Free Fold3 Acess for Memorial Day.

Details here.
https://go.fold3.com/freeaccess

Upcoming WCGS Virtual Meeting - May 26

WCGS members and followers should check your email for instructions on how to register for our May 26 virtual meeting. If you are not a member and want to be included, visit our Membership page to join and be included.

You must register for the meeting before May 26.

Date/Time:  Tuesday May 26, 2020 at 6:30pm ET

Speaker: Judy Russell

Topic: How Old Does He Have to Be? - Is this man John the father or John the son? Could that man be my ancestor who married in 1802? Knowing a person's age is often the key to distinquishing two people of the same name.  But if no record gives the birth data, how do you know who someone was? The law can often give the answer.  Please join us for a pre-recorded webinar with Judy G. Russell, also known as The Legal Genealogist!

This virtual meeting and presentation is open to all members and newsletter recipients. If you are on one of those lists, you will receive an email with registration instructions closer to the date.

This meeting will be held virtually using the GoToWebinar application and generously hosted by the North Carolina Genealogical Society.

Return to the WakeCoGen Website

Newspapers as Genealogical Resources Webinar Next Friday, May 22

If you have been following Cynthia Gage's articles in the recent issues of the WCGS newsletter - Wake Genealogy Watch, you will know why she is my go-to gal for all things in pertaining to historical newspaper research.

If you want to hear more, you are in luck. Cynthia will teach a class via Zoom next Friday, May 22 from 1:30pm to 3:30pm.

More Details from SeniorTechEd --

Cynthia Gage will be presenting her program on Genealogy: Resources - Newspapers. As we all know, newspapers are a great resource for genealogy research. Cynthia will share lots of background information as well as tons of links to utilize this terrific resource. 

Date: Friday, May 22, 2020

Time:  1:30 - 3:30 pm

Where:  on Zoom with SeniorTechEd.

Go to http://www.raleighseniorteched.org , click on the Schedule tab and you can register (and pay using PayPal if you wish) for the class right from there.  You will receive an email from Cynthia with the login information and link  and any handouts prior to the session.  Hope you can join Cynthia for this great seminar. 

Take advantage of free content online, including Ancestry Library Edition

Covid restrictions have spawned a multitude of free webinars and perks from the various Genealogy websites. Take advantage of these:

• Legacy Family Tree Webinars - Free webinar daily. Currently through the end of May but may be extended. Details
• Ancestry Library Edition– Temporary Remote access for Library Card Holders thru end of May (reevaluated monthly). Check at Cameron Village Regional Library or NC Government & Heritage Library library depending on your library card.
• Family History Library Webinars - Free Schedule for May
• Visit the National Emergency Library -  Internet archive has suspended waitlists for 1.4 million titles through June 30.
• Abundant Genealogy - Follow Thomas MacEntee’s blog or for tons more free content. Details. Get his newsletter. 

Wake Genealogy Watch - Summer 2020 - Newsletter is Live

The Summer 2020 Issue (Vol.3 Issue 4) of our award winning newsletter, Wake Genealogy Watch, is now available online for reading or download.

You can visit the WCGS website or access through this link - Wake Genealogy Watch, Summer 2020
 
This issue contains the following topics:

•    A reflective look at the collective history that we are making as we pass the time    during the Covid 19 pandemic.

•    Links to NC Archives’ Your Story is North Carolina’s Story Project. They hope to capture, preserve, and share our collective pandemic experience.

•    Links to the National Emergency Library for your homebound research emergencies.

•    Cynthia Gage shows how exhaustive newspaper research will give you a better version of an event. Don’t just find one article and quit looking.

•    Strategies for researching challenging surnames.

•    Book review - My Own, My Country's Time. The autobiography of Raleigh native, Vermont Royster.

•    News about NGS Virtual Conference 2020.

•    Take advantage of the latest genealogy promotions to keep us busy with up to the minute tips from Barbara McGeachy. 

•    And, a surprisingly full virtual event schedule. 

Photo Note: If you choose to read a printed version of this newsletter, some of the photos will be difficult to view due to size constraints. Please refer back to the online edition where you can enlarge the photos to accommodate better viewing.  Enjoy!

Click this newsletter page link to view this and all past newsletter content.

We welcome your feedback, input, and submissions for inclusions in future editions. Please address all concerns to newsletter@wakecogen.org.

Visit the WCGS Blog for more events, late breaking news, tutorials, updates and other special posts. 

30 Day Free Trial from Newsarchive

Cini Gage, our newspaper research expert, shared this opportunity with me today. This is a great chance to try out this newspaper service. I hope to get a chance to check it out myself.

From NewsArchive -

Greetings,

Our world has changed. We understand that many of us are home working, researching, protecting and respecting others health and our own safety during these difficult times. NewspaperArchive® is a product that is health safe, family friendly, interesting and rewarding to use; as you know.

As a thank you to anyone who has been a loyal patron of NewspaperArchive, we are offering a 30-day free coupon as a gift.

