Have you been following all the great records FamilySearch has been adding to their website?  There are many NC related record sets for you to search and/or browse.   To see what records are available, visit the page of North America collections and scroll down to those titles that begin with “North Carolina,” — collections are listed in alphabetical order.

Tonight, while browsing the Wake County Death Certificates 1900-1909 death certificates recently added, I found an interesting record that made me pause.  It was a hand-written note on letterhead from the Elmington Manor estate in Gloucester County, Virginia noting that a 90 year-old black woman named Sallie Heywood (possibly Haywood) had passed way on the property, the home of Reverend Thomas Dixon,  in March 1900.  Her death was due to natural causes.  Dr. Phillip Taliaferro wrote the note and affirmed that her body was safe for transportation back to Raleigh for burial.  She was interred in the City Cemetery March 3, 1900.

Given the note and my curiosity, I sought to see what I could learn about Sallie and Elmington Manor.

A few moments after searching for the manor and owner Thomas Dixon, I quickly learned that he was the author of the screenplay for the movie Birth of A Nation.  He was a native of Cleveland County and his uncle was a Ku Klux Clan leader. Elmington Manor was described in the August 15, 1903 issue of the New York Times as “the most beautiful estate in the South.” Some of his papers are held at my alma mater no less, Emory University.

Given Rev. Dixon’s viewpoints on the relationship between blacks and whites  I then reflected on what Sallie was doing there at his manor and what life may have been like for her.  Was she visiting family? Did she have an existing relationship with the Dixon family?  I wonder if she has descendants? Do they know about the tie to Thomas Dixon?  I have not yet found any information about Sallie but finding this record and her association to Thomas Dixon was interesting.

Check the collections at FamilySearch – you never know what you’ll find.

Update: The Wake County Death Certificates are part of the North Carolina, County Records, 1833-1970 database.

Last week’s episode of the GeneaBloggers Radio Show focused on ways to engage youth in genealogy. At the same time, here in the NCGenWeb project, we learned of our own real-life example – what a coincidence!

Some 10th grade students participating in a summer school course taught by history teacher Ms. Martinez were working on projects related to slavery & the slave trade. In the course of their research, the students found resources linked from the Halifax County NCGenWeb’s African American page to be of particular help.

A few students found your page to be very informative and resourceful for their projects. Thank you for making such a good reference available for them!  — Ms. Martinez

Not only that,  as a way to give back, they wrote to the county coordinator, Deloris Williams, to suggest the inclusion of additional resources to add to the page.  As an incentive, Ms. Martinez provided students bonus points if their suggestions were incorporated.   After review, Deloris did in fact incorporate a couple of the links suggested, including a page from PBS’s Africans in America collection, noting:

The link to the PBS website is part of one of the links I’ve used myself in my own research and I know how very informative it is because it offers so much information about many different eras on the website.  The link that I was planning on adding, however, is the Arrival of first Africans to Virginia Colony, since that page is more specific to the area of North Carolina research.

Thank you to Ms. Martinez for engaging your students to become more active in the research process and for thinking of the NCGenWeb project! For anyone else who is interested, you may visit the NCGenWeb African-American page for even more resources.

I’m a little late in announcing this, but if you have research interests in Pitt County, you will want to be sure you visit the new and improved Pitt County, NCGenWeb site.  Brian Nichols is our new coordinator for the site and within days of adopting it he completely transformed it.  Quick work Brian!

Brian is a descendant of William Nichols – a Virginia transplant who arrived in Pitt County in 1755.   His family roots are deep in the area and this familiarity should serve him well as site coordinator.

The site features links to many resources relevant to the county, as well as original data.  If you have information to share, please let Brian know – he would be glad to receive it.  Welcome Brian to the NCGenWeb Project!

Here at the NCGenWeb Project we are pleased to announce new county coordinators (CC) for three of our counties!  And, both are named Susan 🙂

Union County – Susan Sullivan is our new CC for Union County.  Susan has family roots in the area that go back many years and has been practicing genealogy for many years.  Her family also is from nearby Chesterfield County South Carolina.  Susan is a graphic designer by profession and we look forward to her plans for adding additional content.

Perquimans County & Pasquotank County – Susan C. Griffin is our new CC for Perquimans and Pasquotank counties.  Susan G. also has strong family ties to both of these areas.  A third-generation genealogist, Susan G. is well qualified to help make these county resources better for you.

Of course we also welcome contributions from our researchers, so if you have family from Union, Perquimans, Pasquotank or any NC county, please keep the NCGenWeb project in mind.

The NCGenWeb Project sends a big welcome to our newest County Coordinator, Jane Gouge!

Jane has adopted McDowell County, one of the counties that sits on the western side of the state.

An active family researcher, Jane has also recently started a blog and discusses her Conner family roots on her site, Connor Trails of North Carolina.  Be sure to check her blog out.

Thank you Jane for joining us; we look forward to seeing what new data you gather for the site.

Northampton County co-coordinators Ken Odom & Tom Davis are pleased to announce a new addition to their site.    You can now search and access a database-driven compilation of close to 3,000 burials in the county!

The database is searchable by last name and by cemetery.   Each record includes death & birth dates as applicable.   Headstone photos and a map showing the location of the cemetery are also included.

To access it, visit http://ncgenweb.us/northampton/cemeteries_and_burials/burials.php.   Kudos to the team for producing this wonderful resource! If you have persons of interest from the county, you will definitely wish to consult this database.

Most researchers are likely familiar with the 1850 and 1860 slave schedules.  These census records are available for about 17 states and provide data on the number of slaves owned by owning families.

Dr. Barnetta McGhee-White has a particular interest in Granville County, and African-American records of the state in general.  Her 3-volume set, Somebody Knows My Name: Marriages of Freed People in North Carolina, published in 1995, is an invaluable resource for those researching African-American families in the state.

She continues to contribute data for genealogy research; most recently spending time transcribing the 1860 Slave Schedule for Granville county.   Not only has she listed the names of the slaveowners, but she’s provided graphs and tables that help paint a clearer picture of the slave population.  You may view the slave population breakdown here.  Be sure to visit the other African-American resources for Granville County, and resources throughout the state of North Carolina.

Thank you Dr. McGhee-White for your work.  The NCGenWeb project is always pleased to know of and accept contributions of all kinds from researchers.  To anyone reading, if you have information to share, please do consider our county pages.

The NCGenWeb Project is pleased to announce new county coordinators for Pender & Northampton counties.

• Pender County – Cindy Goodin is now the CC for Pender County.  Cindy works at the Pender County Public Library.  Cindy is the Technology Coordinator at the library plans to work with various library staff members to bring great resources to the county site.
• Northampton County — Ken Odom & Thomas Davis join us as partners for the Northampton County website.  Both men have roots in the county and already collaborate together on a website dedicated to families of the area, the Faison’s Old Tavern Genealogy Project.  The site includes burial information, family trees, family photographs and more.

We welcome all the CC’s to the project!