We have featured the Apex StoryMap before . It was created to celebrate the sesquicentennial (150 years) of Apex and its surrounding communities and each link provides a virtual tour of the communities. The StoryMap brought the Justices and their neighbors in the black  Low End  community to my attention. Abraham Lincoln Justice and his wife Correnna were social activists in their community. They believed in helping their neighbors by providing financial resources, land for affordable housing that came to be called Justice Heights, donating building materials for the construction of the Apex First Baptist Church. They developed the Justice Cemetery to ensure their neighbors had an affordable burial option.  source All of these sites that the Justices invested their time and energy are highlighted and pinned on the Apex StoryMap. Visit the Low End link and you will find others among their neighbors who were equally community-minded. This profile illustrates the best of th...

Location: John P. “Top” Greene Community Center 401 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd Raleigh, NC 27601 Classes: Shaking Your Family Tree: Genealogy Courses Presenter :  Tanya Foreman Dates: Saturdays, Feb. 8, April 12, & May 10 Discover the stories of your past with Shaking Your Family Tree, a series of engaging and interactive genealogy courses These classes provide an exciting opportunity for participants to delve into their roots, uncover their family history, and connect with their heritage. Whether you're just beginning your journey or looking to deepen your research, this program has something for everyone. Each class will be led by Tanya Foreman, a renowned genealogy expert and founder of Family Matters Genealogy. With years of experience and a passion for helping others trace their ancestry. Tanya brings invaluable insight and expertise to every class. Why Attend? Your family’s story is a one-of-a-kind treasure waiting to be uncovered. These courses offer more than just rese...

A selection of the slave narratives relevant to Wake County were transcribed as noted below. The Wake Treasures Journal Archives are currently free to all to view.  Note that historical materials often include viewpoints, language, norms, and values of the original creators that may be harmful to our sensibilities today. There is language here that some may wish to skip. The words of the original speakers were preserved as originally expressed.* SLAVE NARRATIVES – A FOLK HISTORY OF SLAVERY IN THE US, FROM INTERVIEWS WITH FORMER SLAVES Transcribed by Jerry J. Lewis NORTH CAROLINA NARRATIVES, Pt. 1, Vol. 14, NC District #2. This can be found in the North Carolina State Library. This was a project of the Works Progress Administration in 1937. These narratives were can be found in Vol 8.2 (starting p. 57 ) and Vol 9.1 (starting p. 59 ) The narratives include accounts from former enslaved persons who lived in Raleigh at the time of the WPA survey. Many were enslaved in Wake County...

by Barbara McGeachy, President, Wake County Genealogical Society About 30 people, members of the Wake County Genealogical Society and interested parties, toured the NC Archives and Government & Heritage Library in downtown Raleigh. After the tour, about a dozen of us walked to lunch next door in the legislature building.  Our tour guides Doug Brown, Reference Unit Supervisor in the Archives, and Taylor Wolford, Outreach Librarian in the Government & Heritage Library, were ready for us with interesting documents. In the archives, we saw the original Sanborn maps of Raleigh, the will of John Rex whose bequest founded Rex Hospital in 1894 (still thriving in Raleigh today) and other documents. In the library, Taylor shared newsletters and meeting minutes of the Wake County Genealogical Society! We toured behind the scenes, going into the storage vaults and the rare book room of the library. Taylor shared this information about the library: All NC residents are eligible to get...

Information about the NC Cohabitation records created in March 1866 appears at the NCDigital collection where these records are housed. The description reads as follows:  In March 1866, the General Assembly passed “An Act Concerning Negroes and Persons of Color or of Mixed Blood,” which included a statute that enslaved people who had been living together as man and wife during slavery were now considered to be legally married. Called Cohabitation Bonds, these were filed with the Register of Deeds and were retroactive, legitimizing the marriages of former enslaved peoples. Typically included was the name and age of the bride and groom and length of time they had been “married”. Some counties include the name of the enslaver and/or the number of children the couple may have had. While in the original records cohabitation bonds are sometimes named as such, for many marriage records we cannot determine the race of the couple. In some instances, other marriage records from 1866 may be ...

"What is RootsTech?", you say. It is only the largest free online and in-person genealogy event of the year! Are you registered? It is free. You only need to sign up with a FamilySearch log in . Create on and you can register instantly. Start looking over the class and speaker list . Plan your interests and viewing time. So many good innovations come out at RootsTech each year.  Need a great distraction now? Don't we all. Use your brain for learning and drown out the noise. Check out the very large and watchable library of classes from past RootsTech gatherings. Library classes are sorted by four categories - Beginner, FamilySearch, Research Methods and DNA. I bet they will add AI after this year.  Don't miss out on one of the best free genealogy education events of the year. Check out RootsTech today. Local speakers on this years schedule -  Desi L. Campbell  Diane L. Richard Renate Yarborough Sanders Lisa Lisson Steve Little Locals, if I missed someone let me know...

I have been following the Hinton Midway Enslaved Persons Cemetery for several years now. I have been aware of it since first starting work on the Wake Cemetery Survey c. 1978 Image Project that is now hosted at the Wake County Genealogical Society website. I have been working on that since 2019 so I have seen it evolve as interest and civic action converged.  The Midway Enslaved Cemetery sat neglected for many years on fallow land in Knightdale while right across the street (New Bern Avenue/ Business US 64) the "more recognized/more historical" portions of the Midway Plantation and the white family cemetery were moved in preparation to build the Shops at Midway shopping center (now called the Knightdale Market Place on Google Maps). Quotes for emphasis because that is how the narrative reads despite what we know to be true. There would be no massive prosperous Midway Plantation without the the free labor of the enslaved persons who toiled and died there.  Meanwhile, the ensla...

This just passed through my genealogy newsfeed and it looks to be of interest to many.  Description from the shared website at Amherst University: A Monumental Discovery: The Trask 250 and Their 10,000-Strong Legacy ip to Main Content Tue, Feb 4, 2025, 7  -  8:30pm   (Livestream link accessible at the website below.) Science Center , Lipton Lecture Hall E110 Through meticulous archival work and groundbreaking DNA research, nearly 10,000 individuals are now connected to an initial group of 250 enslaved people, shedding light on 10 generations of African American history. Learn from genealogist Nicka Sewell-Smith how this massive undertaking has transformed the understanding of slavery, family and the enduring impact of the past, and is part of ushering in the descendant community movement. To participate in the Livestream event go to the link at the webpage -  https://www.amherst.edu/news/events/calendar/node/923936 Visit Wake County Genealogical Society's Websi...