FamilySearch Wiki

South Carolina Emigration and Immigration

Revision as of 10:28, 16 October 2015 by Hanna5974 (talk | contribs) (Text replace - "Category:African_Americans" to "Category:African American Records")

[[United States Genealogy|United State]  [[Image:Gotoarrow.pn]  [[United States Emigration and Immigration|U.S. Immigratio]  [[Image:Gotoarrow.pn]  [[South Carolina Genealogy|South Carolin]  [[Image:Gotoarrow.pn]  [[South_Carolina_Emigration_and_Immigration|Emigration and Immigratio]

British Ships at Deptford. Site of the first Royal Dockyard.jpg
Wagon Train.jpg

The People

About 80 percent of the settlers of colonial [[South Carolina Genealogy|South Carolin] were of English origin. Many of them came by way of [[Barbados Genealogy|Barbado] and other colonies rather than directly from England.[1] A group of Dutch settlers from New York came to South Carolina in 1671. Another smaller group was of French origin, mostly descendants of [[South Carolina Church Records#Huguenot|Huguenot], who came to the area beginning in 1680. More numerous were the Scottish dissenters, who were brought in beginning in 1682, and the Germans, who arrived during the eighteenth century. Blacks constituted a majority of the population from early colonial times until 1930. Indian wars drove most of the native Americans from the state, but there are still a few Catawba Indians in [[York County, South Carolina|York Count].

Settlement Patterns

The earliest settlements were on the coastal plain low country of South Carolina. Pushed by a desire to escape the Revolutionary War and pulled by a desire for land, settlers eventually poured into the Piedmont up country. Townships in eighteenth-century South Carolina were established as residences for foreign protestants of various nationalities. Many immigrants were of Ulster Scots, German, and Welsh descent.[2] In 1770 the population of South Carolina was less than 50,000; by 1790 it had reached 140,000.

[[Image:

Overland migration routes in and around early South Carolina.

]] Early migration routes:[3] Savannah River · Augusta and Cherokee Trail · Augusta-Savannah Trail · Augusta-St. Augustine Trail · Camden-Charleston Path · Catawba and Northern Trail · Catawba Trail · Charleston-Ft. Charlotte Trail · Charleston-Savannah Trail · Cisca and St. Augustine Trail (or Nickajack Trail) · Coosa-Tugaloo Indian Warpath · Fall Line Road (or Southern Road) · Fort Charlotte and Cherokee Old Path · Fort Moore-Charleston Trail · Great Valley Road · [[King's Highwa] · Lower Cherokee Traders' Path · Lower Creek Trading Path · Middle Creek Trading Path · Occaneechi Path · Old Cherokee Path · Old South Carolina State Road · Savannah-Jacksonville Trail · Secondary Coast Road · Tugaloo-Apalachee Bay Trail · Unicoi Trail · Upper Road · Ports:  [[Beaufort County, South Carolina|Beaufor] · [[Charleston County, South Carolina|Charlesto] · [[Georgetown County, South Carolina|Georgetow]

Early settlement was blocked by thick forests. The best way through the trees was by river, or over Indian trails that were slowly improved into wagon and stagecoach roads. Use the above list of early migration trails to get a better understanding of where early South Carolina settlers came from and where they may have moved.

Almost immediately after statehood, South Carolina began to lose population to the westward movement. In the early 1800s, slaveholders moved to new, more fertile plantations in Alabama and Mississippi. In the 1820s, antislavery Quakers moved to the Old Northwest, especially Indiana.

South Carolina did not attract many overseas immigrants during the nineteenth century. State-sponsored recruiting efforts brought in a few hundred Germans between 1866 and 1868 and about 2,500 northern Europeans in the early 1900s.

Overseas Immigration

The major port of entry to South Carolina is [[Charleston County, South Carolina|Charlesto]. Others important ports have included [[Beaufort County, South Carolina|Beaufor] and [[Georgetown County, South Carolina|Georgetow].

