St Michael's Lutheran Church Cemetery

     When on vacation earlier this month in Columbia, South Carolina, I re-visted the St Michael's Lutheran Church Cemetery.  I'd visited the cemetery before, but it was the last stop on a long trip and I really didn't give it the attention it deserved.

     This visit was on an early, rainy and cold morning.  I was looking for the graves of my Hyler and Meetze/Metz families, which were documented online already at FindAGrave.com.  Even when there are photos of my ancestor's graves online, I really prefer to visit myself and get my own photos (partly for copyright issues, partly to take a better photo) and get a sense of where they lived.

      While I was there, I took some video on my phone, which you can check out below:

Surprises at the Lexington County Library

   After leaving the South Carolina Archive, my mom and I went to the Lexington County Library's Main Branch location.  From their website, I knew that they had a South Carolina Room for genealogy research, which included local newspapers on microfilm.  Unfortunately, their website doesn't really provide any more information on what resources they had available.  From their Obit Index, I knew that there was at least one obituary that I needed.  I also wanted to see what else they had available.

     When we arrived, we headed straight for the microfilm, a list of which was available in a small folder.  To my surprise, the list started with church records.  There were numerous rolls of records, and on roll seven I saw the names of two of the churches my ancestors had attended: St Michael's and Mt Pleasant.

     I was extremely excited and sat down to the microfilm reader... which didn't work!  I started getting anxious, but luckily the other machine did work.  Whew!

     I found the St Michael's Lutheran Church records first, which contained birth, marriage, death and membership records.  I first found records for many-times-great aunts and uncles births, then found one for my 3rd Great Grandmother, Elizabeth Rachel Metz, who was born in 1826!  This was an amazing find.  South Carolina didn't start issuing birth and death certificates until 1915, so church or bible records are the only source before that date.  I also found records showing that my 4th and 5th Great Grandfathers, Gabriel and Barnet Hyler, had attended the church.

     The second set of church records were for Mt Pleasant Lutheran Church, which was lost when Lake Murray was damed up.  I found a plot map of their cemetery, listing the exact location of my 3rd Great-Grandparents' burial - except for the fact that they were moved when the lake water rose.  Luckily, I do know where they were moved to.  I found some funny records too; it seems that my 2nd Great Grandfather, John W Hyler, had "gone astray," while his brother had "gone to the Methodists."

     After browsing through these records, I didn't have a lot of spare time to browse newspapers.  I did find the obituary I'd located in the index, but didn't spend much time on them otherwise.  These papers are all slated to be added to Chronicling America sometime this year or next, so I'll have another chance to search them from the comfort of my home.

     The library also had a number of books of interest that my mom found, as well as vertical files with newspaper articles.  It's too bad that I don't live closer and could spend more time exploring their collection.  But I'm extremely happy with what I did find.

A Visit to the South Carolina Archive

     A few days ago, I traveled to Columbia, SC, on a two day genealogy trip with my mom as my research assistant.  My first stop was the South Carolina Archive.  I'd been there before, a few years prior, and gotten what limited vital records documents that I could find.  And that's the problem with South Carolina: there are limited records.  For example, civil marriage records don't start until 1911.

     I had a few goals for this visit:

• Locate estate records for David and Peter Quattlebaum that FamilySearch had indexes for, but not the actual records.
• Search for Civil War pension records for Nathan Hyler.  I had a newspaper article saying he's applied - but did he actually get the pension?
• Find evidence of Samuel Armstrong's service in the Revolutionary War.
• Find evidence of Franklin E Leapart's father, said to be George Leaphart.

    I succeeded on the first two, half succeeded on the third and came up empty on the fourth.  

   On the third goal, I was able to look up the source cited by the DAR for Samuel Armstrong's revolutionary service, which was an article in the South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine.  But the problem is that I still need to make sure that this is my Samuel Armstrong and not another man by the same name.  

     As for finding evidence of Franklin Leaphart's father, thanks to Sherman destroying the entire town of Lexington in 1865, there are no pre-civil war records.  Thanks a lot Sherman!

     I was underprepared for my visit, based on assumptions I made based on my last visit.  When I had visited about two years ago, microfilm images could only be printed via a microfilm reader with a quarter receiver, much like a bubble gum machine.  Now, there are fancy microfilm readers attached to computers.  And me without my thumb drive!

