Michelle:

Saw your posting on the South Carolina Board on A. J. Hoole, but I am choosing to respond here. Some of my S. C. friends may not "cotton" to criticism of the quality of facilities. I see you are going to the S. C. Archives and to Darlington. The hours of the S. C. Archives are about as user unfriendly as any I've visited in the nation, and Ive been to at least a dozen. They have marginally expanded them lately, but not by much. Pleaswe check to see when they are open. Nothing after 5 P.M., and only one Satruday per month, till noon, if I recall correctly. And no on-line index to try to get started right away.

The South Caroliniana Library, at the University of South Carolina, in Columbia, is by all odds one of the better genealogical resources in the Southeast. In my opinion, only the Southern Historical Collection at University of North Carolian at Chapel Hill, and the Virginia Historical Society, are better as to breadth of collections. Call Allen Stokes at South Caroliniana and see if he has anything. Unfortuantely, you cannot find anything by way of an on-line index for South Caroliniana, but the collections are great. Incidentally, South Caroliniana has an outstanding South Carolina newspaper collection, and will have all of the holdings of the Darlington newspapers. Unfortunately, they are exceedingly user unfriendly; you have to get them to make the copies. You might consider purchasing a couple of rolls of microfilm and then using them back at home at some local library. It will probably only run about $50 per roll, and may be less. But they have a large number of loose non-filmed papers -- mostly scattered issues. Ask about thsoe holdings before you go.

You probably know this, but there are two separate genealogical resources in Darlington County. The Old Darlington District Genealogical Society is located in the old Railroad Depot in Hartsville; frankly I was not much impressed with their collections, and their hours are very limited. But certainly they may have something on the Hoole family. Their addreess is 114 South Fourth Street, P. O. Box 175, Hartsville, SC 29551-0175; Telepphone 843-857-0300. Its a very active genealogical society, and I know they have a web-site; I just didn't look it up. If you have trouble finding it, I can probably root around and locate one of my genealogical bulletins which has the site information, but you can find it quicker I'm sure. (I belong to a chapter all the way across the State).

The best genealogical source in Darlington County, by far, however, is the Darlington County Archives, located in the old jail, and jammed with all sorts of information, including a surprising amount of manuscript and original soruces, all dealing with Darlington. Also, the staff there is exceedingly helpful. Their address is 204 Hewitt Street, Darlington, SC, 29532; telephone (843)-398-4710. They can tell you what they have, and their hours, but I recall that they are open pretty much every working day.

There is also a pretty good South Carolina Room in the Florence Coutny Library, located in Florence, about 15 miles from Hartsville. Very good hours, and a knowledgeable staff. I didn't look up the phone, but you should also call the Florence County Library, Florence, S.C., and ask for the South Carolian Room. They are in a brand new and extremely nice library builidng.