Duplin County, North Carolina Abstracts of Deeds, 1784-1813

By: Eleanor S. Draughton, Orig. Pub. 1983, Reprinted 2020, 218 pages, Index, ISBN #0-89308-598-7.

Duplin County, located in the southeastern section of N.C. was formed in 1750 from New Hanover County. In the year 1800, the county was bounded by the counties of Jones, Lenoir, New Hanover, Onslow, Sampson, and Wayne. Part of New Hanover was annexed to Duplin in 1751, and in 1777 part of Duplin was annexed to Johnston County. A major change involved the formation of Sampson County from Duplin in the year 1784. The county seat of Duplin is Kenansville.
The deeds in Book 1A, 3A, and 4A are thoroughly abstracted in this volume. The book is essential for research in the hundreds of families who lived here during the early Federal period before migrating to the west and south. The two indexes include surnames of all persons mentioned in the deeds and the names of slaves. Duplin County residents of the period came for the most part from Virginia Tidewater counties and the Delaware River Valley.