We hope you are continuing to enjoy your membership in Olde Meck. We are very proud of our accomplishments in the last few years, during a very trying time for many organizations. The Board of Directors has made the decision to raise dues slightly for 2024 in order to help allay the rising costs of our publications, library rental, etc. The new dues are as follows:
Individual Membership - $30 (formerly $25).
Family Membership - $35 (formerly $30).
Sustaining Membership - $50 (formerly $45).
Lifetime Membership - $275 (formerly $250).
As an incentive to renew early, you may pay the old 2023 rate if you send us your check before January 1st.After January 1st, the new rates will apply.
There are still lots of great deals in our Used Book Sale!
Thanks to a wonderful response, we have sold over 250 books and taken in more than $1,700. We have found good homes for books we could not use and provided funds we can use for other needs.
Since the sale began, others have donated books to add to our sale. As a result, we have added about 50 more books to our offerings. There are some especially nice Civil War books now available. This means that there are still over 200 titles available, most in excellent condition. View the updated list to see what gems you might find for your own use.
contact us by mail at PO Box 32453, Charlotte, NC, 28232-2453.
email us at info@oldemeck.org.
phone us at 704-568-1774, Ext.109.
Please list item numbers and titles in all requests. We can ship your order within the United States. Shipping charges will apply, but these are still wonderful deals! This is First Come, First Served ... so contact us soon to reserve your picks!
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Herman Ferguson - A Genealogical Giant
The genealogy community has suffered a great loss with the recent death of Herman White Ferguson. Ferguson, age 106, passed away on Friday, January 13, 2023.
A graduate of Vanderbilt University, Herman was a geologist by profession. He served as the State Geologist of Tennessee and then worked at U.S. Steel Corporation, carrying out investigations of coal and non-metallic deposits in the United States, Australia, and South Africa until his retirement in 1981.
In retirement, his interest in genealogy became a hobby which resulted in the publication of 18 books. The first book was about his own family in Tennessee. That research led to an interest in the records of Mecklenburg County. Herman purchased a microfilm copy of the county court minutes, deed books, wills, tax lists, and estate records and began the arduous task of abstracting them to make the information readily available to genealogical researchers.
For his efforts Ferguson has received awards from the North Carolina Society of Historians, the NC Genealogical Society, and the Order of 1775 from Olde Meck in 2004. In December of 2021 he received the Old North State Award. This honor is presented by the governor to recognize “dedication and service beyond expectation and excellence to the Great State of North Carolina.”
In 2019 Olde Meck entered into an agreement with Mr. Ferguson and his family to purchase the remaining inventory of his books as well as the rights to future publication, allowing this treasure of information to remain available to the public for many years to come.
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Tracing Your Family Tree
Check out the link below to see what Lynn Bancroft, Olde Meck Vice President, and others have to share about "Tracing Your Family Tree." This is an article written by Cailyn Domecq for the Our State online magazine.
For our August meeting, Olde Meck member and owner of Visual Story Media, Kimberly Melton, joined us to deliver a presentation entitled, “DIY Photo & Media Organization for Genealogists.”
Most of us probably have boxes of old photos and documents and a phone and computer full of too many photographs to count. It’s time to think about organizing all of that media so you can actually look at it and share it with others! It doesn’t have to be a daunting process if you break it into five easy steps:
Set goals and deadlines.
Select the items for your project.
Sort.
Save and scan your printed photos and slides.
Share your hard work with family and friends.
Refer to the DIY for the Genealogists cheat-sheet to help guide the way. Members may also view a recording of the entire program behind our Member Login tab.
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Blackwelder Files Offer a Wealth of Information
Olde Meck volunteers have completed the task of going through the impressive collection of genealogical materials donated by Linda Blackwelder. Linda has been a prolific researcher in the Steele Creek community of Mecklenburg County for many years. In addition to doing research for hire, she also compiled the book, Steele Creek, an Early History of the Steele Creek Community, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.
Over the years many Steele Creek families have shared their information with Linda, in addition to her own research. We are grateful Linda has entrusted us with her files so that even more people can benefit from her efforts.
Here is a list of the folder headings from her files. If you find something you'd like to explore further, either come by the Family Research Center or contact us at info@oldemeck.org.
