Reminder: Next WCGS Virtual Meeting - Tuesday, Sept. 24 at 6:30pm

There is still time to register for this event.

Tuesday, Oct 22 @ 6:30pm - Virtual

Topic:  Using Genealogy Research Plans (recorded video)

Speaker: Connie Knox 

Keep your thoughts organized with a Research Plan Worksheet. This easy to use plan can be used as you research your ancestors. Here you can keep a running list of records you need to find either when researching at home or on the road. Time is always precious when researching and this is a huge timesaver when you are prepared in advance!

 

This is a pre-recorded video. Following the video, we will open the floor for discussion and Q&A. Come armed with your best research organization tips to share!

 

Join us!  Free and virtual!

*Please register by 4pm day of meeting.

*Please save your passcode and link for ease of entry at start time.
*Check in between 6:00 and 6:30 for chat, social time and questions!

Link to register at the Wakecogen website events page. 

Visit Wake County Genealogical Society's Website - 

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Wake Wednesday - Apex StoryMaps Celebrate 150 Years

I had seen these story maps before and I just love the concept of telling the stories and history of a place and attaching them to a map. The concept and tools to create are provided by ARCGIS.com. ArcGIS is a geographic information system (GIS) platform that helps users create, manage, and analyze geographic data, or maps. The StoryMaps concept "transforms your geographic information system (GIS) work into interactive content that informs and inspires."

The most inspiring collection of story maps that I have seen to date were produced by the town of Apex to celebrate their 150th year celebrated in 2023. Please follow the link to the Apex 150th celebration to see what a wonderful tribute they have created. Apex 150 - Past, Present and Potential

There are seven communities hightlighted in this series so be sure to scroll through to the bottom of each one for the links to the others.StoryMaps include Apex Annexation Tour, Fairview Community, Friendship Community, Green Level Community, Low End Community, New Hill Community, and  Olive Chapel Community.  I promise you will be glad you did. 

A snippet from a Story Map illustrates stories
 with their respective locations.

If you are as charmed with this method of story telling as I am, you will be glad to know that a basic StoryMap plan for personal use is free. There are limits to customization, but you may still find that this is a tool you want to use to tell your family story. Details and pricing are here for the curious and creative. 

Visit Wake County Genealogical Society's Website - 

Homepage | WCGS Events | Join WCGS | Journal | Wake Cemetery Survey Images | Society Surnames | Digital Resources | History Resources | More Links and Resources | Research Guides | Newsletter | Blog | Contact

Wake Wednesday - Premium List of the NC State Fair 1899

Are thoughts of cool breezes and crisp fall air calling to you? Got a taste for fair food yet?

While it is way too warm for that now, you can still get in the mood.  Stay inside and have a browse this fun old bit of ephemera from the turn of the century, the  Premium List of the NC State Fair 1899 - 39th Annual State Fair.

There are some beautiful advertising  graphics inside, as well as great historical context for Wake County and the rest of the state at the time. You can page through this volume much like browsing a physical book.

Don't miss the ads for Briggs Hardware, Raleigh Cotton Mills, St Mary's School, Southern Railway, and a host of others less well known that we surely need to keep in our memory. Fun!

source

These old premium book are a great source of historical context for you ancestors life way back when. 

Browse all from the history of the NC State Fair (1853-1859, 1869 - now). Visit NCDigital and search for "State Fair Ephemera". You will find a large collection and a fascinating time travel adventure.

Visit Wake County Genealogical Society's Website - Homepage | WCGS Events | Join WCGS | Journal | Wake Cemetery Survey Images | Society Surnames | Digital Resources | History Resources | More Links and Resources | Research Guides | Newsletter | Blog | Contact

2024 Wake County Genealogical Society Virtual Meetings - next - October 22

Tuesday, Oct 22 @ 6:30pm - Virtual

Topic:  Using Genealogy Research Plans (recorded video) 
Speaker: Connie Knox, Knox Genealogical Services, Genealogy TV & NC Ancestry

Keep your thoughts organized with a Research Plan Worksheet. This easy to use plan can be used as you research your ancestors. Here you can keep a running list of records you need to find either when researching at home or on the road. Time is always precious when researching and this is a huge timesaver when you are prepared in advance!

