PEE DEE CHAPTER
SOUTH CAROLINA GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY

Orange Trumpet Flower against white sand at Campbell's Bridge on Little Pee Dee River. Photo by Jo Dickerson, June 2008.
Announcements



Chapter meetings are held on the 2nd Sunday of each month at 3:00 p.m.
We meet at
~
Pee Dee Federal Savings Bank across the Square from the Courthouse ~
in Marion, S.C. Visitors are welcome.
There are no meetings in May (picnic & tour), July & August.

Pee Dee Chapter Officers


Always please call or check in advance to make sure we're open before planning
a research trip to the Marion County Archives & History Center. (843) 431-5024

 

Home

About the Pee Dee Chapter

Announcements
Membership Form
Publications For Sale
Marion County Archives & History Center
Pee Dee Chapter Archives & Collections
Research Links
Family Links
 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Updated 05/09/2013 CALENDAR (programs)

CHAPTER MEETINGS
Directions to Meeting Place

Updated 02/25/2013 Chapter Notices & News
Marion County on PBS History Dectectives
Additions to Pee Dee Queue Table of Contents

FRANCIS MARION DAY

To Join Our Chapter
Membership Statement

Updated 03/07/2013 Members' Notices
Finklea Book

Older News

2011 Annual Tour & Picnic


2013 MEETING & PROGRAM CALENDAR

If you would like to receive notices (email only) for the Pee Dee Chapter meetings and website updates, please send your email address to jochurchd©aol.com (delete © insert @).

Refreshments will be potluck unless otherwise stated.


19 May 2013: Annual Tour & Picnic.

(Chapter members and their invited guests only.)

This year's tour will be in historic downtown Bennettsville, county seat of neighboring Marlboro County. Meet at 2:00 p.m. at Marlboro County Historical Museum, 123 S. Marlboro Street, Bennettsville, South Carolina. Map.

Bring a picnic dish to share.


2 June 2013: 1st Sunday in June (NOT 2nd)

1st Sunday in June (NOT 2nd Sunday)

Joint meeting with Old Darlington District Chapter, SCGS, in the Stukes Room at the Florence County Library, at 3:00 p.m.

John Andrews, editor of the ODDC newsletter "The Darlington Flag" and past president of the South Carolina Genealogical Society, will present a program about the Florence Stockade - the Confederate prison where Union soldiers were held, some of whom were the first burials at what became the National Cemetery in Florence. John is also vice-chairman of the Friends of the Florence Stockade organization and editor of its quarterly publication.

There will be an opportunity for research in the South Carolina Room of the library afterward.


July & August 2013: No Meetings


8 September 2013: To Be Announced


13 October 2013: To Be Announced


10 November 2013: To Be Announced


8 December 2013: Social - Show & Tell.


Past Programs


13 January 2013: Stephen Motte, curator, and Andrew Stout, director of the Florence Museum will explain how the shared history of Marion and the Pee Dee region will be depicted in the new museum, and they will discuss artifacts and ephemera that are part of the current collection.
They will also answer questions about storing and the conservation of personal objects. The public is invited.

Refreshments will be Potluck.


10 February 2013: A special treat in February, when chapter members Daphne Capps, Jeff Murrie, and Jerri White collaborate to present a discussion of their recent work regarding Marion County cemeteries, available cemetery resources, and some of the errors found therein. This program should be helpful to anyone who has ever tried to find good information on the burial site of a family member or ancestor.

Some of the issues discussed and illustrated will be

- how to find and cross reference cemetery and gravesite information found on the D.A.R. and Findagrave websites;
- how to analyze and correct cemetery errors found online; and
- recent work documenting and correcting some of the errors in the book "101 Cemeteries in Marion County".


10 March 2013: Jeff Murrie, Vice President in charge of programs, sends the following information:

"In place of a [presentation] this coming Sunday, we will conduct our regular business meeting, then share what current genealogical projects we are working on and see if anyone of our experts can offer advice or guidance.

