An event designed to make gathering local family history easier will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21, at the Double Branch Baptist Church fellowship hall on S.C. 4.

Entering its fourth year, the informal event is open to anyone interested in researching their family history, dating back to the early settlers of Orangeburgh District. Fifty people attended last year's event and brought with them old family photos, documents, Bible records, stories and other items to share with area researchers and genealogists.

Pam Johnson, an amateur genealogist and one of the original organizers of the event, said it started as a way to facilitate tracing family histories.

"This started with a group of five people who connected on the Orangeburg e-mail list of the Orangeburg Germans-Swiss Genealogical Society," said Johnson, who also serves as vice president of that group. "Not all of them are from Orangeburg, but our families came from the area.

"We decided to have this kind of gathering because of the difficulty in researching family history," she said. "Nearly all county public records, such as birth, marriage and land records, were lost during the Civil War when (Union) Gen. (William Tecumseh) Sherman burned the Orangeburg County Courthouse. Not many of those records were saved or re-recorded, making it harder to trace family lines. We feel this family history gathering is a good way for interested people to come and help put together their family history."

The event also draws people who are interested in their Native American background and African-American genealogy, which Johnson points out are other difficult areas to research.

Johnson specified that you do not have to be a genealogical researcher to attend. Some, but not all, of the families represented will be Brooker, Davis, Hughes, Hutto, Jameson, Pearson, Williams and Williamson, just to name a few.

Those who attend the gathering are also invited to bring a covered dish. Utensils, tea, ice and other items will be furnished.

"We started out with the Davis family and later delved into other families that lived in the forks of the Edisto area," Johnson said. "It naturally expanded when we found that people were really interested. You'd be surprised about how people love to talk about their families."

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