African American Genealogy: Rev. Ulysses S. Rice, University, Minister, Principal, The Dial, Mason
If we as African Americans were to just take ministers from one area and research the area and research the other counties and states that they serve, we would learn more about their families, people in the new areas, and churches in the new areas. We could find out...
read more
Fairview Cemetery Restoration: Reverend L. S. Burnett, The Dial, Mason, Minister
In the last two posts, we have been reviewing The Dial, an African American newspaper that existed in 1914. The editor was Rev. Conley Lincoln Henderson, and Rev. Robert F. Fox was the associate editor. Let’s now go back to our first scheduled cleaning as a community...
read more
African American Genealogy: He Worked for the Dial But Was a Minister and Traveled
Now we will share with you even more findings from researching the board members of The Dial, an African American newspaper, that we told you we found while restoring Fairview Cemetery. The first person researched was Conley Lincoln Henderson. He was the newspaper’s...
read more
African American Genealogy: The Dial: Promoting the Religious and Educational Interests of the Race
Over two years ago, I was involved in the restoration of Fairview Cemetery in Greenwood, South Carolina. The motive was to find the burial spot for Beverly Vance (1832-1899), my great great grandfather. I still have not found his burial spot, but I have been true to...
read more
Wah Murders Wife: You Have to Take the Good with the Bad
In family history, we cannot take bad things that our ancestors had happen to them to heart. We might need to walk away from our research for a time and come back to it when we are able to handle it. I have had to walk away many times until I felt I could handle what I had discovered.
read more
What Does Joe Wah, Chinese American, Have to Do with My Family?
The first surprising bit of information which I came across was that Joe S. Wah was Chinese American, and that he married African American, Janie Arnold Wah June 15th. If you will remember from last week’s post, African American: Are You Working the Cemetery for the Pre-1870 Clues?, Park Arnold, buried at Save All Cemetery, is father to Charlie Arnold. Janie Arnold Wah is his daughter. It became obvious early on that the people interred in Fairview are friends and neighbors and even relatives.
read more
African American Genealogy: Are You Working the Cemetery for Pre-1870 Clues?
Greenwood, South Carolina has African American cemeteries that are properly cared for, but unfortunately there are several that have people born before 1870 buried in them. They are at risk of becoming illegible. Researching these internments has brought great joy to me. In many cases, I have started with the gravestone, the first evidence that the person existed.
read more
Chronicling America Has Newspapers from Abbeville and Yorkville 1880-1887 Which Document My Great-Great Grandfather
Chronicling America has historical newspapers. It is an internet-based, searchable database of U.S. newspapers with descriptive information and select digitization of historic pages. In the basic search you can choose to search the entire archive or choose a state or...
read more
Has FamilySearch Digitized the Records You Need? Here’s How to Check
FamilySearch recently announced that they had added the 2 billionth record to their free online databases of digitized historical documents. The records giant currently adds over 300 million new images a year to their online holdings. A world of free resources for...
read more
Look for Tax Records to Help You Identify More About Your South Carolina Ancestor
Tax records help us reveal more about an ancestor, especially in between census years. When you cannot find an ancestor in the census or when records are scarce, try tax records to prove residence or if an ancestor was over 21. To find tax records for South Carolina...
read more
Use Tax Records to Document Your Ancestor or the Enslaver in South Carolina
If you have never searched tax records when looking for an ancestor, it is a great place to start when trying to fill in details about your ancestor. The census tracks a person every ten years from 1790 to 1940 with the exception of the 1890 US Census which was almost...
read more
Probate Records Can Help You Determine Ancestors
We have been identifying the family of Cora Lee Chappelle Vance (1894-1986) who was married to Andrew Lykes Vance (1890-1966). Jan Mitchell-McDermott has once again found the documentation that takes us further back in time. We now have records that reveal her father...
read more
African American Genealogy: Look Carefully for Clues on the Census That Will Help You Trace Back
We have been looking for George Chappelle ( -1925) in pre-1870 documentation. If you read last week’s post "Can Historical Newspapers Help Me Determine My Freedman Ancestors?" you will remember how Jan Mitchell-McDermott has been helping me find records for the...
read more
Can Historical Newspapers Help Me Determine My Freedman Ancestors?
