Compiled between 1900 and 1903, James Hathaway's 1,700-page "North Carolina Historical and Genealogical Register" is widely regarded as the supreme collection of genealogical source materials on the Old Albemarle region of North Carolina. Although a substantial amount of data appearing in the Register was arranged in alphabetical order from the outset--the marriage bonds and lists of Revolutionary soldiers, for example--and is therefore not covered by this index, it was left to Worth S. Ray to prepare an index to the remainder of the Hathaway work. More important, Ray's indispensable subject and name index to the "Register" is a compendium of information in its own right, providing new as well as extended family data, citations to other published authorities, and copious notes and extrapolations. The main entries in the "Index and Digest" alone pertain to over 5,000 persons. (NOTE: This is Part I of Worth Ray's famous "Loose Leaves from 'The Lost Tribes of North Carolina.'" Like the other parts, it stands on its own and is always published separately.)