 Welcome to the South Carolina, June 2002, Issue of the Belcher Blues Newsletter. STATEHOOD: May 23, 1788 STATE MOTTO: Prepared in mind and resources. STATE BIRD: Carolina Wren STATE FLOWER: Yellow Jessamine STATE TREE: Palmetto STATE CAPITAL: Columbia "The concerns of this country are so closely connected and interwoven with Indian affairs, and not only a great branch of our trade, but even the safety of this Province, do so much depend upon our continuing in friendship with the Indians, that I thought it highly neccesary to gain all the knowledge I could of them..." - Governor James Glen from A Description of the Province of South Carolina, 1763 South Carolina, was occupied by Indians, sometimes called American Indians or Native Americans. At least 29 distinct groups of Indians lived within South Carolina area. Many of the tribes that once lived in South Carolina are now extinct .This means that there are either no surviving members or that they no longer organize themselves as a tribe. A few tribes, however, still exist and are active . today. This means that descendents of the original tribe organized themselves, either socially or politically, as a group. The Catawba ,Dee ,Chicora ,Edisto ,Santee ,and Chicora-Waccamaw tribes are all still present in South Carolina as are many descendents of the Cherokee. Who is South Carolina named for? Carolinius is Latin for Charles. England has had two kings named Charles. In 1629 Charles I granted a vast area he called "Carolana" to Sir Robert Heath, his attorney general. However, Heath did little to develop his new domain, which encompassed present-day South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia. Charles I was beheaded by the Puritan Revolution in 1649, but his son, Charles II, was restored to the English throne in 1660. In 1663 the new king changed the name "Carolana" to "Carolina" and awarded the territory to eight of his most faithful supporters, who were thence called the Lords Proprietors. Six years later the Proprietors sent three ships of colonists to establish a settlement at Port Royal (just south of Beaufort). In early April 1670, after a stormy, roundabout voyage, one of these ships–the Carolina–sailed into Charleston Harbor and landed its passengers on the western shore of what we now call the Ashley River. The colonists called their new town Albemarle Point in honor of the eldest of the Lords Proprietors. But the Proprietors soon changed its name to Charles Town to honor the king. So, it seems reasonable to say that South Carolina was originally named for Charles I of England and that Charleston was named for his son, Charles II. On March 24, 1663, Charles II granted to the Lords Proprietors a slice of North America running from the Atlantic to the Pacific, lying between 36 degrees north latitude on the north and 31 degrees on the south. This huge section of continent was granted absolutely to the following men, to be financed by them, and for them to profit by, and to rule, with the help or interference of such a local government as they might permit. Above them was only the King. In the order named in Charles' charter they were: the Earl of Clarendon the Duke of Albemarle, Lord Craven , Lord Berkeley, Lord Ashley, Sir George Carteret , Sir William Berkeley , and Sir John Colleton . Two years later, the charter was amended to raise the north line 30 minutes and the south line by two degrees. In other words, the huge slice of North America that was Carolina included: the present states of North and South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas, a small part of Missouri, most of Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, the southern half of California, the southern tip of Nevada, the north part of Florida, and a slice of northern Mexico. When you are researching in the early years of our great country, remember that all these states were one huge area. 
South Carolina Census for Belchers
South Carolina Civil War Records for Belchers Belcher Records in South Carolina 1810 South Carolina 3rd Census
Genealogy Research New Hope Baptist Church Cemetery Gayl Ramey Wells Greg Belcher  |