A Genealogists' Tool Kit : Military and Other Records From the Revolutionary War In the BDC Research Room

Earlier this month I wrote about the "Revolutionary Roots" programs in the BCL's America 250 project. 

Let's say that you have identified ancestors in your family tree who may have served in a military capacity during the conflict as Americans and the British were determining the future government of the English colonies in North America. Establishing your blood ties to a Revolutionary War soldier in particular can be thrilling, time-consuming, and once documents, may afford you the opportunity to join a heritage society. 

Does the BDC have materials to help you document your ancestor's service and life? Yes, we do! 

General Types of Military Records

It may help to know a little about the various types of military service-related records that one finds on databases or in library collections. Military records provide a variety of information about an individual and could include their birthplace, age at enlistment, occupation, and names of immediate family members. Some types of military records include:

• Service records: Service records for militia, volunteer, or regular forces document that an individual served in the military and can provide your ancestor’s unit or organization.
• Draft, Conscription, or Selective Service Records: Since 1863, the federal government has registered millions of men who may have been eligible for military service. Enrollment and Draft information include name residence, age, occupation, marital status, birthplace, physical description, and other information.
• Bounty Land Warrants: The federal government provided bounty land for those who served in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, and Indian wars between 1790 and 1855.
• Pension Records: The federal government and some state governments granted pensions or bounty land to officers, disabled veterans, needy veterans, widows or orphans of veterans, and veterans who served a certain length of time. Pension records usually contain more genealogical information than service records. However, not every veteran received or applied for a pension.

Although subscription databases such as Ancestry Library Edition and Fold 3 have a lot of materials posted online to help you dig deeper into your ancestral roots, these massive databases do not have digital surrogates of every resource ever created and/or published. Sometimes one has to go analog - as in visiting archives or visiting libraries to find appropriate printed or microfilmed materials to use in your research. 

Printed Materials in the Research Room

Here are a few printed materials in the BDC that may help you discover more about your Patriot or Loyalist ancestors. 

DAR Patriot Index: Centennial Edition by the Daughters of the American Revolution (National Society of the DAR Centennial Administration, c1994). Covers Patriots whose service has been established through DAR membership applications submitted between October 1890 and 11 October 1990. Part 1: Surnames beginning with A - F; Part 2: Surnames beginning with G - O; and Part 3: Surnames beginning with P - Z.  

Revolutionary War Bounty Land Grants Awarded by State Governments by Lloyd DeWitt Bockstruck (Genealogical Publishing, 1996). "A land bounty is a grant of land from a government as a reward to pay citizens for the risks and hardships they endured in the service of their country, usually in a military related capacity." This volume lists bounty land grants in Connecticut, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, and "Virginia-Indiana."- introduction

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 (Genealogical Publishing, [2011]). More than 16,500 pensioners are featured in this work compiled in an attempt to identify and recreate the Revolutionary War pension files generated prior to the disastrous fire in the War Department on 8 November 1800, which destroyed nearly a quarter-century of records.

Stub Entries to Indents issued in payments of Claims against South Carolina growing out of the Revolution (The Historical Commission of South Carolina, 1910-1939).

South Carolina Loyalists in the American Revolution by Robert Lambert (University of South Carolina Press, 1987).

African-American Patriots in the Southern Campaign of the American Revolution by Bobby G. Moss and Michael C. Scoggins (Scotia-Hibernia Press, 2004).

African-American Loyalists in the Southern Campaign of the American Revolution by Bobby G. Moss and Michael C. Scoggins (Scotia-Hibernia Press, 2005).

African American and American Indian Patriots of the Revolutionary War (National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, 2001).  Please note: This is also available free as a downloadable PDF file. Online the title is "Forgotten Patriots: African American and American Indian Patriots of the Revolutionary War." Because the PDF file is 874 pages, it can take some time for the file to download. 

