US Black Heritage Project North Carolina Team

Profile managers: Emma MacBeath [send private message], US Black Heritage Project WikiTree [send private message], and Loretta Buckner [send private message]

US Black Heritage Project Teams

The North Carolina Team covers activity for the US Black Heritage Project in the state of North Carolina.

To join the North Carolina state team, please contact the team leader, Loretta Buckner

Team Leaders: Loretta Buckner

Members:

• Paige Singleton Working on Slave Narratives
• Kate Schmidt
• Marci Abraham
• Elaine Martzen

Goals

This team is part of the US Black Heritage Project. Our goals are the following with specific emphasis on North Carolina:

• To collect in one place information and resources to assist in building and documenting African-American Genealogies.
• To create the largest online public database of connected African-American families.
• To bring together WikiTreers interested in connecting African-American families to the Global Family Tree.
• To process all types of documents from North Carolina regarding free and enslaved ancestors with the goal of creating their profiles and connecting them to their descendants.
• To provide and maintain a logical and organized structure to help individuals identify their ancestors and celebrate their history.
• To improve all profiles of ancestors with Black heritage in North Carolina, which may include biography building, sourcing, and making correct connections.

Cemeteries

See North Carolina, African-American Cemeteries for existing categories. The categories are broken down by county, then by cemetery, profiles and free space cemetery pages respectively, designated with the number in each area currently on WikiTree.

Find A Grave currently lists 342 cemeteries that are specifically for African-Americans in North Carolina: African-American Cemeteries on Find A Grave

Search BCN:Black Cemetery Network

One Place Studies

Plantations

See: North Carolina Plantations

Projects

• Locating and documenting all African-American cemeteries in North Carolina, including developing profiles on WikiTree for people found, as well as free space pages for the cemeteries as needed.
• Locating and documenting all plantations in North Carolina that utilized slave labor with at least 40 slaves, including developing profiles on WikiTree for slave owners and the enslaved found, and developing free space pages for the plantations and owners.
• Locating and developing profiles for Freedmen in North Carolina.
• Begin One Place Studies for African-American towns and communities in North Carolina.

Upcoming Projects

Beginning March of 2023, focus has been the "Big Six" counties:

• Edgecombe
• Halifax
• Granville
• New Hanover
• Warren, and
• Wake

Bold indicates work begun.

Specific areas of focus:

• Make profiles for all slave owners in target County
• Document freedmen from 1860 and earlier census records in this county by creating their profiles.
• Create Space Pages for any plantations with more than 40 enslaved.

Ongoing:

Randolph County:

• 1850 Slave Owners, Randolph County, North Carolina
• 1860 Slave Owners Randolph County, North Carolina

• Make free space pages for all plantations in Randolph County.
• Document all African-American cemeteries in Randolph County by creating categories for them and profiles for all those laid to rest in the cemeteries.
  • No African-American cemeteries yet exist on WikiTree. These cemeteries need to be added, once a profile has been added from one of them, please notify Loretta:
    • https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2453928/allen's-temple-ame-church-cemetery
    • https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2636361/elizabeth-ame-church-cemetery

See: African-American Resources for Randolph County

Resources

Including maps for North Carolina and its western counties in Tennessee, Virginia and its western counties in Kentucky and South Carolina.

Maps and Geography

• Interactive Map 1790-1860 "In September of 1861, the U.S. Coast Survey published a large map, just under three feet square, titled a “Map showing the distribution of the slave population of the southern states of the United States.” Based on the population statistics gathered in the 1860 census, and certified by the superintendent of the Census Office, the map depicted the percentage of the population enslaved in each county.
• North Carolina counties 1860

Historical Maps Showing Features ca 1775 for the Carolinas

30_May_1775 Click Here "An Accurate Map of North and South Carolina with their Indian Frontiers, showing in a distinct manner all the Mountains, Rivers, Swamps, Marshes, Bays, Creeks, Harbors, Sandbanks and Soundings on the Coasts, with the Roads and Indian Paths as well as the Boundary or Provincial Lines, the several Townships and other divisions of the Land in both Provinces; the whole from Actual Surveys by Henry Mouzon and others."

• 30_May_1775 North Carolina Expanded Detail Section Click Here

• Maps Showing Features ca 1856 for North Carolina

1856 Atlas Map Click Here "NORTH CAROLINA". Colton's 1856 Atlas. Entered according to Act of Congress Year 1855, Published by J.H. Colton & Company, No. 172 William Street, New York.

Resources by County

• Halifax County:
  • Page for documenting and linking Halifax County deed transfers: Halifax County, North Carolina Slave Deeds
  • Halifax County Wills pt 9
• Wilkes County:
  • People of Color in Wilkes County, North Carolina
• Perquimans County:
  • Family Search resource for marriages of former slaves in Perquimans County 1847-1867

Resources - African Americans

See: African-American Resources for North Carolina for a list of history, photographical, map, and genealogical resources.

Slaves named in Wills

Slave Narratives

The WPA Slave Narratives for North Carolina need to be completed. See Freedmen Narratives for North Carolina. They should be categorized by the county the interview took place North Carolina Slave Narrative Categories

Slave Deeds

People Not Property

• Beaufort County

Books 1-17 & 19-22 are completed. Books 18, 23-32 remain to be done.

• Brunswick County

Books D-S are completed. Books A-C remain to be done. Book A appears to be missing.

• Buncombe County

Completed.

• Craven County

Books 1-36 are completed. Books 37-68 remain to be done.

• Duplin County

Books 1A, 3A, 4A, 5A, 7A, 8A, E, L, M, N, O, P, Q, Z are completed. Books that are relevant to the project but have not been completed: 2, 3B, 4B, 6, 7B, 8B, 9, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24.

• Guilford County

Completed. Full-text transcripts available for most documents.

• Halifax County

Books 1-17 are completed. Books 18-35 remain to be done. Iredell County Completed. Halifax County, North Carolina Slave Deeds

• Martin County

Books B-S have been completed. Book A remains to be done. Orange County Books 2-21 have been completed. Books 22-37 remain to be done.

• Perquimans

Begins with Book M. Books M-Y have been completed. Books Z and AA-GG remain to be done.

• Stanly

Completed.

• Surry

Completed.

Stickers

Along with the {{African-American Sticker}} you may also wish to add a North Carolina sticker.

... ... ... was born in North Carolina.

... ... ... lived in North Carolina

WikiTree's US Black Heritage Project

• US Black Heritage Project
• US Black Heritage: Heritage Exchange Portal
• US Black Heritage Index of Plantations