 

This is a pre-recorded video. Following the video, we will open the floor for discussion and Q&A. Come armed with your best research organization tips to share!

 

Join us!  Free and virtual!

*Please register by 4pm day of meeting.

*Please save your passcode and link for ease of entry at start time. 

*Presentation starts promptly at 6:30 pm.

Link to register at the Wakecogen website events page.  

Registration is now open!

Upcoming Events - view events page for details

Tuesday, Dec 3  @ 6:30pm - Virtual

Topic:  Civil War Prisoner of War Records 
Speaker: Craig R.Scott, MA, CG, FUGA

Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025 @ 6:30pm - Virtual

Topic: Be a Super Sleuth! Accessing and Using Images on Family Search  

Speaker: Jill Morelli, CG, CGL

Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025 @ 6:30pm - Virtual

Topic: We CAN Successfully Research Pre-1870 Enslaved & FPOC Ancestors  

Speaker: Diane L. Richard, owner MosaicRPM, GenWebinars,  Tar Heel Discoveries 

Tuesday, Mar. 25, 2025 @ 6:30pm - Virtual

Topic: Gravestone Symbolism 

Speaker: Robin Simonton, Executive Director of Historic Oakwood Cemetery

Visit Wake County Genealogical Society's Website - 

Homepage | WCGS Events | Join WCGS | Journal | Wake Cemetery Survey Images | Society Surnames | Digital Resources | History Resources | More Links and Resources | Research Guides | Newsletter | Blog | Contact

Wake Wednesday - Wake County Resources for Cemetery Cleanup and Preservation

A reprint of the article, "Cemetery Cleanup and Preservation - Wake County Resources" from the Summer 2024 issue of the Wake Genealogy Watch has been permantently added to the Wake Cemterey Survey Image Project page of our website. The article contains an expansive list of resources for care of a cemetery, ways to find helping hands, guidance in researching the owner and the historical significance of the cemetery, experts avaliable locally and guidance for proper restoration techniques. 

Please visit this page if you have questions about getting started or proper technique or other places to look for cemeteries listed in Wake County. 

The cemetery of  the former Six Forks Baptist Church at 9130 Baileywick Road in
North Raleigh, is badly in need of preservation. Note the tipped and broken stones. 

Visit Wake County Genealogical Society's Website - 

Homepage | WCGS Events | Join WCGS | Journal | Wake Cemetery Survey Images | Society Surnames | Digital Resources | History Resources | More Links and Resources | Research Guides | Newsletter | Blog | Contact

Wake Wednesday: Who were the New Lights of Northern Wake County

You have heard of the New Lights for years, probably without even knowing it. They have a township named after them in the very northern portion of  Wake County. While the name sounds kind of shimmery and new agey, the New Lights have a history that extends back in Wake County beyond the Revolution. 

Fendol Bevers map c. 1871

The New Lights were Baptists that migrated to North Carolina in the 1750's during the Great Awakening - a series of religious revivals in American Christian history. They were Baptists, but not Calvinists. They believed in a more personal connection to God, that God "brought new Light into their lives through their emotional conversion experiences", and that their fate was not preordained but dependent on their connection to God and their good deeds. They were also know as Separatist Baptists.

The New Lights established the first Baptist church in Wake County in 1775 and built their community around it. Their community grew and thrived through the l880's. Two gristmills and three general stores kept their community clothed and fed and their economy humming. 

Not all in the larger community, approved of their industry and independent religious spirit. Charles Woodmason, a pre-Revolutionary Anglican itinerant preacher was a loud critic of the New Lights and viewed them as an "infestation." A staunch believer in church-guided worship and governance, he felt that these "enthusiasts" were an unruly bunch led by an indwelling Holy Spirit to defy the order of organized religion.  Woodson spent years traveling thousands of miles around provincial North Carolina preaching the "evils" of the New Lights. 

