8 Tips on "How To Ask a Question" at a Library Program

The approach of a library local history program fills me with anxiety. Will the presenter have an emergency that prevents the program from proceeding as planned? Will all the technical equipment work as designed during the presentation? Will enough people show up to make the program worthwhile in the view of the investment of time necessary to plan and coordinate the event? Will enough people show up to meet the Board of Trustees expectations about library programs? But probably what I most worry about - after discovering that the tech check was good - is the Q & A at the end. Occasionally there are some tensions in the room.

There are a lot of people who simply don't know how to properly frame and ask a good question. Some people try to hold the floor for 3 to 5 minutes before they actually get to their question. It is not particularly uncommon to hear a person's personal memoir before the question gets posed. Professor Peter Wood wrote a blog post for the Chronicle of Higher Education on March 30, 2012 that lays out some of the criteria of a good question that I will summarize here:

1. Does your question contribute to the quality of the discussion?
2. Does your question enhance the occasion?
3. Does your question have a single point?
4. Does your question begin with one of these words: Who? What? Where? When? or Why?
5. Is your question direct?
6. Does your question indicate that you have been attentive to the discussion thus far?
7. Is the intent of your question to shame or "call out" the presenter? If your answer to this question is yes, then just don't do it. Wait to ask the presenter in private.
8. Will the answer to your question likely be of interest to others in attendance? (This one often should be kept in mind at family history/genealogy related programs. Trust me. The person most interested in the minute details of your ancestors is you!) 

Please take the time to read Peter Wood's blog post "How To Ask A Question" before the next time you pose a question in a public forum. And remember, your question should contribute to the quality of the discussion at hand. Civility is a good character trait to foster, particularly in a democratic society - though civility does seem to be regretfully absent in these very contentious political times.

Speaking of civility ... Stay tuned this Fall for updates about the Conversation Cafe programs held at some of the branch Libraries. Conversation Cafe's are free, hosted, drop-in conversations in public places among people with diverse views and a shared passion for engaging with others. A minimal set of agreements and a simple process create the shift from small talk to BIG talk. Topics covered thus far: What are your hopes for 2017? ; How do we create community? ; Polarization among people -- what can be done to bridge the divide? ; What is the impact of pain? ; How do we raise moral children? ; What is the role of literature - particularly fiction - in our lives?

Revolutionary War Records

The Revolutionary War in South Carolina had an enduring impact and involved a great

deal of fighting -- more so than in any other British colony. We suggest that you begin

by reading Chapters 12 and 13 of A History of Beaufort County, South Carolina, vol. 1,

1514-1861 by Lawrence Rowland. (Call Number SC 975.799 ROW) that discusses how

the American Revolution unfolded here in Beaufort District.

Establishing your blood ties to a Revolutionary War soldier can be thrilling, time

consuming, and may afford you the opportunity to join a heritage society such as the

Sons of the American Revolution, the Society of the Cincinnati or the Daughters of the American Revolution. There are other fraternal and social organizations that only accept members who can prove through documentary evidence that they are descended from a Patriot or Loyalist.

Materials in the Beaufort District Collection as well as in our branch libraries can help

you work your ancestral line. Here are a few suggestions to get your started:

SC REF 929.3 SOU Sources for the American Revolution at the South Carolina Department of Archives and History compiled by Charles H. Lesser, 2000. http://archives.sc.gov/resources/militaryrecords/Documents/rvwr.pdf

SC 369.135 DAR PT 1 - PT 3 DAR Patriot Index: Centennial Edition Washington: National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution Centennial Administration, c1994.

This series covers Patriots whose service has been established through DAR membership applications submitted between Oct. 1890 and Oct. 11, 1990

DAR is now offering the full text of the Forgotten Patriots book (2008) and its corresponding supplement online. These documents can be downloaded for free from the DAR website. The Forgotten Patriots Research Guide

http://www.dar.org/sites/default/files/media/library/DARpublications/Forgotten_Patriots_ISBN-978-1-892237-10-1.pdf

Thomas Heyward, Jr., Signer

SC 929.3 BOC 1998 Revolutionary War Bound Land Grants Awarded by State governments by Lloyd DeWitt Bockstruck, 1996.