South Carolinians in the Revolution by Sara Ervin ([S.l.]: Genealogical Publishing, 1965). 

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 (A.E. Miller, 1822). 

South Carolina in the American Revolution: A Source Guide for Genealogists and Historians by Eric G. Grundset for the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. (National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, 2013).

Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution by Bobby Moss (Genealogical Publishing, 1985).

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 (Walker and James,1851). 

We may have even more. Contact us to discuss your research problem. 

Microfilmed Materials in the Research Room

Beaufort is a "Burned County": Almost all of our pre-Civil War records were destroyed in 1865. Given this fact, genealogical research can be more challenging here. Through the years, the BDC purchased some SC Department of Archives and History records on microfilm to help fill the historical gap. Among the most important series that can help you identify ancestors who may have served during the American Revolution are:

South Carolina Tax Returns, 1783-1800. (2 rolls) This series supplies information about landowners and size of holdings that census records and deed books leave out for the period covered. A printed guide to these records is available in our Research Room. 

Records of the South Carolina Treasury, 1775-1780. (6 rolls) This office was critical to the operation of the newly independent colony and funding of the war effort. The records reflect the increased responsibilities of the revolutionary treasury as the expenses of the war and the problems of supplying the new government grew. They hold a wealth of information on the financial management of the colony during this period and detail military expenditures. A printed guide to these records is available in our 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. A printed guide to these records is available in our Research Room. You can search series S108092 online via the Online Records Index at the South Carolina Department of Archives and History (SCDAH).  

South Carolina Will Transcripts, 1782-1868. (31 rolls) This is a fundamental genealogical and historical resource for the period covered. A printed guide to these records is available in our Research Room. You can search series L10125 online via the Online Records Index at the South Carolina Department of Archives and History. 

South Carolina State Plats, Charleston Series, 1784-1860; Columbia Series, 1796-1868. (30 rolls) These plats are an essential source for genealogy and local history as well as a gold mine of primary documentation for social, cultural, and economic historical studies. A printed guide to these records is available in our Research Room. You can search these series online via the Online Records Index at the South Carolina Department of Archives and History.

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

We have a volume of memorials to quitrents in printed form in the Research Room though this series on microfilm is far more extensive than the printed volume 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. A printed guide to the Memorials microfilmed series is available in our Research Room. The Memorials on microfilm is partially indexed online via the Online Records Index at the South Carolina Department of Archives and History.

Tip: Using the guides to collections held at the South Carolina Department of Archives and History can be a bit daunting. Be sure to read "Searching the SCDAH Summary Guide and Online Catalog" by Katharine Slover on the Silver Crescent Standard: The Blog of the South Carolina Department of Archives and History (8 August 2019) for guidance. 

Tip: The information on the SCDAH's page about its Digital Collections and downloading the list of digitized genealogical related materials at the SCDAH may prove very helpful to you as well. 

Confused? Need a little more help than the online guides provide? You are always welcome to set up an appointment to sit down with BDC staff for a little one-on-one assistance with the Online Records Index or with the printed materials or microfilm we have in the BDC Research Room. Though we cannot do genealogical research for you, we can certainly guide you on how to use the genealogical materials we have and offer suggestions on other resources and cultural heritage organizations that might have additional sources of information more about your Revolutionary War era ancestors. 

Please e-mail bdc@bcgov.net or call us at 843-255-6468 to set a date and time for a mutually agreeable research appointment.  

Reading Suggestions about Party Politics during the Reconstruction Era

One of the findings from the Library's strategic plan survey responses was that customers wanted staff to offer more book recommendations. Though I admit that most likely those customers wanted book recommendations about the latest fiction and their read-alikes, I am going to interpret that finding to include requests for more recommendations about local history nonfiction, particularly when we have some good titles to suggest to you as supplemental reading related to the BDC's  local history program presentations. 

