The Raysor and Risher families are believed to have migrated from New Bern, Craven County, North Carolina, to the Red Bank area of Colleton County, South Carolina. A Michael Razor appears in early South Carolina documents as early as 1772 (There also is a Michal Razor on an 1810 tax list for Lee County, Virginia, so this may or may not be our Michael "Raysor", Sr.)  

     However, there is little doubt that land plats in the Colleton and Charleston Districts of South Carolina as early as 1786 mention our Michael Raysor, also spelled Rasor and Razor.

    "Michel Razor" appears in the 1790 Census index for Charleston District, St. Bartholomew's Parish, South Carolina.  Michael Raysor's tavern appears on an 1824 map of the area.   Abstracts of some early documents are on this page.  The names of Michael and Eleanor Raysor's children are linked below to a brief outline of each family group. Please scroll down the page for much more information & photographs.

     The children of Michael and Eleanor Raysor were:

James M. Raysor
b. Colleton District, SC; m. Elizabeth Sophia Chalmers; he died August 7, 1845 in Randolph County, Georgia. (Elizabeth returned to Colleton County with the children).

Thomas M. Raysor 
b. December 23, 1797, Colleton District, SC; married (1st) Hannah Stokes; married (2nd) Mary Ayer; he died January 14, 1858 in Barnwell County, South Carolina.

Alfred Raysor
b. Nov. 22, 1801 in Colleton County;  married Barbara Mary Inabinet; they migrated to Jefferson County Florida between 1850-1860.  According to a published obituary, he died Nov. 27, 1874 in Jefferson Co., FL. 

Ann Raysor
b. August 13, 1805; m. Joseph Kinsey Stokes; They remained in lower Colleton County, South Carolina

Rebecca Raysor
b. September 15, 1806;  m. David Walker.  They appear with their children in the Colleton County, SC census of 1850, and approximately 1854, they migrated to Jefferson County, Florida.

George Raysor
b. July 19, 1808; m. 1st Anne Sisson Stokes and, 2nd, Jane Stokes Walker (sister of Anne); he died in South Carolina.  

John M. Raysor
b. May 23, 1812 in Colleton District;  m. Mary Ann Walker; they migrated to Jefferson County, Florida in 1846;  he died in Jefferson County, Florida on September 10, 1863.

If you are a descendant, or if you have information or old photos to share, we welcome your participation.

NOTE:  RAYSOR FAMILY GATHERING  is a private group of researchers not affiliated with any organization.  We appreciate the free web space provided by RootsWeb, but this research site is not affiliated with RootsWeb.

• Alfred Raysor, Sr. and Barbara Mary Inabinet Family Bible

• David Walker - Rebecca Raysor Family Bible

• George Raysor, Sr.- John May Family Bible

• Thomas Raysor, Sr. Family Record
  

MARRIAGES

Michael Razor, Sr. to Marion Hover, 1774

BIOGRAPHIES,  OBITUARIES & LETTERS

• George D. Raysor Obituary

• David Walker Biography by Charles A. G. Walker, II

• James M. Raysor, Sr. Biography

• Alfred Raysor, Sr. Obituary and Will

• Civil War Letter from Michael O. Raysor to His Wife

• John M. Raysor Obituaries

• John M. Raysor, Jr. Obituary

• Senator Thomas Raysor, Sr.  Biography

• Rev. Dr. Thomas Raysor Biography

• Sen. Thomas Middleton Raysor, Biography

• Thomas Middleton Raysor, II,  Biography

• Chalmers Raysor Obituary- Ocala, FL

• Henry C. Raysor Obituary- Allendale, SC

• George Washington Raysor Obituary- Walterboro, SC

• Michael O. Raysor Obituary

• Elizabeth Raysor Risher Obituary

• Roy Miller Lilly Obituary

• Mary Raysor Bellamy Obituary

• Miscellaneous Marriages and Deaths

• Early South Carolina Document Indexes for Raysor, Rasor, and Razor

• 1850 Census - Colleton County South Carolina

• Image 1
• Image 2
• Image 3

• Low Country Families (Pat Sabin's Site)   including Will of Thomas Raysor, Sr, Photographs and Raysor-Gavin GEDCOM

• Clemson University Alumni Tribute to Harry A. Raysor, Class of 1939, died in Italy WWII

• [Raysor] Bryan, David M. "Charleston Lady to Frontier Widow ... and Back!: The Saga of Elizabeth Chalmers Raysor," The South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research, Vol. 37, No. 4 (Fall 2009):187-194. FHL Book 975.7 B2sc v. 37 

SCGenWeb County Sites

Allendale | Bamberg  | Barnwell | Colleton | Dorchester | Hampton 

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• RAYSOR GenForum Message Board

• RAYSOR Message Board at RootsWeb

• 1856 Will and Slave Inventory of Thomas M. Raysor, Sr. (scanned documents)  

• Tom Blake's Site:  LARGEST SLAVEHOLDERS FROM 1860 SLAVE CENSUS SCHEDULES and SURNAME MATCHES FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS ON 1870 CENSUS. Includes many counties in Alabama, Arkansas,  Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia

• Colleton County, SC
• Barnwell County, SC

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Many THANKS to family members who have contributed to this page, and a very special thank you to my grandmother's cousin,  the late Frank Wannamaker Raysor, who made an enormous contribution to Raysor family genealogy!  I hope he's pleased with our continued efforts to reconstruct and preserve Raysor family history.