The Palatinates to America
Local libraries have some excellent church history books which are helpful in finding the origin of the ancestors
A castle on the Rhine River
Few passenger lists of the early German settlers who left the lower Palatinate region of Germany to settle in Philadelphia survived. Yet, they were probably the largest concentration of immigrants who came to America!
However, we have to remember that the Palatines spoke the German language, and for this reason, established their own communities. From about 1735 to 1752 most of these people were Germans from the Palatinate and Switzerland and they were usually accompanied by their ministers. This is a good reason to take special note of the names of the ministers and search for possible church records or log books. Remember to familiarize yourself with the German pronunciation. The reason is that names that were difficult for Americans to pronounce became anglicized.
Once in America, their religion was reformed into Presbyterian and Lutheran. In addition to the large Palatinate movement coming to America during the 18th century, there was another large group of foreigners also landing in Philadelphia and crossing the wagon roads into Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina , viz: the Scot-Irish.
The reason that we cannot locate the records is because so many of our ancestors spoke German and Gaelic. In many instances, these people were so poor that they could not read nor write.
Thus, pioneers clanned together in the backwoods, residing amongst their own kind. That means that church logs and directives contained a good many foreign names. In fact, family bibles and church records maintained by the ministers were probably the only recorded source of marriages, births and deaths. If you can find it. That is why it is so important to read the local stories of families and churches. The South Carolina Gazette sometimes published information concerning the arrivals from foreign shores which provided the arrival date in South Carolina, and place. These are the sort of things to become familiar with.
A prime example is one of the Lutheran element who came to America with their ministers, Reverend John Martin Bolzius and Reverend Israel Christian Gronau who left Salzburg, Austria ca 1733. The Jerusalem Lutheran Church served as a home for the Austrians generations. The record book of this church was written in the German language. Although the original survived, it is not easily legible.
New Jerusalem Church in Ebenezer, Georgia.
The Approach to Finding many of the South Carolina Families
The best way to find South Carolina families during the 18th century is to search for surviving church records and written histories for arrival dates and places, including the names of certain religious groups and their ministers. It is a study of the new emerging religious groups which were undergoing a rather dramatic and far-reaching change and Reformation. For example, a Calvinist of Lutheran church might ultimately reform to Presbyterian. The era of Reformation had its issues, so it is best to better inform oneself in order to grasp what was happening and where to search next. A number of books have been written on South Carolina churches. They describe their origins and some rather important details concerning its emigrants. For this reason, careful attention should be given to the religious biographies and histories found in most libraries.
You will find that a vast number of emigrants entered this country in Philadelphia, temporarily settling among their countrymen before venturing across the Wagon Trails and Wilderness Trail southwestward. Use the map. That is the answer!