LCA Main Blog

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Genealogy of the 33rd United States Colored Troops (USCT), Surnames R Through S

 

Genealogy of the 33rd United States Colored Troops, Surnames R Through S

     This page is a portion of the Lowcountry Africana feature article Who Lived This History? The 33rd United States Colored Troops. Here, we present abstracts of records of the Freedmen's Savings and Trust (now digitized in the free collection Freedmen's Bank Records, 1865-1874 at FamilySearch.org), then layer on abstracts of military records digitized at Footnote.com from two collections, Civil War Soldiers – Union, Colored Troops 31st to 35th Infantry and Civil War and Later Veterans Pension Index. If you find an ancestor here, there are many more records waiting for you on Footnote.com, within the two subscription collections listed above.

     Please scroll to the bottom of the page for source citations for these records. Happy Ancestor Hunting from the crew at Lowcountry Africana!

 

Jacob Reilly aka Jacob Riley, Company B 33rd USCT

Freedmen's Bank Record:

Civil War Service Record:

Joseph Richardson, Company F 33rd USCT

Civil War Service Record:

Benjamin Rivers, Company C 33rd USCT

Civil War Service Record:

Prince Roberson, Company C 33rd USCT

Hamilton Robinson, Company E 33rd USCT

Civil War Service Record:

Richard Robinson, Company B 33rd USCT

Civil War Service Record:

Richard Scott, Company C 33rd USCT

Freedmen's Bank Record:

Civil War Service Record:

Rodwell Scott, Company A 33rd USCT

Civil War Service Record:

Isaac Scribbens, Company K 33rd USCT

Civil War Service Record:

London Simmons, Company K 33rd USCT 

Civil War Service Record:

Mingo Simmons, Company F 33rd USCT

Civil War Service Record:

Dick Simmons, Company D 33rd USCT 

Toney Singleton, Company B 33rd USCT

Lunnon Small, Company D 33rd USCT 

Peter Small, Company F 33rd USCT

Civil War Service Record: 

Joseph Smith, Company F 33rd USCT

Civil War Service Record:

Benjamin Snooks, Company D 33rd USCT

Freedmen's Bank Record:

Civil War Service Record:

James Steward, Company H 33rd USCT

Civil War Service Record:

Monday Stewart, Company B 33rd USCT 

Bram Strobert, Company C 33rd USCT

Civil War Service Record:

Source Citations:

Freedmen's Bank Records: 

"Freedman's Bank Records, 1865-1874," database, FamilySearch.org, from Freedman’s Savings and Trust Company. Registers of signatures of depositors in branches of the Freedman’s Savings and Trust Company, 1865–1874.

Civil War Service Records:

"Civil War Soldiers - Union, Colored Troops 31st to 35th Infantry," database, Footnote.com, from Compiled Military Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served With the United States Colored Troops: Infantry Organizations, 31st through 35th, NARA M1992.

Civil War Pension Records:

"Civil War and Later Veterans Pension Index," database, Footnote.com, from Organization Index to Pension Files of Veterans Who Served Between 1861 and 1900, NARA T289. 

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Genealogy of the 33rd United States Colored Troops (USCT), Surnames T Through Z

 

Genealogy of the 33rd United States Colored Troops, Surnames T Through Z

     This page is a portion of the Lowcountry Africana feature article Who Lived This History? The 33rd United States Colored Troops. Here, we present abstracts of records of the Freedmen's Savings and Trust (now digitized in the free collection Freedmen's Bank Records, 1865-1874 at FamilySearch.org), then layer on abstracts of military records digitized at Footnote.com from two collections, Civil War Soldiers – Union, Colored Troops 31st to 35th Infantry and Civil War and Later Veterans Pension Index. If you find an ancestor here, there are many more records waiting for you on Footnote.com, within the two subscription collections listed above.

     Please scroll to the bottom of the page for source citations for these records. Happy Ancestor Hunting from the crew at Lowcountry Africana!

 

Charles Talbot, Company B 33rd USCT

Freedmen's Bank Record:

Civil War Service Record:

Douglas Taylor, Company F 33rd USCT 

Freedmen's Bank Record:

Civil War Service Record:

Quamley Thompson aka Quamley Thomson, Company A 33rd USCT

Freedmen's Bank Record:

Civil War Service Record:

Thomas Vanilla, Company B 33rd USCT

Civil War Service Record:

Bristo Washington, Company D 33rd USCT 

Civil War Service Record:

Cato Washington, Company A 33rd USCT

Civil War Service Record:

Robert Washington, Company E 33rd USCT

Titus Washington, Company A 33rd USCT

Freedmen's Bank Record:

Leon Watkins, Company E 33rd USCT

Freedmen's Bank Record:

Civil War Service Record:

Aaron Watson, Company F 33rd USCT

Freedmen's Bank Record:

