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

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