The first clean up (Feb 18) was attended by 13 people. Good progress was made, but about half of the clean up remains to be done. Then next clean up day is scheduled on  Saturday March 11, 2023 from 9:00am to 12:00pm. This cemetery is located at 1461 Purfoy Rd. Surnames include  Barbour, Betts, Revels, Smith, Wray.   Seventeen graves are named. The earliest burial is dated 1814-1890. 1461 Purfoy Rd. Be sure to visit the Harnett County Cemtery Preservation Group on Facebook to see photos of the clean up progress and to get details for March 11. Page link:   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089072144515&mibextid=LQQJ4d Clean Up Event link:  https://fb.me/e/4cyE4borY?mibextid=RQdjqZ This cemetery is in Wake County, right in our backyard.  Visit Wake County Genealogical Society's Website  -  Homepage  |  WCGS Events  |  Join WCGS  |  Publications  |  Wake Cemetery Survey Images ...

I am taking the Wake Wednesday posts in a little different direction for a change of pace. In an effort to highlight the vast wealth of content that is held within the pages of the Wake Treasures Journal , I will be featuring small snippets from the Journal in hopes that you might find something useful for your own family research. I hope you will let me know if you are inspired to search there or make a great discovery for your family story.  Now let's get started... As we close out Black History Month, I want to feature this listing of African-American Businesses compiled in the 1909-1910 Hill City Directory for Raleigh, NC. The list was transcribed by Fred Turner for the Winter/Spring 2004 issue - v.14, nbr.1 . There are 5+ pages of listings (in excess of 230 individual listings) that include name, business type, and address.  Included in the transcription: Alford, Nick     eating houses     206 1/2 e Martin Alle, John    ...

This is a guest post from WCGS member and recording secretary, Linda Hames. This post originaly was published in the Wake Genealogy Watch newsletter, v5.4, Summer 2022. “ The history of Method became a fascination for me in May, 2019, and I still have a long list of places and events yet to be explored.”   - Linda Hames Historic Method Community and Oak Grove Cemetery - Then and Now In 1865, virtually all of what is now Wake County was made up of farms or plantations, depending on the definitions used.   Before the war, in 1860, North Carolina had 331,159 persons who were “owned” by other persons.   Most of them were farm workers.   In 1865, they were freed, and they soon began to form Freeman’s Villages.   Those who could afford to do so, moved into the city where the population grew rapidly.  In the Raleigh 1870 census, out of a population of 7,790, there were 4,094 Blacks (53%). Maps and other records show us the location of at least 13 new Blac...

Help and input needed for cemeteries on the Wake/Harnett County line in Fuquay area I received a request for help from Steve Koontz of the newly formed Harnett County Cemetery Preservation Group requesting help from descendants and   interested volunteers to assist in the clean up and restoration of several cemeteries on the southern county line. One has graves with the following surnames: Barbour, Betts, Revels, Smith, Wray.   Seventeen graves are named. The earliest burial is dated 1814-1890. Located near 1461 Purfoy Rd.   A clean up day was scheduled for Feb. 18 , but there may be several needed. See this Facebook post . There is a second cemetery near Fuquay that is on their list to clean up. The Stevens Family Cemetery will be scheduled for date in the near future. Please contact Steve Koontz if you can help with either of these or any other Southern Wake Cemeteries that the Harnett group has on their schedule. Steve Koontz skoontz76@aol.com Harnett County...

Mark your calendars and make your plans to attend two weeks from today:  Where:    Johnston County Heritage Center ,  241 East Market Street, Smithfield, NC 27577 When:   Saturday, February 11, at 10am Let's gather in person and check out the repository of records for Wake County settlers and ancestors before there was even a Wake County! Prior to its formation in 1770, the land we think of as Wake lay partially in Johnston county (also Cumberland and Orange, stories for another day).   The Johnston County Heritage Center holds approximately 2,500 books, 800 reels of microfilm, 300 maps/atlases, 100,000 photographic images, 600 private collections of books and papers, and vertical files on genealogy, biography, and local history. The focus for genealogical records primarily includes the eastern half of North Carolina and the Virginia Tidewater region.  Todd Johnson, Executive Director of the Center has offered to give us a tour and help us g...

"Nestled in Oberlin Village sits a small patch of unassuming greenery currently used as a neighborhood park. Residents use it for morning yoga, community cookouts, and quiet evening walks. You'd never guess it used to be part of a university attended by men and women freed from slavery on Raleigh-area plantations. Reverend M.L. Latta House,  the heart of Latta University The last remnant of Latta University burned down in 2007, when the Latta House went up in flames. Rev. M.L. Latta was a slave on the Cameron Plantation, which comprised much of the land in and around the Cameron Village and Cameron Park areas of downtown Raleigh. When he was freed, he earned an education at Shaw University and established Latta University in Oberlin Village." - Heather Leah Follow this link to read the rest of Heather Leah's account of Latta University and its place in Oberlin Village. Visit Wake County Genealogical Society's Website  -  Homepage  |  WCGS Events  |...