Wake County Genealogical Society Blog

Thursday, April 10, 2025

Beginning Genealogy Classes in Raleigh Starting April 14, 2025 - Next Monday

Barbara McGeachy, President of Wake County Genealogical Society, is teaching a series of in-person classes in Raleigh. These classes are in partnership with the City of Raleigh Parks and Recreation. Classes will be held Mondays from 10:30 am to noon in the large meeting room in the Laurel Hills Community Center, 3808 Edwards Mill Road.

Each class is $16 whether you are a Raleigh resident or not. Sign up for each class independently, although the first class “Getting Started!” is a pre-requisite for most of the other classes.

Update: from the instructor - "The first class is NOT a prerequisite for the remaining classes. I've tried to get this corrected. If you miss the first class, come to any of the other classes -- I'll provide a handout where you can do a little homework to learn what we covered in the first class "Getting Started".

Barbara will teach 7 classes in the spring and early summer. Class limit is 40 students. Please share this opportunity with friends and neighbors!

Class list :

Beginning Genealogy Classes taught by WCGS President, Barbara McGeachy

Date	Title
Monday, April 14	Genealogy: Getting Started!
Learn how to research your family history. Start with yourself and work back in time. Start with records you already have. Find records on-line to fill in the gaps. Learn how to record names, dates, and locations. Learn how to keep track of what facts you find and where you found them. Enroll in this class
Monday, April 21	Genealogy: Hatch ‘em, Match ‘em, Dispatch ‘em
Learn how to find vital records (birth, marriage, and death) which are essential to genealogy. Enroll
Monday, April 28	Genealogy: Making Sense of the Census
The census records all Americans every 10 years, from 1790 to 1950. Learn what information is in the census and how to find your ancestors! Enroll
Monday, May 5	Genealogy: Where There’s a Will
Learn about estate records, a rich source of genealogical information. Wills list heirs; inventory lists describe all the person’s worldly goods and their value. Learn where to find your ancestors’ wills and other estate records. Enroll
Monday, May 12	Genealogy: Read all about your ancestors!
Local newspapers were the internet and TV of their day! Find wedding descriptions, obituaries, family reunions, arrest records, and lots more genealogical data. Learn where to find old newspapers online. Enroll
Monday, June 2	Genealogy: Should I take a DNA test?
Why take a DNA test? Where can you take a test? How much does a DNA test cost? What are the pros & cons of testing? Enroll
Monday, June 9	Genealogy: Understanding DNA test results
Learn how to use the results of your DNA test. We’ll explain the ethnicity report and the match list. Any testing company has similar results. Enroll

The classes listed above will be repeated starting September 8. Additional classes will also be taught in the fall.

Please share this opportunity with friends and neighbors! Class limit is 40 students.

Any questions? Email Barbara president@wakecogen.org

Enroll online at
https://ncraleighweb.myvscloud.com/webtrac/web/splash.html
Or stop by any staffed parks & rec center.

Online registration guide - click to enlarge. Search "genealogy"

Another way to find the classes online ( if you are on phone, tablet, or half screen on a PC)- From the link above, click the "Activities" tab.

Find the green "funnel" at the top right corner of the search page and click it.

Put "genealogy" in the keyword search and choose Laurel Hills in the location field.

Scroll down and click the green search button in the lower right corner.

Open the "Genealogy: Getting Started" tab. Enroll in each session individually.

Wednesday, April 9, 2025

Wake Wednesday - Maiden Lane: From Historic District to Concrete Desert

As I prepared to write about this historic "pocket-sized" neighborhood, I looked up Maiden Lane on Google Maps and found something else entirely. What had been a quiet neighborhood comprising less than three acres that had earned status on the National Register of Historic Places, was no more.

Turn away from the NC State belltower on to Maiden Lane today, and you will find the quaintness and quiet is gone. It is replaced with the typical boxy, gray apartment buildings and surrounding parking lots that pass for progress in Raleigh today.

What a shame. What was recorded as a historic treasure in 2006 was mostly destroyed by 2024.

View on Google Map

One cool feature of the street view on Google is that you can see older versions of the scene in front of you. Compare the identical spot on Maiden Lane. The top photo was captured by Google in 2007 and the bottom photo in 2022.

