

from 1790- 1840

1790 Randolph County, North Carolina
-   There were 6 Hudsons enumerated

1790 Randolph Co., NC Roll M637_7, p. 163
Richard Hudson: 2m > 16 [b. bef 1774]
2m < 16 [b. bet 1774-1790] 4 females; (same page as John Hudson)

1790 Randolph Co., NC Roll M637_7, p. 172
 Joseph Hudson: 1m > 16 [b. bef 1774]
4m < 16 [b. bet 1774-1790] 2 females

1790 Randolph Co., NC Roll M637_7, p. 163
John Hudson: 1m > 16 [b. bef 1774]
(same page as Richard Hudson)

1790 Randolph Co., NC
Roll M637_7, p. 180
Lemuel Hudson: 1m > 16 [b. bef 1774]


1790 Randolph Co., NC
Roll M637_7, p. 161
John Hudson: 1m > 16 [b. bef 1774]
3m < 16 [b. bet 1774-1790] 4 females

1790 Randolph Co., NC Roll M637_7, p. 171
Obediah Hudson: 1m > 16 [b. bef 1774]
2m < 16 [b. bet 1774-1790] 2 females

1800

1800 Randolph Co., NC (Hillsboro)
Roll 32, p. 320
Joseph Hudson: 2m < 10, 2m 10-15, 1m 16-25, 1m 45+; 1f 16-25, 1f 45+ [b. bef 1755]

1800 Randolph Co., NC (Hillsboro) Roll 32, p. 318
John Hudson: 1m < 10, 1m 26-44; 2f < 10, 1f 26-44 [b. bet 1756-1774]
Same page as Nathan and Richard Hudson

1800 Randolph Co., NC (Hillsboro) Roll 32, p. 319
Obediah Hudson: 2m < 10, 1m 26-44, 1f < 10, 1f 10-15, 1f 26-44 [b. bet 1756-1774]

1800 Randolph Co., NC (Hillsboro) Roll 32, p. 318
Nathan Hudson: 1m < 10, 1m 16-25, 1f < 10, 1f 16-25 [b. bet 1775-1784]
Same page as Richard and John Hudson

1800 Randolph Co., NC (Hillsboro) Roll 32, p. 318
Richard Hudson: 1m 10-15, 1m 45+, 1f 10-15, 1f 45+ [b. bef 1755]
Same page as Nathan and John Hudson


1810

1810 Randolph Co., NC
Roll 38, p. 166
Joseph Hutson, 5m 16-25, 1m 45+, 2f 16-25, 1f 45+
[b. bef 1765]
This is the only Hudson family found in 1810

1820
Did not survive for Randolph co., NC

1830

1830 Randolph Co., NC (Regiment 1)
Page 45
Peter Hutson, 1m 5-10, 1m 30-40, 2f < 5, 1f 5-10, 1f 10-15, 1f 20-30 [b. bet 1790-1800]
Same page as Joseph Hutson

1830 Randolph Co., NC (Regiment 2) Page 52
John Hutson Esqrs: 1m 60-70, 3f 15-20, 1f 50-60 [b. bet 1760-1770]

1830 Randolph Co., NC (Regiment 1) Page 45
Joseph Hutson: 1m 40-50, 1m 80-90, 1f 40-50 [b. bet 1740-1750]
Same page as Peter Hutson

1840

1840 Randolph Co., South Division, NC
Roll 369, page 68
John Hutson: 1m 50-60 [b. bet 1780-1790]
Same page as Abel and Peter Hutson


1840 Randolph Co., South Division, NC
Roll 369, page 60
John Hutson, 1m < 5, 2m 10-15, 1m 20-30, 1m 30-40; 1f < 5, 2f 5-10, 1f 20-30, 1f 30-40; [b. bet 1800-1810]

1840 Randolph Co., South Division, NC Roll 369, page 68
Abel Hutson, 1m 70-80, 1f 30-40 [b. bet 1760-1770]
Same page as Peter and John Hutson

1840 Randolph Co., Northern Division, NC Roll 369, p. 87
Lane Hutson, 1m < 5, 2m 10-15, 1m 40-50, 1f < 5, 1f 5-10, 1f 10-15, 2f 15-20, 1f 40-50 [b. bet 1790-1800]

