I am trying to piece together the family tree of the HILBURNS who were in Duplin County as early as 1755. From the Sampson County Historical Society, I received abstracts of land records on John HILBURN, from 1755 to 1769. Also, there were abstracts on Hamblin HILBURN from 1767 to 1784 (that part was Sampson County by then). At the same time, there was a Vaughn HILBURN who was a part of the Edgecomb Regiment in 1767; and then he lived in Dobbs County (part of which became Wayne County) from 1769 to 1789. He was then found in Sampson County from 1789 to 1793. In the 1800 Census, he was in Brunswick County, and in Robeson County in 1803 and 1810. Hamblin HILBURN, in the mean time, was in Bladen County in the 1790 and 1800 censuses, then in the 1810 and 1820 censuses in Columbus County. Some of the people born and raised in the area ended up in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida, evidenced by the 1850 census which stated birthplace. A Vaughn HILBURN was in Laurens County, Georgia; a Henry HILBURN in Alabama; a Frederick HILBURN in Copiah County, Mississippi; and a John HILBURN in Escambia County, Florida. One last note: I found in the LDS Library, in the IGI, a Vaughn Hilburn who married Elizabeth Worrel with listed children of Vaughn, John, James, Henry, and Benjamin born in Dobbs County. If this is true, I do not know the what sources were used to reach that conclusion. Any help would be appreciated. George GBHilburn@AOL.com