Local History

Visitors who are interested in tracing their Robeson County ancestors are encouraged to visit the Hoyland Livermore Jennings Genealogy and Local History Room at the Robeson County Public Library.

The room contains over 2,000 books, including approximately 300 histories of families with ties to Robeson County. Our collection also contains many histories of local churches and small towns in the county.

Unique to our genealogy collection are the family research papers of Mrs. Kate Britt Biggs and Mr. Henry Hodgin, local genealogical researchers whose papers were donated to the library. Both collections are indexed and may be used with the assistance of library staff.

Our genealogy collection also includes microfilm copies of the North Carolina federal census from 1800-1920. We have a few census returns for South Carolina as well. We have “The Robesonian” newspaper on microfilm from 1900 to the present. There is no index to the newspaper, so researchers must know at least the month and year of an event to conduct research in the local newspaper.

The library also has bound volumes of Dr. Morris Britt’s quarterly “Robeson CountyRegister” from 1986 to 1995, when it ceased publication.

Visitors who would like to trace their Civil War ancestors will find our complete 16 volume set of the “Roster of Confederate Soldiers” helpful. Our library houses the five volume “North Carolina Regiments 1861-65” and the first 14 volumes of “North Carolina Troops.” Our collection also includes Moore’s four volume “Roster of North Carolina Troops in the War Between the States.”

The collection contains Lumberton city directories and various maps, including an indexed map of property owners from 1884.

Many users of the genealogy room have donated both books and manuscripts to the collection, keeping it vital and refreshed.

The collection is available to researchers during the library’s regular hours.