Showing North Carolina headrights : a list of names, 1663-1744 by Caroline B. Whitley

In North Carolina’s proprietary period (1663-1729), the primary means of acquiring land was by headright. A free person was allowed to claim a specified amount of land for each person, including himself/herself, that he/she transported into the colony for the purpose of settlement. While the amount of land attached to a headright varied throughout the era, the most common amount was fifty acres.A headright entry contains a considerable amount of information: the name of the person claiming the headright(s), the acreage of the claim and its general physical location, and the number of and names of the individuals being transported into the colony for settlement. The entries often describe the relationships between the grantee and the individuals. In many instances the headright entry is the only surviving document recording an individual’s presence in the colony. Names listed in North Carolina Headrights: A List of Names, 1663–1744 are spelled exactly as they appear in the original source material—no standardization of spelling or names has been attempted.The headright entries in this volume were compiled from a variety of sources, including Nell Marion Nugent, Cavaliers and Pioneers, Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, 1623–1666, vol. 1; Mattie Erma Edwards Parker, William S. Price, Jr., and Robert J. Cain, eds., The Colonial Records of North Carolina [Second Series], vols. 2–4, 7; and J. R. B. Hathaway, editor, The North Carolina Historical and Genealogical Register, vols. 1–3. Additional entries were compiled from various manuscripts collections in the State Archives, Office of Archives and History, Raleigh. These collections include Secretary of State Records, Colonial Court Records, Beaufort County Deeds (1695–1729), and County Court Minutes for Chowan, Edgecombe, Onslow, Pasquotank, and Perquimans Counties.