In Honor of World War I Veteran Henry Buncombe

World War I, also known as the “Great War” was officially concluded on the 11th hour of the 11th day of November in the year 1918. In 1919, President Wilson declared November 11 as "Armistice Day." In 1954, President Harry S. Truman renamed the celebration of "Veterans Day." Today, Veterans Day is still observed on November 11th as a national holiday to honor all veterans of the United States Armed Forces. To honor the men who died in World War I, I highlight how to use some key resources in the Research Room and through the Library's website. I'm going to walk you through some basic research I did about Henry Buncombe of Bluffton. 

The BDC holds the Official Roster of South Carolina Soldiers, Sailors and Marines, World War 1917-18 (2 volumes) [Call number SC 940.4 OFF]. Vol. 1 lists the white folks; Vol 2 lists the "Colored" folks. Volume 2 (for Black men) has this entry on p. 1233:

BUNCOMBE, HENRY. 4134177 Res Bluffton SC NA Beaufort SC Aug 12/18. Br Bluffton SC May 10/95. 156 Dep Brig to Sept 18/18; Co A 431 Res Lab Bn to disch. Pvt. Hon disch Dec 21/18

Translating the abbreviations into regular English: "Buncombe, Henry. Service registration number 4134177, resided in Bluffton SC, joined the National Army in Beaufort SC on August 12, 1918. He was born in Bluffton on May 10, 1895 (but the long list of abbreviations doesn't make this clear). He was attached to the 156th Depot Brigade to September 18, 1918. I think that he was part of Company A, 431st Reserve Labor Battalion until his honorable discharge three months later on December 21, 1918. His rank was Private.

Beaufort County Library provides access to Ancestry Library Edition (ALE) which one can access from home with a BCL library card through the end of 2020 as a COVID-19 mitigation effort. One of the subscription databases inside ALE is the World War I Draft Registration Cards database.

From the description of the WWI Draft Registration Cards I learn that:

On 6 April 1917, the United States declared war on Germany and officially entered World War I. Six weeks later, on 18 May 1917, the Selective Service Act was passed, which authorized the president to increase the military establishment of the United States. As a result, every male living within the United States between the ages of eighteen and forty-five was required to register for the draft.

The card used for the first registration (sometimes called the Twelve-Question card because of twelve questions on the front) includes this information: name, age, address, date and place of birth, citizenship status, employer’s name and address, dependent information, marital status, race, military service, and physical appearance.

I locate the digital images of his original WWI Draft Registration Card. Here's what I learn:

Henry Buncomb is 22 years old and had been born at Okatee on May 10, 1895. He is a self-employed farmer with a wife but no children. He gives his race as "African." He wants to be exempted from the draft because of his "dependent wife" who is not named. The registrar describes Henry's physical features: Medium height, medium build, black eyes, and black hair. He is not bald. Henry has at least one eye from which to see, both hands, both feet, both legs, and both arms so does not qualify for exemption from the draft due to physical disability. Henry was registered on June 5, 1917. 

If there is any male person in your family tree would was between 15 and 45 years old during the 1910s, you may want to see if they served during the Great War beginning with the same steps I took. 

The Library resumes regular hours (post-Covid) on Thursday, November 12th. Please remember that access to the Research Room is limited to those who have made an advance appointment directly with me. As of this writing (5:40 pm 10 November), the next available Research Room appointment time slot is Monday, November 16th.

KIA: Pearl Harbor

(National Archives Image)

Last  updated: 8 December 2025 - gmc

A few minutes before 8 o'clock on a quiet Sunday morning, on December 7,  1941 [11:55 am in the Eastern Time Zone] the Japanese launched a surprise air attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. 2,403 American military personnel lost their lives, among whom were 25 South Carolinians. Reports in the aftermath claimed that two Beaufortonians had been killed during the strike. 

Fredrick Holmes Christensen, 1877-1944, was a Beaufort born businessman with lumber, hardware, petroleum, real estate, automobile and truck farming interests here. From 1893 to 1944 he kept an almost daily diary. On Sunday, December 7, 1941, he wrote:

We were electrified today when it was announced from Washington after 2 o'clock that Japanese aeroplanes had attacked the United States Naval base in Hawaian [sic] Islands and Honolulu. 

The assault  lasted less that two hours. On Monday, December 8, 1941, Christensen continued:

The reports from Hawaii are sketchy and incomplete. The Japanese claim they destroyed two battleships, an aeroplane carrier and hit numerous other warships. Washington says one of the older battleships was damaged so badly that she capsized. One destroyer blew up and several other vessels were damaged while 3000 casualties included 1500 killed. Many aeroplanes destroyed. 

