BIRTH, DEATH, MARRIAGES
See below for more info found in Bertie Courthouse.
Bertie County Register of Deeds 108 Dundee Street P.O. Box 340 Windsor, NC 27983 252-794-6800, you will get a recording and then you press a # i.e. #3 for estates and wills ORDERING by MAIL. The cost is $2.00 for the first page and then .25 for each additional page. You have to send either a money order or bank cashiers check. They also ask for a self addressed stamped envelope Hours: 8am-5pm Does not close at lunch time. The courthouse is a small one and everyone is willing to show the ropes to you.
Deathbed Wills
North Carolina Law 1663-1844
The principle of primogeniture provided that the eldest son should inherit all his father's real estate. Statute of Wills did authroize a testator to devise lands, but only those lands which were actually in his possession at the time the will was made, i.e. (any real estate acquired after the making of the will did not pass under that will, but was instead treated as intestate property.
ESTATE RECORDS
Estate Records give lists of buyers at the estate sale. These "older estate" records have been abstracted and are published. See the Bibliography page.
Copies can be made for nominal fee.
The staff does the copying for you because they know how to take
the books apart. Some books require a key to get apart. In my earlier
researsh there was a lady there that was really good and she would let
me do my own copies once she felt I knew what I was doing. But that
isn't the case now. So the staff will gladly copy what you need.
"Across the hall from the Wills are Deeds. There
are birth-death record from 1913 up, there is much here; be persistent
here also ask questions. In my research the actual deeds from
"grantees-grantors" have assisted very much in locating people-time
period and also land transfers etc. I was able to find my lost kin
from the 1870's that moved to Kansas by this method." Neil Baker
Vital Records for North Carolina
This site provided information and forms for requesting all vital records for North Carolina.
BIRTHS, DEATH, DELAYED BIRTHS, MARRIAGES in Windsor Courthouse
(If it is for someone recently living, also check the Social Security Index as well as
Other Help from Social Security Index
The Birth, Death, Delayed Birth Registrations (usually registered when person
was attempting to get Social Security Benefits), and marriages are located on the
first floor of the courthouse. The office is located (if you enter the
courthouse for the rear where the parking is for it) on your right and
it is the Register of Deeds.
I suggest to anyone that is going to look up births or deaths to
have a list in hand and go to the indexes and look up the name and write
the book and page number down and then after looking up all the names
on list, go to the books and look for the certificates.
USE INDEX FIRST.....then go to actual certificate book.
Contact the Bertie County Register of Deeds, P.O. Box 340, Windsor 27983.
Telephone 252-794-5309 or do the same for the Hertford County Register of
Deeds, P.O. Box 36, Winton, 27986. Telephone 252-358-7850.
But you must supply them with this information: name, year of death, mother and father's names
If you don't know the exact date, give them an estimate, and they probably will assist you. Better yet, call them on the telephone, giving an estimated year of death, and they can supply the exact page and # of certificate to include in your letter. REMEMBER Death Certificates did not begin until 1913!
You could visit the NC archives in Raleigh and look at the microfiche or the reference books in the research room that have a printed vital records database.
Visit and then to Vital Statistics
(Previously shared by Jacquelyn Phelps)
I do know that they only have marriage certificates AFTER 1868,
birth certificates after Oct 1913, death certificates after 1913,
divorce records are held by the Superior Court Clerk. )
They have a book with a list of marriage bonds.
Click here to
Learn More about Marriages in Bertie County
Delayed Births are those forms that were completed by people who didn't have
an actual birth certificate done at their birth. These were usually done
when people began to need birth certificates for pension, social security,
etc. purposes.
The delayed births are on the computer, but the computer there is
not up to date and is hard to read. I found it just as easy to look the
records up in the indexes there. The reason the computer is hard to read
is it is an old type monitor (monochrome I think is what it is called).
MILITARY RECORDS
There is a book of military records (probably for WWI and WWII)
There was some neat hand written records in Ledgers there that I read through but they were of genealogical interest. More town history, records for courthouse moneys in and out. (Lisa)
LAND RECORDS - TAX RECORDS
Across the hall is the office for land
records and tax records. I haven't done a lot of research on taxes so I
can't say a lot about that office, but I did look at a record of a tract
of land.
HAS ANYONE USED THE TAX RECORDS THERE? I know that the OLD ONES are on
microfilm, but don't know if the originals are in Windsor or not??
HOW ARE THE LAND DEEDS ARRANGED? INDEXES for certain years? GRANTOR and GRANTEE INDEXES??? Will they copy the INDEX for a specific SURNAME?
The staff does the copying for you because they know how to take the books apart. Some books require a key to get apart, but the staff will gladly copy what you need.
WHAT UNUSUAL books might be available to be looked through? Court Minutes? Criminal Court Minutes?
How are the rooms arranged as far as where the individual researcher is working? Are you all by yourself with the old deeds? Do they have to bring each individual book to you, or do you have free access? Do they have counters to work on? Are pencil sharpeners handy? (Don't laugh....if you're doing alot of copying, your pencil will wear down quickly!)
NC Vital Records PO Box 29537/225 N. McDowell ST Raleigh, NC 27626-0537
If you request a document from the Vital Records and are an OUT OF STATE RESIDENT, they will charge you for that document. However if you know someone living inside the state, it is best to have them request it because it will be FREE.
For marriage bonds from 1741-1868 and Land Records, you must write:
Archival Services Branch 109 E. Jones St. Raleigh, NC 27601-2807Make checks payable to: Dept of Cultural Resources Land Records cost $5. Not sure about the cost of a copy of the marriage bonds. You can call them and ask.
If you are trying to locate someone, send an unaddressed letter in a prestamped, unsealed envelope (intended for the missing person) to the Social Security Administration with info about the person including name, ss#, etc. The SSA will look up the persons current address and forward the letter to them. This is done free of charge.
If you are lucky, the person will then contact you!
The Medicare number ending in B, means the female is covered by her spouse's account. Use the number listed and request the information, and you can uncover the missing spouse's information with parent's names.