Connie Knox of Genealogy TV  took a road trip to Raleigh recently to find information about a patriot ancestor. Her destination was the NC Archives and State Library of NC. The experience and findings are detailed in this video. Though she did not find the information she had hoped for, she covered a lot of records sets that might help you in your search for your own ancestors.  Watch on Youtube:  Patriot or Legend? Captain William Clark's Rev War Service & Genealogy Research Image generated using Google Imagen You will find other patriot research possibilities in the following articles from past issues of Wake Genealogy Watch. Identify Your Revolutionary Ancestors - Vol 9, Issue 2, pp. 11-13. More Than a Musket: Who Qualified as a Revolutionary Patriot? - Vol 9.3, p11. Your Patriot’s Experience: Two Websites to Help Your Discoveries - Vol 9.4, p.6 Visit Wake County Genealogical Society's Website - Homepage | WCGS Events | Join WCGS | Publications | Wake Cemetery...

Before the parades, barbeques and fireworks send us into sensory overdrive, let us sit a minute with the document that defines our very existence as a country. This particular anniversary should not pass without some quiet reflection on who we are, what we can be in our best iteration and what so many before us sacrificed for us to live in this still great, but troubled country.  The Declaration of Independence  Project was created online by the National Constitution Center (NCC) to honor and celebrate the Declaration as we pass through a most special moment in time. The online project from NCC "provides the Declaration's plain text with media links to related content for each section. The links take you to an annotated version of the Declaration, as well as essays and videos that present key principles and history and biographical information on the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence. Visit the website . You will find two versions to explore as well as articles and...

  The Summer 2026 issue (Vol. 9, Issue 4) of the Wake Genealogy Watch newsletter is now available online for reading or download. Visit the WCGS website or click here: Wake Genealogy Watch, Summer 2026 . This issue includes: · Barbara McGeachy shares a summary of our coffee gathering in April. · A reminder to check out the updated Newsletter Cumulative Index, complete up to this issue · Jane Albright presents the Pleasant Grove UMC project to protect the historical graves of Free People of Color. · Four videos to boost your genealogy skills with AI and DNA skills · Two websites that give you historical context for your Revolutionary research and might even inspire a trip or two · Tips and resources to research the Loyalist you might find in your family tree, and how to recognize them. · Registration details for our upcoming local meet-ups and virtual meetings Photo Note : Please refer to the online edition where you can enlarge the photos to acc...

  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...

This article was previously posted in our newsletter, Wake Genealogy Watch, Vol 6.4, Summer 2023  under the title  A Useful Find: NC Schools & Academies, 1790-1840.  I often discover interesting records by accident as I am researching other things. I found a lot that I was not looking for as I researched things for the Wake Cemetery Survey. This record is one you will find interesting if you have early NC ancestors. - CD  You will find a digitized copy of North Carolina Schools and Academies, 1790-1840, A Documentary History at NCDigital for your research and browsing pleasure. Created by Charles Lee Coon and published in 1915, “ North Carolina Schools. ..” is a collection of education related postings that appeared in the weekly Raleigh Register during the 1790-1840 time frame. The book is an attempt to portray education as it existed in North Carolina during the fifty years immediately succeeding 1790.  While the volume covers all NC counties of that time...

Reprint from the Fall 2025 issue of the Wake Genealogy Watch Newsletter . In case you missed this useful contribution from  Belle Long, here is your chance to catch up. The link to Belle's in-depth article is included in the body of this post. - CD Disambiguating same named persons in one’s family history is always tricky. Add extra challenge points if those persons were close relations with nearly identical time lines in nearly identical locations. You  really have only two choices. Run away very quickly or dive down that deep rabbit hole.      Success in these complex same-name cases comes from gathering as many data points as possible for each person. These data points provide a richer context of each person’s life and FAN club (Friends, Associates, and Neighbors). Contrasting the actions and events of two persons against each other helps make their differences apparent. Careful analysis leads to a solid conclusion about their uniqueness in time and ...

Did you miss the Summer 2024 feature about Major General Calvin Jones, M. D. of Wake Forest in the Wake Genealogy Watch newsletter? If so, here is your reminder to seek out the feature to correct that mistake! Ed Morris, the former executive director of the Wake Forest Historical Museum shares his vast knowledge on Jones and illustrates why he can truly be called an early Wake County renaissance man. Jones was a soldier, medical man, entrepreneur, educator, politician and founder of a school that would eventually become Wake Forest University. This is not guilding the lilly. There is much more to know. I don't want to spoil Ed's masterful telling of the story, so I will direct you to it with the encouragement to keep a sharp eye. You don't want to miss how Major General Calvin cleverly saved North Carolina from being a battleground state in the War of  1812. He was truly a masterful strategist! Dr. Calvin Jones  of Wake Forest. Portrait  photo by Ken Bennett, Wake Forest...

The Spring issue (Vol. 8, Issue 3) of our award-winning newsletter, Wake Genealogy Watch, is now available online for reading or download. Visit the WCGS website or click the link here: Wake Genealogy Watch, Spring 2025 Features in this issue include: • Barbara McGeachy shares recent acquisitions at the NC Archives! • We share an exciting update about the Wake Cemetery Survey hard copies. • Enjoy a recap of our most recent WCGS Meetup, the Archive and Library tour. • Learn how  to use a BIRLS file and how to obtain files on your 20th century veteran kin. • Details of the local beginning genealogy classes taught by Barbara McGeachy this spring. • Learn how to wring every drop of information out of the index files we find online. • Read biographical profiles on renowned Wake County Civil War photographers, Esley Hunt and Joshua P. Andrews. • Explore the use of AI for simple editing tasks to make you more time for your writing efforts. • A super-sized calendar of eve...

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...