SC 929.3 BOC 2011 Revolutionary War Pensions Awarded by State Governments, 1775 – 1874, the General and Federal governments prior to 1814, and by Private Acts of Congress to 1905 by Lloyd de Witt Bockstruck, 2011.      

         

SC REF 929.3 STU Stub Entries to Indents issued in payments of Claims against South

Carolina growing out of the Revolution (BDC)

SC 973.3 EDG 2001 Partisans & Redcoats: The Southern Campaign that Turned the Tide of the American Revolution, 2001.

SC REF 973.314 LAM South Carolina Loyalists in the American Revolution by Robert

Lambert, c1987.

SC 973.336 HOU The siege of Charleston by the British fleet and army under the command of Admiral Arbuthnot and Sir Henry Clinton which terminated with the surrender of that place on the 12^th of May 1780, edited by Franklin B. Hough, 1867, reprint ed., 1975. https://archive.org/details/siegeofcharlesto00houg

SC REF 973.337 LEE The Campaign of 1781 in the Carolinas; with remarks historical and critical on Johnson’s Life of Greene. To which is added an appendix of original documents, relating to the History of the Revolution by Henry Lee, 1824, reprint ed., 1975. http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015008290218

 

SC 973.343 MOS 2004 African-American Patriots in the Southern Campaign of the American Revolution by Bobby G. Moss and Michael C. Scoggins, 2004.

SC 973.345 MOU Memoirs of the American Revolution, so far as it related to the states of North and South Carolina, and Georgia. Compiled from the most authentic materials, the author’s personal knowledge of the various events, and including an epistolary correspondence on public affairs, with civil and military officers, at that period by William Moultrie, (Eyewitness Accounts of the American Revolution series),1802, reprint ed., 1968. https://archive.org/details/memoirsofamerica00mouliala

National Archives

SC REF 973.3457 ERV South Carolinians in the Revolution by Sara Ervin, c1965.

SC REF 973.3457 GAR Anecdotes of the Revolutionary War in America, with sketches of character of persons the most distinguished, in the Southern States, for Civil and Military services by Alexander Garden, Charleston S.C.: A. E. Miller, 1822. https://hdl.handle.net/2027/hvd.32044009732009

SC REF 973.3457 MOS Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution

by Bobby Moss, c1985.

SC 973.353 MOS 2005 African-American Loyalists in the Southern Campaign of the American Revolution, 2005.

973.38 JOH Traditions and reminiscences chiefly of the American revolution in the South: including biographical sketches, incidents, and anecdotes, few of which have been published, particularly of residents in the upper country by Joseph Johnson, 1972 reprint. http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hx4krm

 

975.7 MCC The history of South Carolina in the Revolution, 1775-1780 by Edward McCrady, 1902. https://archive.org/details/historysouthcar10mccrgoog and The history of South Carolina in the Revolution, 1780-1783 by Edward McCrady, 1902. https://archive.org/details/historysouthcar09mccrgoog

Potential sources of information about the conduct of the War and the people who suffered through it are available on microfilm in our Research Room.

Records of the South Carolina Treasury, 1775-1780. (6 rolls)

Recommended for the significance of this office to the operation of the newly independent colony and funding of the Revolutionary War effort. Printed guide is available in the Research Room.

Accounts Audited Growing Out of the Revolution in South Carolina. (165 rolls)

This is a fundamental genealogical and historical resource for information regarding the

Revolutionary War era. Printed guide is available in the Research Room. Indexed online at http://www.archivesindex.sc.gov/search/AuthorityTerms/s_descriptions/s108092.asp.

South Carolina Will Transcripts, 1782-1868. (31 rolls)

Recommended because our 4 volume printed work is very limited in scope to the

transcripts. This is a fundamental genealogical and historical resource for the period

covered. Printed guide is available in the Research Room. Indexed online at

http://www.archivesindex.sc.gov/search/AuthorityTerms/s_descriptions/s108093.asp.

