Area
Publications Available
For details on publications
and membership information please contact:
Three Rivers Historical Society P. O. Box 811 - Hemingway, S. C. 29554 - (803)558-2355
The Baptist Black Mingo Church
Article from: The Three Rivers Chronicle
(Volume 1, No. 3)
Narrative Reminiscences
in Williamsburg
"Narrative Reminiscences in Williamsburg" (pub.
1894) by Dr. Samuel Davis McGill (b. 1819, d. 1897), notes of- 1. people
from other places that were associated with the author- 2. people that
moved from other states to Williamsburg- 3. people that moved to other
states from Williamsburg and- 4. people that moved within the state of
South Carolina.
Census Records:
-
Clarendon County - 1860
-
Darlington County -1850 - 1860
-
Florence County - 1900 ( 2 Vols. )
-
Georgetown County - 1850 - 1860 - 1880
-
Marion County - 1820 - 1830 - 1840 - 1850 - 1860
- 1870 - 1880
-
Sumter County - 1850 - 1860
-
Williamsburg County - 1790 thru 1840 - 1850 - 1860
- 1870 - 1880 - 1900
Church Records:
-
The Register Book for the Parish Prince Frederick
Winyaw - Ann: Dom: 1713, 225 pgs.,
-
History of the Williamsburg Church -
J.
A. Wallace, Pastor, 1856 ca. 1736
-
Exerpts from the Minutes of Bethel Baptist Church,
Olanta, S. C.
-
Marriage, Funeral and Baptism Records of Rev. B.
K. Truluck
-
Minute Books of Hebron Baptist Church
-
Minutes of Union Meetings of Ebenezer, Elim, High
Hill Creek Baptist Church 1818-1843
-
Methodist Episcopal Church, Georgetown, S. C.
-
Register Johnsonville Circuit S. C. Conference, Methodist
Episcopal Church, South.
Genealogies/Family Histories:
-
Ancestry and Descendants of James Bingham of Marion
District, S. C. - 100+ pg.
-
A Bradham Family History and Genealogy -
600+
pg.
-
Browntown Museum History/Genealogy -
304
pg.
-
The Cain Tree and Tangled Branches -
174
pg.
-
Coward-Cowart Family of South Carolina
- 100+ pg.
-
Cox-Wheeler and Related Families -
250+
pg.
-
The Davis Family In Wales and America -
375
pg.
-
The Promised Land - The James Eaddy Family in S.
C. - 384 pg.
-
The Descendants of Jacob Godwin -
200
pg
-
The James Malcolmson Gowdy Family in S. C.
-
Happy Heritage: Genealogies of Seven
Southern Families - Lee, Benton, Singletary, Timmons,
Myers, Harrell, Cannon
-
A Genealogy of a Lee Family, Ancestry and Descendants
of David Lee, Sr. - 83 pg.
-
A Genealogy of a Locklair Family
-
A Traditional McCants Family History 1590-1980 -
200+ pg.
-
Our Kin - The James McCutcheon
Family in S. C. - 250+ pg.
-
Daniel and Rebecca McKenzie, Old Williamsburg and
Sumter Districts of S. C. - 100 pg.
-
A Poston Family of S. C. -
275 pg
-
The Promise Land - The James Eaddy
Family in S. C. - 384 pg.
Cemetary Surveys:
-
Volume I - Presbyterian Cemetary, Kingstree, S. C.
& Old Baptist at Black River
-
Volume II - Approx. 24 Local Cemetaries
-
Volume III - Approx. 30 Local Cemetaries
-
A Survey of Cemetaries in Florence, Williamsburg
and Clarendon Counties
-
Mt. Hope Cemetary and Mausoleum - Florence, S. C.
- 183 pg
-
A Survey of 22 Cemetaries in the Johnsonville - Hemingway
Area of Williamsburg District, S. C. - 193 pg.
-
A Survey of Thirty Cemetaries in the Eastern Section
of Lower Florence County, S. C.
-
A Survey of Cemetaries in Lower Florence County,
S. C. - Vol. III
-
A Survry of Cemetaries in Lower Florence County,
S. C. - Vol. IV - 126 pg.
-
Cemetaries Between the Black and Santee Rivers, Williamsburg
Co., S. C.
-
Twenty Five Cemetaries of the Tri-County Area of
Florence, Williamsburg, and Georgetown Counties.