1840 Randolph Co., South Division, NC Roll 369, page 68
Peter Hutson, 1m < 5, 1m 5-10, 1m 10-15, 1m 40-50; 2f 10-15, 1f 15-20, 1f 20-30, 1f 30-40 [b. bet 1790-1800]
Same page as John and Abel Hutson

Genealogy Journal - Hudson Family Update

Ok, I believe that I have spent way too much time sorting through and documenting all the Randolph Co., NC Hudson families! I started this project on 2/20/09 and for the past 5 days I have been inputting deed, land, and census information into an excel database and my Family Tree Maker software. Each time I find a new Hudson family member, I look for his or her census reports. Here is my hourly breakdown of time spent on this project (this is more for my own FYI to see how much time I spend/waste on collateral lines)

2/23/09, 7:30-10:30: Went through excel database and entered all Deed records for Hudson families in Randolph Co., NC. These were copied from the Randolph Co., NC deed index list I copied from the grantors index film at the archives. My next goal would be to locate and copy the actual deeds.

2/24/09, 7:30-10:30: Went through excel database and entered all Land grant records into FTM software under corresponding name(s). I entered the records as sources cited for the name records and I copied all record summaries into the notes section of each person involved. I updated the excel spreadsheet with a note that said I had entered the record as a source and as notes in my family tree maker software. I had a deed record for a Wesley Hudson, so I looked for him on the census reports. That is how I found the family of Elizabeth Hudson.

10:30-11:30 pm: Found and started sorting through the Elizabeth Hudson family mentioned above. Started inputting into my FTM software, then I realized that all the children listed in the census reports were not necessarily Elizabeth's children, so I had to undo what I had done. Entered census info into Hudson excel spreadsheet and copied for each name.

2/25/09 - 8:30 - 11:30 am: trying to muddle through the census reports of Elizabeth Hudson in Randolph Co., NC for the years 1850-1880. She had 3 daughters, each listed with the Hudson surname and several grandchildren between them, also listed with the Hudson surname. I have been trying to figure out what child belongs to what daughter so that I can input them into my family tree maker sofware correctly. Then I got caught up in looking at Randolph Co., NC marriage records for the Hudson family to try to get a better understanding of why the Hudson daughters did not use their married names on the census reports. And because I am as particular as I am, I simply had to have ALL of the Hudson marriages documented up to 1900!!! and entered into my excel database and family tree maker software. Marriage information can be found in Ancestry.com's "North Carolina Marriage Collection, 1741-2004." This database is a compilation of 3 original sources - 1) FHL film from the County Court Records at Asheboro, NC, 2) North Carolina County Marriage Indexes from the North Carolina State Archives, and the 3) North Carolina Marriage Index, 1962-2004 from the North Carolina State Center for Health Statistics; The indexes from the Archives in # 2 above for Randolph County, NC include scanned images of the "Indexed Register of Marriages - Woman." The index for brides names beginning with HO in marriage books 1-4 covering years 1860-1888 is scanned page 40; That for marriage book 5 for years 1889-1900 was also on page 40 (a second scanned page). Marriage records for the grooms were found under the brides' surnames. I saved the two scanned images of page 40 and the individual scanned images of the Hudson grooms. For the records from # 1 above (FHL film from Asheboro court house) I compiled the records into a word document. I will sort through them later.

Today I will spend more time entering all of the marriage information I found into my excel database and family tree maker software. I just can't stop myself! I keep finding records and I have to put them into the databases. Oh yeah, in case you are wondering, I use the excel database as a source and name tracker. I input all data like source name, repository, date, person's name and notes as individual cells going across a row. Then I can just filter a column of interest, like a data or a name and I will only see records for that date or person's name. It helps me track what records I found in what source. I usually collect all records of that surname of interest from every source I look at.

I think I will have to stop working on the Hudson family once the marriage records are entered. But it's so hard to stop sometimes!

