Thursday, February 29, 2024

Don't Forget: Wake Treasures Journal Access now open access for all

We just can't help reminding folks. This is such a great boon to researchers. Be sure to check the highlighted collections below.

All past issues of the WCGS Wake Treasures Journal are now available to all Wake researchers any time they need to browse! 24/7. All the time.

There are 31 years of valuable Wake-centric content stored at this link. If you have not checked the offerings yet, you better take a peek to see just what you are missing. 


 WCGS Publications > Wake Treasures. From the journal landing page, you can browse issues by year  or check the subject index that is available for years 1-25 (1995 - 2015).  There is an impromptu index that was created for another project. It was covers the years 2007—2022. I started with the year 2022 and works backwards.   While not complete, you may still find it helpful for discovery of content and location. It is available in searchable spreadsheet form here. I hope to get this list completed with the earlier content and that from 2023 soon.

Just to show the power of the files available in the Journal, here are some Freedmen’s Records* found in these volumes found by searching freedmen in the newer index:  vol. 17.1 (2007),  24.1 (2014), and 24.2 (2014).

Insolvent Debtors* can be found in these issues:  vol. 18.2 (2008) all townships, 22.1 (2012), 22.2 (2012), and 28.3 (2018).

Divorce records* are found here - vol. 18.2 (2008), 19.1 (2009), 20.2 (2010), 21.1 (2010/2011), 26.3 (2016), and 27.2 (2017).

* This is a sampling of some of the record sets and topics covered in the journal and is not complete. You will want to browse further in the earlier issues. Check out both indexes described above. Hopefully all issues will be in an index soon.

Once you start browsing within the individual issues, they are searchable by any name, location or topic within. Have fun looking for your ancestors!

 

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Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Wake Wednesday - Historic Method Community document - Context for Historic Designation

The Historic Method Community has been featured twice in the Wake Genealogy Watch, Vol 5.4 - Summer 2022 and in this blog. That article was written by WCGS member, Linda Hames, about her favorite preservation project. I recently found this additional document online that outlines the Method Community, its history, landmarks and arguments for further preservation work. The document features many relevent maps in an attempt to plot the footprint of the community when no original map document exists. 

Personal narratives of Bertha Maye Edwards, a granddaughter of Jesse Mason who grew up in Method are also included and capture the essence of the place in a way maps and documents just can not. Those interested in early Freedmen's villlages in Wake County and the history of the Method Community will want to reveiw this document. 


"Masonville, Save-Rent, Planktown, and Slab Town: The Origins of Method
The Method neighborhood first developed as a post-Civil War rural settlement initiated by formerly enslaved blacks. In 1872, half-brothers Jesse Mason and Isaac O’Kelly bought sixty-nine mostly wooded acres from Confederate General William Ruffin Cox of Raleigh and Edgecombe County. They began selling smaller parcels to other blacks—particularly to friends and relatives—through the 1880s. 1 A map showing the location of the sixty-nine-acre parcel has not been located and none may exist..."   - de Miranda


Bertha Maye Edwards' personal narrative comes from her book that is referenced in the footnotes,  The Little Place, and the Little Girl (New York: Carlton Press, 1974).  At this time, I have not been able to locate a copy online or in print.


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Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Volunteer with WCGS - Be Our New Webmaster

Members and researchers who have visited the Wake County Genealogical Society website will have noticed its many features.

· Our easy sidebar system for finding and registering for upcoming events.

· The topical front and center features from our blog, newsletters, and journal on regular rotation on the Wakecogen  home page.

· Quick access to free 24/7 content offered in The Wake Cemetery Survey Images, the thirty plus years of Wake Treasures Journal content, and seven years of content in the Wake Genealogy Watch newsletter.

· The several Resource pages including Wake research, Wake history, NC resources, Society Surnames, and Articles and Guides - all curated content by our webmaster.


