| Description | This joint digital collection from the State Library of North Carolina and the North Carolina State Archives currently contains over 220 family Bible records (lists of birth, marriage, and death information typically written inside of family Bibles) from the State Archives and the six-volume Marriage and Death Notices from Raleigh Register and North Carolina State Gazette: 1799-1893, a 1,100-page compendium of marriage announcements and obituaries compiled by then State Librarian Carrie L. Broughton. North Carolina Family Records Online has a narrow scope at present, containing only a tenth of the over 2,000 Bible records owned by the North Carolina State Archives, but it is hoped that the online collection will continue to grow. All of the Bible records selected for digitization contain family history information dating from the 1700s or earlier and span over 150 years, with the majority of the materials dating to between roughly 1750 and 1900. Each record has been scanned, transcribed by Archives and Library staff and is available for free on the web. And, because the mostly handwritten materials have been transcribed, the entire collection is full-text searchable, enabling users to search by name, location, or other subject words and phrases. Due to the content and time period covered in the North Carolina Family Records Online collection, it reflects only a small segment of North Carolina's diverse population – namely literate, Protestant Caucasians of the 18th and 19th Centuries. However, 25 Bible records contain documentation about the birth of slaves, and many other records contain information about governors, legislators, and other political and military leaders who helped shape this country. |
