Expanded Hours Chat Service at Government and History Library

If you are missing having access to the Government & Heritage Library at NC Archives, you may wish to take advantage of their online chat service.  They also accept email questions. Links and email addy are in this post that appeared in my Facebook newsfeed today. Check it out!

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Dig In to US Census Records Courtesy of My Heritage

My Heritage US Census records are free to view from March 29th until April 5th, 2020. Read the details from the blog post here.

Happy hunting...

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Senior Tech Ed Update - April Genealogy Classes will be hosted on Zoom

WCGS member, Jen Gunther, sends us this update from Senior Tech Ed in Raleigh. They have started offering some of their classes on Zoom in view of the restrictions on public gatherings. This provides a unique opportunity to use some of our (now copious) downtime for some learning. Think of it as a "staycation" where the classes come to you.

From Jen -

We will be offering a limited selection of seminars during April using the Zoom video conferencing app.

Most of the seminars being hosted in April are genealogy-based. Henry Spencer will host his entire Ancestry.com series via Zoom starting on Friday, April 3.  Instructions as to how to register for these classes are on the STE website (https://www.raleighseniorteched.org/).  After registering, the instructor will contact all registered students with instructions as to how to get on Zoom, will share the access link for the seminar, and will forward the Handout  What could be easier?  And it gives us all something to do while sheltering-at-home and stimulates our brain to learn something new. duirng this challenging time.
Take a look at the seminars offered and see if you are interested in any of them.

Genealogy topics include:
Genealogy Overview, Making Sense of Ancestry DNA Test Results, Getting Started with Ancestry.com, More Topics in Ancestry.com

Note: Classes are starting as early as this Friday, April 3 so don't delay in checking this out.

View their Schedule page to Register. 


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Wake Wednesday - Olde Raleigh c.1797

I had a great time last night listening to the WCGS online presentation in lieu of a face to face meeting. I hope many of our members took advantage of this experimental project. David McCorkle showed us many sources for historical maps and many new technologies to bring these maps to life. 

One of the maps early in David's presentation was a map of the very early city of Raleigh. I found this map captivating. This is one of the wonderful maps in the UNC North Carolina Maps Collection. In addition to the handrawn roughness and aged patina of this map, the maker had taken the time to draw the houses and shops in their respective locations. Zoom in enough, and you can take a stroll down old Raleigh streets in your mind. Here is your ticket to time travel - Plan of the City of Raleigh with all the improvements & all the Numbers july 1th, 1797. 

source

PS - if any of you had trouble logging into the presentation last night, please let us know. Email me and I will forward to David. This remote presentation is a new process and still being worked out. Your feedback will help.

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WCGS March 24 Meeting Is Cancelled

WCGS has cancelled our general meeting of March 24 at the Cameron Village Regional Library in Raleigh, NC due to public health concerns. The library, as part of the Wake County system, has supsended gatherings through April 15 and as this is an evolving situation, email is really the best way to keep informed.

WCGS members should look for email updates on future changes. If you are not a yet a member and want to be updated, you should join our mailing list for non-members at this link - http://eepurl.com/dljeyz.

We will reschedule the presentation by George Thomas the near future. Stay tuned.

Keep researching. If you get bored and want to do some remote volunteering, contact our Journal team for instructions to get you started transcribing Wake County historical records from home. We are working on Soldiers Home records and the Wake School Census among others. It is always fun to see familiar names and places in these records. For me, it reinforces my connections to Wake county. 

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UPDATE - Transcription Session Saturday, March 14 IS CANCELLED

Update - The Transcription Session for this Saturday is cancelled. We are practicing social distancing and an abundance of caution. We hope you will too.

If you are bored and want to transcribe at home anytime over the next few weeks, see the instructions below to get started transcribing remotely. 

Hope to see you all in April.

========================================================================
Join us at CVRL this Saturday morning, March 14.

WCGS Transcription Session @ Room 202,Cameron Village Regional Library, 1930 Clark Ave, Raleigh, NC 27605. 10:30am - 12:30pm. Details and Contact info.

Transcription events are scheduled for the second Saturday of each month through the end of 2020. These events are not educational workshops, but time set aside for us to work together on transcription projects to benefit either the WCGS journal, Wake Treasures, or your own research. You can bring your own photocopies or digital files of documents or records needing transcription. We will also provide photocopies and digital files of Wake County-related records needing transcription. These transcriptions will be used in future issues of Wake Treasures. 