"[For example] I just found out the Olivet Cemetery is actually a non-profit organization that was formed to care and maintain the grounds. So, if anyone has any background on that process for establishing a non-profit please encourage them to attend."

The public is invited.


14 April 2013: Chief James E. Caulder of the Pee Dee Indian Tribe of South Carolina will present a program about the original inhabitants of the Pee Dee area - their history, lives, and struggle for recognition. Though the history books say the few surviving tribe members left the area in the early 1700s, Chief Caulder will explain how the Pee Dee people are still here, and for the most part didn't go anywhere.

The public is invited.

Link: Pee Dee Indian Tribe of South Carolina


2012


8 January 2012: After the business meeting and installation of 2012 officers, the program will feature presentations on several of the Davis families of old Marion District, with a special segment by a descendant of two family lines, Daniel Stone of Summerville, on the William J. Davis family of present Marion County and the Henry Davis family of present Florence County.

Refreshments: Daphne Capps and Franklin Mason.


12 February 2012: Fritz Hamer, formerly with the South Carolina State Museum, will present a program on the Early Indian Traders of South Carolina.


11 March 2012: A program about the Revolutionary War Records available at the South Carolina Department of Archives and History will be presented by Wade Dorsey of SCDAH.

If you ever wondered how to learn about your ancestor's service in the Revolution (on either side) this is the time and place to get started.



Photos by Mackenzie Moore

In March, 2012 the Blue Savannah/Swamp Fox DAR Chapter placed a Historical Marker in Britton's Neck in Marion County, at the intersection of Highway 378 and Dunham's Bluff Road - the road that leads toward Snow's Island, just across Great Pee Dee River from the bluff.


15 April 2012: Note: change of date.

“Honoring our Past: Preservation and Conservation of Cemeteries” is the program to be presented by Ms. Debi Hacker of Chicora Foundation, Inc. She will present detailed and expert information on tombstone maintenance and preservation.

The public is invited and encouraged to attend this important program. We extend a special invitation to individuals and to representatives of local organizations involved in cemetery upkeep, such as towns, churches, and family cemetery associations.

With so many tombstone inscriptions being lost to well meaning descendants in their search for bright, shiney tombstones, this is a program not to be missed.

Chicora is a non-profit heritage preservation organization founded in 1983 in Columbia, SC. More about Chicora Foundation may be found on their website: http://www.chicora.org

Chicora has published several pamphlets on cemetery preservation, including Grave Matters: The Preservation of African-American Cemeteries.


May 2012: Annual Tour & Picnic. Date, time & place to be announced. [Tour was cancelled due to logistical problems.]


10 June 2012: Jo Church Dickerson will discuss South Carolina's Century Farms Program. She will explain practical methods of title research for genealogists, using examples from research she conducted at the request of the late Billy G. Rogers on his family farm in Dillon County. (These are the lands near Gaddy's Mill that previously belonged to Billy's ancestors, Barrett Barfield, Senior, Barfield's son-in-law, Dew Rogers, and Dew's son, Capt. R. H. Rogers.)


July & August 2012: No programs


9 September 2012: “Online Genealogy without Ancestry.com” will be presented by Debbie Bloom, the Local History Manager at the Richland County Public Library.

Ms. Bloom is a past president of the South Carolina Archival Association and has participated in several statewide committees including committee to create the South Carolina Obituary Resources web site hosted by the State Library and the advisory board for the South Carolina Digital Newspaper Program. She has spoken to many statewide organizations including the South Carolina Genealogical Society and South Carolina Library Association. She has great fun with her blog: The Dead Librarian.


14 October 2012: Roger Payne of GNIS will be our guest speaker.

Mr. Payne works on the GNIS (Geographic Names Information System) database of place names (streams, cemeteries, etc.) that was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. He will explain how GNIS is used by sites familiar to most genealogists, including the USGS Topographical maps, Google Maps, Findagrave.com, and the discontinued Tiger Maps.

http://geonames.usgs.gov

Those who use Google Maps, Findagrave, the census maps and other maps to locate cemeteries, streams, old home sites, and generally for their genealogy and research will not want to miss this program.


