North Carolina Genealogy

I want to announce a new article series that I’ll be starting this Tuesday. The series focuses on some of the (many) challenges that the digital age presents for genealogists. It is intended to flesh out and expand an article that I have pending for syndication online. I hope you enjoy the [...]

The last couple of columns have been about different ways to organize your data. This one is about trying to make sure that your data is here for a long time to come. The first tip here is with regards to backups. If your data is on the computer (all your folders [...]

There are a few more thoughts I wanted to pass along on getting your research organized. I wasn’t sure if they were emphasized enough in the last article on the topic. The main thing is this. For a good while, I was content transcribing (writing down) what I found in my notebook [...]

I guess this counts as a genealogy column. It’s been a while since I’ve formally done one and it’s something I’ve been interested to pass along for some time. I don’t claim to have invented this way of organizing stuff, but thought some of those just getting started might like to see some [...]

Since this is the first Family History column, I thought it would make since to talk about how one goes about researching and discovering their family history. Genealogy is a hobby which many people take up in their retirement years. It is unfortunate that so many people wait so long to learn about their families’ [...]

The United States Census is outlined by the Constitution as a means of apportioning representatives to the states. According to the constitution it is to be taken every ten years as a way of counting the population. Over the years, however, it has become more than a simple head count and has grown to include [...]

Last time I talked about how important the Federal Census is to the family historian. Now, I’m going to give you a warning about it’s reliability. Don’t believe everything you read. This is something you should keep in mind no matter what source you’re referencing.

I must say that I’ve had a hard time getting started writing about church records. I’d like to tell you that there’s a book that’s compiled most of these into one resource, or there’s one place to write to find the information. Unfortunately, there’s not. However difficult they may be to come by, church records [...]

The last couple of times, I’ve talked about the census and reminded you to question the accuracy of the records that you find. Now it’s time to give you some good news about your research. The clues to your families heritage are everywhere. I know from experience that many times you think that you’ve discovered [...]

For those of you that have never moved your research beyond the census and local county records, this column is for you. There are worlds of genealogical information available at your state archives. For the readers of this column outside North Carolina, I will be referring in large part to the state archives here in [...]