You have heard of the New Lights for years, probably without even knowing it. They have a township named after them in the very northern portion of  Wake County. While the name sounds kind of shimmery and new agey, the New Lights have a history that extends back in Wake County beyond the Revolution.  Fendol Bevers map c. 1871 The New Lights were Baptists that migrated to North Carolina in the 1750's during the Great Awakening - a series of religious revivals in American Christian history. They were Baptists, but not Calvinists. They believed in a more personal connection to God, that God " brought new Light into their lives through their emotional conversion experiences", and that their fate was not preordained but dependent on their connection to God and their good deeds. They were also know as Separatist Baptists . The New Lights established the first Baptist church in Wake County in 1775 and built their community around it. Their community grew and  thrived through ...