Nearly 1,500 of the roughly 2,200 family Bible records in the State Archives collections are now available online through the Family Records Online Collection and can be accessed at http://familyrecords.ncdcr.gov. The project of the State Archives and State Library staffers has also involved volunteers to help transcribe the mostly handwritten records to make them fully searchable in the online database.

The collection has been viewed close to 500,000 times since it went online in 2009. Online visitors come from over 100 countries, every state in the U.S. and 310 cities in North Carolina. New donations have poured in since 2009, including those from Currituck County Public Library, which recently donated 57 records.

The Family Records Online Collection is comprised of Bible records – lists of birth, marriage and death information recorded in North Carolina family Bibles throughout the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries – indexes to marriage and death records in (mostly) Raleigh newspapers, and photographs from Raleigh Hebrew cemeteries. Over time, the Archives and Library staff hopes to add the remaining Bible records, select genealogy publications and other records that will assist anyone interested in researching their family's connection to North Carolina.

The most recent addition includes family names from A to W, although the bulk begin with the letters M (including Mc/Mac), N, O and P. In addition, 150 pages of Bible Records from the Daughters of the American Revolution are now available.

Still, the collection has no records from Graham, Madison, Polk or Richmond counties, and it is hoped that donations from private citizens or organizations can help fill out the collection. Bible records in which at least one significant family event (birth, marriage, death) takes places in North Carolina prior to 1913 meet the criteria for inclusion.

This effort would not be possible without the ongoing collaboration of State Archives and State Library staff. For more information about donating records, go to http://statelibrary.ncdcr.gov/dimp/digital/ncfamilyrecords/fhp_brochure.pdf.

The State Library and the State Archives are part of the Department of Cultural Resources, the state agency with the mission to enrich lives and communities, and the vision to harness the state’s cultural resources to build North Carolina’s social, cultural and economic future. Information on Cultural Resources is available at www.ncculture.com.