Olive Family Reunion - Sept 1-3 in Smithfield. Registration open until Aug 15.

For all questions regarding the reunion, contact Craig at the email below. 

The latest Olive Branches newsletter was included in the press packet, dated April 2023. It has a detailed description of the reunion events and some wonderful family history including an update from Irene Kittinger. Happy Birthday 98, Irene!!

If you will message me at newsletter@wakecogen.org, I will forward a copy. 

Be sure to check out the Olive Facebook page for the late breaking details of the reunion.
Old James Olive Family Association on Facebook.

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Wake Wednesday - Historic Millbrook

Historic Millbrook was just up the road from my home when we moved to Raleigh in the 70s. It was like a toy town of paper Christmas houses. I was fascinated by it. I still remember going to this tiny one room Post Office.

I was so sad when it was leveled in the name of progress and I spent quite a while reminiscing over the photos and old maps on this blog post, another great one from legeros.com.

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New Fall OLLI Schedule Offers Content of Genealogical Interest

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at NC State opens it Fall 2023 registration Thursday, July 27. Our own Barbara McGeachy will follow her Intro Genealogy class with Genealogy: Intermediate Research Skills (Oct 24 - Dec 5).

Barbara notes that in addition to this class, there are several others that fit genealogy, local and family history, black history and Wake County interests. She shares the following information.

OLLI membership is required - minimum age is 50 and cost is $50/year plus the fee for each class. No affiliation with NCSU is required.  Almost all classes are held at the McKimmon Center in Raleigh between 9 am and 4:30 pm Monday through Friday.

• Historic Preservation in Wake County
• Battles of the American Revolution 1782-1783 is a six-week class; the instructor is so popular that he's teaching it twice 
• Genealogy: Intermediate Research Skills taught by myself (Oct 24 - Dec 5).
• Historical Black Neighborhoods of Raleigh
• Wake County Enslaved Persons Project
• Talkin’ Tar Heel: History, Voices, Culture, Legacy
• The History and Evolution of the Outhouse
• The Transnational Context of “1619”
• Discovering the Dead at Oakwood Cemetery

OLLI offers classes that cater to a multitude of interests and genres. View their Fall 2023 course offerings here. There are other schedule viewing options at the OLLI schedule and registration webpage here. 

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Reminder - Next WCGS Virtual Meeting is Tuesday, July 25 - Special Pre Meeting Chat. Please, join us!

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The Trail Through Penns Woods, Records of Colonial Pennsylvania with Sandy Rumble  

           Tuesday, July 25, 6:30 pm to 8:15 pm

Special Chat session - Please join a tad early for genealogy chat!  Topic:  Did your ancestors pass through Colonial Penn and where did they go from there?  6:00 - 6:30pm. Chat stops promptly at 6:30 to begin our program. Hope you can join us!

Get details and registration link at the Wakecogen events page.

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Wake Wednesday - Hogg Dortch House

These photos certainly capture old Raleigh. Take a moment to appreciate the leafy grand entrance and oak filled lawn that graced the Hogg Dorch house in central Raleigh. The graceful old home sat on the block bounded by Wilmington, Lane, Blount and Jones Streets. If that location sounds familiar to you, it should. That is the location of the NC Archives building.

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The home was built in 1850 by Dr. Thomsas Devereux Hogg. It originally filled the whole block.  The Union army may have housed officers here during the war while the troops camped on the grounds.

Descendants of the Hogg family lived here until Dr. Hogg's grandaughter, Sally, passed in 1951. In 1962 the grounds were razed when construction began for the Archives and History building.

Read more of the story at Olde Raleigh's Facebook page.

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Hogg-Dortch home and grounds encompassed the full square

now occupiec by the State Archives, Freedom Park and the 

State Records Center.

See also, Goodnight Raleigh post.

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

Update -- See the helpful tip from Barbara McGeachy that she learned at an Olivia Rainey Library tour.

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.

Barbara McGeachy has passed along a handy tip she learned from a class taught by Hannah Cox of Olivia Raney Local History Library. During a recent OLLI presentation, it was noted that searches within a county do not always turn up all cities within the county. One should conduct a "county name" search and a "county, city name" search. as in the illustration. 

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Wake Wednesday - Reminiscence on Independence Day 1912 in Bloomsbury Park

"The Electric Park Amusement Company opened Bloomsbury Park on July 4, 1912. It was located at the end of the streetcar line near the Carolina Country Club, off what is today Glenwood Avenue in Raleigh, NC. It featured electric lights, a dance pavilion, a boating pond, penny arcade, roller coaster, and a magnificent Denzel carousel. Bloomsbury closed in 1921, and the carousel was sold to Pullen Park, where remains today."  -NCDigital

Can you feel the damp heat, hear the kids playing, hear the sounds of the calliope playing appropriate patriotic tunes.  Check out the Bloomsbury Park album at the NCDigital Flickr account to see what Idependence Day celebrating was like in 1912.

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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 | Contact