2025 1 technology
DAVIE DOSSIER
Issued by
Davie County Historical and Genealogical Society
Mocksville, North Carolina
January 2025, Issue 1
TECHNOLOGY
Davie Dossier, January 2025 page 1
DAVIE COUNTY HISTORICAL AND GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY
President, Linda Leonard
Vice President, Marcia Phillips
Secretary, Rachel Nelson
Treasurer, Marie Craig
Dossier Editor, Marie Craig
Webmaster, Marie Craig
Websites for Davie County Research:
Our Website: https://sites.google.com/view/dchgs
Description of books and maps for sale: https://sites.google.com/view/dchgsbooksmaps
FamilySearch Wiki for Davie:
http://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Davie_County%2C_North_Carolina
FamilySearch records for Davie:
https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/results?count=20&placeId=191015&query=%2Bplace%3A%22United%2
0States%2C%20North%20Carolina%2C%20Davie%22
Davie County GenWeb: http://ncgenweb.us/davie/
Davie County Public Library: https://www.daviecountync.gov/1162/Local-History-and-Genealogy
Genealogy data in newspapers, Bibles, Daniel Boone Family info, church history, and Flossie Martin records.
Back issues (1987-2023) and index of the Davie Dossier are online at
https://docs.daviecountync.gov/WebLink/Browse.aspx?id=183042&dbid=1&repo=DavieCounty&cr=1
FindAGrave for Davie County:
https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/search?name=&locationId=county_1680&page=1#cem-2640813
Digital Davie: https://www.digitalnc.org/exhibits/digital-davie/
Cemeteries in Davie: http://cemeterycensus.com/nc/davie/
Map of cemeteries: https://cemeterycensus.com/cemgps2.htm?cnty=nc/davie/
CONFERENCES
National Genealogical Society: Virtual Family History Conference, May 16-18, “Expanding Possibilities,”
https://conference.ngsgenealogy.org
RootsTech: March 6-8, 2025, online and at Salt Lake City. https://www.rootstech.org. Archived online.
North Carolina Genealogical Society has webinars on Wednesdays. https://www.ncgenealogy.org/webinars/
Davie Dossier, January 2025 page 2
My, How Times Have Changed
Some of us remember compiling our family
histories from the 1970s or maybe before. My
interest was started in 1976 when I was a member
of an Extension Homemakers Club, previously
named Home Demonstration Club. The county
agent was presenting programs about the
bicentennial, and one of these was a lesson about
finding your roots and documenting your
genealogy. My mother was still living and able to
assist me with her side of the family and what she
could remember about my dad’s. It was a time of
recession and not much gasoline. So, instead of
going on a distant vacation, the five of us toured
North Carolina, staying with relatives whom we
interviewed. We also searched libraries, county
records, and cemeteries. I had a book that used
paper forms that were 14 inches by 8.5 inches.
They were contained in a landscape-oriented book
with thick covers. I wrote data into these pages
hoping not to make a mistake.
In the upper 80’s we bought a KayPro
computer which used two floppies that were 5.25
inches square. One held the program and the other
contained the data. The first well-known genealogy
software was Personal Ancestral File, PAF, which
was created and sold by the Family History Library
in Salt Lake City, Utah. [This library is now named
the FamilySearch Library.] We owned this program
and transformed data from paper notes into this
database. This program still works, but there is no
support for it. The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints has long been a provider of data
and tools for documenting your ancestors.
Changes through the years have been: other
software, online searches at FamilySearch.org,
Ancestry.com, MyHeritage, FindAGrave, etc.
Smaller diskettes, CDs, and flash drives have
held the data as computers became more and more
advanced.
Some people don’t keep their own data on their
devices, but just enter it into an online site such as
FamilySearch or Ancestry. One of the great tools is
being able to upload your ancestral photographs into
these two programs. MyHeritage and other sites have
this feature. Online preserves it more fully, and putting
your images online shares them with other relatives who
may not have seen them. It works both ways: you can
find a photo of one of your relatives that a second, third,
fourth … cousin has put online. Genealogists are great
at sharing information and images. You have cousins
who are just as kin to these ancestors. There are also fun
things to do on FamilySearch such as facial recognition
and matching your photograph to your grandparents, for
example. It will tell you the percentage likeness for the
two of you.
