North Carolina Family Records Online

This announcement came over the North Carolina State Archives and Library websites and was unveiled during the National Genealogical Society Conference that was held in Raleigh last week.

These family bible records have been scanned and transcribed and placed online for use by the general public. The new records also include marriage notices from the local newspapers. These records have been valuable in placing children with their parents and learning about the families of North Carolina. They are fully searchable and the images can be saved to your harddrive simply by right clicking > save.

North Carolina Family Records Online collection
URL: http://statelibrary.ncdcr.gov/dimp/digital/ncfamilyrecords/
The State Library of North Carolina and the North Carolina State Archive sare proud to present their newest digital collection, North Carolina Family Records Online. The joint digital collection currently contains nearly 220 family Bible records (lists of birth, marriage, and death information typically written inside of North Carolina family Bibles) from the State Archives, and the six-volume Marriage and Death Notices from Raleigh Register and North Carolina State Gazette: 1799-1893, an 1,100-page compendium ofmarriage announcements and obituaries compiled by then State Librarian Carrie L. Braughton.

This exciting online collection was unveiled at the National GenealogicalSociety Conference, held at the Raleigh Convention Center from May 13-16.

North Carolina Family Records Online has a narrow scope at present, containing only a tenth of the over 2,000 Bible records owned by theNorth Carolina State Archives, but it is hoped that the online collection will continue to grow. All of the Bible records selected for digitization contain family history information dating from the 1700s or earlier and span over 150 years, with the majority of the materials dating to between roughly 1750 and 1900. Each record has been scanned, transcribed by Archives and Library staff, and is available for free on the web. And, because the mostly handwritten materials have been transcribed, the entire collection is full-text searchable, enabling users to search by name, location, or other subject words and phrases.

Due to the content and period of time covered in the North Carolina Family Records Online collection, it reflects only a small segment of NorthCarolina's diverse population - namely literate, Protestant Caucasians of the 18th and 19th Centuries. However, 25 Bible records contain documentation about the birth of slaves, and many other records contain information about governors, legislators, and other political and military leaders who helped shape this country. The State Archives continues to collect Family Bible Records that begin before 1913 from all of North Carolina's citizens,with the hopes providing a broader understanding of North Carolina's past.

Questions to Amy Rudersdorf (amy.rudersdorf@ncdcr.gov)and Druscie Simpson (druscie.simpson@ncdcr.gov) / ____________________________________________________________