Discover Your Ancestry : Revolutionary Roots Programs and more at Beaufort County Library

The Beaufort County Library, in cooperation with the BDC, Beaufort County Historical Society, the Beaufort County 250th committee and others, will celebrate the quarter-millennial of American democracy from April 1 through July 2 with a mix of activities you can do (mostly) at your own convenience.

Revolutionary Roots Programs

Among those activities are multiple offerings of "Revolutionary Roots," a hands-on Ancestry Library Edition (ALE) program to learn how to trace your lineage, uncover stories about ancestors who lived during the Revolutionary Era, and see how your own family may connect to America's fight for Independence. No prior genealogy experience is required - just curiosity and a love of history! Library staff will be on hand to help you learn the basics. Perhaps you'll find an ancestor or two whose service might make you eligible for a (Continental) Revolutionary War related heritage society. 

Military records are rich with genealogical information that will grown your family tree. Come learn how to get the most out of the ones related to the American Revolution on ALE.

Did you know that you can access the Library's ALE subscription via the public WIFI inside our buildings? For your own convenience, we encourage you to bring your laptop or smart phone with you the day of the session.

Don't have a laptop computer or a smart phone? Not a problem. You can use Library equipment where available - though it's best to ask what will be available at each location in advance of the session. Equipment often varies among the branch libraries.

The "Revolutionary Roots" program will be offered:

• Monday, May 11 at Port Royal Branch, 11 AM - 12:30 PM
• Thursday, May 28 at Hilton Head Island Branch, 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM
• Tuesday, June 9 at Lobeco Branch, 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
• Tuesday, June 16 at Beaufort Branch, 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Note: Please see the Library calendar entries for each of the above sessions for specific registration requirements at each location.

Can't make any of these dates and times? Not a problem. The BDC can help.

The BDC's Sydney Whiteside offers one-on-one instructional sessions to will show you how to search for your Revolutionary War era ancestors by appointment. Just contact us at bdc@bcgov.net or 843-255-6468 to make the necessary arrangements for a two-hour research slot.

Attendance at any of the "Revolutionary Roots" sessions at the branches or by appointment in the BDC Research Room will earn you a stamp on the Library's Celebrate America 250 passport shown above that is available at all BCL locations and bookmobiles.

You could just stop there ... but wait! There's even more ways for you to celebrate America's 250th birthday at the Library.

Celebrate America 250 Passport

There are 6 optional activities on the Celebrate America 250 passport, but only 4 are necessary to be eligible for a Beaufort County 250th committee sticker. Choose any 4 activities from this list:

• Color a Square for the Library Paper Quilt
• Attend Play Like It's 1776
• Complete the Historic Marker Scavenger Hunt
• Attend Revolutionary Roots
• Add to the Library Time Capsule (submissions will be permanently archived in the BDC Research Room after project ends)
• Attend Liberty and Legacy

Why not "complete the Historic Marker Scavenger Hunt" before or after you "Attend [a] Revolutionary Roots" session? It's easy. Just pick up a "Revealing the Revolution - Library Quest Scavenger Hunt" bi-fold brochure game sheet available at all Library locations, find the "Revealing the Revolution" placards hidden throughout the branch library, and correctly answer the questions on the game sheet. Show the library staff at the service desks your completed game sheet to get another "star stamp" on your passport ... and you're half done to earning a Beaufort County 250th Committee sticker.

If you stick around a few more minutes to "Color a Square for the Library Paper Quilt" or "Add to the Library Time Capsule" with your hope for the future, you can get your Beaufort County 250th Committee sticker from the Library staff as soon as you're done. One visit, 4 activities, passport stamped and prize all in a day. What a deal!

Revealing the Revolution Challenges

To notch up the rewards: Once Library staff have stamped your passport for your participation in the scavenger hunt, return the Scavenger Hunt game sheet (only the Revealing the Revolution game sheet. You can keep the Celebrate 250 passport as a souvenir) to one of the be-starred boxes at the Library location.

BDC staff will get the completed game sheets to the Beaufort County Historical Society on a periodic basis. The BCHS will be distributing prizes via mail over the course of the project. All prizes for the "Revealing the Revolution" challenges are set to be mailed by the end of July as long while supplies last.

As a reminder: The BCL America 250 project ends on Thursday, July 2nd because the Library system will be closed on Friday, July 3rd and Saturday, July 4th for Independence Day 2026.

