LOUISBURG, N.C. — A Virginia woman started exploring her family history in 1997. More than 20 years later, she’s still uncovering pieces of her ancestry and helping others do the same. 

What You Need To Know

  • Renate Yarborough-Sanders, a retired teacher, began researching her family lines back in 1997.

  • More than 20 years later, she is still discovering parts of her family.

  • At least four generations of Yarboroughs have lived in Franklin County, North Carolina.

  • Yarborough-Sanders helps others research their genealogy through seminars discussing research methods and tactics.

Most of Renate Yarborough-Sanders' family lived in Franklin County, in the town of Louisburg. While at a family reunion, she realized she didn’t know much about her father’s siblings and other relatives, so she began searching. 

“I just started digging in with interviewing the few relatives that we had that were still living, then starting to dig into some of the records down here to Louisburg, and to the courthouse, the register of deeds, talking to the funeral home directors that interacted with my family,” she says.

Yarborough-Sanders discovered her family had lived in Franklin County for at least four generations. Her great-grandfather, Calvin Yarborough, was enslaved until he was 25 years old. He had four different owners within Franklin County.

“It just grounds you, it explains things, and it gives something to pass on to my own descendants,” she says of her research.

Calvin Yarborough went on to become a founding trustee of St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church, USA. At the time, it was known as the Colored Presbyterian Church in Louisburg. It still stands today.


“The way that I found that out is I found records at the register of deeds with his name on the transactions when the church was purchasing land,” she says.

With more than two decades of genealogy research behind her, Yarborough-Sanders began helping others in their own searches. She is a keynote speaker and shares her research strategies with varying groups.

“I retired from teaching in 2017, and now my genealogy work has expanded to where I’m nationally recognized now,” she says.

Genealogy research can uncover some painful parts of the past. Black and African-American people researching their family lines may come across a roadblock, the 1870 "Fork in the Road", a phrase Yarborough-Sanders coined. She says at this point, decide whether to look for slave records, or records of freed people of color.

She warns only 10-15% of documents that are available are digitized. People doing research online may only be able to reach a certain point before physically going to the location where their ancestors lived to access records at local institutions.

Yarborough-Sanders advises people to take breaks during research, help others with their research, and keep digging.