**Be sure to see the latest update at the end of post. Reprint from the Winter 2024 Wake Genealogy Watch Newsletter -  Contributing – Saundra Cropps          Shiloh Community in Cedar Forks township started in 1830 as a rural community of free people of color.  This community is home to over 57 farmers on property extending from the Durham County line to south of McCrimmon Parkway.  It was annexed into the town of Morrisville, NC in 1987 (although it predates Morrisville by almost 200 years). It is important to note that the remaining farmers in Shiloh community today are the living descendants of those original freemen who settled this part of Wake county from the 1830 and on through the years after Emancipation.   WCGS member and Diversity officer Saundra Cropps has deep roots in the Shiloh Community as you will come to read. The community and many of its members, including Saundra's great grandfather, Jesse Harris and other anc...

 I am excited to share this event with you. I have been researching and writing about Shiloh Community for several years now. A couple of years ago, a suggestion was made to turn all the history into a presentation. It has finally come to fruition and this has been a pet project for I and my fellow WCGS members - Saundra Cropps and Lynne Deese.   - Cyndi Deal We hope you will join us so you can learn exactly what a brush arbor is, who held the title of "Father of Scientific Farming," and just what an enduring and special community Shiloh really is.  Celebrating Shiloh Community  Saturday, October 18, 11 am to 1 pm at Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church. Address: 1004 Church Street, Morrisville, NC 27560 The History of the Shiloh Community Explore the history of this community of free people of color, which was formed by 1830 and is located in the present-day town of Morrisville, NC. We will learn about the history of the community, of the church, of Jesse Harris, a...

Editing to add more photos - 11/2/25 Despite much competition in the way of scheduled events for the day, we had a great turn out for the Shiloh Celebration on October 18. The audience was interested and engaged in the history of the Shiloh Community founded in the late 1820's by Free People of Color. They were equally excited to learn of the Free Black Patriot, Jesse Harris that many in the community can claim as kin. The weather was beautiful. It was an all round perfect day. Here are some photos of the day. Click image to view larger. Photos by Belle Long of Wake County Historical Society and Barbara McGeachy of Wake County Genealogical Society. Photo Details clockwise from upper left - Our audience awaits; Belle Long of Wake County Historical Society opens; Lynette Barber and Will Ellis provide beautiful music; Mills Cemetery presentation by Saundra Russ Cropps; Jermaine Pulliam - Deputy Grand Master of Prince Hall, dist.19 presides over the wreath ceremony at Rev. James H. Dun...

This will be great day for a great community! Nov 7, 11am-1pm. Learn about the Shiloh-Weaver Legacy Project and connect with community members, descendants, researchers and volunteers.  I am so glad to see the momentum building for this project. See the recap of last year's Shiloh Day . Address questions about this event to NC Triangle AAHGS Chapter . View all past articles on Shiloh Community Visit Wake County Genealogical Society's Website - Homepage | WCGS Events | Join WCGS | Wake Genealogy Watch Newsletter | WCGS Facebook | Wake Cemetery Survey Images | Resources |  Contact - info(at)wakecogen(dot)org

excerpt from SOFAFEA newsletter - Saundra Russ Cropps, WCGS Diversity Officer and member of the South Atlantic Region of  Society of the First African Families of English America , presented at the  Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society-Triangle Chapter  on February 7. She shared the story of her Forgotten Patriot ancestor  Private Jesse Harris  and the  Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church  (from the original project collaboration with the Wake County Historical Society and Wake County Genealogical Society). Russ Cropps shared the story of her ancestor Private Jesse Harris (1762-1844), a free Black man who served for 18 months in the 10th North Carolina Regiment of the Continental Army after being hired by a "class of men" to fulfill their service obligation. Saundra Russ Cropps Black History Month is a fitting time to share both presentations from our Shiloh History Celebration in October 2025.   View both slide...

Hello Wake researchers,  The Winter 2024 Issue (Vol. 7 Issue 2) 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, Winter 2024   Features in this issue include: A big change to our Wake Treasures Journal sharing policy that is sure to please members and new visitors alike! An in-depth article about creating a family history in scrapbook style from Christopher Hunt Robertson. Chirstopher has shared several of his engaging ancestor scrapbooks with us in the past. A feature article on the Shiloh Community near Morrisville. Shiloh started as a freedmen’s village in the 1830’s. One of our WCGS members has strong family ties to this community. Focus on a little known and often overlooked resource – Historic and Architectural Resources of Wake County, North Car...

  View the original post for details and registration.   Free with registration. We look forward to seeing you. 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

A fitting topic for the last week of Women's History Month is a study of widows' pensions claimed against their husbands service after the end of the Revolutionary War. These pensions contain  first-person testimony that often provide clues about location, circumstances, associates and family.  Source   I want to direct your attention to a fantastic collection that has been curated on the MosaicNC website .  (Mosaic is a digital dublishing venture of the North Carolina Office of Archives and History.) The series of profiles explores several roles filled by women as the men went to war including farmers, nurses, refugees, and family guardians. There are also special focus sections on Free Women of Color and Pension History.  Read the full story:  In Their Own Words: North Carolina's Widows of the American Revolution I was excited to find that the Free Women of Color section includes two women familiar to me through my recent research.  The first is...

Tales From the Table: Genealogy, Foodways, & Legacy Building - AAHGS Conf.     February 2-4 The 2024 NC AAHGS Conference will be a three (3) day event. Friday, Feb 2 - tours of the State Archives, the State Heritage Library, and the vault. Saturday, Feb. 3 includes a full day of workshops (16 of them) (at Shaw University/ Estey Hall) including basic genealogy, foodways and legacy building, as well as a panel discussion and luncheon. Our own Saundra Cropps will offer a presentation with Patsy Smith Morgan on Serendipitous Moments of Genealogical Discoveries (including the Shiloh Community, Morrisville, NC).           Sunday, Feb 4 - there will be tours around the historic Black spaces in Raleigh including The Pope House (home of Dr. Manassa Pope - a Black medical graduate of Shaw University's Leonard School of Medicine who ran for mayor in 1919), the Historic Turner House in Oberlin Village, and the Historic Black ...

Sometimes when I decide to write about a particular topic, in my research I find that one or several other persons have already covered the subject so well that there is not much that I can add to the conversation except curiosity. That is the case here, so bear with me. A recent conversation with some friends started with cemeteries ( because that is where all conversations with me seem to start these days… ), settled on black cemeteries and then veered over to the Freedman's villages in Raleigh.  If I asked you to name some Freedman's villages in Raleigh, could you?   Many people could name Oberlin Village. A few others could add Method.  These are only two of thirteen Freedman's villages that sprang up around postbellum Raleigh in the late years of the Civil war and in the years immediately after. Blacks, no longer enslaved and with little to no livelihood, fled to Raleigh (and other large cities across the South) seeking refuge from hostility, jobs and assistance from...