Bladen County, North Carolina, Tax Lists

Bladen County was formed from New Hanover Precinct in 1734. At this time it existed as a precinct of Bath County. In 1800 and 1893, courthouse fires destroyed most of Bladen’s court records and some of the land deeds. The devastation of Bladen County’s records by these fires has created a void for historians and genealogist alike. These early tax lists provide information and insight into many of the early families that would have otherwise been lost to posterity. Several of the lists give the names of sons and servants and, in some cases, they list the names of other relatives. Many of the wives are listed in free mixed blood families and a myriad of slave’s names abound throughout the lists. The Bladen County records in this volume were obtained from the Thomas Davis Smith McDowell Papers. They are a part of the vast collection housed in the Southern Historical Collection at the Wilson Library on the University of North Carolina. There are 3000 items and five volumes contained in this collection alone. Old Balden County was also home to many of the ancestral families of the Lumbee Indian Tribe of North Carolina. They will be found listed variously as Whites, Mulattoes, and Mixt Bloods. Also listed are Free Persons of Color: wives and other females listed as taxables. Due to border problems with South Carolina, this volume should be of interest to North Carolina and South Carolina researchers alike.