Excerpts from  the Ancestry announcement  about this record set -  These records were "Created after the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade but prior to emancipation, these registers documented and tracked the former legally enslaved people in the British Colonies." They span years from 1813-1840 and "detail enslaved individuals across 20 former British colonies including Jamaica, Barbados, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, and the Cape of Good Hope." "Unlike many documents from this era, the Former British Colonies Enslavement Registers include details like names, ages, family relationships, places of origin, and life events." There is a short introduction video at the announcement page hosted by Nicka Sewell-Smith. There is also a lengthy blog post at Ancestry that provides instruction on record types, information held in the records and tips of overcoming stumbling blocks within. The post also includes guidance on dealing with emotions that may come from t...

It was a busy weekend for learning and reconnecting with fellow genealogists last week when the NC Genealogical Society held court at McKimmon Center in Raleigh for the two day 2026 Fall Conference on September 18 and 19. The featured speaker was the Legal Genealogist - Judy Russell. She was joined by 24 expert genealogy researchers,  writers, archivists, librarians, and historians. There was much to share and much to be learned. Here are photos shared by members of the festivities and activities.  Clockwise from top left - Kathy Ruse and sister-in-law attend together every year;  WCGS members turn out for our alumni speaker Diane Richard; The WCGS info table in fine form manned by Cynthia Gage and Carla Stancil; Monica Fleming and Cynthia Gage compare notes with featured speaker Judy Russell.  Photos by Cynthia Gage, Carla Stancil, and Jennie Gunther.   Click image to view larger. Left to right lower images -Diane Richard commands attention as she sh...

The Family History Group hosted by Osher Lifelong Learning Institute is run by  our own WCGS President Barbara McGeachy. She wants to let you know that there is still time to join OLLI and take advantage of this study group this year. The topic for the first meeting was a presentation by Cynthia Gage on finding WW2 records in Federal Repositories. (Was it a preview of the upcomming WCGS meeting on Oct. 27?) Message from Barbara -  We are OLLI members researching our own family history - beginner to advanced. We meet once a month on the second Friday morning both in the McKimmon Center and on Zoom. We discuss our research, learn about upcoming local events, share tips, ask questions, and hear a presentation from a member or guest. This group is free to members of OLLI at NCSU. For details visit   https://olli.lifelonglearning.ncsu.edu/      More topics planned for the 2026-2027 season:      Mining digital records at federal repositories ...

Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026 @ 6:30pm – Virtual Topic:    WWII Service: Discovering your Ancestor's Story using Online Resources Speaker:   Cynthia Gage As a genealogist, I feel that my role is to preserve not just the names of my ancestors, but also to learn the stories of their lives in order to fully appreciate the history that led to me. Military service is one of those important stories and luckily for us as researchers, many records exist. The service record is only one part of a veteran's story: the other is their experience. This presentation focuses on WWII service and will provide sources and techniques for gathering and analyzing information from both parts of the story. For those with Army servicemen, there are online sources which can help rebuild the service records that were lost in the1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center. Join us! Free and virtual! *Please register by 4pm day of meeting. *Please save your passcode and link for ease of entry at st...

The Friends of the Archives' Fall Virtual Meeting will include a special presentation: Remembering the American Revolution in the Cherokee Homeland. Details from FOA's event page: Commemorating the American Revolution poses particular challenges if one lives in far Western North Carolina. Here in the Cherokee ancestral homelands, the Revolution brought a bitter and destructive conflict over Cherokee land, with a portion of the Cherokee population entering the war as members of a British-allied coalition of Indigenous peoples. That war, in turn, belonged to a much longer struggle to protect Cherokee land and the wellbeing of Cherokee communities – a struggle that preceded the Revolution and continued long after 1776. In this presentation, Shana Bushyhead Condill (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians), Executive Director of the Museum of the Cherokee People, and Andrew Denson, professor of history at Western Carolina University, will discuss the challenges involved in remembering the...

For those following along, here is the latest Upchurch and Allied Families Association Newsletter. September 2026  - Features include a DNAarticle and Upchurches in the News. View past UAFA newsletters here Visit Wake County Genealogical Society's Website - Homepage | WCGS Events | Join WCGS | Wake Genealogy Watch Newsletter | WCGS Facebook | Wake Cemetery Survey Images | Resources |  Contact - info(at)wakecogen(dot)org