Wake Wednesday - FamilySearch Wiki - Wake County

Have you used the FamilySearch.org wiki for Wake county in your research. It is a great place to check for resource locations and contact points.  You will find info on church, land, military and probate records, as well as maps and county history and border changes. Check it out. There is a wealth of information there. It is a good place to start if you are just beginning your Wake County research.

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Visit the wiki and be sure to scroll all the way down the page or you might miss something!

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 - info(at)wakecogen(dot)org

Wake Wednesday - Elizabeth Reid Murray Wake History Volume 1 Available Digitally

This information was first shared with us in March of 2020. Wake, Capitol County... Vol 1,  remains an excellent starting point when exploring Wake County family history and as a historic and cultural reference of the area.  - CD 2024

Saundra Cropps, Library Manager at Olivia Raney Local History Library, recently shared wonderful news. Saundra's email -

Hello everyone,

Wake, Capital County of North Carolina: Prehistory through Centennial (Vol. 1), 1983 is now digitized with DigitalNC.

Please see the link here.

This is a historical moment for Wake County and we honor the author, the late Elizabeth Reid Murray today! I have attached her biography.

I want to thank her son, Mr. Jim Reid, for giving The Olivia Raney Local History Library/WCPL permission to have her book digitized. 

Please share as needed.

This is indeed wonderful news. Elizabeth's volumes were one of my first resources for starting the Wake Wednesday series of blogposts. This is a fantastic resource full of wonderful local history and family stories. If your roots go way back in Wake, you will want to spend some time with this volume. 

Saundra included Elizabeth Reid Murrays biographical information which you can read here. She was quite a proponent for keeping Wake's history alive.

Elizabeth Reid Murray

1925-2014

Elizabeth Reid Murray dedicated her life to documenting and preserving the history of Wake County, the place she considered “just the finest place on Earth.”

She was the author of Wake Capital County of North Carolina: Prehistory through Centennial (Vol. 1), 1983, and the co-author of Wake Capitol County of North Carolina: Reconstruction to 1920 (Vol. 2), 2008. These books are the most definitive authoritative secondary resources on the history of Wake County. The Elizabeth Reid Murray Collection at the Olivia Raney Local History Library is an extensive resource for scholarly research on Raleigh and Wake County.

Born Mary Elizabeth Davis in Wadesboro, North Carolina, she first moved to Raleigh to attend Meredith College, graduating in 1946. She began her professional life as a continuity writer of WPTF radio and as the program manager for WADE radio in Wadesboro.

Returning to Raleigh, she held numerous positions, including: Director, Meredith College News Bureau; editor, woman’s section, Raleigh News and Observer; Executive Secretary, Governor’s Coordinating Committee on Aging for NC; research assistant to Dr. Clarence Poe; teacher, local history courses for Wake County Public Schools and Wake Technical College; local history correspondent, Raleigh Times, News and Observer, Raleigh Spectator and Raleigh Magazine; and member, Raleigh City Council (1973).

Mrs. Murray was frequently recognized for her many contributions to the community and was awarded the following: American Association State and Local History for From Raleigh Past (1965); first Meredith Distinguished Alumna award (1970); W.P. Peace Award for best book on NC history (1983); Community Service Award, Raleigh Board of Realtors (1983); Wake County Phi Beta Kappa Award (1985); Silver Bowl Award, NC Museum of Art (1987); President’s Cup, Wake County Historical Society (1994); Anthemion Award, Capital Area Preservation, Inc. (1994).

Elizabeth Reid Murray was a wife, mother and grandmother.

She and her husband James Reid, a former mayor of Raleigh had three children, Michael Ernest Reid, Nancy Kennedy Reid Baker, and James William Reid, Jr.  Mr. Reid died in 1972. In 1979, Mrs. Reid married Dr. Raymond L. Murray of the Nuclear Engineering Department of North Carolina State University.

In 2006, Elizabeth Reid Murray donated her entire collection of manuscripts, slides, postcards, and photographs to the Olivia Raney Local History Library. The collection of more than 500 boxes of materials spans from 1965-2004 and is the largest archival collection owned by Wake County Public Libraries. Mrs. Murray was a longtime supporter of WCPL serving as a library trustee and a member of the planning committee for the opening of the Olivia Raney Local History Library in 1996.

In her research, she enjoyed uncovering stories of not only the elite but also of unsung heroes - people of color, people in remote and rural communities, and outstanding leaders. Her work ethic to affirm that her sources and facts were accurate was impeccable. Known in the community as someone who was generous with her knowledge, she was an inspiration to researchers.

Elizabeth Reid Murray died in 2014. Her books, publications, and collection at Olivia Raney Local History Library represent the passion and dedication she had for sharing the history of Wake County.

 Visit Wake County Genealogical Society's Website - 

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New Resources Links for Wake County Researchers at Wakecogen Website

Cynthia Gage, WCGS Webmaster, has been hard at work restructuring portions of the Wakecogen website. Her efforts have been focused on expanding the curation of our link and resource page to enhance the usefulness for Wake researchers, both local and remote. 

What was previously one Links and Resources page has grown into three separate pages of Wake centric content, each with their own focus and curated list. Be sure to visit Wakecogen.org to check them out. You will find the three resource pages linked in the left side bar visible from any page on our website.

Here is a brief overview of what Cynthia has created for our use.

Wake Digital Resources -

"On-line resources are a wonderful source for genealogists - particularly remote researchers - to help find information and data about their ancestors.  There are many fee-based sites which have lots of information about Wake County and its people, but there are also some free resources, some easy to find and others buried deep within the sites.  This page is intended to provide direct links to free searchable sites pertaining to Wake County or to North Carolina sites which containing Wake County records…"   The Wake Digital Resources page can be filtered to search various categories - Church records, Death records, Directories, Land records, Military records, or Miscellaneous.

 Wake History Resources -

"The history of Wake County and its cities explains the progress of the area through time, gives us a glimpse of our ancestors' struggles and successes, and if we are lucky, will include their names.  Here are some resources to give context to their lives, some of which contain surnames."   The Wake History Resources can be filtered to search city or county categories.

More Wake County Links and Resources -

This page provides a list of links of a more broad focus that are relevant to research in Wake County and North Carolina.  Categories on this resource page include county and state resources, research facilities, social media, local affiliation groups, and blogs with a local genealogical focus. These resources are less focused on Wake County but still very relevant and useful.

Please visit our website, Wakecogen.org and give these new pages a try. We hope you find some juicy leads for your research. If you know of a resource that could be added to one of these lists, let Cynthia know via email, webmaster@wakecogen.org.   

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