A resource for linking, preserving, and supporting family history
Welcome to Upchurch and Allied Families, a resource for linking,
preserving, and supporting family history.

Who WE ARe

Belle Lewter West, Olive A. Morgan, Mae Davenport Cox, Robert Phillip Upchurch, and almost 1000 cooperators have worked over sixty years to research and document the genealogy and associated history of the Upchurches and many other families who were associated with them in colonial Virginia and later, North Carolina. 

Now, thanks to modern information technology and genealogy, membership fees from many, generous monetary gifts by a few and the labor of dozens of dedicated volunteers, an extensive, ever expanding collection of information has been gathered, organized, and placed online. 
​  
Upchurch and Allied Families (UAFA) is a non-profit 501(C3) organization that has worked since 2013 to manage this ambitious project. Our policies and operations are managed by a 13-person board of directors.  Click here to learn about our board members. 

what we do

 We believe that learning the history of our ancestors provides a way to connect with the past while building a future.  It is rewarding and fun to work with a group of like-minded people who understand that by joining together we can learn, document, preserve and share our history far more powerfully than we ever could working alone.   

Our headquarters in Cary, north Carolina

Picture
UAFA Genealogy Library and Meeting Area at 1130 Killdaire Farm Road Suite 120, Cary, NC 27511-4595.  Large meeting room and collection of books, maps and other material focused on Upchurch and Allied Family genealogy and history.   Click on the link to learn more about our resources and friendly staff of volunteers!

Our Resources!

All of our resources are freely available to anyone with the exception that the user must have an account with Ancestry.com to view UAFA family trees.  

Resources on this site include: 
  • Transcribed Biofiles Phil Upchurch's notes and observations on colonial era Upchurch family heads, their children and grandchildren.
  • ​Upchurch and Allied Families Biofiles RESTORED!
  • The Upchurch Bulletins  Over 4000 pages of information published by Phil Upchurch about Upchurch and Allied Families in America.   
  • Registry of American Ancestors  A list of over 65000 descendants of Michael Upchurch, the first Upchurch American emigrant. Each descendant has a unique ID number created by Phil Upchurch. 
  • Englandia 356 pages of information about Upchurches in England published by Phil Upchurch.
  • Master Outlines of the 19 different Upchurch Clans (or Family Heads) that existed during the American Revolution.
  • UAFA Newsletter Access to all previous monthly newsletters sent to all contacts and members.  
  • Geographical Files NEW- Records compiled by Phil Upchurch as he traveled the USA and the World seeking Upchurch genealogical resources
  • Here is a link to the Wake (County) Cemetery Survey of c1978.  Our friends at the Wake County Genealogical Society have digitalized the work of Irene O. Kittinger and her team of volunteers in surveying cemetery records across Wake County. If you are looking for "lost" cemetery records or locations, this site should be a first stop in your search.
 
www.ancestry.com family trees.  We have two accounts in Ancestry.com.  The first is “UAFA-Upchurch” where there are nineteen trees based on Upchurch clans and one very large index tree of over 75000 members that is a combination of information from all the others.  The second Ancestry account is “UAFA – Allied Families”.  This account has about 40 trees representing allied families.  Several important features about the Ancestry trees are: 
  1. An ancestry.com account is necessary to view the tree (temporary free accounts are available).  
  2. Each tree is managed by a UAFA tree master. 
  3. Privacy rules block display of information on living people in public trees so search must be limited to older ancestors. Information on living people is being collected and organized in the background but, much like the census, cannot be displayed to the general public. 
  4. To view the Debra Upchurch Heck Upchurch UAFA Trees or the Jay Buck Allied Families Trees in Ancestry.com, go to www.ancestry.com then select “Search” from the top menu bar; then select “Member Search”
    a.      Enter “Debra Upchurch Heck” if you are looking for members of the Upchurch family. The results should show all the nineteen Family Trees associated with this account.  These trees are based in an ancestor who lived in the colonial era of America.  These are called clans.  To find if an ancestor is documented in one of the clans, open the American Upchurch Index Tree and use the “Tree Search” tool at the upper right corner of the page.   Remember to search for relatives who are no longer living.  If a relative is identified, follow the outline of ancestors back until you see UAFA CLAN HEAD.  Click the name and open the profile. There you will see the name of the Clan Head and a lot of information.  The most important thing is to go to the middle column labeled sources and scan down until you see a web link with the name of the Clan Head.  Click the link which will start with https://www.ancestry. This will take you to that clan’s tree and you can begin your research. The Index tree is designed to find individuals.  There is little other detail.  Detailed information is found in the clan tree.  If you have a question about these trees, contact Linda Sparks at [email protected]
    b.      Enter “Jay Buck” if you are looking for ancestors of families who may have been associated with Upchurches in North Carolina around the time of the American revolution.  This will take you to a list of the trees.  Select the name of the family that you are interested in and open the tree.  This will open to a tree outline.  Select “Tree Search” in the upper right of the screen.  Enter the name of the ancestor you are interested in.  Remember to only search only for non-living relatives.  If you have a question about any of these trees, contact Dr. Steven Terry at [email protected].
 
The Upchurch and Allied Families YouTube Channel.  The channel showcases over 35 videos of our founder and storyteller, Phil Upchurch, as he talks about the lives and travels of Upchurch families.  Click here to go to our channel. Be sure to click the “U” icon to enter the Channel so you will have access to all 35 videos.  

Upchurch and Allied Facebook Group. Our social networking site  Click this link to go to the page. 
 
UAFA Genetic Genealogy Project – A volunteer ex​pert is collecting DNA information from as many willing participants as possible to use to verify ancestry linkage and resolve mysteries that standard genealogy research has not or cannot resolve.   

contributions make UAFA Possible

UAFA is primarily a volunteer organization, but we must have money for computers, insurance, accountants, office expenses, software and on-line access.  Contributions are usually tax deductible. To see how we can work together go to https://www.alliedfamilies.com/join-uafa.html.  Please consider a donation so we can continue this work. 

Contact Us

 
Contact the Webmaster