South Carolina State Plats, Charleston Series, 1784-1860; Columbia Series, 1796-1868. (30 rolls)

Recommended because the Beaufort District courthouse records were burned in 1865,

destroying virtually all of our land records. These plats are an essential source for genealogy and local history as well as a good mine of primary documentation for social, cultural, and economic historical studies. Printed guide is available in the Research Room. Indexed online at for the Charleston series:

http://www.archivesindex.sc.gov/search/AuthorityTerms/s_descriptions/s213190.asp

and at http://www.archivesindex.sc.gov/search/AuthorityTerms/s_descriptions/s213192.asp

for the Columbia series.

Memorials of the 17th and 18th Century South Carolina Land Titles. (7 rolls)

We have 1 printed volume of memorials to quitrents. This series is far more extensive than the printed volumes available. In certain cases, this is the only surviving record of a particular transaction, containing Proprietary land grants, certificates of admeasurements, wills, leases, and releases. Printed guide is available in the Research Room. Partially indexed at

http://www.archivesindex.sc.gov/search/AuthorityTerms/s_descriptions/s111001.asp.

South Carolina Tax Returns, 1783-1800. (2 rolls)

Recommended because this series supplies information about land owners and size of

holdings that census records and deed books leave out for the period covered. Printed

guide is available in the Research Room. An associated series of records is found at

http://www.archivesindex.sc.gov/search/AuthorityTerms/s_descriptions/s126061.asp.

Fold3 is offering free access to some of its Revolutionary War related records for a limited time. Please see its website for details.

Library is closed for Independence Day

The Library system will be closed Tuesday, July 4, 2017 to celebrate the birth of our nation. All branches of the Beaufort County Library system will be closed on  to observe Independence Day. The library system will resume normal operating hours on Wednesday, July 5.

Please have a safe and enjoyable holiday. 

Celebrate Liberty Days with Free Lecture and Tours at Select Locations

Few people know that South Carolina had the most Revolutionary War military engagements. The textbooks imply that most of the fighting was concentrated in Virginia, around New York, and in Massachusetts and whatever happened in the Southern colonies was a little consequence. How wrong all those textbooks have been. Few people in the South were left untouched by the conflict.

(Beaufort District Collection Print #138)

There was no consensus in the American colonies that independence from Great Britain was the only or even the wisest course of action to remedy the defects of colonial rule by George III and his representatives. 700,000 American residents were not free to conduct their lives as they themselves saw fit in 1776 for there were at least that many enslaved people in the American colonies. Thus the tension between the ideologies of liberty and enslavement was present from the start of this nation and has consequences that we feel even today. For most of the Revolutionary War period, congressional authority rested only on a state's willingness to comply with directives. Particularly troublesome was the economic dislocation caused by the war and the continual fear of slave revolts and social disturbances.


During the war, some of the heaviest fighting took place here. The landscape was ruined. Dr. Lawrence Rowland states: "The Beaufort District was devastated by the Revolutionary War. Most of the major plantations on Hilton Head Island and the mainland of St. Luke's and Prince William parishes were partially or wholly destroyed." (Rowland et al., The History of Beaufort County South Carolina, volume 1: 1514 - 1861) And the war was costly. The war effort cost South Carolinians approximately $120 million. With a white population of less than 100,000 people, South Carolina was the only state to pay its full requisition to the Continental Congress in 1783 but by doing so, it removed specie from circulation and helped fuel inflation. 

The Rev. Archibald Simpson,  a Presbyterian minister from Scotland who once served in churches in Colleton and Beaufort Districts from 1754 - 1772 returned in 1783 to find: 

All ... was desolation ... every field, every plantation showed marks of ruin and devastation ... The British & the American armies having carried off all my fine breed of horses, and Several hundred head of cattle ... Was all day entertained with the account of the most horrid transactions of the British Army & the Loyalists, during the war.