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Ferguson Errata
Mecklenburg County, NC, Will Abstracts, 1791-1868, Books A-J
If you purchased a copy of Herman W. Ferguson's Mecklenburg County, NC, Will Abstracts, 1791-1868, Books A-J, from Olde Meck, and it did not have a loose copy of the “Errata” in the front, you may wish to print this Errata page and insert it. Ferguson made these corrections in 2010, but some copies sold after that time may not have had the page of “Errata.”
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Genealogical Offerings at NC State Archives
For our June meeting, we enjoyed an informative overview of the offerings of the North Carolina State Archives, presented by Alison Thurman. Alison provided this NCSA Handout which you may download. Thanks, Alison!Contact info@oldemeck.org with questions.
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Organizing Your Genealogy Research
Does your genealogy area look anything like the picture here?
If so, you may want to view the recording of Olde Meck member Lynn Bancroft's talk Organizing Your Genealogy Research.
This is an updated program from one she gave to Olde Meck in 2019 and was presented at the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS) Black History Month Conference. Lynn discussed useful hints and presented a sampling of different charts which can also improve our efficiency. Based on ideas from many genealogy experts, she described how the following tips may be helpful:
Keep the big picture in mind.
Designate a workspace.
Take charge of paper files.
Establish an organization routine.
Go digital.
Use Additional Charts
Create a kit for on-site research.
We are sharing the recording here in the hopes it can provide some tips for all of us to better organize our research.
(1) Click Start Button below to begin. Be sure to view in Full Screen (icon at bottom right of video)
Katie Grafer presented our January program about how to use historic newspapers to assist in genealogical research. In her presentation, "Extra! Extra! Getting Clues and Context From Historic Newspapers," Katie shared many tips about how to look beyond the obituaries and wedding announcements to help guide your newspaper research. She explained the other types of useful information that can be found in old publications, including public notices, social columns, and even advertisements. She gave specific examples from her own research that allowed her to ‘connect the dots’ on elusive ancestors.
The following list of websites may help you find historic newspapers:
Deed records can provide a wealth of information to fill out our ancestors' stories but can oftentimes be difficult to access. We are excited to announce an addition to our website which will make the process of finding valuable Mecklenburg land records easier than in the past.
As part of her internship for a course in her Masters of Library Science program at East Carolina University, Ann Martin, now an Olde Meck member, has recently completed a helpful video tutorial to walk users through the process of accessing the Mecklenburg County Register of Deeds website. If you have Mecklenburg ancestors and have ever wanted to view old deeds and land transactions, this video will facilitate your journey.
Ann describes the basics of deeds, what they consist of, and how they can help with family research. She then provides easy to follow navigation through the Register of Deeds website using a specific example.
(1) Click Start Button below to begin. Be sure to view in Full Screen (icon at bottom right of video)
We hope you will find Ann’s video tutorial useful and search for the deeds of your ancestors. Please feel free to give us feedback on this new feature.
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Picture Formatting Suggestions
Below are links to YouTube videos created by Louise Nottingham, leader of the Olde Meck Writers' Group. They are designed to help you format photos and images of documents that you may want to include in a Microsoft Word family file:
Come celebrate the holidays with us! Once again, we will gather at the Sutcliffe-Ferguson Family Research Center to enjoy comradarie, presentations, and refreshments of the season!
Genealogy Escape Room - The Case of William Sydney Porter: Oh Henry!
Virtual, Free, and open to all! Presented by the Wake County Genealogical Society, this a fun start to the holiday season! Imagine you are trapped at NC State archives and the only way out is to solve a series of ...
Join us to celebrate the holidays and this year's accomplishments for Olde Meck! We will also install officers for the 2023 Board of Directors and give away some great Raffle Prizes!
Was one of your New Years resolutions to write up your family story for loved ones? Do you need help to make that happen?Join us at the first monthly Olde Meck meeting of the year to hear Jennifer Wiebe give us ...
The Villages (FL) Genealogical Society 24th Annual Seminar will feature Judy Russell, internationally know lecturer, award winning author, and Certified Genealogical Lecturer. Judy will present four sessions focusing on finding your female ancestors: Don't Forget the Ladies - A Genealogist's Guide ...
by Linda Blackwelder. Linda has been a prolific researcher in the Steele Creek community of Mecklenburg County for many years. In addition to doing research for hire, she also compiled the book, Steele Creek, an Early History of the Steele Creek Community, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.
Does your genealogy area look anything like the picture here? 