Colonial Period

Brent H. Holcomb, CG, sums up the problem of finding South Carolina passenger lists:
"One of the questions most frequently asked about South Carolina records is 'Where are the shiplists?'. Your editor has seen many disappointed faces when he has explained that in the Colonial period they do not exist outside of the few actual lists in the South Carolina Council Journals and what might be gleaned from the texts of individual petitioners for lands."[4]

  • "Some Emigrants to South Carolina 1727," The South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research, Vol. 14, No. 3 (Summer 1986):133. FHL Book 975.7 B2sc v. 14
  • "Some Irish Protestant Immigrants to South Carolina 1753 and 1754," The South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research, Vol. 17, No. 1 (Winter 1989):25-29. FHL Book 975.7 B2sc v. 17Abstracts of select Irish immigrants found in Council Journals.
  • [[Peter Wilson Coldham|Coldham, Peter Wilso]. Emigrants from England to the American Colonies, 1773-1776. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing co., 1988. FHL Book 973 W3c.
    For English passenger lists, 1773 to 1776, which includes some emigrants destined for South Carolina.
  • Scholarly articles published in The American Genealogist and the National Genealogical Society Quarterly illustrate strategies that will help Americans trace their colonial South Carolina immigrant origins.

Colonial Ships

Several resources can help you learn more about a colonial ship's history.

Though they do not include names of passengers, records kept by the Colonial Office and stored at [[England The National Archives|The National Archive] (Kew, England), document ships' arrivals and departures from South Carolina ports between 1716 and 1767. FamilySearch microfilmed these records. They are useful for learning about the history of ships entering the colony:

Shipping Lists for South Carolina, 1716-1767. FHL Films 964002-964003

Lloyd's Register of Shipping identifies ships leaving England, their masters, ports of departure, and destinations. They survive as early as 1764 and are being put online at [http://www.lr.org/en/research-and-innovation/historical-information/lloyds-register-of-ships-online/ Lloyd's Register of Ships Onlin - free.

Dr. Marianne S. Wokeck created a detailed list of "German Immigrant Voyages, 1683-1775" to Colonial America. Destinations include South Carolina (1730s-1770s). She published the list in an Appendix to:

Wokeck, Marianne S. Trade in Strangers: The Beginnings of Mass Migration to North America. (University Park, Pa.: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1999) FHL book 970 W2w.

The [http://web.archive.org/web/20100123093207/http://escndatabase.com/shiplist.htm Early South Carolina Newspaper Databas (WayBack Machine) offers a free online index to ships mentioned in eighteenth-century South Carolina newspapers.

Lists of ship arrivals announced in the South Carolina Gazette between 1760 and 1770 have also been published:

Jones, Jack Moreland and Mary Bondurant Warren. South Carolina Immigrants, 1760 to 1770. (Danielsville, Ga.: Heritage Papers, 1988) FHL book 975.7 W2j.

Many ships that sailed from Bristol, England to South Carolina are described in: Bristol, Africa and the Eighteenth-Century Slave Trade to America 1698-1807 (4 vols.) FHL British Books 942.41/B2 B4b v. 38-39, 42, 47.

African Immigrants

  • The [http://www.slavevoyages.org/tast/index.faces Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Databas Internet site contains references to 35,000 slave voyages, including over 67,000 Africans aboard slave ships, using name, age, gender, origin, and place of embarkation. The database documents the slave trade between Africa, Europe, Brazil, the Caribbean, and the United States.
  • Records of blacks are listed in the FamilySearch Catalog Place-names Search under the heading:
SOUTH CAROLINA - SLAVERY AND BONDAGE
SOUTH CAROLINA - MINORITIES

English Immigrants

In lieu of colonial passenger lists regarding early settlers of South Carolina, genealogists must rely on evidence gleaned from a variety of sources to successfully trace immigrant origins.

  • The Prerogative Court of Canterbury in London proved the wills of many residents of South Carolina. For access, see [[South Carolina Probate Records|South Carolina Probate Record]. Heraldic visitations list some members of prominent English families who crossed the Atlantic. [http://www.pricegen.com/english_genealogy.html Expert Links: English Family History and Genealog includes a concise list of visitations available online. Online archive catalogs, such as [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/ Access to Archive, can be keyword searched for place names, such as "South Carolina" and "Charleston," to retrieve manuscripts stored in hundreds of English archives relating to persons and landholdings in this former English colony. These types of records establish links between South Carolina residents and England, which can lead researchers back to their specific ancestral English towns, villages, and hamlets.
  • The multi-volume Calendar of Colonial State Papers Colonial, America, and West Indies (1574-1739), which is available for free online at British History Online. (see discussion in [[South Carolina Public Records|South Carolina Public Record]), highlights many connections between England and South Carolina.
  • More detailed information on immigration sources is in the [[United States Emigration and Immigration|United States Emigration and Immigratio]. Records of other major ethnic groups, including French Huguenots, Ulster Scots, Jews, Quakers, and Catawba Indians exist.
Brandow published an addendum to Hotten's work
Brandow, James C. Omitted Chapters from Hotten's Original Lists of Persons of Quality ... and Others Who Went from Great Britain to the American Plantations, 1600-1700. Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2001. Digital version at [http://books.google.com/books?id=5XVU5n4ACE0C Google book (free) and at[http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=49280 Ancestr ($).
  • [[Peter Wilson Coldham|Peter Wilson Coldha] has published several volumes of English records that identify, among other American immigrants, those destined for South Carolina. Many English indentured servants completed labor terms in South Carolina. Coldham's works are indexed in Filby's Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s (digital version at [http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=7486 Ancestr ($)).

