South Carolina Places-The Camden Archives and Museum

The Camden Archives and Museum is a must place to research if you have Kershaw County or surrounding area ancestors. Information on other South Carolina locations and be assessed there as well. he building is the city's former Carnegie Library, built-in 1915. It's located at  1314 Broad Street/US Highway 521, Camden.  (803) 425-6050.
Hours are posted on the website, but I recommend calling before you arrive.

Camden Archives and Museum
Camden, Kershaw, South Carolina

The Archives

The staff is helpful and will help you with any research questions and help you locate records, books, maps, periodicals, and microfilm that may contain information on your family. I have been able to call ahead and ask for books, files, and other items to be pulled before I arrive.
Hanging files can be requested and brought to the research tables for you to look through and see what information has been collected on Surnames, Organizations, businesses,  history, and other topics. For a list of some of the holdings please click here.

Research Tables

Periodicals

Books from Kershaw County and other Locations

Microfilm Readers

Map Collection

The Museum

Walking through the archives leads to the museum. Permanent and rotating exhibits feature artifacts from all time periods of the area's history.  Since Camden was a major player in the Revolutionary War many of the artifacts come from the Battle of Camden and other locations.
Don't overlook museums in your genealogy research.  The exhibits will give you an idea of what was going on during your ancestor's lifetimes. Photos, clothing, tools, etc, represent what life may have been like for them, or what they may have experienced or known about. Even if they don't belong to your ancestor, we can learn so much by the items in a museum's collection.  Some lucky researchers have found artifacts belonging to their ancestors in exhibits.  The photos below are some of the items on display on my last visit. The Alexander Young shown in one of the photos may have been related to my step-grandfather!

Original Town Clock
Circa 1825

Artifacts from the Battle of Camden 

!844 Wedding Slipper of Lucretia (Douglas) Kershaw

1918 Victrola

Alexander Young Silver Maker Exhibit

The Ross E Beard Gun Collection

For more information about the Camden Archives and Museum use these links: 

YouYube Channel
Facebook Page


The Camden Archives and Museum is a special place to research for me. 
From newspapers, books, hanging files, and city directories, I have found many valuable pieces of information on my family who called the area home.


Have you researched the Archives and visited the Museum?
Please leave a comment and share your experience!

South Carolina Places~The South Carolina Room at Chapin Memorial Library

South Carolina is beautiful and full of history. 
This series highlights places around the state where you can go to learn, experience and research.

The Shirley Walker Boone South Carolina Room at the Chapin Memorial Library is a resource for those researching in Horry County and other places in the state or those nearby.
Located at 400 14th Ave North in Myrtle Beach, it is open each day except Sunday at 9am.

Closing times vary throughout the week so check the website or call 843-918-1275 before you plan a visit.

Chapin Memorial Library
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

On the second floor of the library, the room provides access to many books on the county and state, maps and a microfilm machine for viewing census records. There are videos to watch containing oral histories of Horry County and a set of CD sets of records from South Carolina and neighboring states.
There are tables and chairs to spread out your research and sit and read as you discover information on your ancestors. 





Outside the room, there are shelves with genealogy periodicals from local, state and national genealogical societies. Magazines and genealogy how-to books are also available.

Chapin Library also has subscriptions to several genealogy sites such as Ancestry and My Heritage. In order to access these, you must have a Chapin Library card. There are several public computers available near the research room.

Over the last few years, the staff has begun a digitization program featuring obituaries from Horry County newspapers, and other items from the county's history. 
This is an ongoing project and can be found by searching the library's online catalog. Just drill down to "Digitized Collection"  on the search page.

You can also find a booklet called "Beginning Genealogy" to help get you started on your genealogy journey. This booklet was produced and continues to be updated by The Grand Strand Genealogy Club which meets at the library on the second Saturday of the month at 10 a.m. The club is free and all are welcome to attend.

Have you utilized the resources in the Shirley Walker Boone South Carolina Room at Chapin Memorial Library? What discoveries did you make?

