Scotch-Irish-L Archives

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Subject: Re: Blair's Immagrants to South Carolina in 1766 for bounty land in Belfast Twnsp.
Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2000 16:27:56 -0700

Hi GHT and A,

I can do a little more checking tonight, but I would
also check in with a South Carolina list, as they probably
obsess there as much about these things as I obsess on
early PA records. As near as I can recall, you showed up
and declared yourself a protestant. If anyone disputed that
(talk about bad luck, you travel HOW FAR and some jerk
recalls seeing you in a "compromising" role once?), a nice
letter from your pastor would sure help speed things along.
The records got buried in the colonial minutes. Sometimes you
can find extractions, both published and now on CD.

If you live in Southern California, the Huntington BEACH
library (not the Huntington Library in San Marino) has a lot
of published material on South Carolina. Otherwise check out
CD's at www.familytreemaker.com for starters.

I know a little about South Carolina research since my ancestor
Robert BLACK, brother of Rev John BLACK, of Ahoghill Village,
moved there after 1790 with wife Sarah AIKENS. I beleive York Co.
He sold out and moved to Western PA in 1805 when the Reformed
Presbyterian church split over the issue of slavery. Members had
to sell their slaves or be dis-fellowshiped. Those who left
formed the Associate RP. Those who agreed sold their land and
moved to non slave states, often Ohio. So you see a new
migration of Ulster Presbyterians in the early 1800's.

The land grants were held at the colony level till the Revolutionary
war. About 1785, I think, they devolved land records to the
county level. GROAN. So you then gotta figure out what county
it was THEN, which is not the same as now. The 1800 and I
think 1790 censuses are on line. See www.usgenweb.com .

Very few early church records survive including very few
of those letters. The churches were wood and burned and people
didn't keep good records. Most of the land grants are filmed,
but you know that. The published abstracts are a lot easier to
read <grin>.

I think Dobbs got written up in a book I have at home. I'll
post tonight and look for clues.

>Where would records like these be kept?
Most likely it does not exist. Check LDS catelog, check South
Carolina repositories, check the DAR. Most likely if they exist
the DAR has filmed them. LDS has a great index of DAR records.

>By what church?
That's impossible to answer. If you knew what group they were
with in Ireland it might help. Not just Presbyterian but which
Presbyterian group. As Presbyterian churches evolved in South
Carolina, sometimes the groups were too small to meet separately,
so you had the Catholic (meaning universal, please, lets not fight
about THAT again) Presbyterian church of the Rev. Martin. Then
as they had disputes and/or groups grew, they formed their own.
And people got mad and left one congregation for another. The
professionals tell us "Check ALL records" and that is true of this
early period. Look for any and all SC church records and check them
all. I have ancestors that started off Reformed Presbyterian, became
New Light, and ended their days as Methodists. Take it from one
who knows: check all that you can find.

>Would local
>government have any records of ships leaving for SC in 1766.

NONE.

> There is no
>record of the ship these folks came on.

Of course not. In most cases there are not. The US didn't begin
to keep records until 1820. What we have before that were lists of
non British who came and a few other accidental lists made by very
compulsive port officials or due to some other event. The good news
is these are almost all published. You can usually find the
individual in Filby.

He's our first stop for early immigration research.

He's on CD at www.familysearch.org or in a local library -- the big,
long brownish series. See our webpages (the FAQ section) for more
specifics: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~merle/

(Yes, the Boston link doesn't work. It's not done yet. Email me if you
code HTML and wish to volunteer your time to help complete these pages
in July. Please!!!!! I need help!!!!!)

Also check the free immigration courses at
http://genealogy.com/university.htm and www.rootsweb.com . They
always give me more leads when I check back. They would cover "Filby"
too. Once you use h im on CD you will never want to use the books
again.

Linda Merle

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