Relive the Revolution with the Beaufort County Library, April 1 - July 2, 2026

Latest update: 23 June 2026 --The deadline for the Library Quest and Historic Marker challenges has been extended to 31 July. Please note: Those who turn in completed game sheets July 3 - 31 will be eligible only for the car sticker and challenge coin prizes. - gmc

When we think of the Revolutionary War, we often conjure up thoughts of Valley Forge and the Crossing of the Delaware, but the American Revolution happened across all 13 colonies. But there are those who have analyzed the evidence to conclude that the American Revolution was won in the South, and more specifically by successful military actions by Patriot forces within South Carolina that led to the entrapment of the British forces at Yorktown and the surrender of Lord Cornwallis's army on October 19, 1781.

Revealing the Revolution (RtR) Marker Challenge : 2 Options

Don’t forget that mischief was afoot in bucolic colonial South Carolina, as well. Over the past several years, the BDC and its partners have been amping up our local history programs related to the American Revolution. And while Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox, was creating havoc up toward Charleston, others like Thomas Heyward, Jr. and William Moultrie were making history in Beaufort District.

The BDC staff and the Beaufort County Historical Society (BCHS) have teamed up to offer you the opportunity to explore Beaufort District's Revolutionary War history one historical marker at a time. Beginning April 1, participants simply need to pick up a "Revealing the Revolution Historical Marker" challenge game sheet from any County Branch Library or bookmobile and set out to find the markers listed inside. A QR code on the front of each game sheet provides a Google map of all marker locations. Each marker’s text supplies the answers to questions that must be completed.

• Don't have a library card? Not a problem - though we do hope that every County resident eligible for a free card has one.
• Don't have time to visit one of our Branch Libraries? Not a problem - the deluxe version of our game can also be downloaded and printed from the Beaufort County Historical Society website.

Because the RtR Committee wanted to include as many folks as possible, we planned two levels of participation for you to take part in our challenge:

Option #1: Participants who wish to “tour” the markers from the comfort of a chair can pick up the “Library Quest” bi-fold brochure listing 5 historical markers and then find the placards hidden throughout the Branch Library or bookmobiles. To make it easy to win, the actual marker text will be provided on the placards at each location.

• Answer the questions to receive a stamp on your "Celebrate America 250 Passport" at any Library circulation desk. (More about the "Celebrate America 250 Passport" series under the next heading below).
• Drop your completed "Library Quest" into one of the "Revealing the Revolution" ballot boxes at each library location. Be sure to write legibly.

OR you can get your passport stamped before submitting your completed form online. The BCHS will mail you one car sticker for your participation as long as supplies last. Limit one car sticker per participant. Your participation can be, as they say, "done and dusted" at this level of participation... or ...

Option #2: You can up the ante and play the deluxe version. Option #2 is designed for true-blue, red and white striped, starry-eyed history nerds and heritage tourists. The RtR Committee has chosen 15 historic markers, most funded and maintained by the Beaufort County Historical Society, for you to visit. Each one has an accompanying question to answer correctly in the RtR trifold game sheet that you can pick up at a library location. You can also download the trifold game sheet from the BCHS website.

We would also love to see your adventures! Share your photos of your visits to the historical markers on social media using #RevealingTheRevolution2026. [Please note: Participating in the use of this hashtag grants the BCHS and the Beaufort County Library permission to use shared photos for promotional purposes.]

• Visit 5 historical markers to receive a "Revealing the Revolution" car sticker.
• Visit 10 historical markers to receive the car sticker and a "Revealing the Revolution" challenge coin.
• Visit all 15 historical markers and return your completed game sheet by July 2 to receive the car sticker, the challenge coin, and an entry into the Grand Prize drawing. Please note: Those who turn in completed game sheets July 3 - 31 will be eligible only for the car sticker and challenge coin prizes.
• The Grand Prize is a 22" X 26" framed replica of the Robert Mills 1825 map of Beaufort District.
• Limit one prize per level per participant.

Completed game sheets can be returned to any Branch Library or bookmobile or mailed directly to the Beaufort County Historical Society with your own postage. The BCHS will mail the prizes earned to those who successfully complete the challenge as long as supplies last. The Grand Prize drawing will occur in mid-July. The BCHS will distribute all prizes by mail by early August.

We are grateful for a grant from the Beaufort County 250th Committee that has funded the purchase of the car stickers and challenge coins project. The Mills Atlas replica was a donation from a private individual. 

