BLACKS FOUND IN THE DEEDS of Laurens & Newberry Counties, SC: 1785-1827

The compiler, Margaret Peckham Motes, abstracted all references to African Americans that could be found in the Deed Books for Laurens and Newberry counties, South Carolina, between 1780 and 1827--many records actually pre-dating the formation of these counties in 1785. The book covers deeds of gift, deeds of sale, mortgages, and references to manumissions found in deeds. Each of the several thousand abstracts gives the date the deed was filed; names and counties of residence of all parties to the transaction; amount of the transaction, if any; names of the African Americans mentioned in the sources, along with any identifying comments (age, height, children, etc.); names of witnesses and the justice of the peace; and the date the deed was recorded.