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Helping your climb your famly tree,

South Carolina Places-The Horry County Archives Center

South Carolina is beautiful and full of history. 
This series highlights places around the state where you can go to learn, experience and research.

The Horry County Archives Center

The Horry County Archives Center is located on the second floor of the Kimbal Library on the campus of Coastal Carolina University, Conway, South Carolina.

Kimbal Library, CCU, Conway, South Carolina

 Although not a big room, but it has many items to help those whose ancestors were from the area. 
It's mission is to preserve the history of Horry and surroundng counties that once belonged to the old Georgetown District.  

The center has a research room that is open to both students and visitors .
There are no rules for what you can bring into the center. Only a reminder it is part of the library deemed a "Quiet Area". 
It is a self serve center with no staff working directly out of the room to help you with your research. 
Students and others may be using the room for research or study. 







There are microfilms containing land records available to view on newer microfilm machines. Currently there are two readers with attatched printers.

List of microfilms held at the Horry County Archives Center

Books on the history of the county, cemetery surveys, family compilations, military involment and others are on the shelves. There are also video interviews from local historians and experts on the area. 

An ongoing digitization program, including newspapers, can be found by clicking here.

The address for the Kimbal library is 376 University Blvd, Conway, SC 29526, A visitor parking pass is required for those who are not students or faculity. Like most college campases parking can be hard to find and far from the ubilding.  The center is open during normal library hours. 
For information about directions, parking and hours click here.

For more information visit The Horry County Archives Center website.

Do you have Horry County ancestors? I would love to hear about them!
Researched in the Horry County Archives Center? Share your discoveries!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Helping you climb your family tree,

South Carolina Places -St. Joseph's Academy

St, Joseph's Acadamy, Sumter, South Carolina
Credit: The University of South Carolina Digital Post Card Collection
https://digital.tcl.sc.edu/digital/collection/sclvispc/id/18423

My maternal great grandmother, Loretta (McManus) Daughrity (1894-1936) attended St. Joseph's Academy in Sumter, South Carolina. A boarding school for girls, it was said that she was sent there sometime after the death of her mother, Frances "Fannie" Victoria (McRady) McManus (1856-1903).

Loretta McRady McManus
(1894-1936)
Graduation Picture
St. Joseph's Academy
About 1911
©Cheri Hudson Passey

   
    St. Joseph Academy was started in 1863 by the Sisters of Mercy, who moved to Sumter County to get away from the unrest of the Civil War. The school served as a place of learning and community events for Catholics and Non-Catholics until 1929. 

                                   

St. Joseph's Academy About 1907
Sumter County Postcards-Schools

     It is not known exactly when Etta McManus began attending St. Joseph's but two newspaper reports of the 1910 and 1911 Graduation Ceremonies name her as a participant.

 Award for Household Industry

June 1910 Commencement Exercises
The Watchman and Southron
22 June 1910, pg. 2
image from newspapers.com

   Junior Grade

June 1911 Commencement Exercises
St. Joseph's Academy
The Watchman and Southron
24 June 1911, pg 2
image from newspapers.com

Musical Trio Participant

June 1911 Commencement Exercises
St. Joseph's Academy
The Watchman and Southron
24 June 1911, pg2
image from newspapers.com

    

                   A search for school records to further learn of Etta McManus' time at the academy has not produced any results. 

   
  The following bill showing the price of tuition found in a hanging file for St. Joseph's Academy at the Sumter County Genealogical Society. There is no date on the bill, but a search for Florence Bradford, daughter of R.D. Bradford, named on the document shows that Florence was 12 in the 1920 Sumter County, South Carolina Census, and 22 in the 1930 Census of the same county. 
                                             The bill most likely represents prices from the early to mid-1920s. 

Bill for Tuition
St. Joseph's Academy
Hanging File
Sumter South Carolina Genealogical Society

                                                                              $3 a month for tuition. My, times have changed!

  

                          
Do you have a connection with St. Joseph's Academy?
I'd love to hear from you!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Helping you climb your family tree,