The kickoff event for Liberty Days here in Beaufort and Jasper County is a talk about the Revolutionary War heritage of South Carolina sponsored by the Beaufort County Historical Society and the Beaufort District Collection. Douglas Bostick, Executive Director of the South Carolina Battleground Preservation Trust, will speak in the Beaufort Branch Library Meeting Room on June 28 at 2 pm. 85 seats should be more than enough spots for a summertime library program. If you want the security of knowing for sure that you'll get a seat come early, pick up your ticket, and then browse all that Beaufort Branch Library has to offer. We'll have a display set up of Revolutionary War books and videos you can check out. 85 free tickets will be distributed beginning at 1 pm. Seating will begin at 1:30 pm. The session will be closed when all 85 tickets are taken. Please: Limit of 2 tickets per customer. 
 

Mary Lou Brewton, immediate past President of the Beaufort County Historical Society, convinced many of the area museums to help the annual Liberty Week commemoration begun by the South Carolina Historical Society as Carolina Day. Now in its 2nd year as a week long celebration of programs and events in Charleston, the South Carolina Historical Society reached out to Beaufort County and the Beaufort County Historical Society led the way. Mary Lou has done a fabulous job (as usual) wrangling the cultural heritage folks into participating. She's coordinated 3 days worth of activities to allow you to join in the celebration. Here's an outline of what's on tap for Liberty Days in our area: 

On Friday, June 30^th the following museums are offering free admission from 10:30 am --3:30 pm:

Hilton Head:
            Coastal Discovery Museum, 70 Honey Horn Drive
            Heritage Library: Tours of Fort Mitchel and Zion Cemetery
Daufuskie:
            Daufuskie Island Historic Foundation: Billie Burns Museum
Ridgeland:
            Morris Center for Lowcountry Heritage
Bluffton:
            Bluffton Historical Preservation Society: Heyward House
Port Royal:
            Historic Port Royal Foundation: Union Church, 11th St.
Beaufort:
            Historic Beaufort Foundation: Verdier House, 801 Bay St.
            Beaufort History Museum, 713 Craven St.

On Saturday, July 1^st the following museums are offering free admission from 10:30 am – 3:30 pm:

Parris Island:
            Parris Island Historical & Museum Society: Parris Island Museum Please note: Driver's license, vehicle registration and proof of insurance are required to enter Parris Island.
St. Helena:
            Friends of Fort Fremont: Fort Fremont-Land's End 
Port Royal Sound Foundation: Maritime Center, 310 Okatie Hwy, (Hwy 170 at Chechessee River)
Beaufort:

Santa Elena Foundation: Santa Elena History Center, 1501 Bay St.

A word of caution: Please check out the website of the organization for details regarding reservations. Some may require reservations to participate.

Partners in Liberty Week include the South Carolina Historical Society, the Beaufort County Historical Society, the Beaufort County Library, the Beaufort History Museum, the Coastal Discovery Museum, the Heritage Library, the Daufuskie Island Historic Foundation, Historic Beaufort Foundation, Historic Port Royal Foundation, Bluffton Historical Preservation Society, Morris Center for Lowcountry Heritage, Parris Island Historical & Museum Society, Friends of Fort Fremont, the Port Royal Sound Foundation Maritime Center, the Santa Elena History Center, and the Sons of the American Revolution. Additional funding provided by the Humanities SC.

Heritage Walking Tour: Robert Smalls, 1839-1915

Harper's Weekly, 14 June 1862- BDC

Beaufort's native son, Robert Smalls, was born into slavery in 1839. His relationship with his master's family is well documented in Yearning to Breathe Free by Andrew Billingsley (2007) and his political activities are well documented in Gullah Statesman by Edward Miller, Jr. His audacious plan to steal The Planter steamer and deliver the vessel to the Union Navy is excitingly recounted in Be Free or Die: The Amazing Story of Robert Smalls ... by Cate Lineberry (2017).  He was a man of daring and a masterful politician. Smalls served in the South Carolina Legislature, the United States Congress, and was a Customs official almost to his death in 1915. He was an exceptional man in an exceptional time.

You can learn more about his amazing story by following the links on our Wordpress blog entry about him and/or by checking out some of the materials listed there. Attend Lineberry's presentations on June 22. If you are in downtown Beaufort and are able to walk 1 to 2 miles without difficulty, then perhaps you will want to take this heritage walking tour. It is based on one created by Penn Center in 2005 for a Beaufort County Library/Penn Center co-sponsored seminar near the release of Adrina Ifill's documentary, Congressman Robert  Smalls: A Patriot's Journey from Slavery to Capitol Hill. 