French Immigrants

German Immigrants

Scottish and Irish Immigrants

David Dobson has dedicated many years to establishing links between Scots and their dispersed Scottish cousins who settled throughout the world. For South Carolina connections, see:

1783 to Present

  • The Family History Library and the National Archives (Washington, D.C.) have fragmentary passenger lists for Charleston for 1820 to 1828 FHL film 820234 and for Port Royal for 1865 FHL film 830245.
  • The following abstracts of the Charleston and Port Royal Passenger lists:
    Holcomb, Brent H. "Passengers Arriving at the Port of Charleston 1820-1829," The South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research, Vol. 17, No. 4 (Fall 1989):183-189; Vol. 18, No. 1 (Winter 1990):13-21; Vol. 18, No. 2 (Spring 1990):75-83; Vol. 18, No. 3 (Summer 1990):133-145; Vol. 18, No. 4 (Fall 1990):195-201; Vol. 19, No. 1 (Winter 1991):13-23; Vol. 19, No. 2 (Spring 1991):79-91; Vol. 19, No. 3 (Summer 1991):127-137; Vol. 19, No. 4 (Fall 1991):189-198; Vol. 20, No. 1 (Winter 1992):11-21; Vol. 20, No. 2 (Spring 1992):83-93; Vol. 20, No. 3 (Summer 1992):143-153; Vol. 21, No. 1 (Winter 1993):21-27; Vol. 21, No. 2 (Spring 1993):81-87; Vol. 21, No. 3 (Summer 1993):151-159; Vol. 21, No. 4 (Fall 1993):205-213; Vol. 22, No. 1 (Winter 1994):29-37; Vol. 22, No. 2 (Spring 1994):99-105. FHL Book 975.7 B2sc v. 17-22.
  • A few arrivals at Charleston are included in an index to passenger lists of vessels arriving at miscellaneous southern ports from 1890 to 1924 FHL films 1324938 – 1324963.
  • Customs records for the ports of Charleston, Georgetown, and Beaufort are at the [[South Carolina Department of Archives and Histor]. Several published records of pre-1900 immigrants are indexed in P. William Filby, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index (Detroit, Michigan: Gale Research Company, 1981, 1985, 1986) At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL book 973 W32p. Supplements are issued annually. There are cumulative indexes.

Online Resources






Four major immigration collections include:

  1. [http://www.ancestry.com/search/rectype/default.aspx?rt=40 Ancestry's Immigration & Travel Record ($). The place to start, includes Filby's indexes. 
  2. [http://immigrantservants.com/search/simple.php Immigrant Servants Databas. Index to indentured servants; includes South Carolina. 
  3. [http://www.virtualjamestown.org/indentures/search_indentures.html Virtual Jamestow. Scope is not limited to Colonial Virginia; includes English emigrants embarking for South Carolina. 
  4. [http://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/ships/tousa_sc.shtml The Olive Tree Genealog. Includes South Carolina passenger lists.

American Immigration

Many settlers from North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Virginia migrated down into South Carolina during the colonial period. The Great Valley Road, which passed through the Shenandoah Valley was a popular route.