Nathan and Lorena Hudson Godwin of Lowndes Co., AL

This has been a very busy and probably unproductive week of genealogy research. I decided to revisit the family of Nathan Godwin and Lorena Hudson of Lowndes Co., AL. I entered this family into my family tree database. Nathan Godwin was born about 1807 in NC. Lorena Hudson was born about 1812 in NC. They had several children. most of whom I pulled from census reports as living in Nathan and Lorena Godwin's household in Lowndes Co., AL. Specific birth and death dates provided by a user-submitted family tree, The Kathryn Burns Family Tree by kate_415:

Children of Nathan and Lorena Godwin:
Nathan Godwin 1809-1867
Jonathan Godwin 1832-1834
Fanny Godwin, b. abt 1833
Joel Godwin 1835-1836
Mary Godwin, b. abt. 1837
Henry Godwin, b. abt 1838
Polly Godwin, b. abt 1838
Nancy Godwin, b. abt 1840
Enoch Godwin, 1842-1900
David Godwin, 1843-1926
Nathan Godwin, 1845-1846
Lorena Godwin, 1847-1934
George Godwin, 1850-1880
Elizabeth Godwin, 1854-1934

This family is of interest to me because the DNA of 3 descendants of this line matched my grandfather's DNA 100% on the 37-marker test. We also matched several other Godwin lines from NC.  You can read about these matches in my post: Our Godwin DNA Results.

I thought there was plenty of information on this line already published in message boards and online family trees, however to my surprise, when I did a search I found little information.

I did, however, make some progress. I learned that I could search records in ancestry.com from my Family Tree Maker software much faster than I could in Internet Explorer. I have blogged about some of the advantages of this here.

I collected census report information for all Hudson/Hutson families in Randolph Co., NC between 1790 and 1840 and added them to my tree and wrote a post about them entitled "Hudson Family Census Reports, Randolph Co., NC, 1790-1840."  I ended up with 3 John Hudson men enumerated on different census reports. I was not sure if any of them were one and the same, therefore, I added them as 3 separate individuals in my tree according to their appearances on the census reports. I also added information from my Godwin/ North Carolina excel database's records that mentioned any Hudson/Hutson men of Randolph Co., NC. At this time, I've only collected deed records and a couple of estate records. Sometimes deeds can be just as important as wills and estate records because familial relationships might be mentioned at any time. This is a certainly a move in the right direction. I have been so frustrated with myself for the past few years because I collect tons of materials from the Archives and then I never do anything with them! I'm trying to change that!

My goal is to find the parents of Lorena Hudson who married Nathan Godwin. I believe that this Nathan Godwin and my Nathan Godwin are connected somehow. I also believe that there are close ties between the Godwin and Hudson families of Randolph Co., NC, as well as Sampson Co., where my Godwin family was living in the late 1700s prior to their removal to Randolph Co., NC. DNA already proves there is a genetic connection. Now I just have to find the paper trail!

Hudson/Godwin Research Goals

In and earlier post, I talked about the family of Nathan and Lorena (Hudson) Godwin of Lowndes Co., AL. My grandfather's DNA was a 100% match to this line of Godwins who were originally from North Carolina. My long term goal is to find out what the relationship between the Godwin and Hudson families of Randolph and/or Sampson Co., NC was, and also to determine who were the parents of Lorena Hudson who married Nathan Godwin.

To recap, here are my GOALS for working on this line:

1. Enter all Hudson families listed on census reports for 1790-1840 in FTM and compile in a word document and on printed census forms - UPDATE 2/20/09: added to FTM, Word Doc, and Census forms; printed and saved in Hudson folder on my PC

2. Enter deed, estate, court, land, and will records I've collected from the Archives into a separate Hudson excel database including Sampson and Randolph Counties, NC. Enter these records into FTM software: UPDATE 2/20/09 - 2/24/09: This project has been ongoing. I pulled all the Johnston, Sampson, and Randolph County, NC Hudson family records and put them in a new worksheet in my NC excel file. All Randolph County records have been entered into FTM database as sources and notes. I am not quite sure what to do with my Rockingham, Hyde, Sampson and Johnston Co., NC records yet. I could create new entries for each of them in my FTM software or I can just attach the information as notes to my existing Randolph Co Hudson records. I believe there is severe overlap between Sampson and Randolph Counties. I will need to obtain copies of the original deeds to see if there are any instances mentioned where Nathan Hudson "of Randolph Co" sold land in Sampson Co, indicating Nathan Hudson lived in both Sampson and Randolph Counties during his lifetime, or inherited land from a relative who lived in one or the other of the counties.