As Christensen noted "After one week of war we are still without information on the extent of the damaged [sic] inflicted on our fleet in Hawaii by the Japs last Sunday."  (Diary entry on 14 December 1941). In the chaos and fog of war, sometimes mistakes about damages and casualties are made.

Some lowcountry men are known to have been on Oahu Hawaii the morning of the attack.  Gen. Jacob E. Smart (USAF) authored Lowcountry Families in World War II, A Memorial: We Mourn the Fallen and Honor All Who Served. He compiled biographies of servicemen from Hardeeville, Bluffton, southern Colleton County, Jasper and Hampton Counties. Smart mentioned the following  men from these areas as being present at Pearl Harbor that morning:

• Oden Benton (Colleton County) was wounded by Japanese strafing runs at Bellows Field. He died of his wounds about two weeks later.
• Roland M. Byrd
• Richard A. (Ray) Malphrus
• Joseph Clinton Nettles
• Dr. Frank Ryan was the youngest captain in the United States Navy at the time. He was working at the Hospital. 

He also included Gerald H. Preacher who was a civilian engineer working for General Electric Company on the island and witnessed the attack.

Smart's book does not include service members who were from the population base of Beaufort County at the time, that is, the towns and rural communities of Northern Beaufort County: Beaufort, Port Royal, St. Helena Island, and Burton. However, we know that the effects of the attack impacted Beaufort County in a most significant way: The Beaufort Gazette issue on New Year's Day in 1942 proclaimed "Beaufort Lost Two Citizens at Pearl Harbor."

(BDC - Beaufort Gazette January 1, 1942)

It is significant that the Beaufort Gazette acknowledged the contributions and loss of these African-American brothers. It  went against commonly held views of the period to state "These two boys were citizens of Beaufort County ... and will prove to our state and national that all regardless of race, color or creed, we stand united in common purpose to destroy despotism and to free all peoples who now live under its barbarous masters." But you do notice the use of the now considered pejorative term "boys" in the column text. At the time of the bombing Leon Bush was a young man aged 21 years old. 

After the very popular former SC Representative Stratton Christensen was killed, Fredrick Christensen, his kinsman, wrote this in his diary June 14, 1942:

This has been a pretty "Blue" week for us. Niels [Christensen] went to Boston to tell his Grand-mother of Stratton's loss. I tried to speak of it at the Rotary Club, but though I had thought out what I would say [I] could only give the first two or three opening sentences and had to quit. Everyone is very much interested and sympathetic -- it is the first ^ white^ casualty from Beaufort though two colored boys were killed at Pearl Harbor and two or three have died at camps.

I originally posted this Beaufort Gazette article in a blog post written for the Pearl Harbor anniversary in 2009.  Some years later a Bush family relative visiting our Research Room, Leona Smith, said that Leon had survived the war and had lived to a ripe old age up North. 

When volume 3 of The History of Beaufort County, South Carolina by Lawrence Rowland and Stephen Wise was published in 2015, the authors mention the brothers as among the first casualties from Beaufort County during World War II. The Bush brothers are listed on the Beaufort County's World War II roll of honor along with 36 other men who sacrificed their lives. (pp. 365-366, 375). Given that it was time to highlight the anniversary of Pearl Harbor again by researching some of the local men who were there, I decided to see what documentation I could find to back up the notices of death given in the Beaufort Gazette article. I used printed materials in the BDC and searched the Ancestry Library Edition database which we make available to our customers.

The first place I looked was The Official Roster of South Carolina Servicemen and Servicewomen in World War II, 1941-1946, 5 vols. (South Carolina State Budget and Control Board, 1967), p. 617. There I discovered entries for both men:

"BUSH, LEON W   2626463.  B DALE SC 10 JAN 20. HA NEW YORK NY.    EAD USN 14 AUG 40. HON DISCH    MATT2C  28 JUL 42" which translates to Leon W. Bush's service number is 2626463. He was born in Dale, SC on January 10, 1920. His [current to 1967] home address is New York, New York. He entered active duty in the United States Navy on August 14, 1940. He received an honorable discharge at the rank of MATT2C on 28 July 1942. 