National Park Service Historian Ranger Eric Ellis gave a great talk about the political divisions of the Beaufort Republican party last week. As he noted, the Republican Party was in control during most of the Reconstruction Period until it split into various factions. In 1874 Democrats changed their election tactics, disrupting Republican political rallies and cutting political deals with Republican splinter groups to secure local and state offices. 

Here are a few recommended books from the BDC or SCLENDS consortium about the rough and tumble, oftentimes violent - but fascinating - political history of South Carolina's Reconstruction Era and its impact on and at the national level : 

Black Over White : Negro Political Leadership in South Carolina during Reconstruction by Thomas Holt. Urbana : University of Illinois Press, 1977. 

The Southern Historical Association awarded this book its 1978 Charles S. Syndor Prize as recognition of Holt's scholarship combining quantitative analysis with narrative history to challenge myths about the power and political effectiveness of Reconstruction-era Black politicians in the Palmetto State. 

The Bloody South Carolina Election of 1876 : Wade Hampton III, the Red Shirt Campaign for Governor and the End of Reconstruction by Jerry L. West. Jefferson, NC : McFarland, 2011. 

Contentious political campaigns are nothing new. This book examines the gubernatorial election of 1876, in which the state's most celebrated Civil War general created a united front in the Democratic Party and wrested control of politics from the Republicans. Of particular note are the ways in which the race, with its disqualified ballots, delays and wrangling, prefigured some elections in the 2000s. For four months, the state endured two warring Houses of Representatives. Two Black Beaufort County men, Thomas Hamilton and N.B. Myers crossed the aisle to join the Wallace House in support of Hampton to secure his governorship. 

Gullah Statesman : Robert Smalls from Slavery to Congress, 1839 - 1915 by Edward A. Miller, Jr. Columbia : University of South Carolina Press, 1995. Available in print and as an e-book on Hoopla. 

A native of Beaufort, South Carolina, Robert Smalls was born into slavery but through acts of remarkable courage and determination became the first African American hero of the Civil War and one of the most influential African American politicians in South Carolina history. I consider this one of the most important secondary works about Smalls. It is a political biography of his triumphs and setbacks of the celebrated U.S. congressman and advocate of compulsory, desegregated public education. 

Hampton and His Red Shirts : The Story of South Carolina's Deliverance in 1876 by Alfred B. Williams. Charleston, SC : Walker, Evans and Cogswell Company, 1935. 

The author was a newspaper man who argued that the "carpetbagger" government that ruled South Carolina from 1868 until it was overthrown in 1876 was corrupt and caused more destruction than the four years of the Civil War. More recent scholarship has challenged Williams' views. Hathitrust provides a digital copy online. 

Hurrah for Hampton! : Black Red Shirts in South Carolina during Reconstruction by Edmund L. Drago. Fayetteville : University of Arkansas Press, 1998. 

Drago takes a more balanced view of the Reconstruction Era to examine the motives and concerns of the former enslaved who supported a movement that eventually led to the return of white supremacy in the Palmetto State. Though most of the freedmen identified and supported the Republican party, Drago focused on the primary source testimonies before Congress of seven Black conservatives who joined the white paramilitary clubs termed the "Red Shirts" who supported the election of former Confederate general Wade Hampton in the governor's race in 1876. He also includes analysis of eleven slave narratives to explore the relationship between Black initiative and southern paternalism. 

Rebellion, Reconstruction, and Redemption, 1861 - 1893 by Stephen R. Wise and Lawrence S. Rowland. Columbia : University of South Carolina Press, 2015.    

I consider the three volumes series on the history of Beaufort County by Lawrence S. Rowland and others as "The Bible of Local History."  Volume 2 explores how the Union victory and the political and social Reconstruction of South Carolina was followed by a counterrevolution called Redemption, the organized campaign of Southern whites, defeated in the war, to regain supremacy over African Americans. While former slave-owning, anti-black "Redeemers" took control of mainland Beaufort County, they were thwarted on the Sea Islands, where African Americans retained power and kept reaction at bay. By 1893, elements of both the New and Old South coexisted uneasily side by side as the Democratic mainland reverted to an agricultural-based economy while the Republican Sea Islands and the town of Beaufort underwent an economic boom based on the phosphate mining industry and the new commercial port in the Lowcountry town of Port Royal.

