African-American Resources
Annual Catalogue of the Officers and Students of Latta University (HBU)
This link opens the HathiTrust record for the Latta University Catalogues for 1909 and 1920. Latta University was a Historical Black University formed after emancipation. It operated from 1892-1920 in the Oberlin area of Raleigh. Select "Full View" for the year of your choice and enter the surname in the "search in this text" box.
Enslaved Persons Project
Using the Enslaved Persons Search, you can search the enslaved person’s name, “grantor” (or seller), “grantee” (or buyer), date, deed book or page number.
Leonard Medical School of Shaw University (1 of 2): Annual Announcement)
This link opens Hathitrust to its catalog record for Shaw's Medical School. Available are the catalogs for 1884-85, 1885-86, 1888-89, 1889-1900, and 1894-95. Within the catalogs are lists of instructors and students. Students came from all over the south and even from outside the United States.
Leonard School of Medicine and Pharmacy (2 of 2)
This opens Hathitrust to the medical school catalog of Shaw University catalog for the years 1894-95, 1895-96, 1897-98, 1898-99, 1907-08, 1908-09, and 1912.
Shaw University (1 of 3): Annual Catalogue
This links opens the Catalogue for 1876-77 found on Hathitrust. The book lists the names of the students and instructors along with a description of the courses for the various departments. The end of the catalogue also includes students and instructors from the 1875-1876 school year since no catalogue was published that year. Students were primarily from North Carolina, along with a few students from South Carolina and Virginia.
Shaw University (2 of 3): Catalogue of the Officers and Students
This links opens to the Hathitrust catalog record for Shaw University's catalog for the years 1878/1879 and 1891/1892.
Shaw University (3 of 3): Annual Catalog of the Officers and Students
This link opens Hathitrust to its collection of Shaw University catalogues for the years 1895/1896, 1898/1899, and 1899/1900.
Uncovering Slavery at the NC State Capitol
This goal of this project is to name and, as much as possible, tell the stories of the enslaved men who built and maintained the State Capitol between 1833 and 1865. This link provides the names and the stories found thus far. A video about the project is available at the State Archives of North Carolina Youtube channel.
Church Resources
Baptist Records
This site has links to minute and bound books for NC Baptist Churches, including records for churches in Wake County. Wake County Churches have varying coverage from 1822 to 1970. These are not indexed, but you can find membership rolls in some. All will have the new members admitted to the church along with deaths and baptisms which occurred during the year. These records are held at the ZS Reynolds Library at Wake Forest University.
Death Records Resources
Death Records 1900-1909
This link directs you to the searchable database in the Family Search website. Records are primarily death certificates.
Directory Resources
Johnston County GenWeb
Before Wake County was formed in 1770, much of it -including Raleigh- was part of Johnston County.
List of Registered Motor Vehicle Owners North Carolina
This link opens the 1919 book on the Hathtrust Website. The book is ordered by license number up to 112,000 (cars) and 11,500 (trucks), and includes the individual's or company's name, city (sometimes with address), and vehicle make. Also listed are motorcycle owners and car dealers.
Raleigh City Directory 1881/82
Link to the 1881-82 City and Business Directory for Raleigh which is searchable on Hathitrust.
Raleigh City Directory 1886
City Directory for 1886 searchable on Hathitrust. Directory has separate white and "colored" sections.
Wake County at Linkpendium
Linkpendium is a resource directory which organizes web information about genealogical sources. This link will take you to their webpage containing the sources they have for Wake County information and records. Some of the sources on this page are free.
Wake County Genweb
This site is full of information and links related to Wake County genealogical research. It includes transcriptions of many records, including Family Bibles,Biographies, Cemeteries, Census, County, Court, Deeds, History, Letters, Marriages, Military, Newspapers, Obituaries, Wills & Estates, and more.
City History Resources
Apex Historical Society
The Apex Historical Society is dedicated to preserving, protecting, and promoting the history of Apex, North Carolina.