They sponsor the conference each spring,
RootsTech. You can attend in person in SLC, or watch
on your computer at home. Prizes are given for new
software or other tools in technology to help you with
your tree. One tool that was developed for use at the
conference for finding cousins is called Relatives
Around Me. Two people who have their trees on
FamilySearch each open the phone app Family Tree
which is a part of FamilySearch. Then they click on
“more” and then “Relatives Around Me.” This will
quickly show how they are related to each other. Some
of the lines go ‘way back.
MyHeritage was the leader in helping to
improve old photos. You can upload a scratched or
faded picture, and it can be edited quickly. Black and
white images can be changed into color photos. They
even have a tool that changes a still picture into a video
with the person in the photo turning their head and
speaking the data if you have put your family tree into
MyHeritage. It’s just a little creepy sometimes.
DNA has opened some doors to people looking
for cousins. It gets complicated in a hurry, so I won’t
elaborate, but it can show you on a map where your
ancestors lived and can help you find more cousins who
have taken DNA tests. Some shocking results have
come about, as family links that someone thought were
real aren’t correct at all.
I have a notebook computer (portable) which is
designated just to Family History and old photos. Davie
County history is also on it. I save my data on the cloud,
in my case, DropBox. Then I have my software’s app
on my iPhone and iPad and can study this information. I
can’t edit it, but I can use my phone and iPad to check
something quickly if I don’t have my little computer
with me.
Davie Dossier, January 2025 page 3
A free Website is FindAGrave. More and more
people are putting information about their deceased
ancestors. There are a few errors and repetitions on this
site. It is free. If you want to edit or add photos or
documents, you must have a free ID and Password. I
used to be a volunteer for this site. Example: someone
living in Oregon has a grand aunt buried in Davie
County. There is no picture of her tombstone on her
page, and the Oregon person can’t make a trip here. So I
was notified and asked if I would go to that cemetery
and take a photo of the grave and upload it. I did lots of
these and received some heartfelt thanks.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a new technology
for helping us. A few of the things mentioned above are
examples of AI. Remember back in the late spring of
2022 when the 1950 US Census was being released for
public viewing. A computer read the handwriting and
created text and indexes. A lot of us proofread it. There
were some errors, but it was a lot quicker than reading
handwriting and typing in our translation to computer
font.
I recently typed letters written in cursive Spanish
to my college student mother from her penpal from
Mexico. I do not know Spanish but the handwriting was
so clear that I could type just the letters I saw without
having any idea what it was saying. I was using Google
Drive. If you’ve used this word processor, you know
that it gives you suggestions for spelling. There are
many accents and extra characters in Spanish. As I
typed, I realized that Google knows Spanish!! It’s
smarter than me. Once I had a section typed, I would
copy it (control+C) and paste it (control+V) into Google
Translate Website. It would immediately change it to
English. Then I would copy and paste the English into
my document.
Interesting articles if you want to know more
about AI:
https://www.familysearch.org/en/blog/ai-developments-g
enealogy
There are videos at this site to demonstrate use of AI.
https://www.legacytree.com/blog/using-ai-for-genealogy
-research
https://aigenealogyinsights.com/
The name of our organization is HISTORICAL
and GENEALOGICAL. I’ve discussed thus far the
genealogical part.
But the same principles can be used if you are
compiling the history of our county or some other
subject. When I wrote my history books, I copied a lot
of photos, especially World War One images. Instead of
a complicated camera, lights, etc, I used my smartphone
which gave great results. Some of the pictures had
damage, and I was able to improve them with a
computer editing program. I can’t imagine compiling a
book before computers. That’s how Mr. Wall had to do
it when he wrote History of Davie County. Making the
index would be really hard. Before computers, people
used index cards (hence the name) and put one subject
on each card. Then by hand the author would arrange
the cards in alphabetical order so they could be typed on
a typewriter for the back of the book. Every young
person who uses a computer ought to be required to type
an important document on a typewriter. Then they
would appreciate their computer more. I remember
being so super careful not to make a mistake because it
was so hard to correct.