Requiem for Reconstruction : Black Countermemory and the Legacy of The Lowcountry's Lost Political Generation by Robert D. Bland. Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, 2026.  

Bland "explores how Black Americans born in the thirty years between 1840 and 1870 saw Reconstruction as a defining political movement and worked to preserve its legacy by formulating new archives, shaping local community counternarratives, and using the Black press to preserve and circulate Reconstruction's meaning to a national audience." 

South Carolina in the Civil War and Reconstruction Eras : Essays from the Proceeding of the South Carolina Historical Association edited by Michael Brem Bonner and Fritz P. Hamer. Columbia : University of South Carolina Press, 2016. 

This is an anthology of twenty-three of the most enduring and important scholarly articles about the Civil War and Reconstruction era published in the peer-reviewed journal since 1931. The volume is divided by topic into five subsections: "The Politics of Secession and Civil War"; "On the Battlefront"; "On the Home Front."; "Emancipation, Race, and Society"; and "The Politics of Reconstruction." 

State of Rebellion : Reconstruction in South Carolina by Richard Zuczek. Columbia : University of South Carolina Press, 2009. Also available as an e-book on Hoopla.

The author recounts the volatile course of Reconstruction in the state that experienced the longest, largest, and most dynamic federal presence in the years immediately following the Civil War in this book.  He details the tactics - from judicial and political fraud to economic coercion, terrorism, and guerrilla activity - employed by conservatives to nullify the African American vote, control African American labor, and oust northern Republicans from the state. He documents the federal government's attempt to quash the conservative challenge but shows that, by 1876, white opposition was so unified, widespread, and well-armed that it passed beyond government control. 

To Rescue the Republic : Ulysses S. Grant, the Fragile Union and the Crisis of 1876 by Bret Baier. New York : Custom House, 2021.

Fox News Channel's Chief Political Anchor provides a history of Grant's essential yet underappreciated role in preserving the United States during a period of great political division. The book is available in print, large print, and audio CD through SCLENDS as well as on Hoopla as an audio book and as an e-book.  

If you happen to be more of a watcher than a reader, then I suggest that you take a look at "The Rise and Fall of Reconstruction in South Carolina" with Dr. Brent Morris, a COVID-era recording we made when all was shut down five years ago. The information Dr. Morris provides is very helpful to understanding what happened in the Palmetto State between approximately 1865 and 1880. If you want to skip the introduction and get straight to his lecture, begin around the 5-minute mark. 

Reminder: All units of the Beaufort County Library will be closed Monday, May 25 in honor of Memorial Day.

Commemorating the 250th : "Revealing the American Revolution" Display by Sydney Whiteside

This July 4th, America will be celebrating its Sestercentennial, Semiquincentennial and Quarter Millennial, or rather its 250th anniversary. The Beaufort District Collection and the Beaufort County Historical Society have teamed up to offer you the opportunity to explore Beaufort District's Revolutionary War history, one historical marker at a time. The “Revealing the Revolution” Historical Marker Scavenger Hunt and Library Quest will take you through various pivotal points in Beaufort District’s involvement throughout the Revolutionary War. 

To celebrate the 250th as well as showcase this exciting event and some of our American Revolution related materials, the research room display case will be themed “Revealing the Revolution” through the end of July. So, without further ado, let's learn about the American Revolution in Beaufort District! 

On Shelf One: 

The Revolutionary War in South Carolina: Profiles in Leadership by Steven D. Smith and Kevin Dougherty, 2025. 

