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Research Diary
My Locker
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Introduction It is well to state at the outset that the documents presented here are small fraction of those to be presented. In the course of our year-long research we have gathered more than 10,000 pages of documentary evidence; evidence which spans the years 1724 to 1930.
Method Intensive research in Lowcountry plantation records suggests that recovering the names of founding populations, tracking their migrations through estate settlements, and going forward in time to reconstruct family groups results in much more accurate results than starting with the most recent records and working back in time to reconstruct lineages.
This approach may seem counterintuitive, as sound genealogical research for living descendants involves starting with known family lineages, then consulting the documentary record to learn the identities of ancestors.
Project Scope And Research Goals The goal of the present study is to trace the descendants of the founding enslaved populations on Drayton family plantations by bringing the lineages forward in time to connect with the family oral history and genealogical research of living descendants.
The first component, presented here, documents the founding enslaved communities on Drayton family plantations. With the estate settlement of Thomas Drayton, Jr. in 1724, the slaveholding Drayton family lineages diverge, as Thomas Drayton's estate was divided among his sons. Please be sure to visit often as we track lineages forward.
Phase I of the present research has focused upon identifying Drayton family plantations and gathering historical records to document the names and life stories of those enslaved upon those plantations.
Known Descendant Families The research team was composed of known descendants of Drayton family freedmen and researchers from the University of South Florida Africana Heritage Project. Descendants shared family oral history, documents, photographs and results of past genealogical research. Working with these vital pieces of the puzzle, researchers from USF compiled known family histories, then searched the historical record for documents which would fill gaps in known lineages.
You may view the lineages of known descendants by following the link below:
The USF team traveled to archives throughout the Southeast to gather more than 10,000 pages of Antebellum records concerning Drayton family land and slave holdings.
Once slaveholding Drayton family members were identified, researchers gathered wills, estate inventories and other public records to learn the names of those enslaved on Drayton family plantations. Our team visited archives to view every known collection of Drayton family papers, and extracted the names enslaved people.
Next Steps Phase II now begins: compiling the historical documents and presenting them here at Lowcountry Africana. We will post wills, estate inventories and plantation records of known Drayton family slaveholders to the Lowcountry Africana document database first, in order to make them available for researchers as we work to build the website presentation.
The Search for African American Heritage A search for enslaved ancestors necessarily focuses upon gathering the records of the slaveholders. African American researchers face a dual challenge to a successful search - they must become experts on the history of the slaveholding family as well as on their own.
Because enslaved people were considered property, the records generated by property holders - wills, deeds, tax records, census records and more - hold the pieces of the puzzle, and together, they reveal the names and lives of slaves, free African Americans and their descendants.
What you will find here, then, are seemingly spare records: wills, estate inventories, census records, plantation journals and other documents that alone tell only part of the story. Each new document brings a new bit of information and, as those pieces of the puzzle come together, the names and lives of enslaved ancestors begin to come into focus.
As we layer on documents and lineages, we will weave those stories together and present them here. In the interrim you will find much here to sink your teeth into - we invite you to explore and enjoy.
To begin exploring the Drayton family records, you may follow the links to the first generation of the slaveholding Drayton family in the column bar to the right.
Terms of Use The wills, estate inventories, bills of sale and deeds presented here are in the public domain, therefore we claim no copyright to the individual documents.
Documents and images other than public records are presented here by special permission of the archives, publishers or Internet archives who have shared them for purposes of this study, and terms of use are noted for those items. Those materials may not be presented elsewhere without the express permission of the archives that have shared them here.
The research results presented here are protected by compilation copyright. The entire body of research, or any significant portion thereof, may not be presented elsewhere without express permission from Lowcountry Africana.
Individuals may use the materials here for research and may download, print and share the materials for that purpose. Teachers may use the materials presented here in their classrooms without seeking special permissions.
Any other use of these materials requires the written consent of Lowcountry Africana. Please address permission requests to info@lowcountryafricana.com.
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First Generation First Generation Migration:
England>Barbados>Carolina
Thomas Drayton, Jr., aka Thomas the Immigrant:
Thomas Drayton, Jr., the likely progenitor of the Carolina Drayton family, was one of seven children of Thomas Drayton, Sr. (1625-1702) of Warwickshire, England, who migrated to Barbados in 1675 on the ship Willing Wind, Thomas Masters, captain.
Thomas Drayton, Jr. migrated from Barbados to
First Generation Ann Drayton, Wife of Thomas Drayton, Jr. aka Thomas the Immigrant:
Little is known about Ann Drayton's family origins or her life prior to her marriage to Thomas Drayton, Jr. She emerges as an historical figure only after her husband's death.
Surviving records reveal that she built upon the estate left to her care by her husband Thomas Drayton, Jr. By the time of her death she had added considerably to her children's inheritance.
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