2007 - click to view full size

2022 - click to view full size

The homes that were razed were mostly colonial and Queen Anne style built in the 1890s to 1920s as housing for the teachers and professors at North Carolina Agricultural and Mechanical College (now NC State University). The house at 2 Maiden Lane, the yellow two-story on the right in the top photo, was the home of Isabella Morrison Hill, widow of Daniel H. Hill. D. H. Hill was a professor, and school president of NCA&M from 1908-1916.

In the spirit of not forgetting what was, you can peruse the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form for the Maiden Lane neighborhood. You will find the form, photos, descriptions of all thirteen homes and the architectural and historic report at this link.

Here are six notable points about Maiden Lane as a historic part of Raleigh:

The Maiden Lane Historic District was formerly located west of downtown Raleigh, just north of North Carolina State University's bell tower, and occupied about 2.75 acres on the only block of Maiden Lane.
The district was platted in 1892 by Wake County land surveyor Fendol Bevers, who designed it as a one-block residential street extending north from Hillsborough Street (then the road to Hillsboro).
Maiden Lane's development was directly influenced by two major nearby establishments: R. Stanhope Pullen's 1887 land donation that created both NC State College (now University) and Pullen Park.
The extension of Raleigh's electric street railway to Pullen Park in 1893-1894 significantly increased the practicality of living on Maiden Lane by reducing travel time to downtown.
By 1910, development along Maiden Lane was already well underway, preceding other suburban streetcar developments like Cameron Park and Boylan Heights.

The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 3, 2006, recognized for its historic significance to Raleigh's early suburban development.

It is good to remember Raleigh as it used to be and I am glad that we can capture glimpses of Maiden Lane from the past now that it is all concrete and asphalt.

Do you remember any other neighborhoods that have disappeared in the name of progress since the early 2000's? Did they have a historical designation?

Wednesday, April 2, 2025

Wake Wednesday - NC Baptist Records

Browse North Carolina Baptist Church Records by Collection | ZSR Library
Links to early Baptist churches that served NC.

source

There are several Wake County churches listed in this digital online special collection. You may find churches of interest in other NC locations too.

Saturday, March 29, 2025

Yet More Beginning Genealogy Classes Offered This Spring - Raleigh Senior TechEd

Raleigh Senior TechEd will present a comprehensive three-part series on Beginning Genealogy, perfect for those just starting their family history journey. Let instructor Jennie Gunther guide you through the fundamental aspects of beginning genealogical research.

Course Details

Dates and Times:

Genealogy 101-A: Tuesday, April 29, 2025, 3-5 PM
Genealogy 101-B: Tuesday, May 6, 2025, 3-5 PM
Genealogy 101-C: Tuesday, May 20, 2025, 3-5 PM

Location: Overture Centennial, 600 Bilyeu Street, Raleigh, NC 27606 (Theater Room)

Cost: $10 per session

Genealogy 101-A: Basic Genealogy Research - Relatives

This initial session of a 3-part Beginner Genealogy series introduces the 3R’s of genealogy research – RELATIVES, RECORDS & RESOURCES. Class will cover: how and where to start; beginning the family tree with known information; interviewing Relatives; basic recording forms to document ancestral family history. Topics include: preparation of a Family Group Sheet, a Pedigree Chart, and basic organizational methods & resources. Attendees may bring any family information to start their tree.

Genealogy 101-B: Basic Genealogy Research - Records

Part 2 of the Beginner Genealogy series continues the study of basic concepts of genealogy research. This class will focus on Records that provide clues and facts to genealogists tracing their family history. Topics covered include: Census records; Military records; Land records; Church records; immigration records and others. Some hands-on exercises will be included to search online databases. Prerequisite - 101-A

Genealogy 101-C: Basic Genealogy Research - Resources

This is part 3 of the Beginner Genealogy series and supports the topics covered in parts A & B. This class will explore various Resources available to researchers – both “on-the-ground” physical sites, and online databases and training websites. Handout: a spreadsheet of useful website links. Prerequisite - 101-A and 101-B

Registration

To register, visit www.raleighseniorteched.org. Payment can be made online via PayPal or by check at the class. All are welcome, including those from outside the Overture Centennial community.

Friday, March 28, 2025

Save the Date - Next WCGS meetup Saturday, May31

Spring Meetup

Laurel Hills Community Center, 3808 Edwards Mill Rd., Raleigh 27612

Saturday, May 31, 10am - noon.