Stop #1: 911 CRAVEN STREET Robert Smalls Bust and Burial Site in the Tabernacle Baptist Church Cemetery

A bust of Robert Smalls sculpted by Marion Talmage Etheredge sits next to Tabernacle Church. Although a founding member of First African Baptist Church, Smalls was interred between his two wives, Hannah Jones (1826-1883) and Annie Elizabeth Wigg (1856-1895) in this churchyard.  The monument is inscribed with an excerpt from his speech contesting the SC Constitution of 1895 in which black citizens were stripped of many of the rights they had under Reconstruction: “My race needs no special defense, for the past history of them in this country proves them to be the equal of any people anywhere. All they need is an equal chance in the battle of life.” (1895) 

Robert Smalls Bust by Marion Talmage Etheredge

Stop #2: 920 BAY STREET “Abraham Cockcroft House / Beaufort Customs House”

This building was constructed as a residence about 1857. The Greek Revival styled front of the house faces the Beaufort River. The structure looked over wharves and docks on the river making it an ideal location for the Beaufort Customs House.  Robert Smalls worked here as the Collector of Customs from 1889 until his retirement in 1912. William Joseph Thomas bought the building in 1932 converting the Bay Street façade into retail and office space.

Customs House, 920 Bay Street as it appeared in 1860s (Beaufort County Library)

On your way along Bay Street as you head towards New Street, you will pass some buildings that Robert Smalls would have passed himself as he walked home from the Customs House. Linger at the base of the Woods Bridge at Cannon Park to enjoy the view. If it's low tide, breathe in the wonderfully evocative smell of pluff mud.

Stop #3: 414 NEW STREET “William Johnson House”

Samuel J. Bampfield bought this two storied frame house around the time of his marriage to Smalls’s daughter Elizabeth on April 24, 1877. The structure sits on a tabby foundation and may have been built as early as the 1770s based on architectural studies done in 2006. Bampfield participated in the political affairs of the town and county during the Reconstruction era serving as a state representative, newspaper editor, Clerk of Court and postmaster.  After her husband’s death in 1899, Elizabeth served as Postmistress until 1908 after which she became secretary to Rossa B. Cooley, head of Penn School. In 1910 Elizabeth and her children moved to Charlotte, NC where she died at age 101 in 1959. She never remarried. Samuel, Elizabeth and seven of their children are buried in the Mercy Cemetery at the corner of Boundary and Lafayette Streets on US Highway 21.

Stop #4: 606 NORTH STREET “Whipper House”

Copyright undetermined. Not a BDC image.

Both Smalls and prominent Black attorney and politician William J. Whipper owned this antebellum property at separate periods after the Civil War. Whipper attended the SC Constitutional convention of 1868, served as a State Representative 1868-1872 and again from 1875-1876, and was Beaufort County Probate Judge, 1876- 1888. Smalls and he became political rivals beginning with the election of 1872.  After arguing vigorously against black disenfranchisement during the SC Constitutional Convention of 1895, Whipper refused to sign the document as did all the other Beaufort County delegates, including Robert Smalls. Whipper died in Beaufort in 1907.  It is believed that both his wife, Francis Rollin Whipper and he are buried in unmarked graves in the Wesley United Methodist Church yard at the corner of Prince and West Streets.

Stop #5: 601 NEW STREET “First African Baptist Church”

First African Baptist Church was built in the Gothic Revival style circa 1861 by the Baptist Church of Beaufort for its black members who far outnumbered the white congregants. The black congregation took over the building in 1863. Robert Smalls helped found the congregation and attended services. Needing funds to repair Civil War damage in their own church, the Baptist Church of Beaufort sold the structure to the congregation’s deacons for $300 in 1868, at a considerable discount. The building “was enlarged and beautified” before 1873. Smalls family weddings and funerals were held here.

