ELIZABETHTOWN — Tucked away in a corner of the Bladen County Public Library is the Wanda Campbell Room, a treasure trove of information about the county, genealogy research and back issues of the Bladen Journal.
The Bladen Journal is on microfilm from 1929 to 1985 in the library, and anyone interested in seeing the microfilm has to head into the library. It is not available at the newspaper’s office at 109 N. Pine St.
Wanda Campbell, who was the Bladen County Clerk of Court for many years, left a rich legacy of family files full of research.
“These are thick files with things you might not find somewhere else,” said Kelsey Edwards, the library director. “Most of those files were compiled by Campbell and she was very interested in genealogy. Not even just her family, but all families.”
That collection, which encompasses large filing cabinets, is where Edwards said she generally directs people when they are looking to start out researching a family.
“If you look in those files you will see letters she wrote back and forth with people collecting information,” Edwards said.
Listed on the website for the library for the Wanda Campbell Room is a database of what family names they have files on, and also what information the Bladen County Historical Society has compiled for sale in the library downtown. Another resource that is somewhat unique to the room is the collection of items put together in binders.
“People can also check our catalog on the website for those,” she said. “We also have several books on Bladen County that might be of interest to people.”
The information available through the historical society includes collections of deeds, tax records and wills. Other items that are available to be be examined include memoirs, diaries and Bible and family records.
Some records have been lost over the years, since the courthouse has had three fires, one of which wiped out some records forever. But there other options that don’t include using just the records that are local.
“We also have the online resource of Heritage Quest,” she said. “Plus there are the state archives online and some people actually go there to look for things.”
There are also resources online like Ancestry, which most have heard about, but there are others that might not be as known, like Find a Grave.
The library has an obituary index from 1929 to 1990 and some cemetery records as well.
“Unfortunately we have no obituaries before 1929,” she said.
“If you need help we have limited assistance,” she said. “Sometimes we can connect people up with volunteers that can help.”
For anyone interested in starting genealogical research, the biggest tip she has is rather straight-forward.
“Start with the newest information you have,” she said. “You work from yourself back. And it is most important that you keep good records of what you have found.”
Heritage Quest offers the U.S. Census from 1790 to 1940, the Freedman Bank Records, and searchable online books with over 28,000 local and family histories. There is also a selection of records from the Revolutionary War era. Those records include pension records.
To view the microfilm, go to the Wanda Campbell Room. They can’t be printed there in the library but copies can be made in time, or the images can be scanned.
“We ask that visitors sign in at the front desk,” she said. “We get out a limited amount of things at a time because much of it is irreplaceable.”
For more information contact the library at 910-862-6990 or stop in and speak with someone.
Library Director Kelsey Edwards loves to set up the microfilm machine and help library patrons learn how to use it.
A treasure trove of books and files and resources are available in the Wanda Campbell room for visitors to come and explore the local history and their family lineage. Old records, personal family histories, self-published items, and letters are just some of the irreplaceable items in the room.
Learning to use the microfilm machine may seem challenging but with a few minutes of time with the staff one can master it relatively easily.
Microfilm copies of the Bladen Journal are on file from 1929 to 1985.
Leave a Reply