11 November 2012: Marion native Tom Gasque is going to present a program on historical place names (towns, communities, streams, etc.) and their relevance to genealogical research. Tom is editor of the Pee Dee Chapter newsletter, the Pee Dee Queue, a past president of the American Name Society, and former editor of Names, the journal of that society. This will be a very useful followup to the information about the Geographical Naming Information System (GNIS) presented at our October meeting.


9 December 2012: Christmas Social & Potluck, for members and invited guests. Members are asked to bring a brief presentation on their favorite genealogical Brick Wall with pertinent photo, memento, document, etc., pertaining to that elusive ancestor. (Presentations will be time limited.)

Bring a holiday dish to share.



Mt. Olive Baptist Church in Mullins
Founded in 1882 by former slaves.
Building erected 1922-1925.


     

 

CHAPTER NOTICES

 

Marion County featured on PBS History Detectives

"Bill of Sale"

On 8 January 2013 the PBS program History Detectives broadcast an episode based on a rare original bill of sale for the slave Willoby, who was owned in succession by the Brown, McWhite, and Daniels families. After liberation Willoughby and her husband, Essex "Sixe" McWhite, resided and raised their family in Pee Dee Township, in the part of Old Marion that went to Florence County in 1888. Pee Dee Chapter members who assisted in the search for information about Willoughby and her family include Maxcy Foxworth, archivist of the Marion County Archives & History Center and Margaret Collar of the South Carolina Room at the Florence Library. Maxcy appears in the program, along with our recently published 1870 Marion County Census book.

The 15 minute program is available as a web video at:
http://video.pbs.org/program/history-detectives

 


General Francis Marion Day in Marion
2009 - 2012

Living history events canceled in 2013 due to rain.


2012 Encampment on the Marion Courthouse Square

 

Three "new" publications for sale by the Pee Dee Chapter

1870 Census
Marion County, South Carolina
By Members and Friends of the Pee Dee Chapter,
South Carolina Genealogical Society
Jo Church Dickerson, Editor; Helen B. Moody, Project Director

101 Cemeteries
in Marion County, South Carolina

First published in 1985 by the Marion County Historical Society.
2002 reprint now offered by the Pee Dee Chapter.

Writings of P. Y. Bethea
Transcribed, compiled, and privately published by his great granddaughter,
Barbara Bethea, now offered by the Pee Dee Chapter.

 

DIRECTIONS to MEETING LOCATION

Pee Dee Federal Bank is graciously allowing our chapter to meet in their upstairs banquet room at 106 E. Court Street in Marion. The building is directly across Main Street and the Courthouse Square from the Courthouse, and is quite visible from Main Street. It is the two-storey brick building with the large columns, directly opposite the Courthouse.

There is plenty of parking on the street, or in the bank parking lot in the back. Use the north entrance (toward town). The building is totally accessible, with a ramp and an elevator. We are grateful to the officers of Pee Dee Federal for allowing us to use their facilities.

 

~ MEMBERSHIP & RENEWAL INFORMATION ~

Individual, $18.00
Family, $20.00
Associate $10

Easy Application & Renewal Form

Members' contact information and surnames being researched
published in each March-April issue of the Pee Dee Queue.


PLEASE NOTE THE FINE PRINT
SCGS & Pee Dee Chapter Policy

All memberships are renewable and dues for each succeeding year are due by January 1st and are in arrears after January 15th. Non-renewing members will receive the January-February issue of the Pee Dee Queue for the new year, but that will be their last issue until dues are received. Members renewing after March 1st will not have their contact and surname data included in the March-April "Surname Issue" of the Pee Dee Queue.