Family Oriented Genealogy Activities.

Thursday, March 27, 2025

2025 Wake County Genealogical Society Virtual Meetings - next - April 22

Join us!

Tuesday, April 22, 2025 @ 6:30pm – Virtual

Topic: Going Postal: Using Postal Records for Your Research

Speaker: Cynthia Gage, WCGS member and former webmaster

By 1831, 76% of US civilian employees worked for the Postal Service. There were more postal employees than soldiers. Maybe your ancestor was a postmaster, postal clerk, mail carrier, route agent or star contractor. What about a merchant or tavern keeper? This presentation will introduce you to online records for finding information about postal employees and will give ideas how to use postal-related “hints” to further your ancestor’s story, whether a postal employee or not.

Join us! Free and virtual!

*Please register by 4pm day of meeting.

*Please save your passcode and link for ease of entry at start time.

*Presentation starts promptly at 6:30 pm.

Link to register at the Wakecogen website events page.

Registration is now open!

Upcoming Events

View events page for details

Tuesday, May 27, 2025 @ 6:30pm - Virtual

US Census: Non-Population Schedules presented by Barbara McGeachy, WCGS President, Olli Instructor

Tuesday, Jun 24, 2025 @ 6:30pm - Virtual

Squeezing All the Facts Out of Your DNA Matches presented by Kate Penny Howard, Director of Human Resources and Genetic Genealogist, DNA Angels

Tuesday, July 22, 2025 @ 6:30pm - Virtual

Creating an Ancestor Sketch presented by Thomas MacEntee, author, educator, founder of Genealogy Bargains

Tuesday, Aug 26, 2025 @ 6:30pm - Virtual

Revolutionary War: Moore's Creek Battleground and the Scots-Irish in NC presented by John Miles

Wednesday, March 26, 2025

Wake Wednesday - Holleman's Crossroads - an Opportunity for Time Travel

At one point in the not-too-distant past, Holleman’s Crossroads was a prime example of rural Wake County past – a tiny crossroads, a few farms, a store and a couple of churches. Progress, behaving the way it does has all but wiped the tiny community off the map. Even the sign marking the tiny community at the junction where four roads – Avent Ferry, Rex, Bartley Holleman and New Hill/Holleman - meet has been lost to an accident at some point. Compare these two images.

source

Google street map c.2021

The first image was quintessential pastoral Wake County. It could have been ten years ago or fifty. The second shows the same location overgrown, the barn barely visible over what looks like massive mounding honeysuckle vines. You can just see one remaining signpost standing silent sentry while the other lies mangled in the ditch.

Who drives by this spot nowadays? Likely folks that live in the new homes in the area advertised on Zillow, and those headed out to Sherron Harris Lake for some weekend fun. I hope they drive slowly and thoughtfully so they can feel the heartbeat and whisper of the old community which stood at this spot since early times and was bifurcated in the 1960's when Sherron Harris Lake was created.

J.W. Collins on Fendol Bevers Map c. 1878

Sherron Harris Lake bifurcated the community as seen on this current Google map

Fortunately for us, enough had been researched and written about this Holleman's Crossroads that much of the old footprint of the community still exists if only as paper and files.

Holleman's Crossroads was previously known as Enno and Collins in the past.

Here are some links you may enjoy browsing if you have ties to this community that has been swallowed by progress and Shearon Harris Lake and nuclear plant.

Enno on 1904 school map

Collins Crossroads on 1914 Soil Map

SB Holleman's Store and home in Buckhorn Township c.2008 Historical Places Registration form.

Site plan for Holleman's Crossroads c. 1967 at time of Shearon Harris development

Bethel Cemetery -

at Find a Grave; in Buckhorn Township in the Wake Cemetery Survey Image File Collection

Collins Grove Cemetery -

at Find a Grave; Cemetery Census; in Buckhorn Township in the Wake Cemetery Survey Image File Collection

Bethel was the earliest church in the area followed by Collins Grove. For detailed history on these churches and more see this article by Barbara Koblich at the Holly Springs Suburban Living Online Magazine.

The Holleman's Crossroads area of southwestern Wake County has been settled since the days of the Revolution. The Rollins, Cotton and Avent families settled and stayed for generations prior to the arrival of the Collins and Hollemans.

I hope you enjoyed this bit of time travel back to a place that represents rural Wake County!

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