Fuqua-Varina Museums
This site has several articles about 19th and 20th century residents with lots of photos! There are also a few general historical articles on topics such as the police and fire departments.
Historical Raleigh from its Foundation in 1792
This link opens the 1902 book by Moses Amis "Historical Raleigh from its Foundation in 1792: Descriptive, Biographical, Educational, Industrial, Religious" in the Hathitrust website. Use the "search in this text" box to search surnames.
Historical Raleigh with Sketches of Wake County
This link opens the 1915 book "Historical Raleigh with Sketches of Wake County (from 1771) and its Important Towns" on the Internet Archive site. Use the "Search inside" button to search for places and names.
History of Wake County
This link opens the 1922 book "History of Wake County, North Carolina, with Sketches of Those Who Have Most Influenced its Development" in the Internet Archive site. Use the "Search inside" button to enter a place or surname.
Joel Lane Museum
Search the history and descendants of Joel Lane, considered the Founding Father of Raleigh and Wake County.
Knightdale Historical Society
This site has many historical articles by its members about people and events in the city's history.
Raleigh History
The site and name for the Capital City of North Carolina were chosen in 1792.
Sanborn Maps for Raleigh and Wake Forest
Link to the Library of Congress Sanborn Map collections. Raleigh maps for 1884, 1888, 1896, 1903, 1909, and 1914. Wake Forest map for 1915.
Wake Forest Historical Museum
This site has articles about notable citizens and businesses, including the Royall Cotton Mill and Wake Forest University.
Wendell Historical Society
Wendell was formed in 1850. It is located in Wake County, east of Raleigh.
County History Resources
History of NC County Formations
Though not a site with surnames, this interactive map shows the shifting shapes of the counties as new ones are formed over 300 years. When searching for records, a good genealogist knows to look in the county where their ancestor's lived at the time and not the county name as it is today.
Wake County Historical Society
Organized in 1957 to help preserve the history of Wake County, NC and to educate people on the important events that happened in Wake and surrounding counties.
Wake Wednesday Posts
Wake Wednesday is a subset of the Blogpost of the Wake County Genealogical Society. The focus of Wake Wednesday is to present information or stories focused primarily about Wake County and its cities. The Blogpost is hosted by Cyndi Deal, the editor of Wake Gen Watch, the WCGS newsletter. Check them both out!
Wake, Capital County of North Carolina, Prehistory through Centennial (Vol 1.) 1983
Elizabeth Reid Murray authored this book and and co-authored "Wake Capitol County of North Carolina: Reconstruction to 1920 (Vol. 2)", 2008. These books are the most definitive authoritative secondary resources on the history of Wake County. The Elizabeth Reid Murray Collection at the Olivia Raney Local History Library is an extensive resource for scholarly research on Raleigh and Wake County. Surnames are located in the index.
Land Resources
North Carolina Land Grants
Searchable data for 216,000 land grants including names, dates and locations for years 1663 through 1960, with images of all 205 existing Land Patent Books with complete metes and bounds for each patent. Included in the total are 10,000 grants issued by North Carolina in what is now Tennessee.
Wake County Register of Deeds
Wake County is one of the few Register of Deed's office with all of it's deeds online.
Military Resources
Brief Sketches of the NC State Troops in the War Between the States
This link opens the book on the Hathitrust website. Use the "Search in this text" to search for your ancestor's regiment or surnames, although names in the book are primarily officers and not the soldiers.
Roster of NC Volunteers in the Spanish-American War
This link opens the book on the Hathitrust website. Use the "Search in this text" box to search for your ancestor.
Soldiers of the Great War Vol 2 (WW1)
This link opens W. M. Haulsee's 1920 book on the Hathitrust website. Vol 2 covers the states of Massachusetts to Ohio. This is a compilation of soldiers who died during World War 1. Photos of some soldiers are shown when provided by the family. The list includes their names, rank, hometowns, and cause of death: killed in action, by disease, from wounds, or by accident.
VA records for Wake County
This link directs you to the Wake County records of the Veterans Administration Master Index located on the Family Search website. Be sure to search again using city and state name (without county) in case the indexer did not include the county in the index field.