New members receive back issues as well as current issues of the PEE DEE QUEUE for the full year of the first year of membership (providing they join before September 1st). After the first year, if dues are paid late, newsletter issues begin at the time of payment. Back issues then may be purchased.

New members whose subscriptions are received after September 1st are subscribed for the following year. They will receive the current and subsequent issues of the Pee Dee Queue for the current year, but will not receive back issues for that year - their full membership begins in January of the following year. Back issues may be purchased.

Back issues of the Pee Dee Queue may be ordered here.

Questions / concerns should be
directed to the
Treasurer.

 

 


 

Members' NOTICES

If you are a member and have an upcoming book, reunion or event, send it to me and I will post it here.


The Finklea Family In America:
Descendants of Dr. Thomas Finklea and Elizabeth Keeling

by Michael J. "Mike" Vaughn and Ernest D. "Dave" Rayburn

Notice from Pee Dee Chapter member, Michael J. Vaughn

UPDATE (March, 2013): Mike advises that he has received a number of requests for the book and it is being reprinted. Again, there will be a limited number of copies, and it will be necessary to charge shipping this time. Contact Mike for information on ordering.

UPDATE (January, 2013): The Finklea book is completed and the Marion Archives has received a copy, generously donated by Mike and Dave. Many Pee Dee area libraries and some larger regional, national, and genealogical libraries have received copies. Mike's latest message: All the copies have been ordered and the book is no longer available.

The Finklea Family In America: Descendants of Dr. Thomas Finklea and Elizabeth Keeling, by Michael J. Vaughn and Ernest D. Rayburn, details their descendants with the Finklea (or any variation) surname down through those reflected on the 1930 US Census, and many subsequent generations where known. Female descendants are carried forward for one, and in some cases two generations. The work is thoroughly documented and corrects many errors in earlier research. About 715 pages, completely indexed, hard-bound, available only by prepaid subscription - no extra copies were published due to its size and cost.

If you are interested in further information or for a list of libraries please contact
Michael J. Vaughn at
mikevaughn@cayugatexas.com.

 


Maxcy Foxworth announces a new Gasque book available on CD
from the
Marion County Archives and History Center.

Parting For A Far Distant Land
A Biography of Lieutenant Eli Henry Gasque
The Yankee Terrors, 8th Mississippi Infantry Regiment, CSA

Walter Earl Waddell

 

Photographs of the Jonah Collins Cemetery
Marion County, SC

By chapter members Jerri White, Melissa Skipper, Jackie Hargrove and Jo Dickerson. On 19 March 2011 several descendants of the Collins family of Marion County gathered at the newly discovered Jonah Collins Cemetery to make a full cemetery survey. Jackie Collins Hargrove and Melissa McCain Skipper did the survey.

 

Chapter member Jack Jackson has a new book:

History of Flintville Lodge
1870-2010

The 140 year journey of Flintville Lodge 158 is traced from its beginning in 1870 at Big Swamp in western Marion ( now Florence) County. Over 100 pages and 80 illustrations, this is a limited edition book with only 1,000 copies printed for members of Flintville Lodge, Pee Dee area historians, genealogists, and other interested Masons. For details or to order contact Jack Jackson: Secretary, Flintville Lodge, 1312 Yellowstone Drive, Florence, SC 29505-6446.
n4jj@bellsouth.net

 

Chapter Member Blake Tyner, Curator,
Robeson County History Museum,
has several websites of genealogical and historical interest.

www.robesoncountyhistory.com
www.carolinastories.com
www.blaketyner.com

Blake Tyner

 

New book on the African-American Bethea family,
by Pee Dee Chapter member, Anthony Cochran

"Kinship Ties"

Anthony Cochran has completed the 2nd Edition of his book, Kinship Ties, a history of the Bethea, McRae and related Dillon County families, containing family lineage, many family photographs, and personal stories of individuals. This book will also be of interest to all who are interested in local history, from the perspective, rarely seen in print, of the descendants of local slave families. Anthony writes: "With the help of family and friends much was accomplished by these early Betheas and McRaes. This includes both black and white who truly relied on each other to survive and advance their conditions."

