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For the last several years I have been occasionally looking into my family history and as of yet I have not been very successful at getting any farther than the early to mid 19th century in any part of my family. I have been successful at finding names, birth dates (at least smaller periods in which they were born), and locations for the oldest ancestors but can never find any information about their parents or anything beyond that.
It should be mentioned that all of these ancestors I have found were born and lived in South Carolina. I have tried doing research in the past at the State archives but there are no birth records that I can find after a certain point, I have even looked up records for land transfers thinking it may give me at least some idea but have found nothing worthwhile.
I have found some information for part of my mom's family that indicates there were some possible ancestors living in the general area that my family has always (at least to my knowledge) been based in but there is about at least 50-60 gap as the earliest ancestor that I can definitely connect to myself was born in 1847 (I think that is the year off the top of my head). Other than the gap which I have as of yet been unable to fill the information dates back to Huguenots who first came to the US in the early 1700's, which just from my grandfathers last name and the area in which the family has always lived (near one of the early Huguenot settlements in SC) is about what I expected of that part of my family.
I plan on going to the Huguenot Society in Charleston at some point in the future and seeing if they have any information that would be helpful but I am wondering if anyone had any other suggestions (particularly ones that may be a bit out of the normal train of though when it comes to doing this type of research) that may be able to help me fill in this gap and the other parts of my family which seem to just hit a brick wall at a certain point.
i got a lot of cousins response from SC using 23 and me.
you might try that.
ydna might help
do you have some names and dates? what areas? If you want to PM me with details, I will see if I have any connections. My mother's people were from SC Pickens, Abbeville, etc if that helps.
Some of my Dad's people were from Union County SC but I don't know as much about them.
Wills and court records filed in the county's court house might help you. Local libraries can also have family history files, copies of family bibles, records of fraternal societies, and community produced family history brag books. Reading old newspapers from area archived at state historical society might be productive.
If you wish post your sticking point here, I will be happy to take a look.
You've checked the census records? Your Huguenot ancestors will probably have been researched and recorded somewhere....chances are that you are not the first to investigate the family. Check DAR and SAR records....Francis Marion was a Huguenot descendant so maybe others were involved in the American Revolution.
For the last several years I have been occasionally looking into my family history and as of yet I have not been very successful at getting any farther than the early to mid 19th century in any part of my family. I have been successful at finding names, birth dates (at least smaller periods in which they were born), and locations for the oldest ancestors but can never find any information about their parents or anything beyond that.
It should be mentioned that all of these ancestors I have found were born and lived in South Carolina. I have tried doing research in the past at the State archives but there are no birth records that I can find after a certain point, I have even looked up records for land transfers thinking it may give me at least some idea but have found nothing worthwhile.
For 19th century or earlier BMD records, you'll likely have to look into more local resources, they probably won't be at the state archives. Look at county or city archives, historical societies, etc.
Some of them are not digitally indexed which means you will have to manually browse the images but particularly the Probate records might help if you're not finding anything in the Birth and Marriage collections (the Death collections look as though they only cover 20th century dates whereas Birth and Marriage go back much further).
I would also look for old local history or lineage books which might include your ancestors. https://archive.org/details/texts is a great free resource for them. For example, this book here is about one of my ancestors and several generations of his descendants - I was able to link back to him by finding mention of one of his descendants who was my great, great grandfather (born in 1853): https://archive.org/details/briefhistoryofjo00fret - so these are a great way of linking 19th century ancestors back to colonial times. You do have to be careful because some lineage books can be inaccurate or flat out falsified especially when they link back to royalty or nobility - but they are a great starting point to then go out and confirm or deny with other records.
For 19th century or earlier BMD records, you'll likely have to look into more local resources, they probably won't be at the state archives. Look at county or city archives, historical societies, etc.
Some of them are not digitally indexed which means you will have to manually browse the images but particularly the Probate records might help if you're not finding anything in the Birth and Marriage collections (the Death collections look as though they only cover 20th century dates whereas Birth and Marriage go back much further).
I would also look for old local history or lineage books which might include your ancestors. https://archive.org/details/texts is a great free resource for them. For example, this book here is about one of my ancestors and several generations of his descendants - I was able to link back to him by finding mention of one of his descendants who was my great, great grandfather (born in 1853): https://archive.org/details/briefhistoryofjo00fret - so these are a great way of linking 19th century ancestors back to colonial times. You do have to be careful because some lineage books can be inaccurate or flat out falsified especially when they link back to royalty or nobility - but they are a great starting point to then go out and confirm or deny with other records.
thanks for the links I have not come across any of those sites so I will definitely check them out.
In regards to checking county records I have a question. Considering that both of the counties that I would primarily be searching in (at least to start from where I am currently at) are "new counties", which were formed after the time period I am searching through (one county wasn't formed until the late 1880's and the other until 1908 I think) am I correct in assuming that I would need to look in the records of the county that the area was in at the time I am looking for?
Quote:
You've checked the census records? Your Huguenot ancestors will probably have been researched and recorded somewhere....chances are that you are not the first to investigate the family. Check DAR and SAR records....Francis Marion was a Huguenot descendant so maybe others were involved in the American Revolution.