Never the less, the New Lights persisted into the 1880s in northern Wake County working, thriving and following their Light. They left behind church record books for the years 1807-1834 that are archived at the Z. Smith Reynolds Library of  Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem. These records may be downloaded to view.

Today we remember New Light by its quaint name on our maps, but the history of the New Lights is so much richer.

Visit Wake County Genealogical Society's Website - Homepage | WCGS Events | Join WCGS | Journal | Wake Cemetery Survey Images | Society Surnames | Digital Resources | History Resources | More Links and Resources | Research Guides | Newsletter | Blog | Contact

Wake Wednesday - Tips for Sucessful Searching in the Wake County Cemetery Survey Image Collection

The Wake County Cemetery Survey Image Collection* hosted at the Wake County Genealogical Society represents a decades long endeavor when considering the years of field research by the original participants and adding on the efforts of the latest imaging volunteers who digitized, collated, researched, reviewed and processed all the images to make them available to view online in an orderly and logical fashion. That was no small task or feat of accomplishment due to the size, condition and handwritten nature of the bulk of the large collection. 

The full collection has been live at our website for a couple of years now. It is helping Wake researchers regularly reconnect with cemeteries and family history to enrich their stories. I am hearing some wonderful stories as folks report  their successes. 

We want you all to be successful in your search. A reprint of "Wake Cemetery Survey Image Collection: Tips for Successful Searches," from the Summer 2024 issue of the Wake Genealogy Watch has been reprinted and attached to the image collection landing page. The article contains many tips and illustrations to help you access all the information buried within the massive number of files included. It include directions to access the recently updated information in each township spreadsheet as well as the image files created by the original field volunteers. 

Please take a moment to check out this search tip article if you have cemeteries in Wake County to track down. Let us know if you have success!

*The Wake Cemetery Survey Image Collection was digitized by Wake County Genealogical Society in partnership with Upchurch and Allied Families Association

Visit Wake County Genealogical Society's Website - 

Homepage | WCGS Events | Join WCGS | Journal | Wake Cemetery Survey Images | Society Surnames | Digital Resources | History Resources | More Links and Resources | Research Guides | Newsletter | Blog | Contact

Historical Context Roadtrippin' - Fall 2024

As the weather is cooling, it is a great time to get out and explore our beautiful and history state. If you like exploring the past as well as admiring the scenery, be sure to check out the fall schedule of event at the North Carolina Historic Sites webpage.

Check out their calendar now so you can start planning your trips. 

Whether it is cooking receipts from an 18th century German cookbook or the foodways of the Catawba that has you curious,The President James K. Polk State Historic Site in Pineville has you covered. 

18 Century German Cooking, Sep 28 in Pineville

It is not too late to catch an Alamance Battleground tour later this week, or wait a couple weeks and visit Fort Dobbs for a living history illustration of barracks life. 

Find out why blue jeans are blue and all the skilled work that was required to make them blue in the early days at the Brunswick Town site in Winnabow NC. 

Explore 19th Century mourning customs at a monthlong exhibit at House in the Horseshoe. 

Find out how NC women were participating in that  "Tea Party" protest in Historic Edenton.

It's election time (in case you haven't noticed)! Experience an 18th century election. Would you have been able to vote then?

Time travel at Fort Dobbs as you visit with soldiers from many wars and conflicts in our history. 

 You could travel from town to town to revel in the Christmas lights across our state. Celebrate a 1770 German Christmas or find out how citizens made do during a Civil War Christmas at Bentonville.

There is more. I just scratched the surface. 

Bon Voyage. I might see you sometime, somewhere.

Visit Wake County Genealogical Society's Website - 

Homepage | WCGS Events | Join WCGS | Journal | Wake Cemetery Survey Images | Society Surnames | Digital Resources | History Resources | More Links and Resources | Research Guides | Newsletter | Blog | Contact