Our sincere hope is that you'll have fun with our "Revealing the Revolution" Historical Marker Scavenger Hunt Library Quiz (option #1) and/or RtR deluxe (option #2) all the while learning about the important people and events that shaped Beaufort District’s Revolutionary era history. But wait! There's more.

Celebrate America 250 Passport

Pick up your “Celebrate America 250” passport at a library location beginning April 1. Participate in any four of the listed activities then bring your card to a Branch Library or Bookmobile to receive a limited-edition sticker. Please note: Passports must be turned in by July 2.

Here are just a few of the activities we have planned:

• Color a quilt block for the Martha Washington Star Paper Quilts at the Branch Libraries to create a community patchwork of diverse designs.
• Contribute your “Hope for the Future” of our nation or community to a Time Capsule to be archived in the Beaufort District Collection.
• Attend a “Revolutionary Roots” hands-on Ancestry Library Edition program to learn how to trace your lineage, uncover stories about ancestors who lived during the Revolutionary era, and see how your own family may connect to America’s fight for independence.
• All ages are invited to travel back in time through 18th century games and crafts. Learn how to embroider. Create a quill pen, practice your cursive penmanship, and sign your “John Hancock” to the Declaration of Independence. Play Hoops and Sticks, Marbles, Checkers and other games of the period.
• Successfully complete the "Historical Marker Scavenger Hunt - Library Quest" game sheet.
• We end our series with two days of “Liberty and Legacy.” Mark BCL America250 with a family friendly celebration that brings history to life through colonial-themed crafts and games, screenings of Ken Burns’ American Revolution documentary, a trivia contest about the war emceed by yours truly, and "publick discourses" with Ben Franklin himself. All are welcome.

Be sure to check the Library Calendar for details about our scheduled programs. (Tip: You can filter the “Program Type” to “America 250” to get a birds-eye view of the scheduled activities what we have in store to commemorate the Semiquincentennial of our country.)

During this year of celebration of our Independence, we hope that this community-wide effort will be an exciting and enjoyable way to learn about the people, places and events that helped shape the Revolutionary War effort.

BDC FAQ : What do you have about ... ?

Q: I need photos for my organization's upcoming anniversary. Can you help?

A: Maybe. 

Maybe we can get you started with “stuff” in the 2500+ vertical files that staff has gathered hit or miss through time. 

Maybe you can come in and use the newspaper backfiles, government records, etc. that we have in the Research Room to compile such a history, use for a presentation, display, on your website, in your social media, etc. (Note: BDC staff provides the resources; you do the research legwork.) 

Maybe previous members of your organization gave original letters, minutes, reports, photographs, etc. to us - as did the Beaufort Chapter, AAUW in 2013 – and we have a prepared description of those records for you to use. 

And just maybe those folks took great photos at events that you can use in your project - which unfortunately was not the case for the AAUW chapter's records as the women doing the research discovered during a recent visit to the Research Room. 

In other words, what we have to help you celebrate an anniversary will be a mixed bag. 

I often suggest to customers in the process of compiling materials for an organization's anniversary that they poll current members and former members - and the adult children of deceased former members - for any programs or photographs that they might have. Sometimes a documentary treasure will turn up from the ask.  

I encourage donation of compiled printed histories of organizations to the BDC for future researchers to use. If your organizational history is one sheet, we'd add that to our vertical files. If the compiled history if over 20 pages, odds are it will get cataloged as a book for our stacks. In both cases, a researcher would have access to the documentation about your organization. Because the BDC is the permanent part of the Library system, what is done this year to document the organization's history will help future members observe future anniversaries say in 2034, 2084, etc.

Sometimes I suggest that the researcher's organization might consider donating their inactive records to the BDC for permanent safe-guarding because the bottom line is: The BDC cannot share what it does not have. 

Documenting a business, organization, or agency's anniversary with archives most often depends on past donations of materials to archives repositories. 

As the Society of American Archivists online brochure Donating Your Organization's Records to a Repository states: 

The heart of your organization’s memory is in its records. If your organization values its history, you [emphasis is mine] must act to save the original letters, minutes, reports, photographs, publications, and other documents—in both physical and digital forms—that officers, members, directors, employees, or volunteers have produced and compiled over the years. These documents provide unique testimony to the achievements of your organization. Such materials are also extremely valuable for administrative, legal, fiscal, and public relations purposes. Your organization’s history is important to your community, too. By donating your organization’s records to an archival repository, you will assure that its history and heritage will be part of your community’s collective memory.