"BUSH, SAMUEL J SN UNKWN. HA BEAUFORT SC. USN    MAIC  KIA" which translates to Samuel J. Bush, whose service number is unknown to the compilers of the official roster, was from Beaufort, SC. He was a sailor in the United States Navy. MAIC isn't listed in the abbreviations list so I am not sure what that means. (Perhaps one of you old tars can enlighten me). Samuel Bush was killed in action. And Post 207, American Legion is named in his honor. 

There is plenty of documentation to confirm that Samuel Jackson Bush, son of Adam W. Bush, died on December 7, 1941:   

• The National Parks Service's World War II Valor in the Pacific website lists Samuel Jackson Bush (USS California) as killed during the attack.
• Official Roster of South Carolina Servicemen and Servicewomen in World War II, 1941 – 1946, p. 617
• Honolulu, Hawaii, National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl), 1941 – 2011 (ALE)
• WWI, WWII, and Korean War Casualty Listings (ALE)
• World War II and Korean Conflict Veterans Interred Overseas (ALE)
• U.S., Navy Casualties Books, 1776-1941 (ALE)
• U.S. World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938-1949 (ALE)

Apparently the brothers were on the same ship, the USS California when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The Bush brothers, like the majority of Black sailors during World War II, served as mess attendants.

U.S. World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938-1949 (ALE)

On the Muster Roll written on December 31, 1941, Samuel is listed as “Killed in action in the line of duty” and Leon is listed as having been transferred to the USS Salt Lake City on 13 December 1941. He went on to serve on the Nitro and West Virginia.

I have not been able to ascertain when the error became known to his family. I read all 52 issues of Beaufort Gazette for 1942 but did not see a retraction or announcement that Leon was alive. The Christensen diary entry in June 1942 indicates he believed that the Bush brothers were both dead. Although Christensen makes reference to an event held by the local Black community in memory of those lost at sea on 28 May 1944, the Beaufort Gazette did not cover the event. I was hoping to see if either brother was mentioned at the Memorial service. (In all fairness, the Beaufort Gazette was covering very little local news and was close to shutting down before a new editor leased it in mid-July of 1944). However, in the "Honor List of Those Who Gave Lives in Service" Beaufort Gazette, 19 July 1946, p. 1 only Samuel is listed - which leads me to surmise that news of Leon's survival had reached the area at some point between mid-1942 and mid-1946.

Leon is listed as a survivor in his father’s obituary. 

 

As indicated above, Leon is listed – very much alive -- in the Official Roster of South Carolina Servicemen and Servicewomen in World War II, 1941 – 1946, State Budget and Control Board, 1967, p. 617. He was honorably discharged on July 28, 1942. In 1967 he gave his residence as New York City. Another clue: According to Social Security Death Index records -- if I have the right Leon W. Bush as there are more than a few Leon Bushes listed -- he lived to be 90 years old and died in Barnstable Massachusetts on November 3, 2010.

Dr. Rowland assures me that when volume 3 is revised, the error will be corrected to reflect that only Samuel died in the attack.  

Though their names appear in the indexes to the Men and Women in World War II Scrapbooks, I was unable to find any other references to them in the two volumes. 

Post 207 of the American Legion was chartered and named in memory of  Samuel Jackson Bush in 1959.  

The moral of this post? Emulate President Ronald Reagan: "Trust but verify" using sources at hand in the Library. Identify the potential sources (which can change over time), check those sources, and corroborate what you think you know  - because sometimes what you think you know might be wrong.

Tracing Your Revolutionary War Ancestor

Please note: This post was last updated 24 May 2024. - gmc 

Today's post concentrates on Library materials and databases about Revolutionary War soldiers and sympathizers. Perhaps some of your ancestors fought in the war for American Independence - and the Library has resources to help you find out! Taking that one step further, perhaps some of your ancestors fought in the Revolution and you are applying for membership into one or more of the Revolutionary War related heritage societies listed on the FamilySearch website. 

Genealogical research always benefits from some historical context. 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 # SC 975.799 ROW) that discusses how the American Revolution unfolded here in Beaufort District. Check out a copy from the local history section at your favorite Beaufort County Library branch.

Attack on Savannah, Oct. 8, 1779 (National Archives)

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 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. To get started, one must know a little about the various types of military service related records.

General Types of Military Records

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.

Materials in the Beaufort District Collection as well as in our branch libraries can help you work your ancestral line. In order to do ancestral research properly, you must make accurate notes of the work you've done. Here are a few suggestions to get you started uncovering your Patriot or Loyalist or Tory roots.

Ancestry Library Edition

Ancestry has a YouTube channel that includes a 4 minute video "Using the Sons of the American Revolution Applications" that offers you some handy tips.

