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.  Residential Development in the Village of Method:  A Brief Historic Context for Landmark Designation   of Individual Properties , R...

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...

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...

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. 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

  **Be sure to see the latest update at the end of post. Reprint from the Winter 2024 Wake Genealogy Watch Newsletter -  Contributing – Saundra 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 anc...

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.   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  |  C...

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...