Beginning with an overview of South Carolina’s role in the American Revolution, this title examines many of the notable figures who played a hand gaining its independence. Smith and Dougherty worked together to provide thorough overviews of the following Revolutionary War figures: Henry Laurens, Richard Furman, William Jasper, John Rutledge, Thomas Sumter, Francis Marion, Isaac Shelby, Nathanael Greene, Daniel Morgan, Thaddeus Kosciuszko, Henry Lee, Hezekiah Maham, Rebecca Motte, William Moultrie, and Andrew Pickens. 

Crescent Moon Over Carolina: William Moultrie and American Liberty by C. L. Bragg, 2013.  

Major General William Moultrie's dauntless efforts played a major role in America securing its independence from the British, as well as South Carolina's design of a state flag. On June 28, 1776, nine British naval ships began a bombardment of Charles Town (Charleston.) Patriots led by Moultrie's 2nd South Carolina successfully defended the harbor at Fort Sullivan and held off a fleet of British warships for nine continuous hours. The actions of those patriots that day helped delay British occupation of Charleston for another 4 years. Fort Sullivan was renamed Fort Moultrie in his honor. The emblem of Moultrie's troops was a blue flag with a white crescent in the upper left corner. On January 28, 1861, the palmetto tree was officially added to commemorate the victory and represent the state.

On Shelf Two:

We focus on our "Revealing the Revolution" Challenges that opened on April Fool's Day - not because we want to "fool you" into learning about the most important war in our country's history (because we would not be a country without it) but because it gives you plenty of time to participate and complete the challenge before the 250th anniversary. Visible on the display shelf is a "Revealing the Revolution" game sheet ballot drop box, a reduced surrogate of the Robert Mills 1825 map of Beaufort District, and the official trifold brochure. Upon the shelf lay the Revealing the Revolution Car Sticker (a prize), Challenge Coin (a higher completion level prize), and the official bifold brochure.  

We put the challenge details in our post, Relive the Revolution with the Beaufort County Library, April 1- July 2, 2026.  We do so hope that you will choose to participate. 

On Shelf Three: 

Partisans and Redcoats: The Southern Conflict That Turned the Tide of the American Revolution by Walter B. Edgar, 2001. 

From 1775 to 1782, South Carolina had a pivotal role to play throughout the American Revolution. From the backcountry of the Carolinas to the first victory of the southern campaign in the Battle of Williamson's Plantation, Edgar tackles both the massacres and the victories of what is often referred to as America’s first Civil War in the Palmetto State. Partisans and Redcoats is an extremely useful resource providing valuable insights into the enduring impact of a state that changed the course of freedom forever. 

Battleground, South Carolina in the Revolution by Warren Ripley, 1983. 

Battleground highlights many of the military actions that occurred on South Carolina soil during the American Revolution. Some skirmishes have been omitted from this inventory due to a lack of importance or extant information about the actions. Yet there are still more than sixty engagements for readers to learn about. The title even includes diagrams, maps, photographs, and sketches paired with the comprehensive and impressively meticulous overviews of South Carolina battlegrounds. 

South Carolina and the American Revolution: A Battlefield History by John W. Gordon, 2003. 

Did you know that historians estimate that about one third of all combat acts (battles, skirmishes, etc.) of the American Revolution occurred in South Carolina? Many encounters occurred in the years between 1775 and 1783 among Patriots, militia units, Native Americans, British regulars, Tories (or Loyalists) and the Continental troops. South Carolina and the American Revolution immerses the reader in the documented battles that took place in the Palmetto State during this time and proves how the state's efforts directly led to America's independence from Great Britain. 

The blue placard shaped like a manila folder fixed to the back of the case at shelf three represents the BDC's extensive vertical files. Vertical files hold materials such as clippings, pamphlets, or articles pertaining to the subject of the file. These files act as a gateway; they can provide context that may point researchers to a new path of resources. If you are interested in learning more about the importance and use of these files, check out The Value of Historical (and Permanent) Vertical Files.   

