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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

So far, we found very little information about Laurence. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Laurence to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Laurence, please Contact Us.

We have a couple of goals for our Gazetteer:

  • That it be a tool which helps us with planning our trips.
  • We're trying to shape our Gazetteer as a tool to help us understand the community in which our ancestors lived, the community that was part of their daily lives.
  • On our trips, we try to visit those places where our ancestors left their footprints.

By learning about Laurence (and the surrounding area) during the time that our ancestors lived, we hope to have a better understanding of both their community and its relationship to their lifes. We hope that this tool helps to give us an insight into their world.

As we add data and organize our Gazetteer to help with our family research, we will be adding to this our Genealogical Helper for Laurence. While we don't have information that is specific to any given person or family, we intend to expand our understanding about where and how people lived.

Neighboring Counties ...

When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties.

For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the south.

So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties instead of the county in which they lived:  their home county contained property and probate records; the county to the west contained birth and death records; the county to the south contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.

Although our information shows that the community of Laurence is historic, it would have been located within present day Dorchester County.

To see how the shape of South Carolina's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Dorchester County: Bamberg, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton & Orangeburg.

Below are the counties that are near Laurence. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Laurence:

  • Dorchester County     (The home county of Laurence)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Laurence, with the one closest to Laurence listed first.
    • Ridgeville
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Brownsville
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownsville
      • Brownsville is located in Dorchester County
    • Flowertown Village
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Flowertown Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flowertown Village
      • Flowertown Village is located in Dorchester County
    • Summerville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Chandler Village
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chandler Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chandler Village
      • Chandler Village is located in Dorchester County
    • Dorchester
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Harleyville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Grover
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Saint George
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Reevesville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Berkeley County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Laurence, with the one closest to Laurence listed first.
    • Washington Town
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Washington Town have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Washington Town
      • Washington Town is located in Berkeley County
    • Highland Village
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Highland Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Village
      • Highland Village is located in Berkeley County
    • Ladson
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Caromi Village
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Caromi Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caromi Village
      • Caromi Village is located in Berkeley County
    • Camelot Village
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Camelot Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camelot Village
      • Camelot Village is located in Berkeley County
    • Sandridge
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sandridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandridge
      • Sandridge is located in Berkeley County
    • Goose Creek
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Tarry Town
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tarry Town have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tarry Town
      • Tarry Town is located in Berkeley County
    • Moncks Corner
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Pinopolis
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Hanahan
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Cross
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
  • Charleston County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Laurence, with the one closest to Laurence listed first.
    • Lincolnville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincolnville
      • Lincolnville is located in Charleston County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,624 people
    • Otranto
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Otranto have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otranto
      • Otranto is located in Charleston County
    • Ravenel
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Canady Landing ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canady Landing
      • Canady Landing is located in Charleston County
    • North Charleston
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Dorchester
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorchester
      • Dorchester is located in Charleston County
    • Hollywood
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Essex Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Essex Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Essex Village
      • Essex Village is located in Charleston County
    • Meggett
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Grove Creek Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grove Creek Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove Creek Village
      • Grove Creek Village is located in Charleston County
    • Old Town
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Old Town have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Town
      • Old Town is located in Charleston County
    • Adams Run
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
  • Colleton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Laurence, with the one closest to Laurence listed first.
    • Cottageville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Round O
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Sidney
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sidney have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sidney
      • Sidney is located in Colleton County
    • Drigger Crossroads
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drigger Crossroads
      • Drigger Crossroads is located in Colleton County
    • Canadys
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Jacksonboro
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Walterboro
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Ritter
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ritter have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ritter
      • Ritter is located in Colleton County
    • Green Pond
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Johnsville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnsville
      • Johnsville is located in Colleton County
  • Orangeburg County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Laurence, with the one closest to Laurence listed first.
    • Holly Hill
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Eutawville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Green Town
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Town have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Town
      • Green Town is located in Orangeburg County
    • Possum Town
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Possum Town have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Possum Town
      • Possum Town is located in Orangeburg County
    • Wells
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wells
      • Wells is located in Orangeburg County
    • Ferguson ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferguson
      • Ferguson is located in Orangeburg County
    • Vance
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vance
      • Vance is located in Orangeburg County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 153 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vance <2>

For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Laurence, see our County-by-County Page for Laurence.