As you see, the organization creates, collects, and maintains its own records. A repository may only be involved later as it may receive the organization's records generally some years after the records were created. 

As of today, we have processed and posted online finding aids to records from the following local organizations: 

Association of American University Women, Beaufort Branch

Beaufort County Historical Society

Beaufort Power Squadron

American Revolution Bicentennial Scrapbook

League of Women Voters, Beaufort Chapter

Clover Club of Beaufort, SC

Beaufort Art Association

Beaufort County Library

NSDAR Thomas Heyward, Jr. Chapter Scrapbook Collection

There are more in the Research Room binder. 

• By donating your organization’s records to an archival repository, you will assure that its history and heritage will be part of your community’s collective memory.

We accept inactive organization records if they meet the BDC's collection development policy and we can be good stewards of them. I'll post soon about the donation rubric and process. 

Remember: For assured personalized and timely service inside our Research Room, please make an research appointment with us in advance.

Happy Birthday, Beaufort Branch Library

The Library system decided to "celebrate Library birthdays" as part of a continuing series of events to engage the public and showcase library services. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? Pretty much every human alive wants a sugar rush that cake supplies - and to eat some at their local beloved library, super cool, right? Picking a date seems simple enough too: What day did the current Library building begin providing library services to its community? Or perhaps, When was the current Library building dedicated? Hopefully the two dates - dates of service delivery and the dedication date - would be fairly close together. Here's the problem when this principle is applied to the downtown Beaufort Branch Library:

The structure supplying current services was cobbled to an older structure and the 1st and 2nd floors of the new construction were finished years apart. The "new" building was providing services from part of its structure 6 months before the building was dedicated. The day that library service delivery restarted after everything was put on new or relocated shelves in part of the partially completed building - got more text - and a better photo -- in the Beaufort Gazette than coverage of actual the Dedication Ceremony. (Longtime Beaufort Gazette reporter - and longtime Friend of the Beaufort Library supporter - Lolita Huckaby wrote both the re-opening and the dedication articles.)

From reviewing the contents of the Beaufort County Library archive that we have in the Research Room, I learned a few things.

1) There are no BCL photographs of the Dedication ceremonies of 1993. None. Absolutely nada.

2) Library Director Julie Zachowski had a hard slog trying to get a more appropriately sized structure approved, sited, built and opened.

3) The building took a long time to plan, build, and finish -- almost as long as the 9 years and 16 days it took me to get the BDC Research Room moved from the First floor to out of the flood plain on the Second floor of this building at 311 Scott Street.

From the records found in the Research Room, it seems that the Beaufort County Council argued with the Library Board of Trustees, Library Director, and construction entities, etc. for years from the time of official recognition that the 1964 library was no longer suitable for the growing population of the area to walking into a completely finished Library building with an entrance address of 311 Scott Street in 1998.

• To save money, the 1980s-1990s extension connected to the Craven Street Library (built in 1964) on the ground floor. The 1964 library became the Children's services area in 1992.
• Most of the first floor extension was opened to serve the public on August 24, 1992.
• Construction of the first floor was completely finished in October 1992. They waited until the multiple layers of stain on the SC Room shelves finally dried and the landscaping was installed to pronounce the first floor done.
• The Library Board of Trustees and the Friends of the Beaufort Library decided that the formal Dedication ceremony would happen on Valentine's Day, 1993 - hence the source of the "30th Birthday" theme on Saturday at Beaufort Branch.
• Construction on the 2nd floor would be delayed due to cost and political considerations. It was completed in 1998. At that time the second floor was Library Administration offices and a large meeting space.
• In 2009-2010 that large meeting was converted to house the growing the Beaufort District Collection.

Looking ahead: Because the BDC is its own cost center, has its own policies, keeps its own hours, and does "its own thing" in accord with public library and archival principles and practices, the BDC's "Birthday Celebration" will be at the end of September commemorating the move from the vastly overcrowded conditions of the area now occupied by the Beaufort Branch Theresa Dunn Meeting Room to the former Paul S. Siegmund Meeting Room on the second floor. We'll be celebrating 13 years of service from our current location. But as you will learn, what started out as a shelf in the Carnegie Library, grew into a closet, then into a room, and then into a much larger room. Library services related to local history go way further back in time. More details will be announced closer to the BDC's relocation celebration.