You have our current webmaster Cynthia Gage to thank for all of that. She has built our website from a simple information page to the useful community hub and education center it is today. Cynthia assumed the role in 2015 and after nine years, she has decided to step down from this role to pursue her other genealogical interests.

Wake County Genealogical Society is seeking a new Webmaster

If you have web skills (or are interested in learning as you go), want to collaborate with fellow genealogists (always a fun time) and want to work with a great bunch of volunteers, we would love to have you.

WebMaster Position Description

 Our new webmaster will:

· Maintain the content and appearance of the website for the Wake County Genealogical Society at www.wakecogen.org.

· Maintain the various email boxes for Society communication.

· Communicate with BlueCrab Software (via EasyNet Sites) on technical details and website structure options as needed to maintain the website.

· Monitor for proper function and ensure the site is available to users.

· Receive new and updated information from members of the board, committees, and projects, and posts it in a timely manner on the website.

· Provide a quarterly report to the board about any website changes and recommendations.

· Will eventually facilitate the conversion of our website to the new ENS Responsive mode (no time frame yet).

This unpaid position is completely remote. 

Contact us via info@wakecogen.org,  if you would like to apply for this position. Please mark the subject line - Attn Saundra Crops - Website Volunteer Position.

We look forward to hearing from you.


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Wednesday, February 21, 2024

Wake Wednesday - NC Historic Preservation Document - The Evolution of Raleigh's African-American Neighborhoods in the 19th and 20th Centuries

The Evolution of Raleigh's African-American:  Neighborhoods in the 19th and 20th Centuries by Richard Mattson,  November, 1988 

It seems like I visit this document yearly as I seek to gain insight into important topics to highlight for Wake researchers during Black History Month. I know I have pulled information from it for the last two years running - once, for an expansion of the list of Freedmen's Villages in Wake County and again, when gathering sources for the growth of suburbs in Raleigh. When revisiting this document today, not only was I struck by the value of the comprehensive content but also by the generous list of resources that are included with in this historic survey document. If you are interested in the formation of Freedmen's communities, suburbs, polulation changes during Reconstruction, or growth and development in black communities, you should spend some time with Mr. Mattson's document

Do not miss the pages of sources in the endnotes! What a treasure.

N_53_15_7634

500 block North Dawson Street, Raleigh, NC; 1948. The view is looking NE from the corner of Dawson and Johnson Streets. Part of the Smoky Hollow neighborhood. Photo by Albert Barden. From the Albert Barden Collection, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, NC. (NC Archives Flickr)


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Wednesday, February 14, 2024

Wake Wednesday: Historic WPA Black Farm Life photos captured by Dorothea Lange and others

Part of the Library of Congress Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Black-and-White Negatives Collection.

Wake Forest Museum Blog hosts this beautiful collection of black and white photos taken in the Wake and Granville area by WPA photographer Dorothea Lange and others. Please check out the wonderful photo essay here to see all the images and narrative in honor of Black History Month.



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Wednesday, February 7, 2024

Wake Wednesday - Shiloh Community: A Freedmen's village since 1830

 **Be sure to see the latest update at the end of post.


Reprint from the Winter 2024 Wake Genealogy Watch Newsletter - ContributingSaundra Cropps         

Shiloh Community in Cedar Forks township started in 1830 as a rural community of free people of color.  This community is home to over 57 farmers on property extending from the Durham County line to south of McCrimmon Parkway.  It was annexed into the town of Morrisville, NC in 1987 (although it predates Morrisville by almost 200 years). It is important to note that the remaining farmers in Shiloh community today are the living descendants of those original freemen who settled this part of Wake county from the 1830 and on through the years after Emancipation.
 


WCGS member and Diversity officer Saundra Cropps has deep roots in the Shiloh Community as you will come to read. The community and many of its members, including Saundra's great grandfather, Jesse Harris and other ancestors, are commemorated on various historical markers within its bounds.