Instructions to begin:

To activate your 30-day free trial, go to https://newspaperarchive.com/ and click Subscribe. Or sign into your previous account and click Restart Membership. Select your desired subscription option and enter your account and billing information. Then enter the coupon code listed below and select Enter and a confirmation message will appear. Click Start Membership to begin your 30-day free trial. At any time during the 30 days be sure to cancel your subscription to prevent future billing. We hope you continue, but we understand that 30 days may be all you need at this time.

30 day Free Trial Promo Code = news

Wishing you all the very best,
The Staff at NewspaperArchive.com® 

 Return to the WakeCoGen Website

Message from the WCGS Journal Editor

I received the following message from Donna Shackle, our journal editor today. With our in person transcription sessions cancelled for the forseeable future, her suggestions make perfect sense.

Message from Donna -

Do you find yourself with a little more time on your hands lately?  Have you thought about volunteering?  Currently the journal is looking for volunteers to transcribe original documents for the purpose of publication in Wake Treasures, the Wake County Genealogical Society’s journal.  Current projects include the 1897 Raleigh school census, the Soldiers Home Register, and the City of Raleigh Death Returns.  We provide templates and you can transcribe from the comfort of home while ensuring that these records are published for all to use.  Whether you have time to transcribe a page or a series of pages, your contribution is greatly appreciated.  All skill levels are welcome! Please contact journal@wakecogen.org or Jessica Conklin at conklin516@gmail.com for more information or to get started. 

How many pages can you knock out while we are waiting to return to life as we knew it? Come join us online.

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Expanded Hours Chat Service at Government and History Library

If you are missing having access to the Government & Heritage Library at NC Archives, you may wish to take advantage of their online chat service.  They also accept email questions. Links and email addy are in this post that appeared in my Facebook newsfeed today. Check it out!

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Dig In to US Census Records Courtesy of My Heritage

My Heritage US Census records are free to view from March 29th until April 5th, 2020. Read the details from the blog post here.

Happy hunting...

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Senior Tech Ed Update - April Genealogy Classes will be hosted on Zoom

WCGS member, Jen Gunther, sends us this update from Senior Tech Ed in Raleigh. They have started offering some of their classes on Zoom in view of the restrictions on public gatherings. This provides a unique opportunity to use some of our (now copious) downtime for some learning. Think of it as a "staycation" where the classes come to you.

From Jen -

We will be offering a limited selection of seminars during April using the Zoom video conferencing app.

Most of the seminars being hosted in April are genealogy-based. Henry Spencer will host his entire Ancestry.com series via Zoom starting on Friday, April 3.  Instructions as to how to register for these classes are on the STE website (https://www.raleighseniorteched.org/).  After registering, the instructor will contact all registered students with instructions as to how to get on Zoom, will share the access link for the seminar, and will forward the Handout  What could be easier?  And it gives us all something to do while sheltering-at-home and stimulates our brain to learn something new. duirng this challenging time.
Take a look at the seminars offered and see if you are interested in any of them.

Genealogy topics include:
Genealogy Overview, Making Sense of Ancestry DNA Test Results, Getting Started with Ancestry.com, More Topics in Ancestry.com

Note: Classes are starting as early as this Friday, April 3 so don't delay in checking this out.

View their Schedule page to Register. 


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Wake Wednesday - Olde Raleigh c.1797

I had a great time last night listening to the WCGS online presentation in lieu of a face to face meeting. I hope many of our members took advantage of this experimental project. David McCorkle showed us many sources for historical maps and many new technologies to bring these maps to life. 

One of the maps early in David's presentation was a map of the very early city of Raleigh. I found this map captivating. This is one of the wonderful maps in the UNC North Carolina Maps Collection. In addition to the handrawn roughness and aged patina of this map, the maker had taken the time to draw the houses and shops in their respective locations. Zoom in enough, and you can take a stroll down old Raleigh streets in your mind. Here is your ticket to time travel - Plan of the City of Raleigh with all the improvements & all the Numbers july 1th, 1797. 

source

PS - if any of you had trouble logging into the presentation last night, please let us know. Email me and I will forward to David. This remote presentation is a new process and still being worked out. Your feedback will help.

Return to the WakeCoGen Website

WCGS March 24 Meeting Is Cancelled

WCGS has cancelled our general meeting of March 24 at the Cameron Village Regional Library in Raleigh, NC due to public health concerns. The library, as part of the Wake County system, has supsended gatherings through April 15 and as this is an evolving situation, email is really the best way to keep informed.

WCGS members should look for email updates on future changes. If you are not a yet a member and want to be updated, you should join our mailing list for non-members at this link - http://eepurl.com/dljeyz.

We will reschedule the presentation by George Thomas the near future. Stay tuned.

Keep researching. If you get bored and want to do some remote volunteering, contact our Journal team for instructions to get you started transcribing Wake County historical records from home. We are working on Soldiers Home records and the Wake School Census among others. It is always fun to see familiar names and places in these records. For me, it reinforces my connections to Wake county. 

Return to the WakeCoGen Website