The display that I put in the lobby panel near the elevator on the first floor of the Beaufort Branch Library tells the basic story behind this Saturday's "Beaufort Branch 30th Birthday" event. The lobby board features some surrogates of construction photographs, a newspaper image, the dedication invitation, and a slide that summarizes construction costs and size. I added the floating sparkling hearts because it's February and February is Library Lovers Month.

Bottom (and last) line: This Library location has seen a lot of changes in the past 59 years.

Sunshine Week

It's Sunshine Week  at the National Archives!

March 12-18 is Sunshine Week - the week we celebrate open government, accountability, and access to public information.

In honor of this yearly event, we’ve created a special transcription mission for FOIA, Special Access and recently declassified records. How many pages can we transcribe this week? 1,000? 1,500? Jump in and help us make these records more discoverable online! Every page you transcribe helps unlock history. Learn more about Sunshine Week from our Office of Government Information Services Source: National Archives Catalog newsletter received March 9, 2017

Every Hero Has A Story: Thomas Heyward, Jr.

Latest update: 17 July 2024- Grace Morris Cordial, MLS, SL, CA

75.9 % of voters— more than three-quarters of the participants — named the Declaration of Independence the most influential document in American history. Significantly “the most ardent revolutionary from the Beaufort District” signed it. In honor of the 4th of July, this “Every Hero has a Story” entry highlights the contribution of Thomas Heyward, Jr., one of South Carolina's four signers of the Declaration of Independence.

According to Dr. Larry Rowland, “The saga of the Heyward family of the Carolina Lowcountry is nearly unsurpassed in American history. Colonel Daniel Heyward fought Indians and Spaniards in the early eighteenth century and carved an empire from the Southern frontier to become the largest planter in South Carolina and one of the richest men in America. His oldest son, Thomas, signed the Declaration of Independence, and his youngest son, Nathaniel, became one of the leading practitioners of tidal culture rice and the largest slave owner in the history of the South.”

Thomas Heyward, Jr., son of Daniel Heyward and his wife Mary Miles Heyward, was born at Old House Plantation, St. Luke's Parish, on July 28, 1746. Old House Plantation, near where Hwy 336 heads toward Ridgeland in what is now Jasper County, was his father's plantation. Trained in the law in Charleston and in England, he was an attorney and planter.

In 1773, he married Elizabeth Matthews in Charleston. Heyward was a member of the Council of Safety in 1775-1776 and of the Continental Congress from 1776-1778. Heyward served as a Patriot soldier and was captured when Charleston fell to the British in 1779. While Heyward was imprisoned at St. Augustine, his wife Elizabeth died in Philadelphia. They had one son who survived until adulthood. In 1783, Heyward returned to his rice-growing White Hall Plantation. From 1785 to 1809, he split his time between his home in St. Luke's Parish and his Charleston residence at 87 Church Street. In later years, he was a circuit court judge in South Carolina.

On May 4, 1786 he took as his second wife, Elizabeth Savage, with whom he had three children who survived until adulthood. Thomas Heyward, Jr. died on April 17, 1809 and is buried in the family cemetery at Old House.

For more than a quarter century, the Paul Hamilton Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution have held a ceremony at Old House Cemetery commemorating Heyward's service to our country in early July, usually attended by at least some of the many direct descendants of Heyward alive today.

The local Beaufort chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution is named in his honor. Drop by the Research Room to see a document signed by Thomas Heyward, Jr. in his capacity as a circuit court judge. The document was donated to the Beaufort District Collection in 2007 by the Thomas Heyward, Jr. Chapter, DAR. We are privileged to share their scrapbooks with researchers in our Research Room by appointment. 

Want to drive out to Heyward’s grave in Old House Cemetery? Traveling north on S.C. 170, turn left onto S.C. 462. After about eight miles, there is a historical marker on the right. At the marker, turn right onto a dirt road. Old House Cemetery is about 100 yards from the highway.

We’ve posted updates to our list of materials about Thomas Heyward, Jr. in our Wordpress blog. You can also read more about Heyward and the other signers in Biographical Sketches of the Signers of the Declaration of American Independence by B. John Lossing (1858) on the HathiTrust website or on the Internet Archive website.  

Learn more about the fascinating history of the Declaration of Independence from its caretakers at the National Archives.

Gentle reminder: For assured personalized access, please make an appointment: 843-255-6468 or bdc@bcgov.net.  Please see our page on the Library's website for details.