3. Contact the descendant of this line who submitted their DNA to get additional information.

4. Contact other researchers of this line.

5. Obtain all wills and estate records for Hudson families of Randolph and Sampson Co., NC and look for mention of Lorena Hudson. UPDATE 2/20/09: there are no wills in Randolph Co., NC with the Hudson/Hutson surname, however there are a few in Sampson Co., NC that I can pull next time I visit the archives.

6. Copy all Randolph Co., NC Hudson deed Grantors and Grantees (see printout of index) to excel database and FTM. - UPDATE 2/20/09, entered into excel worksheet and FTM as sources and notes.

Web Search Feature of FTM 9.0

I learned that I could search records in ancestry.com from my Family Tree Maker software much faster than I could in Internet Explorer. Ancestry.com actually attaches a copy of the record directly to the person I queried. This has been a huge time saver for a few reasons:
(1) I don't have to worry about saving and finding a place to put the media files because FTM does that for me automatically
(2) I don't have to spend hours trying to figure out the best way to cite my source
(3) FTM automatically attaches it to relevant facts like name and residence (Census reports)
(4) If it is a later census report, it will also attach the source and media to all relevant people included in that record. For example, FTM would attach an 1860 census to the head of house, spouse and all children. It will even add that child to your tree for you if you elect to do so! There was a bit of a learning curve in trying to figure out how to add a census report for multiple people not in the same household, but I got it figured out and was on a roll all last night, well into the wee hours of the morning.

Godwin DNA results uploaded to Ancestry.com

Ancestry.com allows you to manually enter your marker data to their database, even if your results are from a different testing center. I manually entered my results from my grandfather's y-chromosome 25-marker DNA test that was conducted through ftDNA.com to the Ancestry.com database. It displayed my matches with over 200 other participants, all with different surnames. I'm not really sure how that works out. I sent a message to Ancestry.com asking for clarity on how I can be connected to multiple surnames.

Some of the surnames were familiar though - BALL, HARRIS, HIGGINS, STRICKLAND, LEWIS, and WILKERSON - These are names with connections to my Godwin family in North Carolina (except Higgins which wasn't connected until the family moved to AR).

BALL - A Peggy Ball married Etheldred Godwin in NC in 1806. Etheldred Godwin (1776 NC - 1851 IN) is the supposed brother of Nathan Godwin (1774 NC -1833 IL). Nathan Godwin was probably the father of my oldest known ancestor, Elijah Godwin (1801 NC - 1884 AR).

HARRIS - Nancy Eleanor Harris married Edmond DRY. Edmond's sister Sarah DRY married my ancestor's supposed brother, Nathan Godwin, in Perry Co., IL in 1835. I believe this Nathan Godwin died young. My results compared to this Harris line signified 21/25 markers that matched up. I sent this participant an email asking for more information.

HIGGINS - One of my female Godwin cousins married a Higgins

STRICKLAND - One of the Nathan Godwins from NC married an Anna Strickland. We believe this Nathan was connected to my Nathan Godwin somehow. We are currently looking for a Godwin descendant of this line to submit DNA for comparison. The Nathan Godwin (1807) who married Lorena Hudson and settled in Lowdes Co., AL was a 100% match to my Godwins according to the ftDNA results on the 25 marker test. The Strickland participant from Ancestry.com had 15 markers compared to my results and of those 15, 14 markers matched up to mine. Ancestry.com predicted a MRCA of 27: meaning there is a 50% probability that we are related within the last 27 generations or 625 years. I sent an email to this participant asking for more information. I also requested to join the Strickland DNA project on Ancestry.com.

LEWIS - My ancestor, Elijah Godwin, married Nancy Lewis, daughter of John Lewis of Randolph Co., NC. They were married 1826 in Randolph Co., NC.

WILKERSON - We are trying to determine if my Godwin line is related to a Wilkerson Godwin of Illinois. Wilkinson Godwin was born about 1796 and died 1837 in Union Co., IL. In 1809 he married Nancy Beggs in KY, prior to moving to IL in 1810. His descendants, including Finley Thompson Godwin, settled in Hot Springs Co., AR. I sent an email to this participant asking for more information.

Also, there is a line that settled in Georgia from Barnaby Godwin who married Wilkinora Wilkerson. We are also trying to see how my Godwin family connects to Barnaby's family.

