Center at SWU a destination for family research
Anne Sheriff looks through family records on microfilm at the Faith Clayton Family Research Center on Southern Wesleyan University’s campus in Central. She says there is a “quiet tourism” taking place in the area as individuals visit to browse their local history and genealogy collection.
Researching family “roots” has become more popular, as evidenced by increasing marketing and visibility of websites such as ancestry.com .
Anne Sheriff of the Faith Clayton Family Research Center on Southern Wesleyan University’s campus in Central says online services offer a starting point for family research, but adds that sometimes information is inaccurate or incomplete and needs to be verified by tangible records.
For those who trace family origins to Anderson, Oconee and Pickens counties (Old Pendleton District), Sheriff notes that the center has books, as well as photos, documents and family files, which include some wills and letters.
“We have a lot of photographs of local families you can’t find online,” Sheriff said, adding that visitors can also find information in the collection’s family Bibles or among various Civil War records on microfilm. Also available are old census records and many issues of area newspapers, including the Pickens Sentinel, Keowee Courier and Pendleton Messenger.
Sheriff, a 1963 graduate of Southern Wesleyan when it was known as Central Wesleyan College, refers to a “quiet tourism” taking place in the area as individuals visit to browse their local history and genealogy collection.
“It’s a group of people who come from all over the United States into Pickens County to research their family,” Sheriff said. “They visit libraries, tombstones and churches. They talk to some of their old relatives if they are still around. They eat here in Pickens County, get gas in Pickens County and they stay in Pickens County. They are never counted as tourists because people don’t realize they are here.”
Sheriff doesn’t have specific numbers of visitors but estimates that hundreds have visited the center in recent years. She notes that these visitors are mostly older and can spend five days to two weeks traveling in search of family “roots.”
She said that if an individual visits from Texas, they probably have already stopped in Alabama or Georgia because their descendants stopped and settled, and subsequent generations moved westward. Sheriff adds that, beyond those individuals who visit the center, there are many others from across the nation or overseas who email the center seeking assistance in their family research.
Sheriff noted that the Reunion of the Families of the Old Pendleton District, hosted by the university and organized by several area genealogical, historical and folklife organizations, helps heighten awareness of the center and its resources. The center also participates in this event and conducts tours. The next reunion is planned for April 25-27.
Sheriff, who is also curator of Central Heritage Museum and Gardens and actively involved in researching local families, said the center started nearly three decades ago, growing out of conversations she had with Faith Clayton, local historian Julia Woodson and former librarian Martha Evatt.
Faith had done extensive research of area families, many of whom were relatives. Sheriff and others interested in family histories approached Faith when she was at a Clemson nursing facility about possibly donating her collection to Southern Wesleyan. They also sought permission from the university’s administration to provide space for her collection. When plans came together for the center’s beginning, Sheriff quipped that they “started with two file cabinets and a hundred books.”
Over the years they acquired numerous other collections, and recently the center moved from the second floor of the university’s Claude Rickman Library to a larger space in the lower level. Morris Clayton, Faith’s nephew, donated funds for improvements to the center’s original location. J.C. Hayes donated money for the recent move to the library’s lower level.
The center, located in the lower level of the Rickman Library, is manned by volunteers and is open Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Clayton Room is available the same hours as the rest of the library. They can be reached by calling (864) 644-5088 or emailing . Details can be found online at http://www.swu.edu/academics/library/faith-clayton-genealogy-room/.
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