Miscellaneous Resources
A History of the NC Society of the Colonial Dames of America
This link opens the Jean Dalzeil Wood 1935 book on the Hathitrust website. The book covers the period from 1894-1935 and names all the holders of the Society's leadership positions over that time period.
Annual Report of the State Inspector for Public High Schools
This link opens the book for School years 1914-15 through 1918-19 in the Hathitrust site. Book includes the principals' names for all NC schools, and the names of students who graduated from a four year high school. In Wake County those schools included Bay Leaf, Cary, Holly Springs, Raleigh, and Wakelon (in Zebulon). The 1914-15 section has group pictures of some of the farm-life classes in Cary and Wakelon, though the students names are not listed.
Catalogue of Wake Forest College -various years
Did your ancestor attend or teach at Wake Forest College between 1879 and 1919? This link opens the Hathitrust record for these catalogues. Besides a description of the courses, these catalogues contain the names of the faculty and the names of the students, their degree studies, and their hometowns. Select the "Full View" button for the year of your choice and enter your surname in the "search in this text" box.
Digital NC - Newspapers
Opens to the advanced search page. Enter surname in Keyword area. Enter Wake County in "Available Titles" search box. When the titles appear, select the papers you want to search and choose "Add to Search" to move them to the box on the right side. When ready, hit the "Search Newspapers" button below the boxes.
Digital NC - Wake County
Digital NC has been presorted for Wake County items: Images, City Directories, Memorabilia, Audiovisual, and Yearbooks. Open a city directory or yearbook and click on the magnifying glass icon to enter your surname and search the entire text.
Family Search Unindexed Records
FamilySearch has over 1,300 original miscellaneous records for Wake County. Many of these have not been indexed so they will not show as hits when doing a name search from the homepage! However, many of the original records have an index at the front, so you can find your name and know which page their record is on.
Government and Heritage Library - Genealogy and History
The NCGHL has several genealogy and history databases which can be searched on-line for free. There are additional databases which can be searched if you are an NC resident. Some are accessed with your local library card and some with your NCGHL library card. If you do not have a NCGHL card, there is a link on the RHS where you can apply for one on-line. You MUST be a NC resident to apply.
Government and Heritage Library - Newspapers
The NCGHL has several newspaper databases which can be searched on-line for free. There are additional databases which can be searched if you are an NC resident. Some are accessed with your local library card (i.e., many NC newspapers in the Newspapers.com site), and some with your NCGHL library card (i.e. most in the NewspaperArchives site.) If you do not have a NCGHL card, there is a link on the RHS where you can apply for one on-line. You MUST be a NC resident to apply.
Meredith College
Meredith College started in 1899 as the Baptist Female University. In 1904 it became the Baptist University for Women, and then in 1909 it was renamed Meredith College. The College has digitized its 205 item collection of catalogues, bulletins, and yearbooks published under these various incarnations, and made them available on Archive.org! If you have a female ancestor who was a student or taught there, this is a collection you should review!
NC Digital Collection - Colonial Courts
Enter your surname in the "Search this Collection" box, to find court records for the period 1669-1775. These records are digitized from the North Carolina State Archives and the State Library.
North Carolina Digital Collections
This link goes to records which have been digitized from the North Carolina State Archives and the State Library collections. Several topics on interest for genealogists are: Alien Registration and Naturalization, Confederate Pension Applications, Family Records, Wills, Tax Lists and more!
Who's Who In Raleigh: A Collection of Cartoons and Biographical Sketches
This link opens the 1916 book on the Hathitrust Website. The book contains 65 sketches of prominent Raleigh men of the time from the military, government, business, and judicial.
Wake County Resources
Wake County Forum on Ancestry
Online queries for Wake County. Rootsweb community forums are now part of the Ancestry.com community forums.
WCGS Find A Grave
Wake County Genealogical Society (WCGS) members are proud to host this page on Find A Grave and hope the information will help family historians locate their Wake County, North Carolina roots.