Useful Books

For genealogy research in Alleghany County, NC, and vicinity.

Regional Books •
Alleghany •
Ashe •
Surry •
Wilkes •
Grayson •
Family Histories •
Publishers •
Used Booksellers

Research tips:

Genealogy books often go out of print. If the book you are looking for is not currently available, periodically check for used copies on sites like Amazon.com, Fetchbook, and eBay. Many books in the public domain can be downloaded from Google Books. The subscription site Ancestry.com has digitized hundreds of family and local history books. Genealogy books can often be found at regional libraries and local historical societies. Finally, the LDS Library has thousands of genealogy books on microfilm. Check with your local LDS Family History Center for assistance.

Regional

Adventures of a Conscript, by W.H. Younce (1899). The memoirs of a Unionist from Ashe County, NC, who was drafted into the Confederate army.
Annals of Southwest Virginia: 1769-1800, Vols. 1 & 2, by Lewis Preston Summers (Overmountain Press, 1992). Journals of early explorers; military lists; land surveys and marriages; briefs of deeds and wills; and the court minutes of Botetourt, Fincastle, Montgomery, Washington, and Wythe counties.
Baptist Obituary Abstracts from Alleghany, Ashe, Surry, Wilkes, and Grayson Counties (3 volumes), compiled and transcribed by Mountain Heritage.
Biographical History of North Carolina, by Samuel A. Ashe.
- Volume II (1905).
- Volume III (1906).
- Volume IV (1906).
- Volume V (1906).
- Volume VII (1908).
Carolina Cradle: Settlement of the Northwest Carolina Frontier, 1747-1762, by Robert W. Ramsey (Univ. of NC Press, 1987). An account of early settlers between Yadkin and Catawba Rivers of North Carolina.
The Colonial Records of North Carolina Vol. II - 1713 to 1728, by William L. Saunders.
The Colonial Records of North Carolina Vol. III - 1728 to 1734, by William L. Saunders.
The Conquest of the Old Southwest, by Archibald Henderson (1920).
Documentary History of Dunmore's War 1774, by Reuben Gold Thwaites (1905), reprinted by Clearfield Co., 2005.
Footprints in the Sands of Time: A History of Southwestern Virginia and Northwestern North Carolina, by Dr. A.B. Cox (1912). Brimming with genealogical information about the inhabitants of Grayson Co., VA, and Ashe and Alleghany County, NC.
The Heart of Confederate Appalachia, by John C. Inscoe (Univ. of NC Press, 2005). "A definitive history of western North Carolina in the Civil War."
History of Southwest Virginia, 1746-1786, Washington County, 1777-1870, by Lewis Preston Summers (Overmountain Press, 1989).
The Life and Adventures of Wilburn Waters, by Charles B. Coale (1878). "The Famous Hunter and Trapper of White Top Mountain Embracing Early History of Southwestern Virginia Sufferings of the Pioneers, etc., etc."
Memoirs of Grassy Creek: Growing Up in the Mountains on the Virginia-North Carolina Line, by Zetta Barker Hamby (McFarland & Co., 1997). "Editors have preserved the charm of her manuscript and included her pen-and-ink illustrations of farmstead artifacts."
North Carolina Genealogical Society Quarterly Journal (1975-2000) on CD. 25 years of this award-winning journal have been scanned and saved on a fully searchable CD.
On Horseback: A Tour in Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee, by Charles Dudley Warner (1888). Travel notes from a tour made in the mid-1880s in the central Appalachian mountains.
The People of the New River: Oral Histories from the Ashe, Alleghany, and Watauga Counties of North Carolina, by Leland & Mary Cooper (McFarland & Co., 2001). "Tells the story of the New River through its people."
Sketches of Western North Carolina: Historical and Biographical, by Cyrus L. Hunter (1877). Histories of several western NC counties including Burke and Wilkes, and biographies of notable persons.
The State Records of North Carolina Vol. XXIII - Laws 1715-1776, by Walter Clark (1904).
Western North Carolina: A History from 1730 to 1913, by John Preston Arthur (1914). Colonial days, Daniel Boone, the Revolution, county histories, manners and customs, extraordinary events, preachers, duels, railroads, flora and fauna, the Civil War period.