I emailed a couple of my matches (Strickland and Wilkerson) to find out more information about their lines. I would like to know where they were from and what possible connections we could have.

In my attempt to stay organized in 2009, I also created a new word document called "Ancestry DNA Results that I saved in my Godwin root folder.  I created a table of correspondence I will have with these DNA matches participants.

Godwin DNA - 2 new participants!

Often in our research, we run across families matching our surname of interest that we do not connect to at first. I for one, like to know about all of that surname's families in a particular location of interest so that I can eliminate certain family members as belonging to my own family. Confirming that one does NOT belong to my family is just as important as comfirming one DOES belong to my family. Before long, you become a walking database of all that surname's families, in my case, it would be the Godwins of AR, NC, IN, IA, and IL. Eventually a pattern arises. For instance, most of the Godwins of NC, IN, IA, and IL trace their oldest ancestors back to NC. So do I! It would then seem logical that maybe these families are more closely related to mine than believed at first. This is when the DNA testing comes in. In the 4 or 5 years I've been researching the Godwin family, I have come across many other younger lines who believe they are some how connected to my older line from NC. What better way to determine if this is true than by DNA testing! The nice thing about DNA testing is that it can represent several generations of one family. My grandfather's DNA for example, represents the DNA of all of the descendants of Elijah Godwin. With one simple test!

The following are 2 updates to an earlier post about some elusive Godwin/Godden family lines that we are trying to connect to through DNA testing:

• Descendants of Jonathan and Sarah (Godwin) Godden of IN and IA
• Etheldred Godwin of Putnam Co., IN
• Wilkinson Godwin of Union Co., IL
• Wilson Ulysses Godwin of AR and IL
• Nathan Godwin (1760-1823) of Sampson Co., NC

Update (Feb 2009):
# 1
We have found a descendant of Jonathan Godden and Sarah Godwin to participate in the Godwin DNA project. Sarah Godwin was possibly the daughter of Enos Godden, who was possibly the son of Etheldred/Netheldred “Dred” Godwin of Putnam Co., Indiana. Sarah’s husband, Jonathan Godden was probably the son of Enoch Godden, who was possibly the brother of Dred and Nathan Godwin. Enoch, Nathan, and Dred Godwin have paper trails from Sampson and Randolph Counties, North Carolina to Putnam and Clay Counties, Indiana. This participant's DNA will only represent Jonathan Godden’s heritage (and not Sarah’s), but it will also represent the DNA and heritage of all male descendants of Jonathan and Sarah Godden of Boone Co., Iowa!!! We are very excited to have him join the project. He will be submitting a 37 marker test that will be compared to my own family’s DNA. If they are a 100% match, then there is a high probability that our two families – Enoch/Dred and Nathan Godwin are closely related.

Click here to see the results of this test!

# 2
We have also found a participant from the family of Wilson Ulysses Godwin. Wilson was born about 1806 in North Carolina. He lived with his family in IL and AR, in which both areas my ancestor, Elijah Godwin also lived. Wilson and Elijah were fairly close in age, so it is possible that they were brothers.
We are looking forward to seeing the results of these two DNA tests!!

Click here to see the results of this test!

Side note: We also had a descendant of Nathan Godwin of Sampson Co., NC lined up to submit his DNA. However, it was determined that his ancestor was born to a Godwin female out of wedlock and it has not been determined who his father was at this time. Therefore, his results can not help us determine if his ancestor is connected to our line. Read more about it here.

Preston and Phoebe (O'Neal) Smith of Arkansas

Preston Smith was born Aug 15, 1866 in Horsehead Creek near Coal Hill, Johnson Co., AR. He died Jan 8, 1933 in Fort Smith, Sebastian Co., AR of Pnuemonia contracted from influenza. He married Phoebe Eunice O'Neal who was born June 7, 1878 in Johnson Co., AR. She was the daughter of John L. O'Neal and Nancy Malinda Johnson. Phoebe Smith died Sep 10, 1948 at Sparks Hospital in Fort Smith, Sebastian Co., AR of congestive heart failure.

Preston Smith was the son of Richard Smith and Martha Dunlap. There are some discrepancies about Preston Smith's date of birth. In a survey submitted by Preston's father, Richard Smith, to the Board of Pensions in 1898, Richard Smith stated his son Preston Smith was born Aug 24, 1868. Richard listed the date of birth of Preston's older brother, Ray Smith, as Oct 9, 1866. These dates correspond more closely with the census reports of both Preston and Ray/Roy.

