Miss Della LANIER, of Raleigh, who has been on a visit to her friend, Miss POOL, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C.H. POOL, in the city, left this morning to visit her sister, Mrs. PRYOR, in Newbern.  Miss LANIER is probably one of the smallest ladies in American and has a brother a year or two older about the same size.  She weighs less than 40 pounds, and is 32 years old.  She has a fully developed grown-up person’s mind, and a very bright one, too.

Source: Kinston Free Press, 6 Jul 1906, pg. 2

Picture of Reverend Aldert Smedes from the 1909 St. Mary’s Yearbook. Rev. Smedes founded the school in 1842.

Class of 1900

St. Mary’s School, founded in 1842, by Rev. Aldert Smedes, is Raleigh’s oldest continually operating educational institution and the oldest school for girls in the State [1-3].   Many of the school’s yearbooks are now available online at the Internet Archive.

The yearbooks begin with the publication, The Muse, which ran from 1900-1924 and continue with The Stagecoach, which began in 1925.  In addition to the class rosters, each yearbook contains a variety of information about the school, the faculty, the students, and their activities.

Muse:  1900 | 1903 | 1904 | 1905 | 1906 | 1907 | 1908 | 1909 | 1910 | 1911

1912 |1913 | 1914 | 1915 | 1916 |  1917 | 1918 | 1919 | 1920 | 1921 | 1922 

1923 | 1924

Stagecoach: 1925 | 1926 | 1927 | 1928 | 1929 | 1930 | 1931 | 1932 | 1933

1934 |1935 | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1939 | 1940 | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 

1945 | 1946 |1947 | 1948 | 1949 | 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955

1956 | 1957 | 1958 |  1959 | 1960 | 1961| 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 

1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 |1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977

1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1984 | 1985| 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991

1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998

[1] Vickers, James. Raleigh, City of Oaks: An Illustrated History. Woodland Hills, Calif: Windsor Publications, 1982.  [View the book index]

[2] St. Mary’s College. National Park Service. Web. 5 May 2012. <http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/raleigh/stm.htm>.

[3] St. Mary’s: ‘A Thorough and Elegant Education . . .’. USGenWeb Archives. 5 May 2012. <http://files.usgwarchives.net/nc/wake/bicen/stmarys.txt>

[4] Waugh, Elizabeth C. North Carolina’s Capital, Raleigh. Raleigh: Junior League of Raleigh, 1967.

FamilySearch.org has begun adding original death certificates from the Wake County Health Department beginning with 1900.  As the records are added, I will try to keep this list up to date.

The state of NC did not begin requiring death certificates until 1913, so these early records are a treat!

Records currently available include:

• 1900-1901, vol. 6
• 1901-1902, vol. 7
• 1902-1903, vol. 8
• 1903-1904, vol. 9
• 1904-1905, vol. 10
• 1905-1906, vol. 11
• 1906-1907, vol. 12
• 1907-1908, vol. 13
• 1908-1909, vol. 14

Jolly Jewelers in the 1925 Raleigh directory

Photos added to the online collection vary but include pictures of Frank Moseley Jolly, Susan Jolly, and various interior and exterior shots.  I particularly love this photo of the inside of the store – it just looks so peaceful.

And, wasn’t their model cute?

Visit the NC Digital Collections site to see more Jolly family & business photos.  These images, and more, are part of the Albert Barden photo collection.

Frank Mosely Jolly (1880-1919), son of Benjamin Rush Jolly

Interested in more? Check out this article that features Benjamin’s great-great grandson, Frank Ragsdale Jolly as he talks about his family’s history with the store.

Rising Young  Architect Who Designed Masonic Temple at Raleigh

An example of what thorough preparation will do for those who are willing to qualify themselves for the higher duties of life along educational lines is found in the thrift and industry of G.A. EDWARDS of Raleigh, NC.  Mr. Edwards after graduating from the Agricultural and Mechanical College at Greensboro, NC, spent three years at Cornell and one year at Chicago university, doing postgraduate work.  His high averages in studies at these schools won for him the special prize.  As instructor in natural sciences at Shaw university, where he was also superintendent of the men’s industrial department, he displayed rare ability both as teacher and manager.  Because of his ability to bring things to pass himself and start others on the road to success the state board of managers of the Institute for the Deaf and Dumb at Raleigh, which is maintained for the benefit of Afro-Americans, appointed Mr. Edwards to organize a mechanical department, which has proved a great blessing to the students.  Professor Edwards is now devoting his time to architecture and is meeting with splendid success.

Gaston Alonzo Edwards

He was the first Afro-American to design and superintend the construction of buildings for the American Baptist Home Mission Society.  The main building of Waters Institute at Winton, N.C., which is conceded to be the prettiest Afro-American school structure in the state, was designed by Professor Edwards. He is now designing the new A.M.E. church at Raleigh.  The old church was recently destroyed by fire.  The new structure when completed will cost about $75,000.  He has also been given a contract to design school building in Missouri that will cost $600,000.  The new three story brick Masonic temple at Raleigh, the finest structure owned by Afro-American Masons in the state, was built by his design.  His success is largely due to the fact that he makes a specialty of church and school architecture.  Realizing that Afro-Americans must perfect commercial institutions if they are to contribute to the upward movement of this age, this young man is connected with many concerns in Raleigh that are giving Afro-Americans larger opportunities and is a director in the following corporations: Capital City Savings Bank, Pioneer Mercantile and Investment Company and Capital City Building and Loan Association.

Article transcribed by Taneya Koonce from online digital issues of the Indianapolis Recorder newspaper.

1) The Wake County Genealogical Society now has a Facebook page – you can find it here.

2) FamilySearch, the genealogy organization of the Church of Latter Day Saints, has established a Facebook community for genealogy research across the state.  You can find that community here, and an icon has now been placed on this site’s sidebar for quick access.

Come visit and participate with us!

These books are helpful for understanding the educational environment in the county back then.  Some of the information provided includes:

• the names of administrators and teachers for each school (both White and African-American schools)
• budget data for each school
• list of graduates for that year
• reports from the superintendent, and other system officials
• pictures of some of the schools
• teacher requirements
• course curriculum of the students by grade
• textbooks used for each grade

Richard H. Lewis High School

Want to get a picture of what school was like back then? These are great resources for doing so!  Links have been added to the Education page.