An excerpt of the John Hunter Family Record, who came to the US from Ireland around 1750.

Over 120 genealogical collections from Surry County have been digitized and added to DigitalNC, courtesy of our partner, Surry Community College. Created and assembled by Luther Byrd, former Elon College professor from Westfield, North Carolina, these collections represent a huge variety of information about different families and their descendants living in Surry County. Many of the collections include documents, papers, newspaper clippings, and personal letters to and from Byrd about the family members.

The coat of arms for the Thrower family, included in the Arrington collection.

Also included are various family records and family tree diagrams, complete with indexes to determine where a given family member is located in the tree. One such example is the Hunter Family Record excerpted above. Looking through these collections, it is fascinating to see the staggering amount of documents and material that these families created and saved throughout the years, as well as the amount of work that Byrd put in to ensure that these collections are all relevant and well-maintained.

These collections represent a growing wealth of information about the history of Surry County. To browse through other materials from Surry Community College, visit their partner page or check out their website.

A snapshot from the 1899 Millinery Book Ledger

A new batch of materials from Edgecombe Community College in Tarboro, North Carolina is now online and available on DigitalNC. This collection contains several accounting ledgers from the late 19th century. These five account books are all from the W.S. Clark Store in Tarboro. The store, started by William Samuel Clark (1846-1923), was operated in Tarboro from the 1870s through the 1980s as a general store. By the 1950s, it operated as a department store that sold everything from furniture to clothing to groceries. It was continued for over 50 years after Clark died by his sons.

These ledgers were donated to Edgecombe Community College by his grandson, Clark Jenkins, and then they found their way to DigitalNC. They contain transactions of the wide variety of goods that people purchased, as well as the prices of various items, and indicate when customers made payments on their accounts. For example, in 1896, a pair of slippers cost $1.35 and a straw hat cost 15 cents.

Follow the links below to browse the items included in this batch:

• 1889-1890 Ledger
• 1895 Ledger
• 1896 Ledger
• 1897 Ledger
• 1899 Ledger

To learn more from the Edgecombe Community College, click here to visit their partner page or click here to visit their website.

A new family genealogy history from Gaston County has been added to DigitalNC, courtesy of our partner, the Gaston County Museum of Art & History. The book, Our Kin, Being a History of the Hoffman, Rhyne, Costner, Rudisill, Best, Hovis, Hoyle, Wills, Shetley, Jenkins, Holland, Hambright, Gaston, Withers, Cansler, Clemmer and Lineberger Families, was originally published in 1915, but has been reprinted by the Gaston County Historical Society several times since and is now digitally available for all to read.

A photo of author Laban Miles Hoffman (center) and his family, undated

The book focuses on the individual families of Gaston County, including their common ancestors dating back to the 18th century. Many of the family members noted have long descriptions of who they were, what they accomplished in life, how their family names changed over the years, and more. This copy is quite special, as it has retained notes and highlighted terms that one of the authors made in his original edition, preserved in this reprinted version.

Written by Laban Miles Hoffman of Dallas, North Carolina, this book was conceived as a history of his own family, but rapidly grew into an exploration of the histories of all the associated families in his genealogy. He includes a short preface of his own personal story, how he grew up in Lowell, North Carolina, studied at Davidson College, and later went to work in Raleigh under Governor Holden before moving to Arkansas.

As a record of ancestors for over a dozen local families, it is a valuable resource for Gaston County historians, Gaston County residents, and family descendants. We are privileged to make it available on DigitalNC. To learn more about the Gaston County Museum of Art & History, visit their partner page or their website.