Stop #6: 511 PRINCE STREET “Henry McKee House / Robert Smalls House”

Likely built around 1810, this house was owned by the McKee family at the time when Robert Smalls was born into slavery on this property in 1839. Working as a crewman aboard the steamer Planter in Charleston in 1862, Robert Smalls earned freedom for his family by stealing the steamship and delivering it to the Union Blockading Squadron. Small purchased this house at a tax sale in occupied Beaufort in 1863. The DeTreville Family who had purchased the property in 1855 sued to regain title to the house after the Civil War. The US Supreme Court ruled in favor of Smalls thus deciding the validity of all the wartime property tax sales in South Carolina. Robert Smalls lived in this house throughout his busy political career as state legislator, state senator and five-term U.S. Congressman. He died in the house on February 23, 1915. It remained in the Smalls family until 1940. The house was added to the National Register in 1975.

Stop #7: 708 EAST STREET “The Tree House”

This property gets its nickname from its situation around a beautiful great oak tree. The structure originally served as a home on the Emmon’s Farm located at the corner of Carteret and Boundary streets. Smalls moved it to East Street in 1910. The wing was added by a later owner. 

Stop #8: 508 DUKE Street "The Smalls-Nash Cottage"

This structure was built by Robert Smalls as a rental property in 1890. It has two fireplaces placed back-to-back inside. It may have served as a wash house. Dolly Nash, a direct descendant of Robert Smalls, and her husband John willed the property to Historic Beaufort Foundation (HBF) in 2006. HBF renovated and restored the structure in 2007. 

Tombstone at Mercy Cemetery, Find-A-Grave website

 Stop #9: 715 NEW STREET “Samuel Bampfield House”

Robert Smalls purchased this circa 1830 property for Bampfield to house his large family. Originally only 2 rooms over 2 rooms, extensions were added to the rear and double-porches were added to the front of the house.

Stop #10: CORNER OF CARTERET AND WASHINGTON STREETS Former “William Fuller House” (razed) 

Colonel William Fuller built a house on these grounds in 1829. The Beaufort School Board of Education purchased the property in 1867 to open a public school for blacks. The deed had a proviso that the property always be used by citizens of Beaufort for school purposes. The board was mostly African American and consisted of Robert Smalls, Jonathan J. Wright, William J. Whipper, Richard H. Gleaves, London S. Langley, Walter Fuller, Isaac Simmons, Prince Rivers, R.F. Bythewood, Rev. Arthur Waddell, J.J. Cohen, George Waddell, and J.C. Rivers. In 1925 the Board of Education decided to raze the deteriorated black school and build a new school for black students to be called Robert Smalls High School at another site. The property is part of the University of South Carolina Historic Beaufort Campus complex today. 

OPTIONAL Stop #11: It's probably too far for most folks to walk, but the Beaufort County ROBERT SMALLS GOVERNMENT COMPLEX sits on the CORNER OF BOUNDARY STREET AND RIBAUT ROAD on the site of the former Robert Smalls Schools complex. When the public school for black students located in the former William Fuller house closed, a new school was built in 1924 at the intersection of Ribaut Road and Boundary Street. Named for Robert Smalls, this school complex at various times included both primary and secondary education facilities for black students. This school integrated as did all Beaufort County schools in 1965. The Robert Smalls High School was razed in the mid-1980s to make way for the current Beaufort County government administration buildings. A new integrated Robert Smalls Middle School opened in 1985 on W.K. Alston Drive, named after the longest serving principal of Robert Smalls High School, W. Kent Alston. Alston was principal of the Robert Smalls High School from 1938 until 1962.

(Based on a Penn Center / Beaufort County Library document 2005)

Contact us for paper copies of an abbreviated tour of the walk. The Research Room will be open Thursday, 9 am to 2 pm and on Friday, 9 am to 5 pm. We'll close early on Thursday, June 22 because of staff shortage while we have a local history program at Bluffton Branch.

Author Cate Lineberry by Joy Lynn Photography

Be Free or Die: The Amazing Story of Robert Smalls's Escape from Slavery to Union Hero with author Cate Lineberry

Thurs., June 22 at 11 am - BDC@ Beaufort Branch Library
Thurs., June 22 at 3 pm - BDC@ Bluffton Branch Library 
 Limited space. Free tickets available 1 hour before the start of each program. No reservations.