Are you interested in volunteering to help with Wake transcriptions, but just can’t make the Saturday time slot? We can accommodate you! You don't even have to be in Wake County. Much of the material to be transcribed can be accessed, transcribed and uploaded remotely. You can transcribe at your leisure at home . Contact Donna Shackle, editor, or Jessica Conklin, content curator, if you would like to volunteer from home.

Dates for 2020 Transcription events ** The second Saturday of each month from 10:30-12:30 in Room 202, Cameron Village Regional Library, 1930 Clark Ave, Raleigh, NC 27605** Location change!
Mark your calender - Apr. 11, May 9, Jun. 13, Jul. 11, Aug.8, Sep. 12, Oct. 10, Nov. 14, Dec. 12

You may be interested in these useful transcription tools:

Whoa!! This latest Transcription tip will speed up the process and make you a Power Transcriber. We can all use this tip. Dictate your transcription into MS Word or other software. Watch this You Tube video from Connie Knox!

Handy, easy rules sheet from our Wakecogen Projects page.

Instructional video by our former editor, Diane Richard. To view "Accurate Transcription for Historical Records", click on the title and scroll down to the viewing window.  

FamilySearch has an extensive wiki on Transcribing Historical Documents here.

Guidelines for Reading Old Documents includes some of the standard text often seen in old wills, deeds, etc.

11 Tips for Reading Old Handwriting has suggestions for parsing out those letters that don't look quite like today's cursive or printed letters.

Various ways letters were written over time:

Wake Wednesday - Elizabeth Reid Murray Wake History Volume 1 Available Digitally

Saundra Cropps, Library Manager at Olivia Raney Local History Library, recently shared wonderful news. Saundra's email -

Hello everyone,

Wake, Capital County of North Carolina: Prehistory through Centennial (Vol. 1), 1983 is now digitized with DigitalNC.

Please see the link here https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/234244?ln=en

This is a historical moment for Wake County and we honor the author, the late Elizabeth Reid Murray today! I have attached her biography.

I want to thank her son, Mr. Jim Reid, for giving The Olivia Raney Local History Library/WCPL permission to have her book digitized. 

Please share as needed.

This is indeed wonderful news. Elizabeth's volumes were one of my first resources for starting the Wake Wednesday series of blogposts. This is a fantastic resource full of wonderful local history and family stories. If your roots go way back in Wake, you will want to spend some time with this volume. 

Saundra included Elizabeth Reid Murrays biographical information which you can read here. She was quite a proponent for keeping Wake's history alive.

Elizabeth Reid Murray

1925-2014

Elizabeth Reid Murray dedicated her life to documenting and preserving the history of Wake County, the place she considered “just the finest place on Earth.”

She was the author of Wake Capital County of North Carolina: Prehistory through Centennial (Vol. 1), 1983, and the co-author of Wake Capitol County of North Carolina: Reconstruction to 1920 (Vol. 2), 2008. These books are the most definitive authoritative secondary resources on the history of Wake County. The Elizabeth Reid Murray Collection at the Olivia Raney Local History Library is an extensive resource for scholarly research on Raleigh and Wake County.

Born Mary Elizabeth Davis in Wadesboro, North Carolina, she first moved to Raleigh to attend Meredith College, graduating in 1946. She began her professional life as a continuity writer of WPTF radio and as the program manager for WADE radio in Wadesboro.

Returning to Raleigh, she held numerous positions, including: Director, Meredith College News Bureau; editor, woman’s section, Raleigh News and Observer; Executive Secretary, Governor’s Coordinating Committee on Aging for NC; research assistant to Dr. Clarence Poe; teacher, local history courses for Wake County Public Schools and Wake Technical College; local history correspondent, Raleigh Times, News and Observer, Raleigh Spectator and Raleigh Magazine; and member, Raleigh City Council (1973).

Mrs. Murray was frequently recognized for her many contributions to the community and was awarded the following: American Association State and Local History for From Raleigh Past (1965); first Meredith Distinguished Alumna award (1970); W.P. Peace Award for best book on NC history (1983); Community Service Award, Raleigh Board of Realtors (1983); Wake County Phi Beta Kappa Award (1985); Silver Bowl Award, NC Museum of Art (1987); President’s Cup, Wake County Historical Society (1994); Anthemion Award, Capital Area Preservation, Inc. (1994).

Elizabeth Reid Murray was a wife, mother and grandmother.

She and her husband James Reid, a former mayor of Raleigh had three children, Michael Ernest Reid, Nancy Kennedy Reid Baker, and James William Reid, Jr.  Mr. Reid died in 1972. In 1979, Mrs. Reid married Dr. Raymond L. Murray of the Nuclear Engineering Department of North Carolina State University.

