Wake County Genealogical Society, North Carolina
WELCOME to the Wake County Genealogical Society website!
 

March Meeting

The Revolution and Finding Wake in Orange County and Durham in Wake County
March 28, 2023 6:30 to 8:15 PM
On-Line Virtual Meeting (Free)
 
Speaker: Mark Chilton
Orange County Register of Deeds and Historian with background in Geography
 
Often county-oriented genealogies are too tightly focused when in reality they should reflect the broader jurisdictional history of the place one’s ancestors lived. Applied locally, Mark Chilton, Orange County Register of Deeds, will speak on his county’s records identifying land and people in what became Wake County in 1771.  Similarly, Mark will speak on Durham County and the importance of researching its lands and people found earlier in the annals of Wake County.  And personally important to Mark, he will challenge the Wake County Genealogical Society and similar societies to explore and publish historically significant records lost during the American Revolution. Join us as there’s lots to be gained by attending this presentation!
 
Virtual and free with registration beginning shortly after the February meeting.  Visit the WCGS Events page to access the registration link.
 
To learn Zoom tips for successfully joining the meeting, please read Important ZOOM Tips.
 


Wake Genealogy Watch - Spring Edition

The Spring 2023 Issue (Vol.6 Issue 3) of our award-winning newsletter, Wake Genealogy Watch, is now available online for reading or download. You can download the latest newsletter through this link – Wake Genealogy Watch, Spring 2023
 
Features in this issue include:
  • RootsTech Roundup 2023: All the Tools, All the DNA, All the AI, All the Stories
  • A review of our February Meet Up at Johnston County Heritage Center
  • Brenda Carbon has shared a great case study exploring Ancestry’s new ethnicity SideView feature.
  • Several Cemetery queries and cleanup projects in our area looking to make local connections
  • Pointers to two really good blog posts that cover some basic yet fundamental concepts for working with Genetic Genealogy
  • Our handy events calendar will help you save the dates, so you don't miss a single moment of WCGS excitement.
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 to the online edition where you can enlarge the photos to accommodate better viewing.
 
As always we welcome your articles, comments, other items for the newsletter.  Please contact Cyndi at newsletter@wakecogen.org if you have something to share.
 

Wake Treasures - Vol 31, Issue 2 is Available!

Welcome to the last issue of Wake Treasures in 2022  In this issue Carla Stancil contines her vignettes on her Wake County ancestors, and shares the letters her father wrote while away from home in Marines.  You'll also read the Wake County Court Records (batch 6), Wake County Deaths in WW1, and the 1896 Tax List.  Look for continuation of the 1896 Tax Records, the Ferguson Family Ledger, and the Gertrude Weil Papers in the next issue.  Warm thanks again to Carla for sharing this piece of history with us.
 
If you have any Wake County an ancestors or research, Wake Treasures would love to feature your work in a future issue.  We welcome submissions of research reports, narratives, and special articles.  If you have questions or want to learn more about being published in our award winning journal, feel free to contact me at journal@wakecogen.org.
 
Please consider joining the journal team.  In order to make the publication possible, a team of volunteers works behind the scenes and needs your help.  There are currently openings for a content curator and transcribers.  If you're interested in learning more about how you can help, please contact me at Journal@wakecogen.org and I will be happy to discuss volunteering opportunities.
 
Happy Reading, Donna, editor
 
To download this new edition, log into the Members Area and go to the Wake Treasures webpage. And if you have personal stories of people, places, and events connected to Wake County, please consider sharing them for inclusion into future editions!
 


Do You Have a Special Interest? Join a SIG!

What is a SIG (Special Interest Group), you ask?  Well, it’s NOT a class nor a series of lectures nor instructor-led training.  Instead, it is a collaborative format focused on a specific theme where members can share tips and tricks to help each other improve their skills in performing research or using genealogical tools.  SIG participation is one of the many benefits of being a WCGS member!  Here is information about two of our SIGs which will meet in November.
 
Family Tree Maker SIG - This SIG is for users of Family Tree Maker 2019. FTM sessions address aspects of using FTM such as resolving places, adding media, creating citations, linking to Ancestry and FamilySearch, creating charts and reports, etc. The SIG meets monthly on the first Saturday from 10:30 to noon. The next meeting is Nov 6.
 
If you are a member of WCGS and are interested in participating, please send an email to the WCGS webmaster to get on the SIG group list.  A week before the meeting, an email is sent out with the Zoom link to those in the group.  Notes or handouts from the meetings are posted in the Members area of the website (under "Member Only Files") and available to all WCGS members whether a SIG member or not.
 
German Genes SIG - This SIG is for people who have German speaking ancestors.  Sessions will discuss resources for doing German research, historical German speaking locales, research learning opportunites, and historical context. The SIG meets quarterly on the third Saturday from 10:30 to noon.
 
If you are a member of WCGS and are interested in participating, please send an email to Sue Olmsted to get on the SIG group list.  A week before the meeting, an email is sent out with the Zoom link to those in the group.  Notes or handouts from the meetings are posted in the Members area of the website (under "Member Only Files") and available to all WCGS members whether a SIG member or not.
 
Other SIGs? - If you have a different genealogy-related special interest, then other WCGS members are probably interested too!  Since SIGS are collaborative, considering forming a new one by sending your suggestion to the WCGS President.  
 

 

WCGS on Lulu!

Did you know WCGS has publications of transcribed records which are available for purchase on Lulu? Visit the Wake County Genealogical Society Bookstore here.

      


April Meeting - Putting It All Together: Making Sense of All the Research You've Done
Robyn N. Smith will guide us on how to covert our mountain of documents, binders, and files into the story of our family.

Wake Cemetery Update
ALL 20 townships are now live! Latest updates - GPS and links data is online for 12 out of the 20 townships - progress! Check Neuse Township as an example. Use the Surname Finder created by Cynthia Gage to help you find kin in the smaller family cemeteries across Wake County.

Postponed until June - Songs of the Enslaved and Downtrodden
Mary D. Williams and her powerful voice will lead us to the day when songs of hope wafted across our southern landscape.

Volunteer needs
Near or far, there is always a way you can help WCGS!