The settlers that inhabited South Carolina in the second half of the seventeenth century led lives that few in the Palmetto State today could recognize. Their land sat on the margin of a vast, largely unexplored continent, and the events and transactions that figured prominently in their daily lives reflect a frontier milieu that is both fascinating and historically significant. This book--a compilation of abstracts from the record book kept by the Secretary of the Province of South Carolina from 1675 to 1695--is an intriguing look into the inner workings of the fledgling colony. Family relationships, marriages, surnames, and the death dates of many colonists are made available to a wide audience for the first time here. Included is information illuminating the lives and social histories of masters, servants, slaves, Indians and women. Estate records, ships' manifests, inventories, apprenticeships and indentures are all represented. This primary-source material will be a boon for genealogists and historians, and a treasure for descendants and other readers alike. Editors Harriot Cheves Leland and Susan Baldwin Bates, through their exhaustive research, impart a bevy of genealogical data that will help to shed light on the history of many lines and families. Nowhere else can readers find such a wealth of information and insight into the personal lives of the first settlers of what would become South Carolina.

"This work reveals the pervasive nature of Native enslavement and argues for the significance and importance of enslaved Native Americans in the social, cultural, and economic development of early South Carolina"--

William E. Nelson here proposes a new beginning in the study of colonial legal history. Examining all archival legal material for the period 1607-1776 and synthesizing existing scholarship in a four-volume series, The Common Law in Colonial America shows how the legal systems of Britain's thirteen North American colonies--initially established in response to divergent political, economic, and religious initiatives--slowly converged into a common American legal order that differed substantially from English common law.

In the final years of the seventeenth century, Richard Traunter—an experienced Indian trader fluent in three Indigenous languages—made a number of trips into the interior of Virginia and the Carolina colonies, keeping a record of his travels and the people he encountered. This primary-source edition of Traunter’s account makes his crucial text, held in private collections for more than three hundred years, widely available for the first time. Traunter’s journals shed light on colonial society, Indigenous cultures, and evolving politics, offering a precious glimpse into a world in dramatic transition. He describes rarely referenced Native peoples, details diplomatic efforts, and relates the dreadful impact of a smallpox epidemic then raging through the region. In concert with Eno Will, the head man at Ajusher who accompanied Traunter on both treks, Traunter also helped establish trade pacts with eight Indigenous nations. Part natural history, part adventure tale, all expertly contextualized by Sandra Dahlberg, Traunter’s narrative provides a unique vantage point through which to view one of the most important periods in the colonial South and represents an invaluable resource for students and specialists alike.