Alleghany County, NC

Alleghany County Records in the LDS Card Catalogue. For information about using these resources, contact your local LDS Family History Center.
Alleghany County Heritage, by the Alleghany County Historical-Genealogical Society (1983), P.O. Box 817 Sparta, NC 28675.
Alleghany County Cemeteries Through 1986, by the Alleghany County Historical-Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 817 Sparta, NC 28675.
Baptist Obituary Abstracts from Alleghany, Ashe, Surry, Wilkes, and Grayson Counties (3 volumes) by Mountain Heritage.
Marriages of Alleghany County, North Carolina, 1849-1900, by G.H. Latham (Heritage Books, 1993).
Mountain Mourning, by Cyrus Stoneman (2007). The real story of Daniel Crouse and the Unionists of Alleghany County, North Carolina.

Ashe County, NC

Ashe County Records in the LDS Card Catalogue. For information about using these resources, contact your local LDS Family History Center.
Ashe County, NC, Marriages, 1800-1900, by the Ashe County Historical Society (1994).
Ashe County, NC, Marriage Records, 1819-1871, by Francis T. Ingmire (Iberian Pub. Co., 1993).
Ashe County, North Carolina (Images of America Series), by John Houck, et. al. (Arcadia Publishing, 2000).
Ashe County's Civil War: Community and Society in the Appalachian South, by Martin Crawford (Univ. of Virginia, 2001).
Ashe County: A History, by Arthur Lloyd Fletcher (1963), reprinted by McFarland & Co., 2006.
Baptist Obituary Abstracts from Alleghany, Ashe, Surry, Wilkes, and Grayson Counties (3 volumes) by Mountain Heritage.
Heritage of Ashe County, NC, Vol. I, by the Ashe County Historical Society (1984).
Heritage of Ashe County, NC, Vol. II, by the Ashe County Historical Society (1988).

Surry County, NC

Surry County Records in the LDS Card Catalogue. For information about using these resources, contact your local LDS Family History Center.
Baptist Obituary Abstracts from Alleghany, Ashe, Surry, Wilkes, and Grayson Counties (3 volumes) by Mountain Heritage.
Fisher's River (North Carolina) Scenes and Characters, by Hardin E. Taliaferro (1859).
Heritage of Surry County, NC, Vol. I, by the Surry County Genealogical Association (1983) [out of print].
Heritage of Surry County, NC, Vol. II, by the Surry County Genealogical Association (1994).
History of Surry County, or, Annals of Northwest North Carolina, by J.G. Hollingsworth (1935), reprinted by Southern Hist. Press, 2002.
History of Surry County, or, Annals of Northwest North Carolina, by J.G. Hollingsworth (CD version).
Surry County, NC, Court Minutes, 1768-1789, by W.O. Absher (So. Hist. Press, 1985).
Surry County, NC, Deed Books A, B, and C, 1768-1789, by W.O. Absher (So. Hist. Press, 1981).
Surry County, NC, Deed Books D, E, and F, 1779-1797, by W.O. Absher (So. Hist. Press, 1981).
Surry County, North Carolina (Images of America Series), by Caroline Boyles, et. al. (Arcadia Publishing, 2000).
Surry County, NC, Marriages, 1779-1868, by Brent H. Holcomb (Gen. Pub. Co., 2001).
Surry County, NC, Wills, 1771-1827, by Joe Whitelinn (Clearfield Co., 1992).
More books are available from the Surry County Genealogical Association.

