Richmond County, GA is one of those all important “border counties.” This means researchers looking for ancestors in adjacent Aiken, Barnwell and Edgefield counties in South Carolina should also cast an eye across the Savannah River into Richmond County, GA to find ancestors who may have migrated (sometimes back and forth) between the two states.
Because Richmond County is home to the city of Augusta, the ancestors were drawn to employment and educational opportunities, as well as churches, businesses, and the nearest Freedman’s Bank Bureau in that area. Some freedmen and women from the Silver Bluff Community in SC had strong ties to Richmond County, GA after emancipation, as did many of their descendants. The same holds true for ancestors from Columbia and Burke Counties in Georgia who found employment in Aiken County after emancipation.
For researchers who have an ancestor who lived in a “border county” it can be worthwhile to take some time to investigate the adjacent state.
Thanks so much Alane! Now I know, we may have to 'cast the net' a bit farther.
The EVANS clan with a relationship to CODYS in Warrenton are not blood relations. I have been told the CODYS gave my Grandmother Catie DICKEY as a wedding gift when Ann Elizabeth EVANS THOMAS married James MADISON DICKEY in 1859.
I am hoping, because this would have been a legal transaction, there is a paper trial of the transfer.