After many years, this book is finally available with a New Index, which makes its use for research at possibility. This book is not too different from other county history books of this era. With such topics as trade and transportation, labor, farming, politics, and race relations - all important in the development of the county - are carefully discussed. This type of county history book can help one develop ideas or paths to those missing ancestors by showing the customs and traditions of the local residents. A particular useful feature of this book is the extensive biographical information included. This volume contains more than 198 biographical sketches, included in which are some 2,000 additional family members. Also found in this nook are the names of some 7,000 other persons prominent in the early history of this county.

Edgecombe County, in the coastal plains of North Carolina along the Tar River, was once home to the Tuscarora tribes and was founded by English immigrants from Virginia. The county swelled as an agricultural center in the cotton and textile industries, bolstered by a wealth of lumber and sustained by a thriving inland river port and railroad. Though the residents struggled through natural, industrial, and economic upheaval, their courage and fortitude endured these hardships and unified their community.