     I'd say the visit was moderately successful.  I found a few things I wanted, but not everything.  We left around 3pm and decided to head over to the Lexington County Library and check out their South Carolina Research Room.

Non-Eligable Ancestors

     I'm sort of in a holding pattern right now with my DAR application: I'm waiting for the next meeting while the registrar works on my application.  Meanwhile, I went on a vacation to Colonial Williamsburg, a historically preserved town set in 1776.  I learned a lot about what life was like in the early days of the American Revolution.  In part, I have a better understanding of why many folks choose to remain loyal to the British Crown.  Sure, you didn't feel like you were being treated fairly by your government, but was it bad enough to go to war and face an unknown future?

     On the way home, I visited the Kings Mountain National Battlefield Park, where I learned that citizens of South Carolina were strongly divided on the issue.  Odds are, if you can trace your ancestor back to that time and place, your ancestors were Loyalists.  Mine were.

     The books "Loyalists in the Southern Campaign, Vol I, II, III" are great sources for finding Loyalist ancestors.  The first ancestor that I found was my 5th Great Grandfather, Barnet Bernard Hyler (aka Hiller, Hoiler, Hoyler, etc).  Thanks to his fairly unique name he was pretty easy to identify.  From this book, I know that he was a "prisoner with rebels" while his unit was mustered in Savannah in December of 1779.  I'd love to find out more information on where, when and how he became a prisoner.  I do know, however, that he was back serving again from February through June of 1781.

     I also might have 5th Great-Grandfather, John Meetze.  He is listed with an Orangeburgh militia, along with a Christopher Meetze, which was his father's name.   I'm still looking, but wouldn't be surprised to find more Loyalist ancestors.  I hope I might be able to find out more about them as people and understand their choice.

I Know Where My Ancestors Where 150 Years Ago Today. Do You?

     150 years ago today five of my ancestors were brought together on a battlefield in Pennsylvania.  There, they fought on the Confederate side of one of the most famous battles of the Civil War: Gettysburg.  Were your ancestors there as well?  If you don't know, I'll share how I traced my ancestors to the battlefield.

     I started by making a list of all male ancestors in my family tree who were between the ages of 14 and 60 in the early 1860s.  I then searched for Civil War Service Records for those men, using the indexes available on Ancestry.com and images on Fold3.  Once I found their records, I made a list of my Civil War soldier ancestors with their enlistment date, regiments, and discharge date, as listed on their Civil War Service Records.

     Next, I researched the regiments and units that each soldier served in, to find out which battles they fought in.  This can be difficult, as each regiment has been researched to a different extent.  Some regiments were large and part of even larger armies, others were small and participated in smaller battles.  Regiments were often reorganized, becoming part of a larger army (ex Army of Northern Virginia).  Here, Google was my friend and will be yours as well.  There are lots of small websites out there, dedicated to particular regiments or units.  I also found good information on Wikipedia, in some cases.  For those doing Georgia research, the website, Georgia Confederate Units, will be very helpful to understand the organization of regiments.  But don't neglect books either!  Check out the collections at nearby libraries and archives to see if there is anything available.

     As you can see in the service record shown here, my Great-Great-Great Grandfather, Nathan W Hyler, enlisted with Company C of the 15th Regiment South Carolina Infantry on 7 April 1862.  This record shows that he was "Present" with his unit during the months of July and August of 1863.

     The dates on this record are key; I know when he joined the war (so I don't need to look earlier than this date) and I know that Nathan was with his regiment in July of 1863.  From researching his regiment, I know that at that time they were fighting at Gettysburg!

