Barnwell County SC

Slave Narrative of Robert Toatley

Interviewer: W. W. Dixon Person Interviewed: Robert Toatley Location: Winnsboro, South Carolina Date of Birth: May 15, 1855 Age: 82 Robert Toatley lives with his daughter, his son, his son’s wife, and their six children, near White Oak, seven miles north of Winnsboro, S.C. Robert owns the four-room frame house and farm containing 235 acres. He has been prosperous up from slavery, until the boll weevil made its appearance on his farm and the depression came on the country at large, in 1929. He has been compelled to mortgage his home but is now coming forward again, having reduced the … Read more

Kasihta Tribe

The honorary name of this tribe in the Creek Confederacy was Kasihta lako, “Big Kasihta.” According to the earliest form of the Creek migration legend that is available – that related to Governor Oglethorpe by Chikilli in 1735 – the Kasihta and Coweta came from the west “as one people,” but in time those dwelling toward the east came to be called Kasihta and those to the west Coweta. This ancient unity of origin appears to have been generally admitted down to the present time. According to John Goat, an aged Tulsa Indian, they were at first one town, and … Read more

Elder James Martin of the District of Orangeburg South Carolina

Elder James Martin and his brother Simon Martin title page

Steve Malone’s work, “Elder James Martin of the Districts of Orangeburg, Lower Ninety-Six, Edgefield and Barnwell, South Carolina; Warren County, Kentucky; and Knox, Gibson, Posey and Vanderburgh Counties, Indiana Territory/Indiana, and his brother, Simon Martin of the Same Districts in South Carolina,” offers a meticulous exploration into the life of an individual whose existence paints a vivid picture of the American frontier during its formative years. Free to read or download.

Biography of Benjamin Martin

Benjamin Martin, who has been actively engaged in law practice at Muskogee for more than a quarter of a century, has also been a prominent factor in financial circles of the city as vice president and director of and attorney for The Commercial National Bank, which he has thus represented during almost the entire period of its existence, his efforts contributing largely to the continued growth and success of the institution. His birth occurred on a southern plantation near Allendale, in Barnwell county, South Carolina, on the 7th of July, 1873, his parents being Benjamin and Catherine M. (Maner) Martin. … Read more

The Sara Indians

While we know nothing positively as to the linguistic affinity of the Sara, all the evidence goes to show that, like most of the tribes of the central region of Virginia and Carolina, they were of Siouan stock. Their name is probably from the Catawba word sara, signifying a place of “tall grass or weeds” (Gatschet). While the Siouan tribes treated in the foregoing consolidated, after their decline, and joined the Iroquois in the north, most of the remaining people of that stock, including the Sara, migrated southward and merged with the Catawba tribe in South Carolina. The history of … Read more

Yuchi Indians

Yuchi Tribe. Significance unknown, but perhaps, as suggested by Speck (1909), from a native word meaning “those far away,” or “at a distance,” though it is also possible that it is a variant of Ochesee or Oeese, which was applied by the Hitchiti and their allies to Indians speaking languages different from their own. Also called: Ani’-Yu’tsl, Cherokee name. Chiska, probably a Muskogee translation of the name of one of their bands. Hughchee, an early synonym. Round town people, a name given by the early English colonists. Rickohockans, signifying “cavelanders” (Hewitt, in Hodge, 1907), perhaps an early name for a … Read more

Barnwell County, South Carolina Census Records

Barnwell County, South Carolina was formed from Winton County in 1800. 1800 Barnwell County, South Carolina Census Free 1800 Census Form for your Research Hosted at Ancestry.com – Ancestry Free Trial 1800 Barnwell County, Census (images and index) $ Free 1800 Census Index Surname A-You Index to Census Images Free 1800 Census Transcription Barnwell District, 1 of 2 Barnwell District, 2 of 2 Hosted at Census Guide 1800 U.S. Census Guide 1810 Barnwell County, South Carolina Census Free 1810 Census Form for your Research Hosted at Ancestry.com – Ancestry Free Trial 1810 Barnwell County, Census (images and index) $ 1810-1890 … Read more

Slave Narrative of Harriett Gresham

Interviewer: Pearl Randolph Person Interviewed: Harriett Gresham Location: Jacksonville, Florida Age: 98 Occupation: Field Worker Born on December 6, 1838, Harriett Gresham can recall quite clearly the major events of her life as a slave, also the Civil War as it affected the slaves of Charleston and Barnwell, South Carolina. She was one of a group of mulattoes belonging to Edmond Bellinger, a wealthy plantation owner of Barnwell. With her mother, the plantation seamstress and her father, a driver, she lived in the “big house” quarters, and was known as a “house nigger.” She played with the children of her … Read more