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Researching Apprentice Records
When researching one’s genealogy, an often neglected resource is a county’s apprenticeship bonds. At times, children apprenticed out were poor orphans. Many other times, the children being bound out simply had the misfortune of being born to non-white parents, or of...
Just because it’s on a sign, doesn’t mean it’s true
If you’re ever in the Old Burying Ground in Beaufort, NC and see this sign, just know it’s wrong. The “Tuscarora War,” which was actually an Indian War that included militants from multiple tribes, wasn’t fought anywhere near the town of Beaufort. On September 22,...
Create a historical calendar, with moon phases
Have you ever wondered what day of the week a historical event happened? Or what about what kind of moon was in the sky during that blustery February in eastern North Carolina when the Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge was fought? Well, now you can have your answers. I...
Gen-101: 10 Advanced Search Engine Tricks
When you go to Google to search for your ancestors, how do you do it? You may think you know how to search for things on the Internet, but there are some advanced tricks and tips you can employ to take your searches even further. The following are Advanced Search...
Genealogy 101: How to research your family tree
You've finally decided to start researching your family tree. Congratulations! You are about to embark on a wonderful, exciting, sometimes frustrating, sometimes tearful, but mostly joy-filled journey back into the past to find your ancestors and get to know...
Top Ten Genealogy Research Sites
Depending on where you live in the world, or more accurately, where your ancestors lived in the world, you might find there are other sites of greater use to you, but here in eastern North Carolina, where my family has lived for about 300 years, I find these sites...
Did your ancestors, or their siblings or children leave North Carolina? If so, read this…
I had never even heard of Goodspeed's Histories until Roger Kammerer of Pitt County Family Researchers told me about them. He said they were like the Pitt County Chronicles books for the 1800s. The publications can be a great resource for finding little biographies on...
How do your ancestors fit into North Carolina history?
If your genealogical research has largely been limited to Ancestry.com, the NC GenWeb and perusing county records at your local library, court house or Register of Deeds, then perhaps it's time to go a bit deeper with your research. If you can take your ancestors back...
Make the most of your FamilyFinder DNA results
UPDATE 12/30/17: I'm now sold on AncestryDNA for autosomal DNA tests. Feel free to read the post below, but you may want to consider testing with AncestryDNA if you haven't already. It's much easier to work with the results. Learn more here. If you took advantage of...
North Carolina Slave Narratives
Between 1936 and 1937, the Works Progress Administration conducted a series of interviews with men and women who were born in slavery. The unique collection of narratives recorded give us an unpolished look into the lives of former slaves, as well as their masters....