-
Florence National Cemetary
(almost
7400 Vets. from the Civil War to Somalia)
War:
-
A Sketch of the Life of Brig. General Francis Marion
-
Williamsburg County Confederate Enlistment Records
1862-1864
-
Williamsburg County Records of Confederate Pensioners
1905-1911
-
Call to Arms (Civil War)
-
Civil War Parks
-
Letters of Thomas Moses Britton 1862-1863
-
A Roster of Patriots Who Served with Francis Marion
Public Records:
-
Williamsburg County Probate Records -1806-1900
-
Abstracts of Williamsburg County Equity Records -
1823-1870
-
Abstracts of Williamsburg County Deed Books A, B,
C, D, & E
-
Williamsburg County Inventories & Sales (3 Vols.)
1841-1908
-
Index to Williamsburg County, S. C. General Sessions
Court 1806-1906
-
Index of Marriage Notices - Williamsburg County Newspapers
1897-1994
-
Index of Obituary Notices - Williamsburg County Newspapers
1897-1994
-
Abstracts of Georgetown County Wills
-
Marion County School Records 1849-1864
-
Marion County Extracts from Equity Rolls
-
Marion County Probate Records - Vols. I, II, III
Books and References:
-
Narrative Reminescences in Williamsburg (1894)
by Dr. Samuel Davis McGill
-
Early Pee Dee Settlers by John M. Gregg
-
History of Williamsburg
(1923)
by William Willis Boddie
-
There is a River by Rev. W. R. Prichett
-
Life Along the Santee River in Williamsburg County
by
P. G. Gourdin
-
The Historical Background of the Brown's Ferry Vessel
by Rowena Counson Nylund
-
The Research of Anne Tindall - Vols. I & II
-
Bartell Journels (1823-1864)
-
Family Bible Records - 300+ pg. - 7500+
entries
-
Quarterly Publication with Membership
The Baptist Black Mingo
Church
By: Elaine Y. Eaddy
Built with slave labor by Cleland Belin on his own land, Black Mingo
Baptist Church is all that remains of the settlement called in the early
1760's Black Mingo and later Willtown. The church was erected in 1843.
Services are held there each fifth Sunday of the month.
Belin was a descendant of Elisha Screven who laid out the town of Georgetown,
from which place Cleland Belin came to Willtown as a boy. He lived there
the rest of his life, becoming a wealthy merchant. He married Sarah Margaret
McFadden; of this marriage there were thirteen children, eleven of whom
died before the age of five years. The two who survived were Sarah Jane
who married Dr. S. D. M. Byrd and Rebecca Ann who married George J. Graham.
Belin died September 13, 1868. His will, somewhat pious and melancholy
in tone, devises the church and two acres of land to "such Trustees as
may be elected by the votes of the white members of the said church." And
in the same clause, "The said church is not to be controlled and managed
by its colored members at any time hereafter." Despite his piety, Belin
was not a saint. His name appears in the criminal records; he was "had
up" for assault and battery. He begged to be excused from jury duty because
of hemorrhoids. It was twenty-five years after his death before his estate
was settled, perhaps because of the chaotic conditions prevailing after
the Civil War.
The church, on which he surely lavished much love and attention, is
listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It was chosen last
spring for the Historic Buildings Survey and was the subject of an exhaustive
documentary history, large format photographs, a definitive architectural
description, and precise measured drawings. Only one site in the entire
U.S. is so chosen from the National Register each year. The completed drawings,
documentary history, photographs and description are preserved in the Library
of Congress and are available for use and reproduction by the public.
According to the National Register nomination, "this church is a significant
example of a local interpretation of the Greek Revival style. The church
has been maintained and is virtually unaltered except for the roof covering.
Notable architectural features are: the round window and door openings
with intersecting tracery; the two-story unfluted corner pilasters; the
wide beaded entablature; the deep, boxed pediments; and the slave gallery
supported by elongated columns." The Puritan influence can be seen in the
choice of Scripture painted on the friezes. Interior West, for instance,
quotes, "The angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the
just, and cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and
gnashing of teeth." Baptist doctrine shines through the quotation on a
wooden plaque above the rostrum: "God knows thy thoughts. Verily, verily,
I say unto thee; except a man be born of water, and of the spirit, he cannot
enter into the kingdom of God."
Unfortunately, this fine landmark was burned to the ground by vandals
in 1992.
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