Sampson County is the largest county, by land area, in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 59,036. Its county seat is

Clinton Clinton is an English toponymic surname, indicating one's ancestors came from English places called Glympton or Glinton.Hanks, P. & Hodges, F. ''A Dictionary of Surnames''. Oxford University Press, 1988 Clinton has frequently been used as a given ...

History

Sampson County was established in April 1784 following the American Revolutionary War. The

North Carolina General Assembly The North Carolina General Assembly is the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of the Government of North Carolina, State government of North Carolina. The legislature consists of two chambers: the North Carolina Senate, Senate and the North Ca ...

annexed land from the neighboring

Duplin County Duplin County ()
, from the North Carolina Collection's website at the

...

. The neighboring Wayne County and New Hanover counties would be annexed later. Early settlers were Scots-Irish immigrants from Northern Ireland, many came to colonial North Carolina under the protection and inducements of Henry McCulloch, a wealthy London merchant. The community of Taylors Bridge was one of the earliest European settled areas of the county. Pioneer families lived there as early as the 1730s or 1740s. The first settlers of the area were Edmond Matthis, William Johnson, William Robinson and John Register, followed by members of the Peterson, Knowles, Vann, Boney, Merritt, Pearson, Powell, Herring, Rogers, Bryant, Blue, Ezzell, James Murphy, Ward, Sellers, Parrish, Fryar, Williamson and Bass families. In 1745, McCulloch obtained grants from the British Crown covering some 71,160 acres of land "lying and situated on the branches of the North East and Black River." The Scot-Irish immigrants were soon joined by descendants of the Swiss colony in New Bern. Later on, they were joined by pioneers from the northern states of New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts. Among the first European settlers of the area was John Sampson. Sampson was appointed as the first Register of Deeds for Duplin County. He served as a Lt. Colonel, and then a

Lt. General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

in the county's militia, and was later elected as the first mayor of Wilmington. Sampson brought with him Richard Clinton, believed to be his stepson. As an adult, Clinton soon distinguished himself in governmental and military service, serving as Duplin County's Register of Deeds for ten years. He was elected to the

Provincial Congress The Provincial Congresses were extra-legal legislative bodies established in ten of the Thirteen Colonies early in the American Revolution. Some were referred to as congresses while others used different terms for a similar type body. These bodie ...

held at Hillsboro. In 1776, at the outbreak of the Revolution, Clinton organized a company of militia from upper Duplin County and led them as captain in the defense of Wilmington against the British. He was later appointed Colonel of Cavalry and Brigadier General of the Fayetteville District. Upon the establishment of the state government of North Carolina by the Halifax Constitution of 1776, Clinton was elected as one of the first members of the House of Commons, representing the County of Duplin as a House member. Clinton continued as a representative of Duplin County until the creation of Sampson County in 1784. Clinton secured passage of the act creating the new county, and proposed the name "Sampson" in honor of John Sampson, his stepfather and benefactor. According to the 2000 Census, there were 1,029 members of the state-recognized Coharie Intra-tribal Council, Inc., a state-recognized tribe in Sampson County, who claim "descent from certain tribes of Indians originally inhabiting the coastal regions of North Carolina."

George Edwin Butler George Edwin Butler (June 5, 1868 – May 1, 1941) was an American lawyer and an author of research studies and works, particularly about North Carolina. His most notable book is ''The Croatan Indians of Sampson County, North Carolina. Their O ...

, author of ''The Croatan Indians of Sampson County, North Carolina. Their Origin and Racial Status. A Plea for Separate Schools'' (1916), claimed that the Croatan were mixed-race descendants of English settlers on the Lost Colony of Roanoke Island. The persons associated as Croatan were variously classified as "White", "Mulatto", "Colored", and "Negro" in the censuses of the 19th century. There was no category for Indian. But most historians do not believe the myth of the Croatan Indians in North Carolina. No records exist of any English settlement inland of the North Carolina coast prior to 1703, when John Lawson explored the inner region of the territory. Butler claimed that Lawson had come across Native Americans who were tilling the land in the English style, speaking an antiquated English, having gray and blue eyes, and wanting

Lawson Lawson may refer to: Places Australia * Lawson, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Lawson, New South Wales, a town in the Blue Mountains Canada * Lawson, Saskatchewan * Lawson Island, Nunavut United States * Lawson, Arkansas ...

to teach them how to "speak from a book" as their forefathers did. Mainline historians have found no evidence that any Europeans survived from Roanoke Island. DNA analysis of the "Indians" of Sampson County have not supported such early 20th c. myths.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.2%) is water. It is the second-largest county in North Carolina, and the largest in terms of land area. It is second to Robeson County, which has a total area of The county is in the watersheds of the Black and

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

Rivers and Six Run Creek.

Major water bodies

* Black River, home to one of the oldest trees in the world (1622 years old) in Bladen County * Great Coharie Creek (Black River tributary) * Six Run Creek * South River

Adjacent counties

* Johnston County – north * Wayne County – northeast *

Duplin County Duplin County ()
, from the North Carolina Collection's website at the

...