Samuel Webb, Company B 33rd USCT

Civil War Service Record:

Gaubner White, Company B 33rd USCT 

Freedmen's Bank Record:

Civil War Service Record:

James White, Company C 33rd USCT

Civil War Service Record:

Charles Whiters, Company B 33rd USCT

Freedmen's Bank Record:

Civil War Service Record:

Morris Williams, Company A 33rd USCT

Civil War Service Record:

Charles Winkison aka Charles Winkerson, Company E 33rd USCT

Civil War Service Record:

Sandy Wright, Company E 33rd USCT

Civil War Service Record:

Source Citations:

Freedmen's Bank Records: 

"Freedman's Bank Records, 1865-1874," database, FamilySearch.org, from Freedman’s Savings and Trust Company. Registers of signatures of depositors in branches of the Freedman’s Savings and Trust Company, 1865–1874.

Civil War Service Records:

"Civil War Soldiers - Union, Colored Troops 31st to 35th Infantry," database, Footnote.com, from Compiled Military Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served With the United States Colored Troops: Infantry Organizations, 31st through 35th, NARA M1992.

Civil War Pension Records:

"Civil War and Later Veterans Pension Index," database, Footnote.com, from Organization Index to Pension Files of Veterans Who Served Between 1861 and 1900, NARA T289. 

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Penn Center Heritage Symposium 2010

 

The annual Penn Center Heritage Days Celebration, held the second weekend in November each year, is a celebration of the unique Gullah-Geechee cultural heritage and the history of the Penn School on St. Helena Island, SC.

The Penn Center Heritage Symposium explores a different aspect of the Gullah-Geechee cultural heritage each year. This year, Lowcountry Africana was honored to choose the focus of the Heritage Symposium.

It didn't take us but a moment to do so - there are many innovative historians and preservationists working to change the way we think about discovering, understanding and preserving the African American heritage of the Lowcountry. We chose to focus on historians and preservationists who are rediscovering African and African American ancestors, honoring their accomplishments and legacies, and preserving the sites of memory where they lived and worked.

We invited, they came, and we were astounded by the work these incredible preservationists are pursuing in the Lowcountry.

 

Penn Center 2010 Heritage Symposium Panelists (from left) Bill Grimke-Drayton, Joseph McGill, DJ Tucker, Toni Carrier and Robin Foster

Robin Foster presented "Leaving No Stone Unturned," which acknowledged the difficulties African Americans face in documenting ancestors and provided an overview of the basic principles of researching and preserving heritage.  The presentation also included an overview of recently released FamilySearch resources currently at FamilySearch.org which link family historians to historical documents and free research assistance. As more historical records are made available along with the knowledge about how to find assistance, many will be able to accomplish in the comfort of their own homes what once required traveling long distances. Robin is an expert at introducing researchers to the world of free resources available at FamilySearch.org. 

DJ Tucker,  Director of African American History & Interpretation at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens in Charleston, explored the work he and his colleagues have been doing to humbly honor the memory and oft overlooked contributions of enslaved ancestors. Once known for serving in the vanguard of those that perpetuated a disappointingly sanitized narrative of plantation life, Magnolia Plantation and Gardens has made commendable strides toward shedding the romanticized mythologies that once dominated virtually all such southern plantation museum interpretation.

By acknowledging the immense genius of those that came to the Lowcountry from such culturally rich regions in West Africa as  the Windward and Rice Coast, Tucker and company have with boldness endeavored to finally afford credit where credit is so justly due. DJ passionately described Magnolia's recent initiative, the Cabin Project, to preserve Magnolia's former slave cabins that serve as a focal point and conduit for this award winning daily interpretive program effort.

Joseph McGill, Program Officer for the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Founder of the Company "I" 54th Massachusetts Reenactment Regiment in Charleston, discussed the Slave Cabin Project, his pioneering efforts to preserve historic slave cabins. Over the past year, Joseph McGill has spent his nights in five slave cabins on plantations in South Carolina, in order to call attention to the need to preserve these long-ignored and often overlooked historic structures.

Joe is engaging with the past in an entirely new way by re-peopling the places where enslaved ancestors spent a significant portion of their lives, in order to say "This place matters." 

 

Bill Grimke-Drayton, a native of England and a descendant of the slaveholding Drayton family of South Carolina, discussed how he became involved in reconciliation efforts through Coming to the Table, a program at Eastern Mennonite University which brings together the descendants of slaves and descendants of slaveholders, in order to address the painful legacy of slavery in the United States.

Bill has made frequent trips to Magnolia Plantation and Gardens and Drayton Hall Plantation in order to meet both African American and white descendants who share his family's name and history.  Bill discussed the history of the Drayton family's Fish Haul Plantation on Hilton Head Island and read poems from his book Freedom Reclaimed, a collection of poems of introspection on his family's connection to American slavery.