In 2006, Elizabeth Reid Murray donated her entire collection of manuscripts, slides, postcards, and photographs to the Olivia Raney Local History Library. The collection of more than 500 boxes of materials spans from 1965-2004 and is the largest archival collection owned by Wake County Public Libraries. Mrs. Murray was a longtime supporter of WCPL serving as a library trustee and a member of the planning committee for the opening of the Olivia Raney Local History Library in 1996.

In her research, she enjoyed uncovering stories of not only the elite but also of unsung heroes - people of color, people in remote and rural communities, and outstanding leaders. Her work ethic to affirm that her sources and facts were accurate was impeccable. Known in the community as someone who was generous with her knowledge, she was an inspiration to researchers.

Elizabeth Reid Murray died in 2014. Her books, publications, and collection at Olivia Raney Local History Library represent the passion and dedication she had for sharing the history of Wake County.

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Wake Genealogy Watch - Spring 2020 - Newsletter is Live

The Spring 2020 Issue (Vol.3 Issue 3)  of our award winning newsletter, Wake Genealogy Watch, is now available online for reading or download.

You can visit the WCGS website or access through this link - Wake Genealogy Watch, Spring 2020

This issue contains the following topics:
• Facebook for Genealogy - a survey of the many groups found within the walls of Facebook relating to all topics of research, historic context, techniques and even genetic genealogy. Harness the power of Facebook for your research.
• Cynthia Gage shares a very useful tip about tracing newspaper articles to their original location for the most complete coverage and details.
• Reunion planning guides and tips.
• A heads up on an upcoming workshop featuring Thomas Jones. It is close enough for a road trip. You may want to mark your calendar.
• A query request from one of our readers.
• Another very full calendar of events.

 As always we welcome your articles, comments, or other items for the newsletter, so please contact Cyndi at newsletter@wakecogen.org if you have something to share.

Photo Note: If you choose to read a printed version of this newsletter, some of the photos will be difficult to view due to size constraints. Please refer back to the online edition where you can enlarge the photos to accommodate better viewing.  This recent issue of the Newsletter may be downloaded from the WCGS Newsletter page.  Enjoy!

Or, click this newsletter page link to view this and all past newsletter content.

We welcome your feedback, input, and submissions for inclusions in future editions. Please address all concerns to newsletter@wakecogen.org.

Visit the WCGS Blog for more events, late breaking news, tutorials, updates and other special posts. 


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Reminder: Rootsweb Mail Lists Deadline - March 2

Just wanted to remind everyone who was active on Rootsweb Lists that they will cease to be active on March 2nd, in 7 days.

There after they will be accessible as read only content.


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Wake Wednesday - Search Digitized Unindexed Wake Records - New Tool At FamilySearch

This just passed through my Facebook feed. It will certainly provide new placed to look for ancestors and could really be a game changer. Hope you have a little time to kill...

Read details at FamilySearch

This link pulls up Wake County records, but...

You can take it anywhere you want to go here.

A free log in is required for access.


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Free Webinar Wednesday Night, Feb. 19 - Cold Calls, First Contact

Get more from your first contact, whether it be fleshing out family stories or connecting with your DNA cousins. Great Free Webinar Wednesday night.

Southern California Genealogical Society 2020 Jamboree Webinar Series -
De-Thorning Interviews: Cold Calls and First Contact
Wednesday, February 19, 2020, 9:00 PM (Eastern Time)

ABOUT THE PRESENTATION
This lecture will demonstrate the tactful approach to interviewing individuals, making cold calls and making first contact with individuals via emails and social media. Learn how to be comfortable gleaning oral family history stories from people you know and have never met before. Examples of these types of contact will be given.
1. Approaches, Considerations & Cautions
2. How to Prove If True

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Professional genealogist Tammy Priolo BASc, PLCGS 25+yrs. Consults, researches, writes, lectures & workshops nationally & internationally. Many genealogical volunteer positions including nine years with the FHC in North Bay Ontario. Member of APG, GSG, OGS and Advisory Board Member Ancestry.ca Sign Up - https://genealogyjamboree.blogspot.com/2020/02/free-webinar-from-scgs-wednesday.html


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RootsTech 2020 Presentation Schedule

The schedule for RootsTech2020 is posted now online at their website. I was pleasantly surprised that many of the presentations have PDF files of their syllabi posted in the descriptions.

It may be entertaining and worth your while to take a look.

RootsTech2020 Presentation Schedule


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