We have the following American Revolution related vertical files available to view in the BDC: 

• VF ARSENAL (BUILDING) 
• VF BEAUFORT VOLUNTEER ARTILLERY 
• VF FORT BALFOUR 
• VF FORT MOULTRIE 
• VF HAMILTON, PAUL 1762-1816 
• VF HISTORY--REVOLUTION 1775-1783 
• VF LAFAYETTE, MARQUIS DE 1757-1834 
• VF LOWCOUNTRY REVOLUTIONARY WAR TRAIL 
• VF MARSH TACKIES 
• VF PINCKNEY, CHARLES C. 1746-1825 
• VF PORT ROYAL ISLAND, BATTLE OF, 1779 
• VF PURYSBURG, BATTLE OF, 1779
• VF WASHINGTON, GEORGE 1732-1799 

On Shelf Four: 

The Fabric of Liberty: The Society of the Cincinnati of the State of South Carolina by Alexander Moore, 2012. 

This book covers the history of the Society of the Cincinnati and also contains several mentions of Lafayette. The Society of the Cincinnati was made up of officers and later the descendants of Patriot officers. Although Moore focuses specifically on the South Carolina chapter of the Society of the Cincinnati, groups were formed in each of the original thirteen states. Their main purpose was to offer support to those who served and struggled throughout the time of the Revolutionary War. It is America’s oldest patriotic organization and is still active today.

Reflections of Rebellion: Hours with the Living Men and Women of the Revolution by Benson John Lossing, 2007. 

First published in 1889, this title contains little known narratives and notes on memories and mementos of the Revolutionary War. During his travels in June of 1848 Lossing came into contact with a very elderly General Ebenezer Mead, a former soldier of both the Connecticut militia and the Continental army. Upon learning of Mead's wartime encounters, Lossing realized that the stories of the men and women who lived through the Revolutionary War needed to be memorialized before they died. Reflections of Rebellion recounts 21 stories of men, women, and children whose memories of the War have now been preserved for generations to remember. Included is the story of Rebecca Motte, a heroine from South Carolina who helped Francis Marion's soldiers set her own house ablaze to drive out British troops.

South Carolina Provincials: Loyalists in British Service during the American Revolution by Jim Piecuch, 2023.  

This is the first published comprehensive history of South Carolinian Loyalists and their actions in support of the British during the American Revolution. Based on primary source research including records rarely consulted, the result provides a much clearer picture of the Revolutionary War at the local level in southeastern states. South Carolinians living in the backcountry were often far away from government administration and affiliation with the Patriotic cause. The backcountry Royalist troops experienced varying degrees of success. In 1781, the troops withdrew from the backcountry into British held Charleston, then to British East Florida. From there some relocated to Canada or other British colonies to begin new lives after the conclusion of hostilities.

Pinned to the back of the display case just above shelf four are placards highlighting other BDC resources about the War of Independence. For online and continuing resources related to the American Revolution, the BDC's WordPress Blog has got you covered. The American Revolution In Lowcountry South Carolina: A Resource Guide by Cassandra Knoppel contains a recommended list of online resources, materials available for checkout through the SCLENDS consortium, and materials available to view inside of the Beaufort District Collection. Speaking of the BDC, a festive archival item in our inventory happens to be the American Revolution Bicentennial Scrapbook of 1776-1976. The finding aid is available to view on our WordPress blog and the scrapbook is available to view inside of our research room with an appointment made ahead of time. Please see below for how to schedule an appointment! 

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If you are interested in any of the materials I have shared today, or wish to explore our collection for yourself, walk-ins are sometimes accepted while appointments are always encouraged. To make an appointment, send an email to bdc@bcgov.net or give us a call at 843-255-6468. We hope to hear from you soon!  

Please note this schedule change: The Library system will be closed on Monday, May 25, 2026 in honor of Memorial Day.