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Penn Center Heritage Symposium Links

 

Penn Center Heritage Symposium Links

Many thanks to all who joined us for the Penn Center Heritage Symposium November 12. Below are links to resources mentioned in the symposium. For those who could not join us, please be sure to visit the highly-recommended websites and resources below!

	The Beginning Genealogist website: Angela Y. Walton-Raji shares instructional videos and articles on beginning your African American ancestor search
	Afrigeneas Beginner's Guide to African American Genealogy: by Dee Parmer Woodtor, author of Finding a Place Called Home: An African-American Guide to Genealogy and Historical Identity (Random House, 1999)
	Lowcountry Africana SC Ancestors Page: Resources and records for researching South Carolina ancestors
	SC Full-Text Reading Room: Read full-text books on South Carolina history and genealogy
	The Restore the Ancestors Project
	Lowcountry Africana: South Carolina Slave Records on Footnote.com
	How to Browse the new free Footnote.com collection SC Estate Inventories and Bills of Sale, 1732-1872
Penn Center Heritage Days Seminar 2010 Panelist Info

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New Name, More Fun at the 2011 Georgia History Festival

New Name, More Fun at the 2011 Georgia History Festival

Savannah, GA, September 20, 2010--The Georgia Historical Society is pleased to announce that the popular and exciting events it presents every February--formerly known as "Georgia Days"--shall henceforth be known as the Georgia History Festival. 

Only the name has changed: The Georgia History Festival continues GHS's long-standing tradition of commemorating the state's rich history with two weeks of lively educational programming and signature social events, including:

• The Georgia Day Parade on February 11, 2011, starring thousands of elementary school students in period costume and led by General Oglethorpe himself
• The two-day Colonial Faire and Muster at Wormsloe State Historic Site featuring cannon firings, period dancing and other demonstrations of early American life
• Free admission to dozens of cultural institutions on Super Museum Sunday
• In-school programming and hands-on craft workshops

The Georgia History Festival will culminate on February 12 with the Trustees Gala, an elegant evening highlighted by the Governor of Georgia's induction of this year's Georgia Trustees, legendary University of Georgia football coach Vince Dooley and former U.S. Senator and global policy maker Sam Nunn...

Click here to read the full press release.

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Guest Blogger Robin Foster: FamilySearch Wiki: Resources for African American Genealogy Research

 

FamilySearch Wiki: New Web 2.0 Resource Fuels African American Research

     Web 2.0 resources such as web applications, blogs, and social networking sites are helping consumers to interact online instead of merely digesting information. One particular site, FamilySearch Wiki is providing a platform for family history enthusiasts and professionals to share genealogical resources. This online encyclopedia is a great place for those researching African-American ancestors to find resources that may have been overlooked.

Focus on Topics

     The wiki has been a great help to me in locating records and in broadening my research to locate even more records. Use the wiki to learn more about the following research topics which will link you to other helpful resources. You may want to concentrate on these basic topics in the beginning:

• geographical area
• African American genealogical resources
• time period
• events

     Too often, researchers rely only on specific record types and run out of resources prematurely. Concentrating more extensively on specific topics will widen your research possibilities, and you will develop a knack for predicting which resources are most beneficial to you.

Search by Geographical Area

     Let's demonstrate how this broader approach helps you turn up more avenues of research. Select county or parish and state where your ancestor lived and search FamilySearch Wiki according to the following example:

Example: Search using terms Abbeville County, South Carolina.

     The results show all articles which mention AbbevilleCounty. The counties which were created from AbbevilleCounty are show as well as Abbeville District which existed prior to AbbevilleCounty. In this type of search, usually the first article in the results is the main article and will link to most of the others.

     If you select the first article, Abbeville County, South Carolina, you have the choice to read through the entire article or use the outline on the top left-hand side of the page to select the sub-topic that interests you. The Abbeville County, South Carolina article currently links to several other resources such as marriage records, death records, cemeteries, and will transcriptions.

     The Family History Library Catalog is also linked in the section entitled “Web Sites,” and following this link will connect you directly to resources for Abbeville County, South Carolina which are available through the Family History Library (FHL).

Search by Ethnicity

     A search using the terms “African American” or “ethnic resources” will link you to even more resources and helpful articles. Narrow your search by including other topics such as churches, newspapers, genealogy, cemeteries, and research.

Example: Search African American  Resources to explore available topics.

Search by Time Period

     When records are scarce, search the eras in which your ancestor would have lived. Time periods in American history are well documented. Even if your specific ancestor is not named, you may discover histories of local areas, and biographies of those who were contemporaries. Quite often histories will reveal further historical documentation. Studying the lives of those from the same vicinity who may have had similar experiences as your ancestor may be as close as you will get to understanding what life was like for them.

