BUTE COUNTY Bute County was formed in 1764 from Granville. The act was to become effective June 10, 1764. It was named in honor of John Stewart, Earl of Bute, one of the principal secretaries of state, and first Lord of the treasury under George 111, over whom he exerted a dominant influence. The earl of Bute became very unpopular with the Americans, and in 1779 the General Assembly abolished Bute by dividing its territory into the counties of Warren and Franklin which were named for the Revolutionary patriots, Joseph Warren and Benjamin Franklin. It was in the northeastern section of the colony. The act ordered the court to be held on Jethro Sumners land at a place called Buffalo Race Path. ..........The said county of Granville shall be divided into Two Distinct Counties; and that all that Part of the said County which is now called or known by the Name of the Parish of Granville, from and after the said Tenth Day of June, shall be a Distinct County, and remain to be called Granville County;and that all that Part of the said County called and known by the Name fo St. John's Parish, shall, after the said Tenth Day of June, be another Distinct County, called by the name of Bute County. Part of Northampton was annexed to Bute in 1766. ..........to run and Mark (or cause the same to be done) a line from Roanoke River Bank, opposite the mouth of Stone House Creek, a due North Course to the dividing Line between this Province and the Colony of Viriginia; and all that part bounded to the Eastward, by the Line above directed to be marked, and to the Northward by the Virginia Line, to where it crosses Roanoke River, shall be, and is herby annexed to, and made part of the County of Bute; and the inhabitants therefore shall be subject and liable to the same Rules, Orders, Taxes, and Privileges, as any other of the Inhabitants of the said County of Bute. Franklin was formed in 1779 from Bute. ..........a direct line from the Granville line to Halifax or Nash county line as the case may be, leaving in each part or division an equal quantity of Acres as near as can be ascertained...... ..........to measure the lines of said County on every side and to run the dividing line so as to make each respective division as convenient to the respective persons residing therein as possible, which said lines when run by the commissioners, or a majority of them, shall be entered on the record of each County, and all that part of division which lies North of said line & adjacent to Virginia shall be a distinct County by the name of Warren, and all that part or division that lies South of said line shall be a distinct county by the name of Franklin... Warren was formed in 1779 from Bute. ..........a direct line from the Granville line to Halifax or Nash County line as the case may be , leaving in each part or division and equal quantity of Acres as near as can be ascertained..... ..........to measure the lines of said County on every side and to run the dividing line so as to make each respective division as convenient to the respective persons residing therein as possible, which said lines when run by the commissioners, or a majority of them, shall be entered on the record of each County, and all that part or division which lies North of said line & adjacent to Virginia shall be a distinct County by the name of Warren, and all that part or division that lies South of said line shall be a distinct County by the name of Franklin.... This record can be found in "The Formation of the North Carolina Counties" 1663-1943 by David Leroy Corbitt Raleigh, Division of Archives and History North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources 1950