2
There are no public death records for North Carolina counties, including
Rockingham County, prior to 1913. From the end of the 19
th
century and up
through the first decade of the 20
th
century, the only record of a death in
Rockingham County could well be a mention in the local newspapers. This
compilation of information on deaths in the county is the result of many hours
spent reading through old newspapers and culling information on deaths which
were mentioned in the day-to-day local news. Newspapers included in the
project are the Reidsville Times from 1876-1889 and the Reidsville Review from
1889-1907.
Full length obituaries were rare. Only the most prominent citizens of this time
period were written about in detail. It is more likely that a death will be noted in a
single line of text placed among the other information of the day such as
announcements of births, tobacco prices or the latest event happening at the
opera house. Sometimes an “In Memorium” or “Resolutions of Respect” tribute
would appear a day or two after the death notice and some of these included
further information such as names of family members and burial locations.
Whenever additional items appeared they have been noted.
Each entry includes the name of the deceased, however, it must be noted that
many married women were never mentioned by their given names. For example,
a woman named Annabelle Gibson may be referred to as Mrs. John Gibson or
simply Mrs. Gibson. In addition, the given names of men were often omitted as
well, using only initials, for example, John M. Gibson would only be referred to as
J. M. Gibson. Given names of young children were rarely reported. For this
reason, I have used the terms “wife of” and “child of” when a death is reported
and the only known name associated with it is the man of the household. Where
known, I have included maiden names and provided cross references to married
names.
In addition to name, each entry also includes the headline under which the notice
appeared (if there was a headline at all), an abstract of the information which
appeared, and Library of Congress subject headings assigned to the entry.
These subject headings were added to records which appear in the Gerald B.
James Library catalog at Rockingham Community College, and I have included
them in this compilation for the added information they provide.
Finally, it is important to remember that accuracy in the reporting of these deaths
by the newspaper cannot be totally relied upon. Frequently dates of death or
spelling of names on cemetery headstones are not identical to what appeared in
the newspaper. As tempting as it was to make corrections, I chose to list the
information as it appeared in the newspaper at the time.
M.E.G.