While researching the last post about the Regulators, I found some interesting tidbits of the time period that show the divisions and angst building on both sides.  To set the stage, the time frame covered here runs from the Hillsborough Riot in September 1771 to Nov 1771 ( six month after the Battle of Alamance - May 1771 ). The Hillsborough Riot is summarized as a violent uprising by the North Carolina Regulators who stormed the superior court in Hillsborough on September 22-25, 1770 with their protests of political corruption, exorbitant legal fees, and cronyism, resulting in the beating of officials and destruction of property, including that of "his Majesty's Associate Justice," Edmund Fanning.  A Proclamation This set Governor Tryon's blood a'boil. Within the month, he published the notice that appears below. This newspaper article from the Regulator era appeared in the  The Cape-Fear mercury . (Wilmington [N.C.]), Sept. 1, 1770, edition 1, Page 2. This pap...

  Reprinted from Wake Genealogy Watch newsletter, Spring 2026, Vol.9.4 Have you found any Patriots on your family tree? I know you know to look for the soldiers. Did you know to look for signers of the Declaration of Independence or members of the Continental Congress? Have you found anyone on a Safety Committee or who took an Oath of Fidelity?   Did you know that even women could qualify if they were involved in various support or heroic rolls during the course of the war?   If you haven’t found your Patriot yet, go back and look for mention of any of these qualifiers from a list of auxiliary roles provided by the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) at their War Service page on their website. The standard used by DAR to define Patriotic Service is surprisingly broad and inclusive. You might be surprised to find that an ancestor who never picked up a rifle still qualifies as a Patriot. What Counts as Patriotic Service? The DAR recogniz...

Source The Regulator Movement in North Carolina (mid‑1760s to 1771) grew out of everyday frustrations that many backcountry families experienced with taxes, courts, and local officials. After the French and Indian War, the British Empire tightened control and raised revenue , but in North Carolina the most pressing issue for ordinary settlers was how provincial and county officers applied those taxes and fees on the ground. For many small farmers in counties like Orange and the areas that would become Wake, the problem was not abstract British policy so much as very concrete abuses at the courthouse and in the sheriff’s office. Inequality: East vs. Backcountry A sharp divide separated wealthy planters and officeholders in the eastern counties from the poorer settlers in the Piedmont backcountry. Eastern elites dominated the Assembly and high offices; they set policies and often backed their own network of appointees. Backcountry farmers, working thinner soils and living far from ...

There is a  Black cemetery section at Pleasant Grove Church Cemetery in Raleigh.  This cemetery is the resting place for several members of a Chavis family who lived on the land adjacent to the Pleasant Grove Church. The family were Free Persons of Color.  Graves within the Chavis cemetery appear below.   Click image to view larger Headstones read left to right - Richard, son of Anderson and Tabitha Chavis, Mar.15, 1842-Jan.8, 1914; Rhoda, Wife of Richard Chavis, (B&D are illegible); Small stone marked ACR (no dates) A committee of PGUMC church members intend to clean and preserve this portion of the cemetery with an eye to restoration and historical significance.  They are seeking volunteers to help with their efforts. Seeking descendants of this Chavis family,  willing hearts,  and helping hands for a cleanup day. Saturday, April 25, 9 am to 1 pm. at Pleasant Grove United Methodist Church 4415 Pleasant Grove Church Road, Raleigh 27613 Direct ques...

For most of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, Britain governed its American colonies with a notably light hand. The policy known as "Salutary Neglect" — never formally declared but consistently practiced — allowed the colonies to grow, trade, and govern themselves with a degree of freedom rarely seen in the imperial world of the era. Colonial assemblies passed their own laws, merchants traded with whomever they pleased, and a distinctly American sense of self-reliance took root. Britain looked the other way not out of generosity, but out of practicality: the colonies were profitable, distant, and largely self-sustaining. Why fix what wasn't broken? But that comfortable arrangement rested on a fragile foundation. It took only one enormously expensive war to shatter it. When Britain emerged from the Seven Years War in 1763 as the world's preeminent imperial power, it also looked towards its future buried in debt and suddenly very interested in what its col...

Saturday, March 28 2026 was a lovely sunny, breezy day and a perfect day for a trolley tour of historic Raleigh. The WCGS group gathered at Mordecai Park to embark on our Historic Raleigh Trolley trip. We tiptoed through a crowd of 2 foot tall tiny humans participating in an Easter Egg on the grounds of the Mordecai House (it was a busy day for the park). The mini-crowd was colorful, squeaky and fun. We arrived safely at the trolley stop and caught up on everyone's latest adventures.  Photos upper right, left and lower right - Steve Deal Photo lower left - Esther Moore click image to view larger Our tour guide Melissa shared tons of information about Raleigh through the ages as our trolley rolled past buildings from every century since the mid 1700's. The discussion was an interesting blend of local history and architecturals styles through the ages.  All photos - Esther Moore Clockwise from upper left: Melissa tells all, Briggs building views through trolley window, Dr Manas...