Chester County SC Genealogy – Access Genealogy

Slave Narrative of Jane Birch

Interviewer: Irene Robertson Person Interviewed: Jane Birch Age: 74 Location: Brinkley, Arkansas “I was three years old when the Yankees come through. I can’t recollect a thing about them. Ma told us children if we don’t be quiet the Ku Kluck come take us clean off but I never seed none. When we be working she say if we don’t work the grass out pretty soon the Ku Kluck be taking us out whooping us. So many of us she have to scare us up to get us to do right. There was fifteen children, nearly all girls. Ma said … Read more

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

Slave Narrative of Josephine Stewart

Interviewer: W. W. Dixon Person Interviewed: Josephine Stewart Location: Blackstock, South Carolina Place of Birth: Blackstock, South Carolina Date of Birth: May, 1853 Age: 85 Phinie Stewart, as she is known in the community where she lives, is a small, black negress, who shows her age in appearance and movements. She lives with Robert Wood, a hundred yards back of the Presbyterian Church manse at Blackstock, S.C. Robert Wood married Phinie’s niece, who is now deceased. Phinie has no property, and depends entirely on the charity of Robert Wood for her support. “Does you know where de old Bell House … Read more

Slave Narrative of Benjamin Russell

Interviewer: W. W. Dixon Person Interviewed: Benjamin Russell Location: South Carolina Age: 88 Ex-Slave 88 Years “I was born fourteen miles north of Chester, S.C. the property of Mrs. Rebecca Nance. After eighty-eight years, I have a vivid recollection of her sympathy and the ideal relations she maintained with her slaves. “My father was just Baker, my mother just Mary. My father was bought out of a drove of slaves from Virginia. I have been told my mother was born on the Youngblood place. (Youngblood name of my mistress’ people in York County.) My father was a slave of a … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Josiah Miller

Josiah Miller, a pioneer newspaper man of Lawrence and Kansas, an ardent free-soiler and public official in the formative periods of the territory and the state, was born in Chester District, South Carolina, November 12, 1828. He gradnated from the Indiana University in 1851, and from the law school at Poughkeepsie, New York, and in August, 1854, came to Kansas. As his father had been waylaid and mobbed because of his anti-slavery views, it was but natural that Josiah should be an ardent opponent of slavery, and on January 5, 1855, he began the publication of the Kansas Free State … Read more

Chester County, South Carolina Census Records

Chester County, South Carolina was formed from Pinckney District in 1800. It was a functioning county in 1785, and as such, was enumerated as early as 1790. 1790 Chester County, South Carolina Census Free 1790 Census Form for your Research Hosted at Ancestry.com – Ancestry Free Trial 1790 Chester County, Census (images and index) $ Free 1790 Census Index Head of Household Free 1790 Census Transcription (Partial) Page 178 Page 179 Page 180 Page 181 Page 182 Page 183 Page 184 Page 185 Page 186 Page 187 Page 202 Page 203 Page 204 Page 205 Hosted at Census Guide 1790 … Read more

Slave Narrative of Bill Williams

Interviewer: W. W. Dixon Person Interviewed: Bill Williams Location: Winnsboro, South Carolina Age: 82 Bill Williams lives on the Durham place, nine miles east of Winnsboro, S.C., on the warm charity of Mr. Arthur M. Owens, the present owner. He is decrepit and unable to work. “I was born a slave of old Marster John Durham, on a plantation ’bout five miles east of Blackstock, S.C. My mistress name Margaret. Deir chillun was Miss Cynthia, Marse Johnnie, Marse Willie and Marse Charnel. I forgits de others. Then, when young Marse Johnnie marry Miss Minnie Mobley, my mammy, Kizzie, my daddy, … Read more

Slave Narrative of Jesse Williams

Interviewer: W. W. Dixon Person Interviewed: Jesse Williams Location: South Carolina Age: 83 At the end of one of the silent streets of west Chester, S.C., that prolongs itself into a road leading to the Potter’s Field and on to the County Poorhouse, sets a whitewashed frame cottage. It has two rooms, the chimney in the center providing each with a fireplace. A porch, supported by red cedar posts, fronts the road side. In this abode lives Jesse Williams with his daughter, Edna, and her six children. Edna pays the rent, and is a grenadier in the warfare of keeping … Read more

Slave Narrative of Mary Raines

Interviewer: W. W. Dixon Person Interviewed: Mary Raines Location: South Carolina Age: 99 Ex-Slave 99 Years Old. Mary Raines is the oldest living person, white or black, in Fairfield County. If she survives until next December, she will have attained her century of years. She lives with her widowed daughter, Fannie McCollough, fifty-seven years old, and a son, Joe Raines, aged 76 years. They rent a two-room frame house, on lands of Mrs. Sallie Wylie, Chester County, S.C. Joe, the son, is a day laborer on nearby farms. Fannie cooks for Mrs. W.T. Raines. Old Mother Mary has been receiving … Read more

Reminiscences of the Confederate War

Biography of Henry M. Darnall

Henry M. Darnall (deceased) was born in Chester District, South Carolina in 1808. His parents moved to Maury County, Tennessee, when he was four years old. When nineteen he left there and went to Obion County, and lived there and in Lake County until his death. His early education was neglected, though be inherited fine sense from his mother, and his father was well educated. When thirty years of age he was appointed captain of a company of militia; then was made colonel, and finally brigadier general. During the war he was offered the generalship of the army of Virginia, … Read more

Threads of ancestors, Telford – Ritchie – Mize

“Threads of Ancestors: Telford – Ritchie – Mize: A Link Among the Days Which Binds the Generations Each with Each,” authored by Leila Ritchie Mize and Jessie Julia Mize, explores the intricate tapestry of family lineage and migration across continents and centuries. Tracing roots back to Alexander Telford Sr., who settled near Rockbridge, Virginia around 1760, this book delves into the journeys and settlements of his descendants across the United States. Highlighting the Scotch-Irish origins of these families, the authors meticulously draw upon an extensive array of sources, including family Bibles, historical records, and personal diaries, to provide a detailed account of the Telford, Ritchie, and Mize families. Their narrative not only charts the genealogical paths of these families but also illuminates their substantial roles in the historical and cultural development of the regions they inhabited. This work stands as a testament to the enduring bonds and shared heritage that link successive generations, forming a foundational piece for both family members and historians interested in the Scotch-Irish contribution to American history.