Preston Smith's death certificate also states his date of death as Aug 15, 1866. His son James R Smith was the informant who provided this information. Sometimes death certificates can contain incorrect information because they are recorded "after the fact." The informant may not have knowledge of the deceased's vital statistics and may have submitted their best guess.
A review of William Ray or Roy Smith's death certificate could probably help to clear up this discrepancy. If his death certificate states he was also born 1866, son of Richard Smith, then it is possible that Preston's date of birth has been erroneously recorded.

Feel free to browse the gallery below of Preston and Phoebe Smith's obituaries, gravemarker, and death certificates. I believe the obituaries came from The Southwest Times Record of Fort Smith, Sebastian Co., AR. They were sent to me by Doris Hamblin, daughter of Preston's son Clyde Smith. I obtained certified copies of the death certificates from the Arkansas Department of Health in Little Rock, AR. The grave marker picture was taken at Morris Cemetery in Bloomer, Sebastian Co., AR by a volunteer, Deborah Musgrove. Preston Smith's daughter, Hester Smith was also buried here along with Preston's father, Richard Smith. Richard Smith's first wife, Martha Dunlap is believed to be buried here as well, however there is no marker.

Godwin family Randolph Co., NC Land Grants

This past weekend I went to the NC State Archives. I had two goals: 1) to retrieve and copy some Surry and Lincoln County Wills and estate files for a genealogy colleague and 2) retrieve copies of the ORIGINAL land grants of my Godwin ancestors in Randolph Co., NC.

Abstract books are an invaluable tool in genealogy research. Randolph Co., NC boasts three abstract books based on Land Grant records, compiled by Barbara Grigg and Albert Bruce Pruitt. The Family History Library website has a very good explanation of North Carolina land grants here and the overall land grant process here. I had several references to my Godwin family copied from these 3 abstract books:
Abstracts of land warrants : Randolph County, NC, 1778-1948
Randolph County, NC land entries, 1779, 1780 & 1783-1801
Abstracts of land entries : Randolph Co, NC, 1801-1833

Land “entries” were created when a person chose land that he intended to purchase and settle on. When an entry was created and paid for, the land was then “surveyed” by the surveyor; In NC the surveys were sent to the Secretary of State's office which in turn released a “warrant” for that land. If no one contested the warrant and all the fees were paid, a grant was then delivered to the person who made the entry. The land “entries” for Randolph County, NC were abstracted in two volumes, 1779-1795 and 1801-1833. The land “warrants” were abstracted in one volume, 1778-1948.

My goal last weekend was to retrieve all of the original documents that were referenced in the abstract books. Here is a list of what I was looking for (names and entry nos):

James Goodwin, entry numbers 153 and 296 (two warrants and two entries with no warrants)
Elijah Godwin, entry no. 1764 (1181) (no warrant issued)
Cornelius Latham, entry no. 1427 (843) (Reference to Nathan Godwin)
Cummings King, entry no. 2472 (reference to Enoch Godwin)
Richard Graves, entry no. 434 (reference to Nathan Godwin)

The first thing you do to find land grants at the archives is look in the card catalog of the Secretary of State Land Grants system. It is alphabetized by last name. So I looked for the "G" and then I pulled the drawer that had "G" and "Randolph" County. Under Randolph County section, I look for “Godwin” or “Goodwin.” I did not find any Godwins in the county. I did find the records for James Goodwin, however, they were not the entry numbers that were recorded in the abstract book. I recorded the information listed on the cards anyway. I located two other warrants in the card catalog – those of Cumings King and Richard Graves. Their relationship to my Godwin family is explained below.

The cards list the file number, entry number, entry date, grant number, grant date, book and page and location of the land. The file number is the important part. The file number is used to locate the packet that contains the survey and related documentation to the warrant/grant.
The card catalog represents all of the land “warrants” that were issued. Many land “entries” were taken out, but warrants were not issued for them either because the requestor deemed the land untillable or he moved out of the area. Therefore, some of the land “entries” I copied from the abstract books were not found in the land “warrant” card catalog.