Francis Marion was actually born and is buried not too far from the area my family lives in (and has lived for a long time).
I have been looking through some of the Huguenot records that I have found online about the area and have found a detailed family history of one family in the area that shares the same last name as my grandfather the only problem is that it is primarily focused on one particular branch of the family after a certain point and doesn't really provide much information about any of the other family members after that point. Through it I have found through census records from the time there were two sons in particular who stayed in the area (a lot of the family moved closer to Charleston) where the family first settled (and where my family still lives) and that they both had sons but I can not find any information regarding the names of those sons. There is about a 40-60 year gap (I think, I would have to find it again to be sure) between those sons and my great great (great? can't remember off the top of my head) grandfather who was born in 1847.
Most of the problems I have been running into are right around the Civil War and given the areas in question (close if not directly in the path of Sherman's troops heading north) which I am sure makes things even worse
thanks for the links I have not come across any of those sites so I will definitely check them out.
In regards to checking county records I have a question. Considering that both of the counties that I would primarily be searching in (at least to start from where I am currently at) are "new counties", which were formed after the time period I am searching through (one county wasn't formed until the late 1880's and the other until 1908 I think) am I correct in assuming that I would need to look in the records of the county that the area was in at the time I am looking for?
Francis Marion was actually born and is buried not too far from the area my family lives in (and has lived for a long time).
I have been looking through some of the Huguenot records that I have found online about the area and have found a detailed family history of one family in the area that shares the same last name as my grandfather the only problem is that it is primarily focused on one particular branch of the family after a certain point and doesn't really provide much information about any of the other family members after that point. Through it I have found through census records from the time there were two sons in particular who stayed in the area (a lot of the family moved closer to Charleston) where the family first settled (and where my family still lives) and that they both had sons but I can not find any information regarding the names of those sons. There is about a 40-60 year gap (I think, I would have to find it again to be sure) between those sons and my great great (great? can't remember off the top of my head) grandfather who was born in 1847.
Most of the problems I have been running into are right around the Civil War and given the areas in question (close if not directly in the path of Sherman's troops heading north) which I am sure makes things even worse
Trying to make connections the way you are doing it is difficult.
Someone who was born in 1847 should be in the 1850 federal census, most likely with his parents. If you are having trouble finding him, it may be due to a problem with the spelling or transcription of the name. If you would be willing to share his name, place of birth, date of death, some places you know he lived, and names of any siblings we may be able to help you find him.
Have you posted on Rootsweb or Genealogy.com? There are message boards at both of those for surnames and locations.
You've probably already done this, but have you done a Google search? Look for John Doe 1847 or if you know spouse's name: John Doe 1847 & Jane Roe. If he's in a family tree posted anywhere on the web you may find him.
Yes, you may have to track down which county now has the records you are looking for. They are probably with the earlier counties, not the newer ones. Your state archives may be able to help you with that.
You've probably already done this, but have you done a Google search? Look for John Doe 1847 or if you know spouse's name: John Doe 1847 & Jane Roe. If he's in a family tree posted anywhere on the web you may find him.
Yes, you may have to track down which county now has the records you are looking for. They are probably with the earlier counties, not the newer ones. Your state archives may be able to help you with that.
i second this recommendation. I was very surprised when I simply Googled the names of married ancestors I was researching (including those back into the 1700s). I also included a key date if I got too many responses.
In addition to links to online trees and family tree sites like ancestry and familysearch, I got links to many forums where those folks were discussed, some with detailed ancestries(including sources), and links to books and other historical and genealogical publications (many free) in Google Books, archives.org and other sites.
Yo will have to review them to determine if you find the material suitably reliable, but very often you will be referred to good info.
Also, when you use Google, if nothing comes up try alternative spellings. When I looked for one ancestor, using his initials for his first and middle names brought up some info on his Civil War service that using the full names did not retrieve.
Someone who was born in 1847 should be in the 1850 federal census, most likely with his parents. If you are having trouble finding him, it may be due to a problem with the spelling or transcription of the name. If you would be willing to share his name, place of birth, date of death, some places you know he lived, and names of any siblings we may be able to help you find him.
the problem that I seem to be having in regards to the census is that a lot of the ones I need are either completely gone (as is the case with the 1810 census for Orangeburg county which I can't find any information about anywhere), are incomplete, or illegible (at least the scans I have found online) due to the handwriting or in having some what faded over time.
The two families that I have primarily been looking into are the Carr family and the Dupree family. the last information I have about the Carrs is in Orangeburg County (somewhere in the St. Matthews area, which is now in Calhoun Co.) with my great great great great grandfather being born in 1802 (named Henry), the only information I have about his family prior to getting married and having children is that he had a sister named Ann. For the other family the last information I have been able to find is about a George Lawrence Dupree born in 1847 and I believe he lived in what is now Berkeley county but was then Charleston county.
Both last names (particularly Dupree) provide information with multiple spellings.
I have been able to find a lot of information online about the family since then but haven't found anything before this time.
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