Today I had a chance to speak to one of my great-uncles and he shared a piece of family information that was new to me. He informs me that he’d heard that his grandfather, Samuel Lawhorn, came to NC from Georgia. Ancestry seems to be down right now, so I’m not able to do any searches, but perhaps this would explain why I’ve not been able to find any other Lawhorn families in NC in the 1870 census where he and his family reside.
The 1870 census record indicates they were born in NC, but perhaps that is inaccurate? Something new to explore!