Wilkes County, NC

Wilkes County Records in the LDS Card Catalogue. For information about using these resources, contact your local LDS Family History Center.
Baptist Obituary Abstracts from Alleghany, Ashe, Surry, Wilkes, and Grayson Counties (3 volumes) by Mountain Heritage.
Heritage of Wilkes County, Vol. I, by Wilkes County Genealogical Society (1982).
Heritage of Wilkes County, Vol. II, by Wilkes County Genealogical Society (1990). Order from the Wilkes Genealogical Society.
Historical Sketches of Wilkes County, North Carolina, by John Crouch (1902).
Marriages of Wilkes County, NC, 1778-1868 by Brent Holcomb (Clearfield Co., 1988).
Wilkes County, NC, Court Minutes, 1778-1788, by W.O. Absher (So. Hist. Press, 1989).
Wilkes County, NC, Court Minutes, 1789-1797, by W.O. Absher (So. Hist. Press, 1989).
Wilkes County, NC, Deed Book A-1, B-1, C-1, 1778-1803, by W.O. Absher (So. Hist. Press, 1989).
Wilkes County, NC, Deed Book D, F-1, G-H, 1795-1815, by W.O. Absher (So. Hist. Press, 1989).
Wilkes County, NC, Land Entry Book, 1778-1781, by W.O. Absher (So. Hist. Press, 1989).
Wilkes County, NC, Will Abstracts, 1778-1811, by W.O. Absher (So. Hist. Press, 1989).
Wilkes County Cemetery Surveys. Write to George & Joyce McNeil, 1128 Winkler Mill Road, Wilkesboro, NC 28697.
More books are available from the Wilkes Genealogical Society.

Grayson County, VA

Grayson County Records in the LDS Card Catalogue. For information about using these resources, contact your local LDS Family History Center.
Baptist Obituary Abstracts from Alleghany, Ashe, Surry, Wilkes, and Grayson Counties (3 volumes) by Mountain Heritage.
Footprints in the Sands of Time: A History of Southwestern Virginia and Northwestern North Carolina, by A.B. Cox (1912).
Grayson County, Virginia Marriage Records 1853-1898, by Ginger Ballard (2005).
Grayson County, Virginia Marriage Records 1899-1909, by Ginger Ballard (2004).
Grayson Co., VA, Will Book 1 (1796-1938), by James L. Douthat.
History of Southwest Virginia, by Lewis Preston Summers (Overmountain Press, 1989).
Pioneer Settlers of Grayson County, Virginia, by Benjamin Floyd Nuckolls (1914).
More books are available from the Grayson County, Virginia Heritage Foundation.
More books are available from Southwest Virginia Books.
More books are available from Kegley Books.

Families/Surnames

Authors: please contact me to add your book to this list! (Book should be relevant to genealogy research in Alleghany, Ashe, Wilkes, or Surry County, NC, or Grayson County, VA.)

The Anders and Andrews Families of Orange, Ashe, and Alleghany Counties in N.C., and Grayson County, Virginia, by Clifford Rector (self-published). LDS Call No. 929.273 An22r. Copies available from the Alleghany County Historical-Genealogical Society (1983), P.O. Box 817 Sparta, NC 28675.
Billings Families of North Carolina and Virginia, by Naomi B. Gordon (self-published, 1991). LDS Call No. 929.273 B496gr.
Appalachia Crossroads: The Caudill Family, by Clayton R. Caudill (Gateway Press, 1977). LDS Call Nos. 929.273 C31cc.
Descendants of Henderson Cheek of Alleghany Co., NC, by Williemay Cheek (unpublished). LDS call no. 929.273 A1 no. 3682.
The Cheek Family Chronicles, by Jeffrey Williams (Kinfolk Research Press, 2004).
The Family of Granville H. Cox, 1822-1888, of Early Ashe County, North Carolina and Atchison County, Missouri, by Karl T. Jaeckel (self-published, 1980). LDS Call No. 929.273 C839j. Contact author: KTJaeckel@aol.com
Our Cox Family and Allied Lines of Grayson County, Virginia, by Alice Cox Phipps (self-published, 1988).
The Cox Family In America, by Rev. Henry Miller Cox (1912).
Genealogy and history of some of the descendants of Linville Higgins and Juda Kirby of Alleghany County, North Carolina, by Fred J. Gray (1943). LDS on microfilm.
Hoppers, Moxley, Toliver and Related Families, by Lorene Sturgill Moxley (Hunter Pub. Co., 1985). LDS call no. 929.273 H778s.
The Family History of Simon Granser Marshall, Sr. 1791-1877 whose family came to America in 1729 and settled in Surry County, NC in 1743, by G. Payne Marshall (Harrison Mountain Press, 2002). Contact author: gpaynetn@aol.com
The Phillips Family: Our History, Our Heritage, by Shirley Phillips Friel (self-published, 1988). LDS Call No. 929.273 P544s.
Reminiscences, by Columbus Phipps (1922). The Phipps family of Grayson Co., VA.
The Stampers: Looking Back, by Sadie Stamper Greer (self-published, 1999).
Stamper Footprints: Eleven Generations, by Betty Stamper Latham (Heritage Books, 1995). LDS Call No. 929.273 St23L.
The Family of Moses Woodruff: Descendants and Relatives, by Delwood S. Jackson (self-published, 1988). LDS Call No. 929.273 W86j.
The Woodruff Chronicles, Vols. 1 & 2, by Ceylon Newton Woodruff (Glendale, CA: Arthur H. Clark Co., 1967, 1971). Early history of the Woodruff family from Canterbury, England, to Essex Co., New Jersey. Volume 1 is available on CD from Archive CD Books.