Example: Searching “Antebellum” and “Georgia” leads to the reference for a book in FHL: Farm tenancy and the census in antebellum Georgia (Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 1986), Bode, Frederick A., Ginter, Donald D., [FHL Book 975.8 R2bg]. This book, which is also available at Google Books, is a valuable resource for those who want to understand the process and evolution of tenant farming in Georgia from 1860 and beyond the end of slavery.

Search Specific Events

     Birth, marriage, and death are the most common and usually the first events that you will document for your ancestor. Your ancestor was a living, moving, and breathing individual who interacted in the world--nearby and sometimes far from home. If you make a concerted effort to determine other events (slavery, war, migration, land sales or purchases) that influenced them, you will understand their world a little better, and you may find further historical documentation.

     Do not hesitate to research extended family or former slave owners. Sometimes your ancestor may be mentioned in records such as the wills and probate records of other people.

Example: Currently 127 articles exist on the wiki for African American slavery.

Give Back: Become a Contributor

     I relocated to South Carolina to be close to the many resources that have been preserved to document my maternal ancestry. Everyone is not able not make a decision like that, but with resources like FamilySearch Wiki, family historians can connect to records from one place many times without leaving the house.

     I have felt a great obligation to share resources that I have discovered. I feel wonderful about contributing information about resources that were difficult to find. I hope that other African Americans are able to learn about this great resource and are able to use to discover more about their ancestors. You need to register to create a page or contribute to existing articles.

     This is a page I am building:

Resources and Strategies for Documenting African American Ancestors

     I feel some of my greatest discoveries were the Reconstruction resources listed on the above page. I found a testimony of my great great grandfather, Beverly Vance (1832-1899) in the South Caroliniana Library on the main campus of University of South Carolina. It was given before the South Carolina Senate in 1876. Tears just streamed as I read the actual words he spoke.

     I was successful in finding this testimony after researching all I could find on the topic of Reconstruction in South Carolina. You never know what may exist to document an ancestor. I hope other descendants of those who testimonies were preserved are able to discover them through the wiki page.

About Guest Blogger Robin Foster

     Robin Foster lives in the Columbia, South Carolina area where she assists others in documenting their ancestors' lives and preserving oral histories, photos and stories. Her research skills and experience in helping others learn to use FamilySearch products has enabled many to overcome obstacles in their research and to connect with extended family. She has a vast knowledge of resources available to assist Southern family historians. Robin is a 2008 award-winning independent book publishing consultant for Heritage Makers, Inc. She can be reached at robin.savingstories@gmail.com, or follow her on Twitter (savingstories).

 More Links:

Saving Stories

Columbia Ethnic Community Examiner

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Footnote.com to Digitize SC Estate Inventories and Bills of Sale in a Free Collection

 

Footnote.com to Digitize SC Estate Inventories and Bills of Sale in a Free Collection

Please Volunteer to Index These Records to Make Them Searchable!

-Newly Digitized Records Preserve the Names of More Than 30,000 Slaves -

     We are very excited to announce a collaboration with Footnote.com, the South Carolina Department of Archives and History, FamilySearch and Lowcountry Africana, to digitize every surviving estate inventory for Colonial and Charleston South Carolina from 1732 to 1872, as well as selected Bills of Sale for the same period, in a FREE collection!

     Charlestons role as a port of entry during the Atlantic Slave Trade means many thousands of African Americans may have ancestors who came from, or through, South Carolina. This new collection on Footnote.com will assist African American genealogy research by forming, in many cases, a seamless paper trail from Emancipation to the 1700s.

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The Beginning Genealogist from Angela Walton-Raji

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The Lowcountry Africana Resource Library by Michael Hait: Principles of Sound Genealogical Research

 

The Lowcountry Africana Resource Library by Michael Hait: Principles of Sound Genealogical Research

 Finding a record on Lowcountry Africana that names an ancestor is exciting. But how can you use that record to further your family research?

Genealogist/historian Michael Hait, Coordinator of the Lowcountry Africana Genealogy Resource Library, offers advice for conducting sound genealogical research, documenting sources and evaluating evidence. Michael's library is growing. We invite you to visit and enjoy!

Here is sampling of the offerings in Michael's Resource Library:

What is the Genealogical Proof Standard?

The Genealogical Proof Standard provides an outline for sound and responsible genealogical research. By subscribing to its standards, you can ensure that your research will be as accurate as possible.

What Constitutes a Genealogical Source Record?

Under the current standards of genealogical proof, source citation and analysis are supreme. But what constitutes a genealogical source record?

Evaluating a Source Record

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Dr. A.E. Gibbes: Former Slaveholder of Samuel Gibbes, Sampson Fenwick, Gainey Singleton, Ancel Guerard and Harry Rivers