– east *

Pender County Pender County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 60,203. Its county seat is Burgaw. Pender County is part of the Wilmington, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The county ...

– southeast * Bladen County – southwest * Cumberland County – west *

Harnett County Harnett County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 133,568. Its county seat is Lillington; its largest city is Dunn. Harnett County is part of the Fayetteville Metropolitan Stati ...

– northwest

Major highways

* (Concurrency with US 117) * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Major infrastructure

* Clinton-Sampson County Airport (IATA: CTZ, ICAO: KCTZ, FAA LID: CTZ) is a public use airport located two nautical miles (4 km) southwest of the central business district of Clinton, a city in Sampson County, North Carolina, United States. It is owned by the city and county.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the

2020 United States census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...

, there were 59,036 people, 23,416 households, and 15,705 families residing in the county.

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 63,431 people, 22,624 households, and 16,214 families residing in the county. The population density was 67.1 people per square mile (25/km²). There were 26,476 housing units at an average density of 27 per square mile (10/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 56.7% White, 27% Black or African American, 2% Native American, 0.4% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander and 2% from two or more races. 16.5% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 22,273 households, out of which 33.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.60% were married couples living together, 14.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.20% were non-families. 23.70% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.09. In the county, the population was spread out, with 25.80% under the age of 18, 9.40% from 18 to 24, 29.70% from 25 to 44, 22.30% from 45 to 64, and 12.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 98.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.90 males. The median income for a household in the county was $31,793, and the median income for a family was $38,072. Males had a median income of $26,806 versus $20,657 for females. The per capita income for the county was $14,976. About 13.50% of families and 17.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.50% of those under age 18 and 21.50% of those age 65 or over. Sampson County is also one of the largest producers of hogs in the nation, and second in the state, with a population of over 2 million hogs.

Government and politics

Currently Sampson County leans strongly towards the Republican Party in presidential elections. No Democratic presidential candidate has gained an absolute majority of Sampson County's votes in a presidential election since Jimmy Carter did so in 1980, although Bill Clinton won a plurality in 1992 and

Bob Dole Robert Joseph Dole (July 22, 1923 – December 5, 2021) was an American politician and attorney who represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996. He was the Republican Leader of the Senate during the final 11 years of his te ...

's 1996 plurality was just ninety-one votes out of over seventeen thousand. Historically the county was unusual in the South in turning strongly towards the Republican Party between the 1890s and World War II – a time when most of the region was solidifying as the overwhelmingly Democratic " Solid South". Even with its historic Populism a fading memory, and no Unionist history, Sampson was one of seven North Carolina counties to vote for Wendell Willkie in 1940, and one of fourteen to vote for

Thomas E. Dewey Thomas Edmund Dewey (March 24, 1902 – March 16, 1971) was an American lawyer, prosecutor, and politician who served as the 47th governor of New York from 1943 to 1954. He was the Republican candidate for president in 1944 and 1948: although ...

in 1944. This was due to the fact that it was the leading centre for the Populist Party during the 1890s under local hero Marion Butler – more so indeed than Nash and Chatham counties which had given James B. Weaver a plurality in the 1892 election – and the fact that to compete with the dominant Democratic Party the two would fuse, with the result that after the Populists' demise its adherents turned to the Republicans. In the

North Carolina House of Representatives The North Carolina House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House is a 120-member body led by a Speaker of the House, who holds powers similar to those of the President pro-tem in the North Ca ...

, Sampson County is in the 22nd District with Bladen County, represented by Republican William D. Brisson, In the North Carolina Senate, it lies within the 9h Senate District, represented by Republican Brent Jackson.

Economy

Historically, Sampson County has been an agricultural county with a slow rise in population since the creation of the county. The agricultural sector continues to be one of the leading pillars of the economy. Leading industries prior to the 20th century were naval stores, timber and agriculture. After the Civil War, the Naval Stores and timber industries began to lose production value in the county to the lack of cheap labor due to the eradication of slavery among other factors; as a result,

subsistence agriculture Subsistence agriculture occurs when farmers grow food crops to meet the needs of themselves and their families on smallholdings. Subsistence agriculturalists target farm output for survival and for mostly local requirements, with little or no su ...

became the primary industry. The county has steadily gained stronger manufacturing and services industries since the Civil War. As of 2007, agricultural land covered over 50% of the county's land area. A wide range of

crops A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. When the plants of the same kind are cultivated at one place on a large scale, it is called a crop. Most crops are cultivated in agriculture or hydroponics ...

are grown in the county ranging from vegetables, fruits and berries to tobacco, peanuts, corn,

soybeans The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean, which has numerous uses. Traditional unfermented food uses of soybeans include soy milk, from which tofu and ...

and wheat. Manufacturing, agriculture, healthcare, education and retail are the primary sources of employment in the county. As of 2012, Sampson County is the largest producer of hay and

flue-cured tobacco Flue-cured tobacco is a type of cigarette tobacco. Along with burley tobacco, it accounts for more than 90% of US tobacco production. Flue-cured farming is centered in North Carolina. Production was limited by national marketing quotas and acreag ...

in North Carolina. Sampson County is the largest producer of domestic turkey, turkeys and the second largest producer of Pig, hogs in the state.

