Lowcountry Africana
African American Genealogy in SC, GA and FL
Plantation Records
Lowcountry Slaveholders – Genealogy and Records
Research Library
Primary Historical Documents. Research and Finding Aids. Historical Contexts. Our Research Library is a Great Place to Begin Your Search!
AKA Page - Ancestors Who Changed Their Names
Name changing among Lowcountry USCT veterans can present a stumbling block for your research. Here, we list records we have found for ancestors who changed their names.
Diasporas
Diaspora: the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland. Estate settlements, estate sales and slaveholder migrations could scatter enslaved families and communities to the winds. Today, the Internet may have the reach to reunite extended families across time and miles. Here we present records of enslaved ancestors who were taken from their ancestral homes in the Lowcountry, or who were separated from extended family by estate settlements.
Who Lived This History? The Combahee Raid
In the early morning hours of June 2, 1863, Union troops based at Port Royal, South Carolina conducted a daring raid up the Combahee River, which winds inland from Port Royal Sound. Union Naval forces had captured Port Royal in November of 1861. Led by Colonel James Montgomery, African American troops of the 2nd South Carolina Regiment advanced upon the Combahee River plantations, destroying several plantations and carrying away more than 700 enslaved people. Who were the African American men, women and children who witnessed, or were freed by, the Combahee Raid? Let’s Go See…
Who Lived This History? The 33rd United States Colored Troops
The capture of Port Royal, South Carolina by Union forces in November 1861 set in motion a series of events which would lead to one of the largest social transformations in the history of the Lowcountry Southeast: the emancipation of ten thousand enslaved people on South Carolina’s sea islands. Port Royal was also the staging ground of the first African Americans mustered into the United States military: the 1st South Carolina Volunteer Infantry, which later became the 33rd United States Colored Troops (USCT). MORE…
Freedmen’s Bureau Records
Records from the First Days of Freedom
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Video Gallery
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Book Excerpts
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I saw behind me those who had gone, and before me those who are to come ... And their eyes were my eyes.
--- Richard Llewellyn, "How Green Was My Valley"
Happy Ancestor Hunting from the Crew at Lowcountry Africana