 sampson county is a county located in the u.s. state of north carolina. as of the 2010 census, the population was 63,431. its county seat is clinton. ==history== sampson county was formally and legally established in april of 1784 by the north carolina general assembly from an area taken from neighboring duplin county. land from neighboring wayne county and new hanover counties would be annexed later. the early settlers were scotch-irish immigrants from north ireland, many of who came to the colony of north carolina under the protection and inducements of henry mcculloch, a wealthy london merchant. the community of taylors bridge, located about halfway between clinton and harrells in lower sampson county (at the time duplin county), was one of the earliest european settled areas of the county, with pioneer families living 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, ezzell, james murphy, ward, sellers, parrish, fryar, williamson and bass families. in 1745, mccullough had 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 scotch-irish immigrants were soon joined by descendants of the swiss colony in new bern, and sometime later, pioneers from the northern states of new jersey, connecticut and massachusetts. among these first european settlers of the area was john sampson. sampson was the first register of deeds of duplin county. he served as a lt. colonel, and then a lt. general in the countyâs militia and was later the first mayor of wilmington, north carolina. [[john sampson (
1784_establishments_in_the_United_States North_Carolina_counties States_and_territories_established_in_1784