Our own Saundra Russ Cropps will share her presentation on People of Color During the Revolutionary War in Granville and Wake Counties, North Carolina . Sign up before July 13 to hear her talk. Details are in the poster. This is a four part series. Other dates and topics are included in the second poster. Sign up once and you are registered for all the talks.  Use QR Link below to register from your phone. note: the link  and qr in poster above is broken. Details for the rest of the dates -   June 8, July 13, Aug 10, and Sept 14 Address questions to AAHGS NC Triangle Chapter America 250 Speaker Series Visit Wake County Genealogical Society's Website - Homepage | WCGS Events | Join WCGS | Publications | Wake Cemetery Survey Images | Society Surnames | Digital Resources | History Resources | More Links and Resources |    Donate | Contact - info(at)wakecogen(dot)org

Connie Knox of Genealogy TV  took a road trip to Raleigh recently to find information about a patriot ancestor. Her destination was the NC Archives and State Library of NC. The experience and findings are detailed in this video. Though she did not find the information she had hoped for, she covered a lot of records sets that might help you in your search for your own ancestors.  Watch on Youtube:  Patriot or Legend? Captain William Clark's Rev War Service & Genealogy Research Image generated using Google Imagen You will find other patriot research possibilities in the following articles from past issues of Wake Genealogy Watch. Identify Your Revolutionary Ancestors - Vol 9, Issue 2, pp. 11-13. More Than a Musket: Who Qualified as a Revolutionary Patriot? - Vol 9.3, p11. Your Patriot’s Experience: Two Websites to Help Your Discoveries - Vol 9.4, p.6 Visit Wake County Genealogical Society's Website - Homepage | WCGS Events | Join WCGS | Publications | Wake Cemetery...

The Chavis Family portion of the Pleasant Grove UMC Cemetery featured in our most recent  newsletter (page 3), is currently undergoing clean up and preservation by church volunteers. The clean up effort is largely complete. The volunteer group is moving on to preservation. Interested members of the public are invited to a tombstone repair demonstration conducted by Doug Compton with the NC African American Cemeteries Network. When:  Saturday, July 18, at 10 am Where:  Pleasant Grove UMC,  4415 Pleasant Grove Church Road, Raleigh, NC 27613 What: Live Tombstone Repair Demonstration Who:  Doug Compton, the NC African American Cemeteries Network Details from the Pleasant Grove UMC Church Newsletter below: There’s no “A” in Cemetery An historic cemetery like the one at Pleasant Grove UMC offers clues and links to the past beyond what can be read on tombstones. Doug Compton with the NC African American Cemeteries Network has learned to follow the clues left over the ...

Last Thursday, June 25, Saundra's video premiered  on Spectrum News 1 . She was interviewed by Kennedy Chase about researching Black Patriot ancestors, an topic of  historic interest right now. Saundra's Patriot was Black so this made for some challenging research.  In the interview, Saundra explained,  “I did a lot of genealogy on the general public, but I did not have the time to focus on my family.”  She applied those skills honed over the years of past research to connect with her extended maternal line and trace her lineage back to  free Black Patriot, Jesse Harris . The video highlights several stumbling blocks that black researchers encounter and encourages persistence. Saundra noted that more discussion on researching black ancestors occurred than was shown in the final edit, but she thought Kennedy Chase did a wonderful job of pulling it all together. This was her first TV appearance, and she's excited to share more. Watch Saundra's Spec...

An article from the N&O has haunted me for years. It was about the first reading of the Declaration of Independence in Wake County and what that must have been like. I saved it. Can't find it now, but every summer at this time I think of it and how it captured my historic fancy those several years ago. So much so, that my young family including my two sons, husband and my father and step-mother made the trek downtown that hot, hot July 4 to tour the Joel Lane house and stand at the Boylan Bridge spot and imagine (despite construction detritus all around) what it must have felt like and sounded on that hill at the first reading in August of 1776. Well, it haunted me enough to go searching for the article again. After several failed attempts - success! I must give mad props and a plug to the NC Government and Heritage Library for their library card and the online access it provides. From their site, with my library card to log in, I was able to search the N&O Archives t...

Our membership chairperson,  Carol Kimball Stahl provided this summary of last Saturday's Book Exchange: "As y'all know, the Book Exchange was held at Laurel Hills Park on Saturday, June 20. As you might surmise, there were likely some who would have come but for being one of the 150,00 people who attended the Canes' parade! Regardless, we did see some good results. Vouchers were given when someone brought books to be placed on the tables for sale. Each book generated a voucher. At the end of the day, 13 vouchers had been used. That use meant that 13 books found new homes! In addition to the voucher use, people could buy books for $5 or win the silent auction bid."  Many bought books outright. Between purchases and simple donations we generated enough funds to cover a speaker engagement or in-person activity. Photo - Steve Deal "Many familiar and new faces attended. Among those were Cini Gage, Cyndi & Steve Deal, Harriet Jenkins, Kathy Ruse, Jennie Gu...