Persons Residing Outside of North Carolina

Print out a copy of the request form (Word version or PDF version), fill it, out and mail it to:

Researchers who are unable to print the request form may submit a general letter. Please include the same type of information as requested by the on-line form. A $20.00 Search and Handling Fee must accompany each inquiry. Payments should be made by personal check or money order rather than cash. Please make all checks payable to the "North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources." If copies of the requested record cannot be covered by the $20.00 fee, a statement of copying costs will be included in our response. These copies will not be mailed until indicated payment is received. Researchers are requested NOT to add any estimated costs of copying to their $20.00 fee. ESTIMATED PAYMENTS MUST BE RETURNED, thus delaying a reply to the researcher's inquiry.

Responses will be delivered by U. S. mail.

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General Requests

If you have a general question that does not require research to be performed then please check the State Archives web page for your answer. If the answer cannot be found there, then send general inquiries to:

If you have any questions concerning the nature of your request and whether it is something the State Archives can answer please call (919) 807-7310.

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Guidelines for Requesting Research

The type of research that can be requested from the State Archives is limited to those questions that can be answered by consulting a specific known set of records. See the lists below for examples of the research that can and cannot be conducted.

• Do you have a record of Revolutionary War (or Confederate) service by Elijah Coor of Craven County?
• Do you have a marriage bond for Elijah Coor and Grace Jones, Craven County, about 1800?
• Do you have a will for Elijah Coor of Craven County, about 1840?
• Do you have an estate record for Elijah Coor of Craven County, about 1840?
• Does the record of the probate of the will of Elijah Coor appear in the Craven County court minutes for May Term 1840?
• Does the 1850 Census Index for NC report the surname Coor?
• Do you have a land grant for Elijah Coor, Craven County, about 1840?
• Do you have a death certificate (1913-1955 ONLY) for Grace Jones, Craven County, about 1924?
• Do you have a cemetery survey for the surname Coor of Craven County?

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There are three standard sources checked by the Archives when searching for the service record of a Revolutionary War, War of 1812, or Confederate soldier.

1. REVOLUTION: Revolutionary Army Accounts; Revolutionary War pay vouchers; and The Colonial and State Records of North Carolina. (Since Revolutionary War Pensions are federal records, researchers should write to the National Archives, Washington, DC, 20408, for the information.)
2. WAR OF 1812: War of 1812 pay vouchers and Soldiers of the War of 1812: North Carolina Militia. (For War of 1812 pensions, write to the National Archives.)
3. CIVIL WAR: Confederate Pension Applications; Moore's Roster of North Carolina Troops in the War and North Carolina Troops, 1861-1865: A Roster. (For service records of Union Troops from North Carolina, write to the National Archives.) The three sources are always checked for each inquiry for a service record, and it is not necessary to request a search for each of the sources individually.

The Archives CANNOT respond to requests for genealogical research such as:

• Who were the parents of Elijah Coor born in Craven County about 1755?
• Who were the children of Elijah Coor of Craven County, l800-l840? (Ask instead for a will or an estate record and hope the children will be named therein.)
• Please search for the brothers and sisters of Elijah Coor of Craven County during the last half of the eighteenth century.
• Please send me a copy of all the Coor wills (or estate records, or marriage bonds, or any other series of records) found in the Craven County records in your custody.
• Please send me anything about Elijah Coor, Craven County, 1755-1840. (A specific record must be requested.)
• Please send me all Coor cemeteries in North Carolina.

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Since October 1978 the North Carolina State Archives has required the payment of a Search and Handling Fee before replying to inquiries received from researchers living in states other that North Carolina. The limits of the fee are established by statute; at present the fee is $20.00 for each inquiry about one record or one person's record. The search and handling fee is to accompany any out-of-state request for information. There may be an additional charge for copying a record that exceeds four pages in length. Mailed payments should be made by check or money order rather than cash. Please make your check payable to North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources. The report of the search will include a statement of copying costs.

Over the years the Archives and private citizens have created and made nationally available various lists, indexes, and abstracts. Many researchers throughout the nation consult these and other lists, indexes, and abstracts, and consider that the information obtained (which is frequently out-of-date) is a sufficient search. What the North Carolina State Archives considers a search involves locating the actual record, examining it to determine what form of copying and how many copies it will require to reproduce the record, flagging the record for subsequent copying, making a reply on a standard form, and subsequently processing the order for a copy. If the search is negative, the process concludes with the original search and negative report. The search and handling fee helps defray the cost to the taxpayers of North Carolina in rendering this service to non-residents of the state.

Please do not send monies in addition to the $20.00 search fee per request. Our staff will notify you if your copies exceed the amount covered by the search fee. Researchers are requested NOT to add an estimated cost of copying in their check paying the search and handling fee. ESTIMATED PAYMENTS MUST BE RETURNED, thus delaying a reply to the researcher's inquiry.

The primary concern of the State Archives is to preserve and protect the public records of the State of North Carolina and its one hundred counties, and to make these records available in the Search Room. THE ARCHIVES IS NEITHER AUTHORIZED NOR STAFFED TO ENGAGE IN GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH.

For more information about fees for photocopies, copies of photographs and other duplication services, please consult our Fee Schedule

Last Modified: 01/04/2010

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