At the present time, ALE has 73 Revolutionary War related databases one can search for American Patriots and Tories. 

You can also use the Ancestry Library Edition suite to access Census records. Finding a clue in the census that says an ancestor served in a specific war can speed up your search for associated military records. For example in the 1840 census, you’ll find names of surviving Revolutionary War veterans. 

All branch libraries provide access to ALE. If you want one-on-one help with Ancestry Library Edition, call the BDC at 843-255-6468 or send us an e-mail to bdc@bcgov.net.

SC 369.135 DAR PT. 1- 3 DAR Patriot Index: Centennial Edition by the Daughters of the American Revolution (Washington, DC: 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.  

SC 929.3 BOC 1998 Revolutionary War Bounty Land Grants Awarded by State Governments by Lloyd DeWitt Bockstruck (Baltimore, MD: 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

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, (Baltimore, MD: 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.

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

Carolina growing out of the Revolution (Columbia SC: The Historical Commission of South Carolina, 1910-1939).

973.3 EDG 2001 Partisans & Redcoats: The Southern Campaign that Turned the Tide of the American Revolution by Walter Edgar (New York: Morrow, 2001). 

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

Lambert (Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1987).

SC 973.343 MOS 2004 African-American Patriots in the Southern Campaign of the American Revolution by Bobby G. Moss and Michael C. Scoggins (Blacksburg, SC: Scotia-Hibernia Press, 2004).

SC 973.353 MOS 2005 African-American Loyalists in the Southern Campaign of the American Revolution by Bobby G. Moss and Michael C. Scoggins (Blacksburg, SC: Scotia-Hibernia Press, 2005).

REF 973.344 AFR African American and American Indian Patriots of the Revolutionary

War (Washington, D.C.: National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, 2001).                  

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." Please note: The item is 874 pages so it can take some time for the item to download. 

Gen. Benjamin Lincoln (National Archives)

SC REF 973.3457 ERV South Carolinians in the Revolution by Sara Ervin ([S.l.]: Genealogical Publishing, 1965). 

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, SC: A.E. Miller, 1822). Also available online available online through Hathitrust. 

SC 973.3457 GRU 2013 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. (Washington, D.C.: National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, 2013).

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

by Bobby Moss ([S.l.]: Genealogical Publishing, 1985).

SC 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 ([S.l.] : Walker and James 1851). Also available online through Hathitrust.

State of South Carolina Records on Microfilm in the BDC Research Room:

Beaufort is a "Burned County": Almost all of our pre-Civil War records were destroyed in 1865. This fact makes genealogy more challenging here. For this reason, the BDC has 18 series of microfilmed records from the SC State Archives on hand. Among those most important for identifying American Revolution ancestors are:

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

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 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 Revolutionary 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. Printed guide 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. Printed guide 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. 

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

This is a fundamental genealogical and historical resource for the period covered. Printed guide 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 good mine of primary documentation for social, cultural, and economic historical studies. Printed guide is available in our Research Room. Indexed 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 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 our Research Room. Partially indexed online via the Online Records Index at the South Carolina Department of Archives and History.

Using the guides to collections held at the South Carolina Department of Archives and History can be a bit daunting. Be sure to read the "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. 

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. 

If you'd like to set up an appointment to sit down with one of our staff for one-on-one assistance with our materials or to use the microfilm we have, please e-mail bdc@bcgov.net or call 843-255-6468. We'll do our best to work out a date and time that is mutually agreeable. 

Source of Images: 
Attack on Savannah, Oct. 8,1779. Illustration by A.I. Keller. 148-GW-1120. National Archives 

Lincoln, Benjamin. Painting (3/4 length) by Henry Sargent. 111-SC-92618 National Archives    

New Collection of Women Marine Records at the National Archives

It's National Women's History Month. Did you know that all the women recruits for the United States Marines Corps go through boot camp at Parris Island?        From the National Archives Catalog e-newsletter of March 9, 2017: U.S. Marine Corps: Records Relating to the Commemoration of the Year of the Women Marines, and to Subsequent Women Marine Activities, 1/1968-4/1972 Records relating to the 1968 Marine Corps commemoration of 25 years of Marine women which included a yearlong celebration designed to honor women Marines, past and present. Included are official biographies and photographs of Marine women directors; and of the young, active duty Marine women representing each state, comprising the 1968 Governors' Platoon. Includes photographs digitized for online access. Questions or comments? Email us at catalog@nara.gov.