Did you have ancestors in South Carolina before the end of the 17th century? If so, History Press has a three-volume work that is absolutely essential for researching the earliest period of the province that eventually became the eighth state admitted to the United States. Susan Baldwin Bates and Harriott Cheves Leland have painstakingly abstracted some of earliest land and estate records of the state.

Volume three contains Abstracts of the Records of the Surveyor General of the Province, Charles Towne, 1678-1698. The introduction provides important information about the founding of Charleston, about the office responsible for these records,and about the records themselves. The records themselves consist chiefly of land warrants. There is a section of color plates illustrating records, plats, and maps found in the record group.The appendices consist of a list of the surveyors, histories of specific lots in Charleston, and the surveyor's notebook.There is a bibliography and an index of places and people.

These three volumes are indispensable for those researching South Carolina's early history and for those researching the lives of early settlers of South Carolina. Researchers are fortunate that a publisher such as History Press is willing to publish volumes such as these which have a more limited audience to make them widely available for historians, genealogists, and other interested persons.

Note: The three volumes were provided by the publisher for review. ( )