Newspapers Published in Laurence ...

An ongoing effort between the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has resulted in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).

To share their results, the partnership has created the Chronicling America website. The goal of this partnership is to assemble a database about the current and historic newspapers of the United States. This includes a growing collection of scanned images from selected papers. All of it available to the public on their website.

Using information that we've taken from the Chronicling America website, we've identified 7 newspapers that have been published in the area around Laurence.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Laurence, there are papers which were published within 5 miles [8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Laurence.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either offer the information directly or else point to where you can find it. Their information is open to everyone.

To help you get started, the following links will take you to the pages that are relevant to Laurence:

Cemeteries Near Laurence ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Laurence.

This is a new section and is likely to have errors. If you find an error, such as a missing cemetery or we have the wrong name, please let us know. If you know of them, we would also appreciate learning about previous or alternate names.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Laurence covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Laurence, with the one closest to Laurence listed first.

  • Jedburg Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Jedburg Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Jedburg Cemetery
  • Murray Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Murray Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Murray Cemetery
  • Cypress Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cypress Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cypress Cemetery
  • New Hope Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Hope Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Hope Cemetery
  • Bonnerest Garden Of The Resurrection Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Magnolia Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Magnolia Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Magnolia Cemetery
  • Boone Hill Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Boone Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Boone Hill Cemetery
  • Summerville Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • St. Pauls Episcopal Church Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Blanton Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Blanton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Blanton Cemetery
  • Lebanon Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lebanon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lebanon Cemetery
  • Rudd Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rudd Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rudd Cemetery
  • Continue List   (235 more) ...
    • Cummings Chapel Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cummings Chapel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cummings Chapel Cemetery
    • Johnson Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Johnson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Johnson Cemetery
    • Mims Lake Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mims Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mims Lake Cemetery

Nearby Communities in 1895 ...

We've built the following list with information that came from an Atlas published by Rand McNally in 1895. The Atlas had details such as the population of the community (which appears to have come from the 1890 Census) and whether there was a post office and/or railroad service available. We also indicate if the community no longer exists and is now historic.

While we didn't find Laurence in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Laurence.

These communities are listed based on their distance from Laurence, with the one closest to Laurence listed first.

  • Ridgeville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Summerville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Long Ridge
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Long Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Ridge
    • Long Ridge is located in Berkeley County
  • Ladson
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Mount Holly
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Holly have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Holly
    • Mount Holly is located in Berkeley County
  • Sandridge
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sandridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandridge
    • Sandridge is located in Berkeley County
  • Strawberry
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Strawberry have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strawberry
    • Strawberry is located in Berkeley County
  • Otranto
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Otranto have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otranto
    • Otranto is located in Charleston County
  • Cottageville
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Harleyville
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Moncks Corner
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Belvedere
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Belvedere have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belvedere
    • Belvedere is located in Berkeley County
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Holly Hill
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Connors ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Connors have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Connors
      • Connors is located in Orangeburg County
    • Macbeth
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Macbeth have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Macbeth
      • Macbeth is located in Berkeley County

We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Laurence. See our List of 1890's Communities around Laurence.

The official website for Dorchester County: www.dorchestercounty.net/

The official website for State of South Carolina: https://sc.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Laurence, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Laurence) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Laurence. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.0638, Longitude: -80.2562       In this case, the coordinates for Laurence have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The Find-a-Grave website is an excellent research tool with information about a cemetery's location and interments. They also offer a forum for their members which can provide additional help. More information about Find-a-Grave can be found on their website: findagrave.com.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024