Publishers

Antient Press. Abstracts of Virginia county records, especially Tidewater and northern VA.
Archive CD Books. Hard-to-find and out-of-print books on CD including British and American genealogy books and family histories. Really cool site!
Carolina Books. A directory of privately published abstracts of marriages, deeds, etc., for NC, SC, and TN. Ordering information included, where available.
Continuity Press. Middle Appalachia, Upper Cumberland, Melungeons, and the Civil War.
DMK Heritage. County histories, old books and records on CD, mostly VA, TN, SC, NC, KY.
Ericson Books. Southern genealogy, especially Texas.
Genealogical.com. The website of Genealogy Publishing Company and Clearfield Company, the world's largest publishers of genealogy reference books.
Genealogy.com. Primarily an on-line subscription service, but also sells books and CD data collections.
Genealogy Shoppe. Genealogy binders and charts; census images on CD.
Han-Ack Publishing. Genealogy and history books on CD. Very reasonable prices.
Heritage Books. Wide variety of source materials and family histories.
Heritage Quest. Books, CD's and microfilm products for libraries, historical societies and univerities.
Higginson Book Company. Source materials, local histories, maps, and genealogies. High-quality reprints of out-of-print and limited-edition genealogy books.
Kegley Books. Many original books and abstracts of records for Wythe, Montgomery, Grayson and surrounding counties in southwest VA.
Kinfolk Research Press. Genealogy research and publishing.
Latter Day Saints. They have many source materials, CD's, and research products for sale, including their popular pedigree charts, research logs and family group sheets, how-to manuals, software products and databases.
Library of Virginia. They publish a wide variety of books on Virginia genealogy and history, many available nowhere else. For a complete list of their publications, go to the website and click on "Order Publications Online."
Lulu.com. Self-published books printed on demand. Many titles of interest to genealogists.
Mountain Press. Mostly Southern and Midwestern genealogy & history.
Mullins Genealogical Publications. Upper New River Valley area of North Carolina and Virginia.
New Papyrus. Source records and genealogical reference materials for VA, NC, and other Southern states.
North Carolina Genealogy Society. They have many interesting publications including 25 years of the NCGS Journal on CD.
North Carolina Historical Publications. The publication division of the NC Archives. They mainly focus on historical works, but many books would be of interest to genealogists. They also sell high-quality reproductions of historic documents and maps.
Parish Chest. If you are thinking of expanding your genealogical research to England, this is an excellent source of books (many on CD), family histories and data CD's. Also has some American books and records.
Pioneer Publishing Co. Southeastern states, especially Mississippi.
SK Publications. Specializes in census records and census indexes on CD for the individual consumer.
Sources2Go.com. Digitized images of source documents and out-of-copyright books.
South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research. They sell a variety of books relevant to South Carolina genealogy.
Southern Historical Press. Large catalogue of books focusing on Southern genealogy.
Southwest Virginia Books. Southwest VA records including Grayson & Carroll Co., VA.
University of North Carolina Press. Publishes many interesting books about North Carolina history.
Willow Bend Books. A division of Heritage Books. Lots of source documents and other genealogy reference materials.