North Carolina Cemetery Records Research Guide
While some vital records are off limits to the public, North Carolina cemetery records are a great way to get data. Depending on where you are looking, some states do not grant access to birth records or even death records. You can however use things such as North Carolina cemetery records and still be able to retrieve a great deal of data. This can be crucial to your genealogy records.
For Definitions of all Cemetery Terms See Symbols on Gravestones and Their Interpretations
What can you find with North Carolina cemetery records?
You can find invaluable data such as:
- the deceased's full legal name including a married woman's maiden name
- the date of birth
- the original location of the person's birth if not the same state
- the names of other family members
- the date of the death, obviously
For some people, going to the actual cemetery is the best way to obtain North Carolina cemetery records because they can also see the surrounding plots. There could very well be other family members and additional data you can only get in person, if you see the burial plots. For most people, however, getting the North Carolina cemetery records in some other way is the easiest route to take.
Things to Consider
Getting North Carolina cemetery records is not usually that complicated, but many people do like to try to hire someone else to find the data themselves. You can usually find North Carolina cemetery records on your own, but most of the times these are not free. There is usually some sort of fee,, and this can depend on how far back or how difficult your records are to retrieve. It is, of course, much easier if you at least know the county the person may be buried in.
This can get confusing because you may not know where the person is buried. North Carolina cemetery records could be affected by where the person actually went to church, not where their physical address was. In addition, keep in mind people who were born in another state may be returned there for burial and looking through North Carolina cemetery records would not provide any results.
Research In North Carolina Cemetery Records
Many gravestone inscriptions from before 1914 in North Carolina have been indexed. That index is available to researchers in the North Carolina State Archives Search Room.
A copy of the index on microfilm can also be accessed at the FHL. Both locations also have large collections of county cemetery records on file.
Famous People Buried in North Carolina Cemeteries
| County | Name / Date / Cemetery | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Chatham | Bavier, Frances 12/14/1902 - 12/6/1989 Oakwood Cemetery |
Actress, most noted for her performance as "Aunt Bee" on the Andy Griffith Show TV series. She appeared in 10 films and 4 television series. |
| Cumberland | Raye, Martha 8/27/1916 - 10/19/1994 Fort Bragg Main Post Cemetery |
Entertainer, Actress. Born Margaret Yvonne Teresa Reed, she joined her parents’ vaudeville act at three years old. |
| Hyde | H.M.T. Bedfordshire Memorial - Ocracoke British Cemetery |
HMT (His Majesty's Trawler) Bedfordshire is one of the many ships that were torpedoed off the coast of North Carolina during World War II, giving the area between Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout the nickname "Torpedo Junction. |
| Iredell | Earnhardt Sr. , Dale 4/29/1951 - 2/18/2001 Earnhardt Estate |
Auto Race Car Driver. A legend in the sport of race car driving, he was a 7-time NASCAR Winston Cup Champion. |
| Johnston | Gardner, Ava 12/24/1922 - 1/25/1990 Sunset Memorial Park |
 Actress. Born in a small town in North Carolina, after traveling to Virginia with her family for part of her childhood, she returned to the area to enjoy her teen years. |
| Mecklenburg | Scott, Randolph 1/23/1898 - 3/2/1987 Elmwood Cemetery |
Actor. He was born George Randolph Crane in Orange County, Virginia while his parents were on a vacation. |
| Montgomery | Warner, Henry F. 8/23/1923 - 12/21/1944 Southside Cemetery |
World War II Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient. He was killed in action. |
| New Hanover | Brinkley, David 7/10/1920 - 6/12/2003 Oakdale Cemetery |
Television Personality/Newscaster. Brinkley was born on July 18, 1920, in Wilmington, North Carolina. |
| Perquimans | Wolfman Jack (Robert Weston Smith) 1/21/1938 - 7/1/1995 Smith Family Estate |
Disc Jockey, Actor, Entertainer. Born Robert Weston Smith in Brooklyn, New York. |
| Richmond | Roussimoff, André 'The Giant' 5/19/1946 - 1/27/1993 Roussimoff Family Ranch Grounds |
Professional Wrestler, Actor. One of the largest athletes to participate in any sport, at his peak, he stood 7' 4" tall and weighed over 500 pounds. |
| Surry | Bunker, Chang and Eng 5/11/1811 - 1/17/1874 White Plains Baptist Church Cemetery |
Entertainers. Born in the Mae Klong Valley, Samut Songkhram Province, Siam (present day Thailand) to a Chinese father, Ti-aye and a Chinese/Cham mother, Nok. |
North Carolina Cemeteries
| Cemetery Name | Cemetery City |
|---|---|
| Old Chapel Hill Cemetery | Chapel Hill |
| Elmwood Cemetery | Charlotte |
| Pinewood Cemetery | Charlotte |
| Sharon Memorial Park | Charlotte |
| Greenlawn Cemetery | China Grove |
| Beechwood Cemetery | Durham |
| Cross Creek Cemetery | Fayetteville |
| New Bern National Cemetery | New Bern |
| Historic Oakwood Cemetery | Raleigh |
| Raleigh National Cemetery | Raleigh |
| Oak Grove-Freedman's Cemetery | Salisbury |
| Salisbury National Cemetery | Salisbury |
| Vance Cemetery | Weaverville |
| Oakdale Cemetery | Wilmington |
| Wilmington National Cemetery | Wilmington |
| God's Acre | Winston-Salem |
North Carolina Cemeteries & Graveyards Links
- North Carolina Burials, 1898-1994 (familysearch.org)
- Web: North Carolina, Find A Grave Index, 1729-2011
- Find a Grave - North Carolina Cemeteries
- The North Carolina Political Graveyard
- North Carolina Cemetery Books