The marker for the Shiloh Community states that it was a "rural community of free African Americans and slaves, developed in the Cedar Fork Township in the late 1820's. By 1870, Shiloh was a self-sufficient community with a public school, co-op store, midwives, recreation center and church. ... This thriving community, home to over 57 farmers on property extending from the Durham County line to south of McCrimmon Parkway, was annexed into the town of Morrisville, NC in 1987."

The Shiloh Leaders historic marker describes Saundra's great grandfather Jesse Harris as being known as the “Father of Scientific Farming”. 

“Jesse Harris was a staunch activist for improving agriculture in Shiloh. He also played an important role in convincing people to purchase farmland in and around the Shiloh Community. Harris's skills in teaching farming techniques positioned Shiloh as a strong contender in the regional agriculture industry in the early 1900s.”

To understand the challenges faced by black farmers in the post-Reconstruction era, it is helpful to consult  the  WAKE COUNTY HISTORIC FARM CONTEXT (1918-1968) AND SURVEY UPDATE. The section on Black Farmers (p59 - 62) describes their efforts to succeed despite exclusion from county farm extension programs. They are described as taking the initiative to organize their own  resources, founding the Negro Farmers County Council in 1945 to address farm improvement practices. With help from the NFCC and their Negro Farm Agent, progress was made, and many home demonstrations within the Shiloh community are featured in the report.

While the community of free blacks predated the Civil War by many years, it grew in the aftermath of the war. During that growth, Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church became the spiritual hub of the community in 1867. Prior to that some of the free folk of color worshiped alongside their white neighbors at the nearby Cedar Forks Baptist church. After the war, as the number of  freedmen in the Shiloh community swelled, they  withdrew from Cedar Forks wishing to "practice independent action in religious matters." Shiloh Church was organized and early meetings were "held under a brush arbor on the property of Major Weaver, with approximately fifty members under the leadership of Rev. Ed Cole, the church became the institution of religious and social cohesion for the community." More of Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church history can be read here.

That brush arbor of those early services became the location of the first church. It was built very close to where I-540 is now. The Wake Cemetery Survey entry for the "old" Shiloh Church  lists it as being near the intersection of Church Street and Weaver Forest Way. This would have been the property of Major Weaver. The land surrounding the original church was developed in the building of  I-540 and the Providence Place Subdivision. There was also a cemetery there which served as the resting place for the earliest Shiloh residents.

Another notable person referenced on the Shiloh Community historical marker with Jesse Harris was Reverend James Dunston (1854-1924), third pastor of the Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church from 1882 to 1885. The contributions of Rev. James Dunston  had a profound effect on Shiloh's history and endurance as a community. He was instrumental in securing land ownership, education, and economic development for the residents of Shiloh.

About 1966 the Church was moved further south down Church Street to the current building and location at 922 Church Street.  This is across from the location of the new Shiloh Grove Subdivision, land that was formerly the Barbee farm. If you visit the area, you will see development encroaching on all sides. Driving out of the parking lot, you used to be able to drive Barbee Road through to NC 54. It is now a dead end due to a railroad track upgrade in the last 10 years. Much of the surrounding land has been developed into a community park.

 

A new cemetery sits on the Church property as well. The remains of 53 resting souls of the original cemetery were relocated here. The known names are memorialized on the marker shown here.

Second in the second column of this marker you will find mention of "Jessie” [sic] Harris and Roxanna Mills Harris. These are Saundra's great grandparents. They are the parents of her paternal grandmother, Mary Harris Russ, who is listed last on the third column. Many of the sons and daughters of Jesse and Roxanna Harris are also included on this stone - these would be Saundra's great aunts and uncles. In addition to Harris and Mills surnames, the Jesse Harris family tree includes Barbee and Mayo. This makes Saundra's relationship confirmed to all but three on this stone. I wonder if we could connect the others with a little more research time? Congratulations to Saundra. This is a heritage to take pride in and honor.

In addition to the people listed here, there are about 200 others buried in this cemetery. Information on the markers can be found on Find a Grave and USgwarchives.net . There are many descendants of the founding freedmen resting here to be found on these two lists. 