This blog will show you three things: You must do the necessary research to reach back to the pre-1870’s. You must research each person you find to get to know them and find the link back. You must look at whatever types of records exist for each person. In this...
read more
Finding Ancestors and Enslavers in SC Agricultural Non-Population Schedules
You can search the US, Selected Federal Non-Population Schedules 1850-1880 at Ancestry.com to locate your ancestor or the people who enslaved your family. It is a good idea to first search them out on the 1880 and 1870 Censuses to get an idea who would be listed on...
read more
Finding Ancestors on the 1869 State Census for South Carolina
The 1869 South Carolina State Population Census is available on FamilySearch.org. It was the first census taken that lists African Americans. This index lists the number of children from 6 to 16 by race and gender, number of males over 21 by race, and number of...
read more
African American Genealogy: Was Your Male Ancestor Listed in the South Carolina 1869 Militia Enrollments?
South Carolina has 1869 Militia Enrollments for males 30 to 45. You can see if your ancestor was listed among the other males who were in the militia. The series is arranged alphabetically, by township, by age group, and alphabetically by first letter of the last...
read more
African American Genealogy: Have You Located Your Freedman’s Grave?
Have You Researched the Freedmen’s Cemetery? Calvin Vance (1879-1940), son of Beverly Vance (1832-1899), was living at home at the time of Beverly’s death. He had died the year before the 1900 Census in 1899: Beverly’s place of burial has become a lifelong...
read more
Did Your Ancestor Serve in the United States Colored Troops (USCT)? Here’s How to Find Out
More than 178,000 free blacks and freedmen served in the United States Colored Troops (USCT) during the Civil War, comprising one-tenth of all Union troops by the war's end. Their service contributed greatly to the Union's war efforts and marked a turning...
read more
Find Millions of Free FamilySearch Records for Your Area of Research Interest
FamilySearch has digitized hundreds of record collections that are freely available online. Some digitized collections are indexed and searchable, while others are not. Indexed collections can be searched, while unindexed collections (labeled "Browse...
read more
Reconstruction Era Voting Records: Search for Your Ancestors in Senate Testimonies
US Senate Testimonies: Beverly Vance (1832-1899) Testified Before Robert Smalls, and Others More Ways to Document Your Ancestors in Voting Records After publishing "Look for Your Ancestor in South Carolina Voting Records", we were notified that Kershaw County has...
read more
Look for Your Ancestor in South Carolina Voting Records
For the next few blog posts, we will focus on how you might be able to identify your ancestors in resources generated between 1865 to 1876. If you remember, last week we found research avenues in “Identifying Research Avenues for Rev. Lafayette Franklin Vance,...
read more
Identifying Research Avenues for Rev. Lafayette Franklin Vance, (1861-1952)
Rev. Lafayette Franklin Vance (1861-1952), born to Beverly and Matilda Dunlap Vance in Abbeville County, South Carolina, is my great grandfather. I have been trying to document him. I did not realize I would finding an article still mentioning him in 1979: ...
read more
First Baptist Church and a Vertical File Provide Further Documentation of Clarence Adam Chick (1896-1966) and His Wife
My husband and I went to Watch Night like we had planned after I found out about First Baptist hosting one, when I posted "Documenting the Newspaper Obituary of Dr. Clarence Adam Chick (1896-1966)" I also checked the vertical file in the Cumberland County Library...
read more
Documenting the Newspaper Obituary, Dr. Clarence Adam Chick (1896-1966)
When I sat down at the microfilm reader at Cumberland County Library Local & State History where I would look for the obituary of Clarence Adam Chick (1896-1966), I had no idea what I would find. I imagined I would find a brief recollection that he existed, not an...
read more