Laurens County was founded in the late 18th century and named for Henry Laurens, Revolutionary War hero and distinguished South Carolina statesman. The county's small towns have grown to include opportunities in business, the arts, and education. In Laurens County, the community's history unfolds in vintage postcards of the Laurens Court House Square, Presbyterian College, textile mills, churches, health resorts, small towns, and local residents. These collectible postcards portray a picturesque county in upstate South Carolina that possesses a rich heritage, character, and charm that linger even today.

A thriving community when "cotton was king," Laurens County has endured the ravages of several wars, the Great Depression, and the devastation of the boll weevil, and today retains the indomitable spirit of her earliest settlers. Although no longer plagued by such hardships, Laurens Countians are still bonded by the ideals and rights for which their ancestors fought, and work equally hard to maintain a community of which they and their children can be proud. Laurens County was created on December 10, 1807, and named for Col. John Laurens, an aide to Gen. George Washington during the American Revolution. The original county seat was located at Sumpterville, about five miles west of Dublin near the banks of Turkey Creek. The history of the county has been marked by a thriving plantation system in the 19th century, an unyielding service to her country in wartime, an economic boom with the coming of the railroad, the establishment of successful local industries, the building of numerous churches and schools, and participation in a wide variety of sports and recreational activities. Many Laurens Countians have achieved fame and celebrity, whether as courageous soldiers on the battlefield or triumphant athletes on the playing field, and they are highlighted in this volume along with local landmarks and memorable community events.

In the years following the Revolutionary War, Americans delved deeper into their new homeland and found an unequaled grace in the landscape of what is now known as Laurens County. Named after Henry Laurens, a famed war hero and South Carolina native, the county is nestled in the state's piedmont region, with short distances to both the mountains and beaches. Small-town charm lingers in the area, even as the county's towns grow to include extraordinary opportunities in business, the arts, and education. In this volume of vintage, black-and-white photographs, readers are fortunate to experience a Laurens County of a different era. The rhythmic patter of horse hooves and squeak of wooden wagons meant people were hard at work, and the ringing of a bell called students to a one-room schoolhouse. The landscape encompassed patchworks of farms and bustling mill villages before the region found the conveniences of modern technology. Some of those who fashioned the area into its present state-where pride in culture and heritage stand at the forefront-take center stage in this pictorial history. Laurens County will spark the memories of those who lived its history while illustrating the tales with images for future generations.

A picturesque community in the Upstate's piedmont landscape, the city of Laurens possesses a rich heritage and unique small-town character and charm. Since its founding in the latter part of the eighteenth century, the city, named for Revolutionary War hero and distinguished South Carolinian Henry Laurens, has grown and developed into the county's primary crossroads, serving not only as the county seat, but a center of social activity, from circuses to Chautauquas. This volume, with over 200 black-and-white photographs and postcards, captures the Laurens of yesteryear, a time measured by the sound of railroad whistles, hoof beats on dusty streets, and the early noisy stirrings of automobiles. Covering the many elements of everyday life in Laurens--the academic, industrial, spiritual, and social--this visual history takes readers on a remarkable tour through the area's past, showcasing early schools, such as the Laurensville Female College and the "old" Central School; turn-of-the-century textile mills, such as the Laurens Cotton Mill and the Watts Mill Plant; a wide variety of churches, including Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian denominations, to name but a few; and early residences and businesses that make up the Laurens Historic District.

This book was written to aid families with ancestors from Laurens County, South Carolina, to jumpstart their genealogical research. Although the focus is on sources of particular relevance to African Americans, the book also contains information relevant to slave-holding families. Also, the background information at the beginning of each section will be of general interest to those families from South Carolina who are researching their African ancestors. In addition to practical advice born from the authors genealogical research and formal studies, the book includes information and compilations regarding the following topics: Free Persons of Color in Antebellum Laurens Slaves in Will Transcripts (17821860) Legislative Papers (17821866) Comptroller General Tax Return Books (18661868) 1869 SC State Population Census 1860 US Census Slave Schedule and Matching African American Surnames in the 1870 US Census Excerpts of Freedmen Bureau Records Grave Markers at Five African American Churches

This volume contains abstracts of the South Carolina Journal Petitions for Land, South Carolina Colonial Surveys, and Memorials of Land Titles, with chains of title, marriage data, and many lost pieces of information that will assist researchers in this area of Laurens County, SC. These land deeds present new research aids to follow the out-migration of families-including many of the earliest land transactions, powers of attorney, and last will and testaments-as deeds of gift to family members are found. Ordinarily, Rabun Creek marriages went unrecorded and are difficult to locate, but they also show up in these deeds as dower rights and prior marriages. Complete with name and place indexes, this pioneering work identifies thousands of ancestors with connections to Rabun Creek prior to 1848.