The National Archives-Northeast Region is offering free genealogical workshops during this winter.

Participants will learn what they need to know in order to locate records as well as what one might expect to find in the records. Each free workshop is approximately one hour in length and will be offered in the Regional Archives building at 10 Conte Drive according to the following schedule:

Beginning Your Genealogy Research at the National Archives — 11 a.m. Feb. 8, 6 p.m. March 6, and 2 p.m. April 8.

Using Federal Census Records — 11 a.m. Feb. 15, 6 p.m. March 13, and 2 p.m. April 15.

Using Military Records at NARA — 11 a.m. Feb. 22.

Using Pre-1850 Census to Find Family Relationships — 5 p.m. March 18 and 2 p.m. April 22.

Finding Your Immigrant Ancestors at the National Archives — 11 a.m.

Many bumps in the road tracing family roots

Searching black genealogy is a long and tedious process. Unlike whites, blacks face an uphill battle in tracing their line of descent. Here in Orangeburgh, the black family heritage generally did not take shape until the 1870 federal census.Prior to that time, all of the black slaves were recorded as a number, gender and an age. The free blacks did receive recognition and those who had reached the age of 100.The earliest records of blacks in South Carolina were documented when Gov. William Sayle entered Charleston with three servants brought from Barbados in 1671. After that time, some slaves were imported from the West Indies and a number from Madagascar in the early 18th century. For the most part, the majority of blacks that came to America sailed directly from The Gambia, Angola, and the Gold Coast (Ghana).Some slave owners preferred the Angolans because of their big and burley size.