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I often say, half in jest and half in defiance, that the reason some consider me “wayward” is because I stem from a line of regulators. That rebellious edge, that unwillingness to conform for conformity’s sake, that drive to speak truth even when it's inconvenient, it isn’t a character flaw. It’s an inheritance. You see, I’m the 6th great-granddaughter of thee Gideon Gibson, Jr., of the Pee Dee region of South Carolina. Not just a name in the footnotes of history, Gideon Gibs

“Some stories were never meant to be told.” It’s a phrase genealogists hear all too often when a discovery disrupts the delicate balance...

History often speaks in fragments. But in the Pee Dee region of South Carolina, those fragments can form a powerful story when placed in...

This article offers a practical guide to overcoming record loss in postbellum African American research, using real-world examples from across South Carolina. In one case, a researcher was asked to identify the parents and siblings of a man born around 1870 in a rural Southern county. With no birth certificate, no death certificate, and no census record explicitly stating his parents, the task required deep contextual research.