Papers, correspondence, topical files, and research notes compiled by Wes Taukchiray (formerly Wes White), for his research in Native American history and genealogy, chiefly on behalf of persons who believed they descended from American Indians; includes photocopied and handwritten research notes, and supporting documents, some referencing papers dating to 1692. Collection includes Taukchiray's legal papers, 1982-2008; correspondence with Charles W. Carroll, 1984; and letters of professional genealogist Teresa M. Hicks, 1983-2002; topical files include historical references to Indian traders; and information on persons identified as Indian in the S.C. portion of U.S. Census, 1849-1910 (Box 1). Family names represented in Box 1 include: Allen, Ayers, Barton, Bass, Beamer, Bishop, Brewington, Brown, Cantey/Cordes, Chavis, Creel, Crowe, Davidson,, Dibble, Dickson, Driggers, DuBose, Easterling, Eberson, Ellery, Fish, Friendly, Galphin, George, Gunter, Hagans, Harris, Harrison, Hasty (Edwards), Hix, Hume, Kinsey, Langstone, Locklear, McGee, Mayle, Medlock, Nettles, Ott, Patterson, Pickering, Pitchlynn, Pratt/Sweat, Price Richbourg, Squires, Stapleton, Tarver, Toomer, Truesdale, Vann, and Whitesides. Box 2 contains rough drafts of essays, and topical files re: the Catawba Nation and Catawba genealogy; S.C. Indians associated with Georgetown County, John's Island and other areas in the Low Country, as well as Richland County, Marion County; and elsewhere around S.C.; files documenting Massachusetts Indians in S.C., ca. 1820s-1830s; Paugusett Nation and Quinnipiac Indians of Connecticut; Indians from Robeson County, N.C., in Charleston, S.C.; the Pool Tribe of Pennsylvania; and Monacan Indians in Virginia. Other Indian nations represented: Alibamo, Apalachee, Catawba, Cheraw, Cherokee, Congaree, Creek, Ettowan, Iroquois, Kussoo, Meherrin, Oneida, Pamunkey, Seewee & Santee, Tuscarora, Wateree, Winia, and Yuchi. Materials documenting a lawsuit filed by the "Turks" of Sumter County, S.C. against the Board of Trustees of Sumter County School District No. 2 include interrogatories dated 20 Nov and 1 Dec 1953, re Benenhaly, Scott, Ellison, Buckner, and Oxendine; plaintiffs identified in law suit include Hood, Ray, Lowery, Benenhaly, Scott, Ellison, Buckner, and Oxendine. The defendants are J. E. Mayes, Jr., Kirven, Goodman, Brogdon, and Davis. Other ethnicities represented in topical files (Box 2) include: Moroccan Arabs in S.C., 1753-1826; Irish in Ireland; "Irish Travelers" in S.C. ca. 1970s; Melungeons, East Indian residents of the later 18th and 19th centuries, who were descendants of natives of India who migrated to S.C. from Haiti and Saint Domingue; and Free African Americans / Free People of Color.