Contact: Anthony Cochran, P.O. Box 2398, New York, NY 10008-2398, tc57421@aol.com

 


Ed Godbold is the author of a new book about the Godbold family:

“The Hunt for Old John Godbold, Volume II”

Ed Godbold has followed up his first book on the Godbold family, The Hunt for Old John Godbold, with a second volume. Volume I contained a discussion of Old John’s life from his arrival in the United States in about 1725 until his death in 1765, and presented a family tree of the first five generations of his descendants. The Hunt for Old John Godbold Volume II continues Old John’s family tree through eleven generations with supporting documentation. 660 pages, indexed.

For details on ordering the book email egodbold@aol.com
or go to
http://www.llumina.com/store/johngodbold2.htm.

 

New book from the
Watson Descendants' Association,
Pee Dee Chapter member Alice Sloan, Chairman

THE FAMILY RECORD of
ISHAM and MARY HAYES WATSON


Ancestry & descendants of Isham Watson (1788-1886) and Mary Hayes Watson (1792-1862). Includes a history of Antioch Baptist Church in Sellers; information on the organization of The Isham & Mary Watson Descendants’ Association; Watson family lineage and photographs. Softbound, spiral cover, index.

Contact: Alice Hamburger Sloan, 1540 Granville Road, Rock Hill, SC 29732.
sloanfam@aol.com

 


 

NOTES & Older Chapter News

 

NEW - MOODY FAMILY OBITUARIES

Helen Moody has compiled two CDs of obituaries relating to the Moody family. Please contact Helen for more information: hbmoody@bellsouth.net.


A MOODY FAMILY HISTORY BACK IN PRINT

Moody, A History of Reverend Tapley Moody Sr., His Descendants and Relatives by Avery T. Moody, Jr. and Elberta M. Wiles Moody, was first published in 1983, and has been out of print for several years. Avery's daughter, Averyl Moody Chapman, recently gave permission for the book to be copied; any proceeds after costs will go to the Pee Dee Chapter. Many thanks to Averyl, and to Dewitt "Red" Moody for his assistance, and to our members Helen B. Moody and Deborah "Jane" Moody Randall for all their work on this project.

This book is of special interest to those with family in the Bermuda, Lake View, and Hayestown areas where legions of Rev. Tapley Moody's descendants still reside. Many hard to find connections and wonderful old family stories are here.

 


Pee Dee Chapter member Edward L. "Ed" Godbold is the author of a new book about the Godbold family:

“The Hunt for Old John Godbold”

The book documents much of what is known about Old John, dispels some myths about his life and explores the South Carolina political jurisdictions in the middle to late 1700s as they affected his travels and where he lived. A family tree of the first five generations is presented with accompanying details of land transactions, legal proceedings, census data and related families. The 548 page book is indexed and has a laminated soft cover.

For details on ordering the book email egodbold@aol.com
or go to
http://www.llumina.com/store/johngodbold.htm.

 


Snipes Family Treemaker Website by William R."Bill" Snipes

http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/s/n/i/William-R-Snipes/

Bill has also placed a CD on his Snipes and Related Families in the Marion Archives.
wrs1940@icqmail.com

 

Another family history by our members
Cathie Price Harmon and her father James "Jimmy" Price

The Labon Price Family
of
Banana and Melrose Florida
with History and Genealogy


The book includes wonderful photographs of this family that originated in old Marion District and moved to Putnam County, Florida about 1860. Of primary interest to the descendants of Labon Price and his wife Sarah Ann Smith (a granddaughter of Rev. Moses Smith), still there is much in the book of general interest, including Jimmy's first hand account of cane syrup making in Florida (which is very similar to memories of same in South Carolina), and the marvelous story of how a perfect stranger found the Labon Price Bible in a shop and returned it to the family.