     Using the information I uncovered about my ancestor's military units, I came up with the following list of ancestors who fought there:

• From my Paternal line
• William Anderson Craft of Elbert County, GA, with the 15th Reg GA Infantry, Co F
• Wiley Powell of Elbert County, GA, with the 38th Reg GA Infantry, Co F
• From my Maternal line
• William Washington Sprouse of Abbeville County, SC, with the 1st Reg SC Cav, Co A
• detached to Hampton's Brigade
• Franklin Edwin Leaphart of Lexington County, SC, with the 15th Reg SC Inf, Co C
• Nathan Washington Hyler of Lexington County, SC, with the 15th Reg SC Inf, Co C

     I then visited CivilWar.org to look at battlefield maps from Gettysburg.  I was able to find each of my ancestors' units on the maps.  This image shows a portion of "The Wheatfield Fight."  You can see where the 15th Georgia and the 15th South Carolina fought in this battle.  That's three of my ancestors fighting very close together.  Hopefully one day I'll visit Gettysburg and will be able to walk where my ancestors fought.  Hopefully you found some helpful tips here and will be able to walk where your ancestors fought too.

Civil War Profile: Nathan W Hyler

     The following is a profile of one of my Civil War ancestors. What was their life like before, during and after the war? Where did their sympathies lie? How did they feel about the war?

_____

Before
     In 1860, my Great-Great-Great Grandfather, Nathan Washington Hyler, was living Dutch Fork, Lexington County, South Carolina.  He had married Elizabeth Meetze some five years prior and they had two sons: Rufus Barnett and Henry D.  In the 1860 Census, the family's surname was enumerated as "Hoyler."

     Nathan was a farmer, like his father before him.  According to the 1860 Agricultural Census, he had 90 acres of land valued at $1,000.  He had one horse and five pigs, valued at $100; he produced wheat, corn, cotton, peas, beans, potatoes and hay.  Nathan is enumerated directly before his father, Gabriel, whose farm was three times larger.  Gabriel had more livestock and grew more crops.  He was also a slave owner, as shown in the 1860 Slave Census, while Nathan did not appear to have owned slaves.  Gabriel owned five slaves: a female, aged 70; males aged 67, 48, 35 and 35.

During
       On 7 Apr 1862, Nathan enlisted as a private in Company C of South Carolina's 15th Infantry Regiment, shortly before that regiment was transferred into the Army of Northern Virginia.  Nathan was 26 years old and was joining the war almost a year after it had begun.  I imagine that he initially delayed joining because he had a family to support (which now included my Great-Great Grandfather, John Willis).  Once it became evident that the war wasn't going to be a quick skirmish, he probably joined due to a feeling of patriotic duty, societal pressure or for the money. 
  
     Nathan quickly felt the true impact of war: he was shot in the leg at Sharpsburg (aka Antietam), only five months after joining the army.  Due to his injury, he was placed in the Chimborazo Hospital in Richmond Virginia, then able to spend time at home with his family.  Nathan returned to his regiment in time to fight as part of Kershaw's Brigade at Gettysburg in July of 1863.  The Brigade soon found themselves in Georgia, fighting at Chickamauga, where Nathan was once again wounded.  This time his wounds must have been more severe.  He was initially sent home on wounded furlough, but "overstayed" his leave and, by February of 1864, he was in the hospital in Columbia, South Carolina.  He didn't leave the hospital until April. After leaving the hospital, he was "detached as a guard" to Greenville, South Carolina.  It's likely that he wasn't fit to rejoin the war - did he lose his leg?

 

After
     In 1870, Nathan was again enumerated in Dutch Fork, SC, with his family.  He then owned 50 acres, apparently having lost or sold 40 acres since the 1860 Census.  His land had also dropped dramatically in value and was worth only $175.  The farm was home to one mule, one cow, one "other cattle," and seven pigs.  The farm was producing wheat, corn,  cotton, wool, peas, potatoes, butter, hay, and molasses.   

     It doesn't seem that Nathan had been dramatically impacted after the war, until we see the 1880 Census.  The southern economy had gone through a downturn which apparently hurt the Hyler family.  From the 1880 Agricultural Census, we see that Nathan "rents for shares of products" on 22 acres.  He was no longer a land owner.  Nathan's farm was home to one cow and 11 pigs and he is growing corn, oats and wheat.  With less land, Nathan's farm was much less productive.

     In 1896 an article in The State gives a list of Civil War pension seekers.  Among them is Nathan Hyler.  In order to seek a pension, Nathan would have been indigent or disabled.  He was 61 years old.   Unfortunately, copies of these pension records are not available, so I don't have details on his situation.  

     Nathan died in 1903 and it does not appear that he ever owned land again.