NCGS Journal
The NCGS Journal is a scholarly publication featuring educational articles about North Carolina genealogy and transcribed original records. Since the founding of the society, we have aimed to increase interest in and raise the standards of research through quality publications while promoting the collection, preservation, and utilization of genealogical materials. The NCGS Journal has been published on a quarterly basis since 1975. Access to the journal library is a member-only benefit. Back issues are available for purchase for non-members.
NCGS Journal Index & Article List
Are you curious if your ancestor appears in one of our journals? Or perhaps a historic location? The easiest way to find out is by searching our NCGS Journal Indexes. These indexes cover all issues of the journal from its inception. You will have the option of searching by ancestral name, numbered military unit, or place name. Search a comprehensive list of NCGS Journal articles. This list is complete through Volume 47 (2021), Issue No. 2. Once you find an article of interest, you can link directly to the issue and view it immediately.
NCGS Research Guides
Research guides are free resources created to help you discover how to find your tar heel ancestors. Each guide will cover a different topic from vital records to a comprehensive list of North Carolina records currently available online. We hope these guides will help answer common genealogical questions and direct you on your genealogical journey.
North Carolina Loose Estates Index
The North Carolina Loose Estates Records were indexed from microfilmed images of the documents in folders containing loose estate papers housed at the State Archives of North Carolina. The microfilmed images can be accessed at FamilySearch.org.
NCGS volunteer Taneya Koonce started indexing individual counties in 2013 through 2015, with the 48 counties available at FamilySearch. NCGS combined all those names into a master “decedent index”. We have now updated the county index pages, adding 45 more counties, and completely updated the master name index.
Digitized Online Collections Courtesy of NCGS
In the course of creating the North Carolina Genealogical Society Journal, materials from private collections are pursued. NCGS pays to have these materials digitized, when possible. This table lists the collections which have been digitized, using this or a similar process, since 2016. NCGS is very committed to “promote the collection, preservation, and utilization of manuscripts, documents, and other materials of genealogical and historical value”, and this is one way it is doing so.
NCGS Member Listing
The NCGS Member Listings is an excellent database where NCGS members can create their own profiles and connect with other members who have similar interests from DNA to surnames of interest and primary counties of research.
The North Carolina Genealogical Directory
“The North Carolina Genealogical Directory will prove to be one of the most useful tools available to anyone interested in the history and genealogy of North Carolina. Its contents include material to be found nowhere else, and its arrangement will assist researchers everywhere in quickly learning what is available about each of our North Carolina counties.”
Delamar Transcripts of Revolutionary War Petitions (members only)
Petitions from 1778 to about 1833 concerning the Revolutionary War found in the legislative files of the North Carolina General Assembly. These petitions may contain information about a soldier’s service, widow, orphans, or other heirs. View the index.
Secretary of State Revolutionary Military Papers (members only)
Searchable PDF files of the Secretary of State Revolutionary Military Papers, 1767-1855, which are indexed in a card catalog at the State Archives of North Carolina. View the card images.
North Carolina Freedman’s Savings and Trust Records (members only)
Although chartered by Congress in 1865 to assist newly freed slaves and African American soldiers at the end of the Civil War, the Freedman’s Savings and Trust was not restricted to free persons of color. View the pdf files.
Abstracts of Vital Records From Raleigh, North Carolina Newspapers 1799-1839 (members only)
Thousands of marriage and death notices for the period of 1799-1839, abstracted from three Raleigh, North Carolina newspapers: the Raleigh Register, the Raleigh Minerva, and the North Carolina Star (Raleigh Star). View the pdf files.
Somebody Knows My Name: Marriages of Freed People in North Carolina, County by County
Barnetta McGhee White, Ph.D. (Introduction only.) The Introduction outlines the history and the laws pertaining to the marriage of freed persons in North Carolina and other southern states. She includes references to sources used in the Introduction. View the pdf.
Hobgood Family of Granville County North Carolina Before 1850
Leonard F. Dean. Table of Contents and Index to both Volumes of research are available to the public. The full content of both Volumes are available to NCGS Members. View the pdf files.