Contact
Cathy Harmon for details or you can write to her - members' addresses are in the March-April issue of the Pee Dee Queue.

 

A new book about Marion/Dillon families:

Our Mc's
McCormaig, McCormac, McCormack, McCormick, McDonald, McEachern, McKellar

by Pee Dee Chapter member Mary A. Lewis

Mary's book is indexed and includes abstracts, estate and Bible records, cemetery inscriptions and more, with chapters on the ancestry and descendants of John and Barbara McEachern McCormick, Neil and Catherine McCormick, James and Margaret McKellar, and other related families.

For details on ordering the book email Mary Lewis
or you can write to her - members' addresses are in the
March-April issue of the Pee Dee Queue.

 

Still available from Carson Carmichael:

Some Carmichael and Weatherly Roots and Branches

by long time chapter member Carson Carmichael, Jr.

Indexed, over 5,000 names, 512 pages, photos, illustrations, family tree, acid free paper, Rev. and Civil War records, will and estate records, full female names (when available) and place names.

More details can be found in the Pee Dee Queue. Or write to Carson - members' addresses are in the March-April issue of the Queue.

 


Pee Dee Chapter members Mary Kirby and Maxcy Foxworth are contributors to a new book on the Myers Family:

"Myers and Neighbors of Jeffries Creek, SC"

by Neil O. Myers, represents over 200 years of cumulative research by a number of Myers genealogists, including Pee Dee Chapter members Mary Kirby and Maxcy Foxworth. It chronicles the family of John Myers, a mid-1700's resident on Jeffries Creek in present Florence County, includes information on the Cusack, Prothro, Burris, Simmons, Nettles, James, McPherson and other local families, and notes other early South Carolina Myers families. It is currently available at Marion County Archives & History Center and at www.lulu.com, and will soon be available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

 


 

 

2011 Annual Tour & Picnic
Fair Bluff, North Carolina

Mary Alice McNeill Thompson was our Tour Guide. Many thanks to the Fair Bluff Museum, Fair Bluff Visitors Center, and Elvington Drug Store in Fair Bluff, and to Spring Branch Baptist Church in Horry County for their hospitality. Special thanks to all the kind folks who made us feel so welcome, and to Mary Alice and her family who fed us at their ancestral McNeill farmhouse in Causey Community, Horry County.

All photographs by Jo Dickerson except where noted.
All photographs are copyrighted as cited.
All rights reserved.

Complete write-up in the July-August 2011 issue of the Pee Dee Queue.




Fair Bluff
Beautiful old town on a little bluff of the Lumber River (Drowning Creek)
at intersection of Highways 76 and 904 in Columbus County, North Carolina


Main Street, Fair Bluff


Fair Bluff Depot Museum
Many railroad and local history displays, photographs, and a growing genealogical library.


Entrance to the downtown Riverwalk




Photo by Jerri White

Fully functional 1908 Soda Fountain at Elvington Drug Store


Spring Branch Baptist Church and Cemetery, 1970 building
Horry County, South Carolina, near Fair Bluff.
Many surnames common to Marion and Dillon
Counties can be found on these tombstones.


Old photo courtesy Mary Alice Thompson

Earlier Spring Branch Baptist Church, built c1900.
The remains of the old building are still standing on a nearby farm. (below).


Photo by Jeff Dudley




Photo by Jerri White

McNeill Family Home near Causey Community
In Horry County, South Carolina, near Fair Bluff

Buddy Harrelson and Mary Alice Thompson
Looking over a chart showing all the burials at Spring Branch Church.


Photo by Jerri White

Tobacco Barn on the McNeill farm.



Link to earlier tours

 



Pee Dee Chapter Officers

Contact for Webpage:
Jo Church Dickerson

jochurchd©aol.com

Home



This page last revised on May 9, 2013.

© Copyright 2003-2013, Pee Dee Chapter, SCGS. All rights reserved.