Rangers, North Carolina style

It popped up in a volume of Rutherford County, North Carolina, court minutes.

The County Court of Rutherford County held an election for an office The Legal Genealogist had never associated with North Carolina.

The office of County Ranger.

Four men offered themselves as candidates for the office on 14 January 1794: William Graham, Thomas Rowland, Robert Patterson and James Erwin. And Erwin was the one elected.¹

So… whazzat?

Officially, it was the officer in charge of stray animals.

Under chapter 9 of the North Carolina laws of 1777, anyone who found a stray horse, mare, gelding or colt, neat cattle,² hog or sheep was to report it to the ranger within 10 days. The ranger’s job was to record the stray, ensure that marks or brands hadn’t been altered or defaced, and then bring in two freeholders to validate the claim that the animal was a stray and to value the stray.³

The ranger then entered all the information in a book, advertised the taking up of the stray animal in a public place, and kept track in case the owner did appear to claim it. If nobody came forward during the 12 months after the valuation, then the person who found the stray could keep it. If the owner did come forward, the ranger was to see that the owner paid the ranger’s fee and a reasonable charge for its care to the person who kept and maintained it in the meantime.⁴

Which, of course, means records. By 1798, each ranger was to return a list of strays annually to the county court in February of each year,⁵ and stray records can be found as late as the early 1900s.⁶

So okay maybe not as sexy as the Texas Rangers, but hey… anything that creates records is Fine By Me.

Check out the other rangers.

Rangers, North Carolina style.

Cite/link to this post: Judy G. Russell, “The other rangers,” The Legal Genealogist (https://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog : posted 7 August 2023).

SOURCES