South Carolina Genealogy

Each state seems to have their own terms for breaking down the state into geographical regions. South Carolina is no different. As you research you may come across these terms. Upstate, Piedmont and Midlands and Low Country (or lowcountry). It really is fairly straightforward. The upstate is the corner of South Carolina up near North Carolina and Tennessee. The piedmont is merely an extension of the plateau that runs south from Virginia through North and South Carolinas that separates the Appalachian Mountains from the Atlantic Coastal Plain. The midlands are that same central area of South Carolina, but may not cover all the counties that border with NC or further to the Southwest with Georgia.

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Georgetown County, SC has a great online initiative in their Georgetown Digital Library. Currently they have just a few collections for searching or browsing. These collections though represent a treasure trove of materials. Two of the collections (Morgan and Trenholm AND the Baruch Collection) are mostly historical photos from donated collections. However there is a collection of scans of Indentures. Unfortunately the ones I browsed through are just scans and not transcribed, but… they are searchable by the abstract of who is involved in the contract.

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I know I’ve looked at old mortality schedules and had to scratch my head and go look up what certain terms were. I thought it might be useful to start compiling a list here. (Who knows, this may become a page sometime…) Not a complete list certainly – but it might be a handy reference

Abasia – inability to walk or stand
Abdominal Angina – sudden severe recurring stomach pain in the elderly. Could mean diverticulitis
Ablepsy – Blindness
Abortus Fever – Brucellosis
Affrighted – Frightened to death – likely stress induced stroke or heart attack
Ague – Intermittent fever – commonly associated with Malaria

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The County Page highlight Continues…. This week the Aiken County, SC Genealogy resource page. Aiken County was created in 1871 from Edgefield, Orangeburg, Barnwell and Lexington Counties. It was named for the president of the South Carolina railroad, William Aiken. The town of Aiken was established as a depot on the South Carolina rail line between Hamburg (on the Savannah River) and Charleston, this would become the county seat. In the 1870s the area became a resort for the well to do from the north. The Savannah River Site was established in Aiken County in 1950 as a nuclear bomb plant.

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