A history of Shiloh Community and its church, Shilodean Memorabilia, was written in 1982 by Esther Dunnegan and Delores Scott. The book includes a collection of recipes, old sayings and expressions, birth records, games children used to play, and herbal cures and remedies,  and the history of the community, citizens, and church. The few remaining copies of this book are housed at the church and at N.C. Central Library in its rare book section should you like to read further.

In
Shilodean Memorabilia
, Jesse Harris is characterized as more than simply a farmer. The ever enterprising Harris served his community as a blacksmith, a miller, and also operated a syrup cookery.  He demonstrated and shared all these skills with his community for the betterment of all. 

 

No doubt, the efforts of many residents, including Reverend Dunston and Jesse Harris, have kept  Shiloh Community and Church alive this long when many other Wake County rural freedmen's communities have been lost to time and development. Saundra is very lucky to have such deep ancestral ties to this special community.

Many thanks to Saundra for sharing her family roots with us. I have really enjoyed learning more about the Shiloh Community and Church. My interest was sparked when I was struggling to distinguish between the old and new locations in the Wake Cemetery Project. In researching, I learned just enough about the community to be really excited at the chance to collaborate with Saundra on this article.  This information will be added to the Wake Cemetery project entries for both Old and New Shiloh Churches as they only had location information from back in the day. I feel so much better now the we can share a fuller story with future researchers. - CD

 



Late breaking update - As of Feb. 1,2024,  the book referenced in this article, Shilodean Memorabilia : In Celebration of our 115th Anniversary and Homecoming by Delores Mills Scott and Esther Mayo Dunnegan is available online thanks to digitization by Digital NC. Do seek it out to appreciate all the history held within! 

Surname List from the book - Barbee, Burroughs, Cole, Dunston, Green, Hackney, Harris, Mayo, Mills, Oatney, Ross, Weaver

Locations - Shiloh Community, NC; Morrisville, NC; Nelson, NC; Cedar Forks Township, Wake County NC


Monday, February 5, 2024

Quick and Easy Ways to Remember Cousinship

Reprinted from Wake Genealogy Watch, newsletter of the Wake County Genealogy Society, Summer 2019, v2.4.

I can figure cousinship fine when I am at my desk with all kinds of handy charts, but never when I am out and about. Here are two easy tips.—CD

Trick 1: Count the number of Greats and add 1.
Shared 4th great grands + 1 = 5th cousins.

Shared 5th great grands + 1 = 6th cousins.

Grand parents + 1 = 1st cousins. (0 grands to add!)

For a another tip see this Family History Daily post.

 

Trick 2:

Draw it out, as Roberta Estes did for her blog post on calculating cousins easily. See Roberta’s post here for more tips.


 







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Thursday, February 1, 2024

Register now for RootsTech 2024 - 2 ways to attend online or in person!

Attend a genealogy conference in your comfy chair! Free, Virtual RootsTech is so easy that it is a must experience event for end of February each year.

29 February–2 March Registration for Salt Lake City in person or virtual online are here in the overview section.

https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/registration/

In person attendance has been the holy grail of genealogy conference experiences for many for years. The in person option is finally back to full stride after Covid and I am sure many will make the trip.

If a trip is not in your plans for the end of the month, sign up for the Free online version. There will be more content than you can absorb in a weekend. That is ok. The online version is viewable on demand at your leisure. There are so many specialty topics to choose from and so many levels of expertise taught within the annual RootsTech event. You are guaranteed to walk away with new knowlege, methodologies and strategies to tackle your genealogy mysteries. Take a look at all the offerings in the online class schedule. It can be customized to show day, skill level, and speakers. Filter by session type and individual day. There is also a search function at the top of the page if you want to zero in on a specific category. Take a look, then lock in your free registration if you want to be an online participant. You won't regret it!
RootsTech 2024 Class Schedule




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