North Carolina Immigrants

  • Linn, Mrs. Stahle. "Some Migrations from Rowan County, North Carolina to South Carolina," The South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research, Vol. 11, No. 3 (Summer 1983):124-127. FHL Book 975.7 B2sc v. 11
  • Webster, Irene B. "Some Migrations from Rockingham County, North Carolina to South Carolina," The South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research, Vol. 9, No. 1 (Winter 1998):28-30. FHL Book 975.7 B2sc v. 9

Pennsylvania Immigrants

Virginia Immigrants

Bell published a series of articles about Southside Virginians who migrated to eighteenth-century South Carolina. Her strategy demonstrates how to find migration records:

  • Bell, Mary McCampbell. "Some Migrations from Virginia to South Carolina," The South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research, Vol. 9, No. 3 (Summer 1981):143-144; Vol. 9, No. 4 (Fall 1981):183-190; Vol. 10, No. 1 (Winter 1982):37-42; Vol. 10, No. 2 (Spring 1982):70-77; Vol. 10, No. 3 (Summer 1982):136-143; Vol. 11, No. 2 (Spring 1983):97-102; Vol. 12, No. 1 (Winter 1984):19-21; Vol. 12, No. 2 (Spring 1984):94-99; Vol. 13, No. 3 (Summer 1985):127-129. FHL Book 975.7 B2sc v. 9-13

Westward Migrants

Free native-born South Carolinians, alive in 1850, who had left the state, resettled as follows:[6]

State Persons Born in South Carolina
Georgia 52,154
Alabama 48,663
Mississippi 27,908
Tennessee 15,197
Arkansas 4,587
Louisiana 4,583
Texas 4,482
Florida 4,470
Indiana 4,169
Illinois 4,162
Kentucky 3,164
Missouri 2,919
Ohio 1,468
  • Dorothy Williams Potter in Passports of Southeastern Pioneers 1770-1823 At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 975 W4p) identifies some migrants from South Carolina into territories that are now [[Alabama Genealogy|Alabam], [[Florida Genealogy|Florid], [[Louisiana Genealogy|Louisian], [[Mississippi Genealogy|Mississipp], and [[Missouri Genealogy|Missour].

References

  1. ↑ Warren Alleyne and Henry Fraser, The Barbados-Carolina Connection (London: Macmillan Publishers Limited, 1988). At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL book 972.981 H2a; David L. Kent, Barbados and America. (Arlington, Va.: C.M. Kent, 1980). At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL book 972.981 X2b. In 1664, a "group of Barbadians joined in an agreement to settle in Carolina." In the twentieth century, this document was kept in the South Carolina Historical Society Collection (reference V/29). See: Moriarty, Appendix, Barbados Genealogies, p. 670.
  2. ↑ South Carolina Townships Created During the Royal Period (1729 to 1776), Carolana.com.
  3. ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), 847-61. (FHL Book 973 D27e 2002) WorldCat entry., and William E. Myer, Indian Trails of the Southeast. (Nashville, Tenn.: Blue and Gray Press, 1971), 12-14, and the book's pocket map "The Trail System of the Southeastern United States in the Early Colonial Period" (1923). (FHL Book 970.1 M992i) [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1523234 WorldCat entr.
  4. ↑ Brent H. Holcomb, "Passengers Arriving at the Port of Charleston 1820-1829," The South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research, Vol. 17, No. 4 (Fall 1989):183.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Name Search at Genealogical.com is a comprehensive name index to 638 books and CDs published or reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Company (now Genealogical.com). For a complete list of the works included, see [[Publications in Name Search at Genealogical.com|Publications in Name Search at Genealogical.co] Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "name" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "name" defined multiple times with different content
  6. ↑ These statistics do not account for the large number of South Carolinians who had migrated and died before the year 1850. See: William O. Lynch, "The Westward Flow of Southern Colonists before 1861," The Journal of Southern History, Vol. 9, No. 3 (Aug. 1943):303-327. Digital version at JSTOR ($).
v • d• e
Links to South Carolina-related articles
Topics
Counties
Extinct
Counties
Overarching
Districts
Districts
that became
Counties
1800–1868
Colonial
Parishes
Colonial
Townships
Major
Repositories
South Carolina Dept. of Archives and History · South Carolina State Library · South Carolina Historical Society · Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina Archives · Camden Archives and Museum · Charleston County Public Library · Charleston Library Society · Darlington County Historical Commission · Greenville County Library System Hughes Main Library · Orangeburg County Historical Society Library · South Carolina Genealogical Society · South Caroliniana Library · Sumter County Genealogical Center · Dallas Public Central Library · Chattanooga Public Library Downtown · National Archives at Atlanta · Santa Cruz Public Library Downtown
Migration
Routes

[[Category:South_Carolina|Emigratio] [[Category:Huguenot] [[Category:African_American][[Category:United States Emigration and Immigratio]

Retrieved from "https://integration-ru.familysearch.org/en/wiki/index.php?title=South_Carolina_Emigration_and_Immigration&oldid=2308354"