There are two volumes of abstracts for the Randolph Co land “entries” which are divided by date. The first volume represents records recorded between 1779-1795. The introduction in the beginning of the abstract books states that the original records can be found in the NC State Archives microfilm no. S108.225, “State Agency Records, Secretary of State, Land Entry Books, 1778-1795, Randolph-Rockingham counties.” The records from the 2nd Land Entry abstract book can be found the NC State Archives in 2 bound volumes, C.R. 081.404.1 and 2. I was able to find and copy the records from the microfilmed land entries. The second set of entries from the bound volumes were not permitted to be copied, so I took digital pictures of them with my camera.

I found two land entries for James Goodwin in the microfilmed entry books. The first entry (#153) of 1785 was reassigned to John Craven. The warrant was issued to John Craven and was located in the card catalog. This land was on Richland Creek. The second entry of James Goodwin (no. 296) was entered in 1788 and was transferred from William Widdop to James Goodwin. William Widdop made the original entry to the state. This land was located on Richland Creek near John Craven’s line. I found the two warrants that were issued to James Goodwin. The file numbers from the card catalog were 1825 and 1969. Land “warrants” are found in the NC State Archives on microfilm S 108.974-989, “Secretary of State, Land Grant Section, Warrants, Plats, etc., Randolph Co.,” and are organized by file number. File no. 1825 was for grant no. 1783 issued to James Goodwin 20 Aug 1802 for 50 acres on the Deep River waters. This file was found on microfilm no. S108.981. It contained several documents including requests for transfer. This entry had been originally entered by Christian Dunbar Giles, transferred to William Giles, then to James Goodwin. The second file no. 1969 was for grant no. 1998 and was located on microfilm no. S108.982. This grant was issued 29 Nov 1803 for 7 acres on the waters of Deep River.

The entry for Elijah “Godin” was found in volume 2 of the bound entry books. It was a simple record which read: “No. 1181, Elijah Godin enters 200 Acres of land on the waters of Uharre adjoining the lines of Godfrey Luther and ____ For Compt Feb the 5th 1822.” – “Compt” means “compliment.”

I also found the entry for Nathan Godwin (1818): “No. 843, Cornelious Lathom enters 100 acres of land on the waters of Little River, adjoining the lines of Michael Luther and Nathan Goddin. April the 29th 1818.”

No “warrants” were issued for the two “entries” for James Goodwin, one for Elijah Godwin, and the entry for Cornelius Latham that mentioned Nathan Godwin as a neighbor. Elijah Godwin and his family removed to Putnam and Clay Counties, Indiana about 1828, so that is probably why he did not get a land grant. The land he had planned to inhabit probably wasn’t good land for farming or was simply abandoned because they removed to Indiana which might have boasted better farming conditions.

Several other “warrants” were retrieved and photocopied from the microfilms. John Craven’s warrant, contained in file no. 360 was photocopied because it was the land that was originally entered by James Goodwin in 1785. John Craven was issued the final grant in 1787. Richard and John Grave’s grant no. 1757 issued 1802 was also copied because in the file it mentioned Nathan Goddin as a chain carrier when the land was surveyed in 1799. This is important because it puts Nathan Godwin in Randolph Co., NC in 1799. He was last in Sampson County, NC in 1795 and enumerated on the Randolph Co Census in 1800. I pulled the file of Cumings King for a warrant issued 1824 because it mentioned Enoch Godwin as a chain carrier. This is only one of a few records that mention Enoch Godwin in North Carolina.

When I got home, I scanned all of these documents, wrote up a brief summary of each document and organized by source, and added a description of each document and source to my NC Godwin excel database file. It is important to me that I locate the original records of each abstracted record. It is always a good idea to copy the introduction pages of the abstract books for this purpose. Often the introduction will tell you where the original files are located.

When I was at the archives, I could not find the original files of the land entries for the years 1801-1833. I knew they were in a bound book, but the call number I had written down was incorrect. A gentleman offered to assist me with locating the original records. I realized he was Dr. Pruitt, the original author of the abstract books. Together we were able to identify the real call number of the bound volumes. We had to look in the County records card catalog for Randolph County. This card catalogs shows all of the call numbers for all of the records pertaining to that county. I was able to find the correct call number for the bound volumes. All with the help of Dr. Pruitt!!!