…..
I’ve always enjoyed keeping up with current
technology. At the moment, I’m glancing at my Apple
Watch to see the summary of an email I just received on
my iPhone and iPad. … That can wait until I have time
to answer it. I can adjust living room lights and
thermostat with my phone. My exercise and sleep
patterns are listed and analyzed with my watch. I’m sure
there are many more things I could be using with my
technology. I don’t spend much money on clothes or
such, but I do love to keep up with my gadgets!
Davie Dossier, January 2025 page 4
I’m in a Writers’ Guild and our articles are in the
local paper. This is one I wrote recently:
Talking to My Arm
by Marie Craig
Christmas was last week, and my goal is to write
about this wonderful holiday. I decided to buy myself a
smart watch that would monitor my health and exercise
and about a hundred other things. “Merry Christmas,”
from Marie to Marie. Most of my features are installed
and remembered by me, but this morning was the first
time that I answered a phone call on it. As I talked to
my wrist, I remembered the long-running comic strip of
Dick Tracy and his wonderful wrist radio. A little bit of
research yielded the following information.
Chester Gould started this wildly popular daily comic
in the newspapers in 1931. His main character, Dick
Tracy, was established as a crime fighter. In 1945,
Gould invented the wrist radio for Dick Tracy, precursor
of today’s smart watches. The comic strip was so
popular that other media followed: many movies, radio
programs, merchandise, and comic books. Gould had a
marvelous sense of inventiveness and had other
technology, such as atomic light, portable surveillance
cameras, closed circuit TV [suspects could be
interviewed remotely], and electronic telephone number
pickup. All of these inventions on paper were before the
real thing, and probably led to their actual creation.
He named his characters with great humor. Sam
Catchem worked for the police department, of course.
B.O. Plenty was a casual man who married Gravel
Gertie. Their daughter was named Sparkle Plenty. I
remember now that I received a Sparkle Plenty doll one
year for Christmas. She had real long blonde hair.
Bonnie Braids was another little girl in the comic strip.
From the Dick Tracy Museum Website,
www.DickTracy.com, I learned that the cartoonist’s last
strip was on Christmas Day 1977. Gould entertained the
public with his stories for over 46 years. He died in
1985.
Part of these 46 years were during World War Two.
That would have been a pleasant diversion for people
reading the newspaper full of war and death. The
museum listed this quote from his writing: “The nation
that controls magnetism will control the universe.”
This strip continues, but with a different cartoonist.
…..
Genealogists at the Family History Library in
Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1963
Suggestion for craft project
Davie Dossier, January 2025 page 5
1912 photograph in Sheffield community of Davie Co.
Same photo after MyHeritage colorization
Click here if you want to see a beautiful image
combining old and new ways of research:
https://aigenealogyinsights.com/
I found this photo many years ago, but it is still relevant today.
Davie Dossier, January 2025 page 6
BOOKS, MAPS FOR SALE, postage and tax included; check to DCHGS, 371 North Main St., Mocksville NC 27028
Description of books and maps for Davie: https://sites.google.com/view/dchgsbooksmaps
Title Author Total Cost # Cost
Davie County. A Brief History, paperback James W. Wall, 128 pages $6.50
The Boone Families in Davie County Wall, Howell Boone, Flossie Martin $8.00
Davie County Marriages 1836-1900 Nancy K. Murphy $25.00
Davie County Marriages 1901-1959 Nancy K. Murphy $25.00
Davie County Cemeteries, a 2-volume set D.C. Historical/Gen. Soc. $55.00
1850 Federal Census-Davie County Forsyth Genealogical Society $15.00
1860 Federal Census-Davie County Nancy K. Murphy and Everette Sain $20.00
1870 Federal Census-Davie County Nancy K. Murphy and Everette Sain $20.00
Davie County Heritage Book Heritage Committee $45.00
Maps: Prices below, postage is $5, mailing tube is $2; example: all 4 maps cost $12
Lagle Land Grant Map, $2
Hughes Historical Map, 1700's, drawn in 1977, $1
J.T. Alderman Map, 1887, $1
Wilson F. Merrell Map, 1928, $1
The Historic Architecture of Davie County, $13; History of Davie County, hardback, by James W. Wall, $13.
