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January, 2012:

War of 1812 Bicentennial : North Carolina Militia Muster Rolls

Jan 30th, 2012
by Genealogical Services.
1 comment

cover of Muster Rolls of the Soldirs of North Carolina in 1812 and 1814

2012 marks the bicentennial of the War of 1812.  Compared to the Revolutionary War and the Civil War, not as much information has been published about the War of 1812.  The War of 1812 lasted until 1814 and was the final conclusion to the Revolutionary War.

At the time of the War of 1812, North Carolina militia consisted of 50,000 soldiers and 7,000 were called (or “detached”)  into action under officers of the United States regular army. 7,000 more men were called into action in 1814 with the intent to fight through 1815, but by this time the war had ended.  They are still listed in the muster rolls even though they did not fight.

Throughout the next 2 years, I will post other resources in our library that would be of interest to genealogists related to the war of 1812.

(more…)

State Doc Pick of the Week: Active Job Applicants Registered for Work with ESC Offices

Jan 27th, 2012
by Jaime (NC State Publications Clearinghouse).
No comments yet

Are you interested in tracking the growth of the economy in the state of North Carolina? One way to gauge the economy is to examine the amount of people unemployed in the state. The Active Job Applicants Registered for Work with ESC Offices, published monthly, provides unemployment numbers by county of residence.  Other information that can be found in charts include unemployment numbers based on sex and the length of unemployment. Data is collected from persons who have completed job applications with Employment Security Commission offices. While this is a good tool it is important to note that not all unemployed people register with the ESC.

To view, download, or print this publication click here.  Issues as far back as December 2003 can be found in our digital repository.

North Carolina Newspapers Research Easier with the NC Newspaper Locator

Jan 26th, 2012
by Reference and Outreach.
1 comment

North Carolina Newspapers Research Easier with the NC Newspaper Locator

Find NC Newspapers on microfilm in the holdings of the Government and Heritage Library with the North Carolina Newspaper Locator, http://cinch.nclive.org/newspaper.

What newspapers were published in or near Brevard, North Carolina, in 1910? That’s a big question and if you’ve ever had to try to answer it, you know that you are in for a little research. Well, the Government & Heritage Library at the State Library of North Carolina just made that question, and others like it, easier to answer.

The North Carolina Newspaper Locator database, reflecting the microfilm holdings of the Government & Heritage Library, contains listings for nearly 2,000 unique newspaper titles dating from 1751 to today.  Free to all and of particular interest to North Carolina genealogists and historians, this database locates newspapers in time and geographic space. Users can search for titles by specific counties or those surrounding them, city, date or date range, or by a newspaper title itself.  Once a newspaper has been located, users may request the microfilm reels through their local library’s interlibrary loan service. We lend newspaper microfilm to libraries throughout the continental United States.

The power in the database lies in the ability to expand a county search to neighboring counties. For example, genealogists looking for marriage and death newspaper announcements may know where an ancestor lived, but that doesn’t mean finding the announcements is straightforward. The NC Newspaper Locator searches not only by city, but also automatically by county. And, it gives users the option to expand their search to all surrounding counties. This gives a researcher more time to spend perusing appropriate newspapers for family information.

So what about 1910 Brevard, North Carolina, newspapers? A quick search of the NC Newspaper Locator finds that the Sylvan Valley News was published in Brevard, in Transylvania county, from 1900 to 1916. Even better, at least five other newspapers were published in the North Carolina counties surrounding Transylvania in that same year (Asheville Gazette-News, French Broad Hustler, Waynesville Courier, Western Carolina Enterprise, and Western North Carolina Times).

LINK: http://cinch.nclive.org/newspaper/

“The weather seems now to be open & nearly fair”

Jan 26th, 2012
by Lisa (Digital Information Management Program).
5 comments
Willie Person Mangum

An engraving of Willie Person Mangum, courtesy of North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, Wilson Library, UNC-Chapel Hill .

26th January, 1833.

My dear Love.
I have been disappointed in hearing from you. I expected a letter yesterday, I hope I shall get one this morning—I have had [a] cold the past week—The winter is very warm, but we have had much wet for some days, in walking to the Capitol my feet have been often damp, and I have been a little unwell and I am still with some head ache—The weather seems now to be open & nearly fair.—I am very desirous, my Love, to see you & our dear children.—The time will not be very long, though I much dread travelling the first of March, if the roads in Virginia shall not get better—I hear they can hardly be travelled. —

Things here are in a very unpromising condition—and I fear nothing good will be done this session.—It is not improbable that Congress will be called together again in May or June, if we fail to settle the dangerous questions now before us.—I hope our school has commenced—I am very desirous that Sally should be at school.

The mail boy is at my door—I must close & will write you perhaps to morrow—If this goes on with [out] being stopt, it will get to Red Mountain [North Carolina] next Wednesday

Kiss our dear children for me. & remember me often My Dear Love, as your affectionate husband

Willie P. Mangum

I’m so thankful that I lived for a bit before email. I wrote letters when I was younger, and still have many of them. Still, when I read something like the above, a letter from North Carolina Senator Willie Person Mangum to his wife Charity on this day in 1833, I feel like that letter-writing past is getting so far away from us, and that these letters will only grow more and more astonishing and alien to those growing up after me.

I hope you enjoy this letter, from one of the many recently digitized volumes of correspondence and papers from statesmen, governors, judges, and prominent families of earlier North Carolina. The Department of  Cultural Resources’ office of Historic Publications has kindly given permission for us to put these volumes freely online; they sell numerous books about North Carolina History. Let us know how you feel about letters and correspondence through time, in the comments below.

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