| Rowan County
was formed in 1753 from Anson County, and was named for Matthew Rowan (d. 1760), acting
governor at the time the county was formed. The county seat is Salisbury. Initially Rowan
included the entire northwestern sector of North Carolina, with no clear western boundary,
but its size was reduced as a number of counties were split off. The first big excision
was to create Surry County
in 1771. Burke and Wilkes Counties were formed
from the western parts of Rowan and Surry in 1777 and 1778, respectively, leaving a
smaller Rowan County that comprised present-day Rowan, Iredell (formed 1788), Davidson (1822), and Davie (1836). Surry, Burke and
Wilkes subsequently fragmented further as well. Depending on where your ancestors lived,
you may want to look at records for some of these later counties also. Records of very
early land grants in the Rowan County area will be found with Anson County.
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Last updated August 07, 1999
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