Make a check to Davie County Public Library. 371 N. Main St., Mocksville NC 27028
Davie County History Books by Marie Craig. Check to Marie Craig, 139 Sterling Dr., Mocksville NC 27028:
. History of Davie County Schools, 318 pages, has photos, locations, longitude/latitude, names of students, and teachers.
There is an 18 page index of 3,222 names. 318 pages. $43
. Davie County in World War One, 670 biographies of Davie men and women who served, photographs, old letters, description
of military bases, and extensive index. 400 pages. $45
. Davie County Veterans’ Memorial, has lists of all war deaths, biographies and photos of WW2, Korean, Vietnam, and Beirut
Bombing deaths. Tom Ferebee’s talk at the dedication in 1987. 190 pages. $33.
. Remembering Davie County Protection and Service Personnel, contains biographies of the five law enforcement personnel who
died on duty and also photos and descriptions of the monument erected in their memory. Paperback, 14 pages. $17.
. Davie County in the Spanish-American War, biographies of the 15 men who served in this war and the Philippines. 65 pages. $20
. Mary Ellen’s Diary, 1924, the fictitious diary of a twelve year old girl in 1924 in Mocksville. Included are clippings and
illustrations to verify the events. Paperback. 49 pages. $15.
. Composite Index of Davie County History Books. The indexes of 16 Davie County history books are combined. 17,000 entries.
Order from: Lulu.com. Search for book title.
. Davie Doctors Born Before 1900, biographies of 79 doctors. Hardback, 125 pages, $25.
. Davie Sheriffs, information about 30 sheriffs. Hardback, 143 pages, $25.
Looking Back at Davie County II by Charles Crenshaw and Ron Smith. $45. Mail orders to Charles Crenshaw,
421 Park Avenue, Mocksville NC 27028
.Davie County Mavericks, Four Men Who Changed History by Marcia Phillips, Daniel Boone, Hinton Helper, Thomas Ferebee,
and Peter Ney in Davie County. $25. Mail orders: Marcia Phillips, 189 West Church Street, Mocksville NC 27028.
.Historic Shallow Ford in Yadkin Valley, by Marcia Phillips. $30. same address.
.Eatons Baptist Church Cemetery in Davie County, North Carolina by Pat Mason. A book which lists all burials through
June 2020. Dates, obituaries and articles are included. $30. Pat Mason, 295 Griffith Road, Advance NC 27006.
.Davie Dossiers, Book Two. 75 newsletters, 2006 through 2024. 527 pages. $28.54 plus postage. Order from Lulu.com.
Davie Dossier, January 2025 page 7
Davie County Historical and Genealogical Society
371 North Main Street
Mocksville NC 27028
The number beside your name, above, shows the year for which you last paid $5 dues. Example: if you have a 23 by your
name, you have paid dues through 2023. DUES CAN BE PAID FOR 2025 NOW.
MEMBERSHIP for a calendar year is still just $5.00/year. Life Membership is $100 per person.
We are 501(c)(3) and dues are tax deductible.
Below is a registration form for your use; checks, payable to the Society.
DAVIE COUNTY HISTORICAL AND GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY (DCHGS)
Davie County Public Library, 371 Main Street
Mocksville, North Carolina 27028
NAME ________________________________________________________________________
ADDRESS _____________________________________________________________________
E-MAIL ADDRESS ______________________________________________________________
Send my copy by E-mail instead of paper; yes, no
Davie Dossier, January 2025 page 8