Education

Sampson County has a county-wide public school system for the grades of K-12 with the exception of the Clinton, North Carolina, City of Clinton, which has its own public school district for grades K-12. The only post-secondary public institution in the county is Sampson Community College. Hobbton High School is the oldest school building in Sampson County; located in Newton Grove, North Carolina, Newton Grove, it is a small 1A school.

County schools

;Elementary schools * Clement * Hargrove * Hobbton * Midway * Plain View * Roseboro * Salemburg * Union ;Intermediate school * Union ;Middle schools * Hobbton * Midway * Union * Roseboro-Salemburg ;High schools * Union * Hobbton High School, Hobbton * Midway * Lakewood * Sampson Early College High School

Clinton-City Schools

;Elementary schools * Butler Avenue * L.C. Kerr * Sunset Avenue ;Middle school * Sampson ;High school * Clinton

Libraries

The Sampson County Library System serves Sampson County residents through four different libraries and a specialized outreach service intended for patrons who are home-bound and unable to visit the library. The libraries share a publicly accessible catalog and courier service. The Sampson County Library System offers online resources including eBooks, audiobooks, numerous genealogy databases, and online Driver's Education. The libraries also participate in Interlibrary Loan services. Computer classes and Story Time programs are offered at the member libraries. ;Library Locations * J.C. Holliday Library (

) * Bryan Memorial Library (Newton Grove, North Carolina, Newton Grove) * Miriam Lamb Memorial Library (Garland, North Carolina, Garland) * Roseboro Public Library (Roseboro, North Carolina, Roseboro) The J.C. Holliday Library in Clinton is the headquarters library for the county. It houses the largest collection of items including research materials and a local history and genealogy collection. There are also reference and children's services provided at this branch.

Communities

City

(county seat and largest city)

Towns

* Autryville, North Carolina, Autryville * Garland, North Carolina, Garland * Harrells, North Carolina, Harrells * Newton Grove, North Carolina, Newton Grove * Roseboro, North Carolina, Roseboro * Salemburg, North Carolina, Salemburg * Turkey, North Carolina, Turkey

Census-designated places

* Bonnetsville, North Carolina, Bonnetsville * Delway, North Carolina, Delway * Ingold, North Carolina, Ingold * Ivanhoe, North Carolina, Ivanhoe * Keener, North Carolina, Keener * Plain View, North Carolina, Plain View * Spiveys Corner, North Carolina, Spiveys Corner * Vann Crossroads, North Carolina, Vann Crossroads

Unincorporated communities

* Moltonville, North Carolina, Moltonville * Suttontown, North Carolina, Suttontown

Townships

* Belvoir * Dismal * Franklin * Halls * Herring * Honeycutt * Lisbon * Little Coharie * McDaniels * Mingo * Newton Grove * North Clinton * Piney Grove * Plain View * Rebel City * South Clinton * South River * Taylors Bridge * Turkey * Westbrook

Notable people

* William R. King, a politician and diplomat who was elected both to the US House, House of Representatives and the US Senate, Senate. In 1852, he was elected as the 13th US vice-president on a ticket (election), ticket with Franklin Pierce. * Micajah Autry, American merchant, poet and lawyer who died in the Texas Revolution at the Battle of the Alamo. * Theophilus H. Holmes, was a career United States Army officer and a Confederate States Army, Confederate Lieutenant General (CSA), Lieutenant General in the American Civil War. * James Kenan, a military leader of the American Revolutionary War,Liberty Hall Archives and an early senator of the state of North Carolina. * Robert Herring Wright, the first president of East Carolina University, East Carolina Teachers Training School. * Marion Butler, a Populist U.S. senator from the state of North Carolina between 1895 and 1901. and brother of George Edwin Butler. *

, a local Lawyer, Civic Leader, and Author of ''The Croatan Indians of Sampson County, North Carolina. Their Origin and Racial Status. A Plea for Separate Schools''. * Lauch Faircloth, U.S. Senator (R-NC) 1993–99, born: January 14, 1928 * Gwendolyn Faison, Former Mayor of Camden, New Jersey (2000–2010) * Gabriel Holmes, 21st Governor of North Carolina 1821–1824, (1769 – September 26, 1829) * Theophilus H. Holmes, U.S. Army officer and Confederate general in the American Civil War (November 13, 1804 – June 21, 1880) * Rufus G. Herring, United States Naval Reserve Officer and recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions in World War II. * John Merrick (insurance), John Merrick, African American entrepreneur, founder and president of North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company, which for much of the 20th century was the largest company run by African Americans in the U.S. * Curtis Smith (drag racer), Curtis Smith, World Champion and Hall of Fame Drag Racer. * Willie Weeks, an American Bass Guitarist and Musician.

References

External links

Sampson County government official website

NCGenWeb Sampson County
– free genealogy resources for the county {{Coord, 34.99, -78.37, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-NC_source:UScensus1990 Sampson County, North Carolina, 1784 establishments in North Carolina Populated places established in 1784