Singleton and Related Genealogy Pages
A history of many families.
1937 - 2012 (75 years)| Name | Annie Mae OXENDINE [4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15] | |
| Birth | 25 Oct 1937 | Sumter County, South Carolina  [9] |
| Gender | Female | |
| HIST | of Sumter, South Carolina Mandy Oxendine Chapman has always been proud of her heritage and she should be. One speaking with her sees that it gives her strength, fortitude and wisdom. Now, the second chief of the Sumter Band of Cheraw Indians is looking to share that heritage with others. • “We’ve been here over 200 years, and we are of Indian descent and have known it for a really long time,” she said. “It’s just that no one’s ever organized it before.” • According to records the Oxendine family settled in the Stateburg-Dalzell area at the behest of Gen. Thomas Sumter. • “Our people pulled away from the Cheraw tribe in North Carolina at the invitation of Gen. Thomas Sumter,” Chapman said. “They had served as scouts in the (Revolutionary) war, they worked hard and were honorable.” • But over time, many of the tribe’s ancestors became known not as Native Americans, but as Turks, a distinction which continues to the present day. • “I’ve read so many stories about that part of our family,” Chapman said. “You can look and see 10 different versions, and I suppose it is kind of interesing for an Arabic man to be hanging out with a tribe of Indians. This still remains a mystery to me.” • Chapman and her cousin, Claudia Benenhaley Gainey, said that while Joseph Benenhaley many have been of Turkish descent, “one man does not make a bloodline.” • “I always felt that I was not a Turk,” Gainey, an officer of the tribe, said. “My family would always get together and, the things that we were doing, I don’t know what they were doing in Turkey, but I doubt they sit around and bead or weave baskets, I don’t know that.” • Gainey said something felt out of place until she attended her first powwow, a traditional American Indian ceremony, gathering or fair, which usually includes ceremonial or competitive dancing. • “I heard the drums and I knew where I belonged,” she said. “I knew that was my heritage. I finally belonged, and I want the whole world to know that I am so proud.” • Annie Mae Oxendine Miller, an elder of the Sumter Band of Cheraw Indians, said that being called a Turk brought about many prejudices when she was a young girl who attended the now-defunct Dalzell School for Turks. • “We’d be given land, and the white people would come along and take it from us,” she said. “We’d go into town, and they wouldn’t even let us sit at counters at places like Kress’s. we weren’t able to drink out of fountains.” • Ralph Justice Oxendine, chief of the Sumter Band of Cheraw Indians, said even Turkish visitors are confused by the distinction. “There was someone from Turkey that came down to see how Americans lived,” he said. “He said there was nothing here that connected to their culture.” • But while the tribe members are very proud of their culture, no one disparaged those of Turkish descent who might be living in the area. • “If there was any Arabic blood, I’m not aware of it,” Chapman said. “But if there is, I’m not ashamed of that. Our Indian heritage is the main concern in this tribe.” • And that tribe is growing and is open to all people of Indian descent. • “We’re not here to turn away anybody,” Chapman said. “Our only criteria is that they be a descendent of one who attended that Dalzell school.” • And with more than 100 people enrolled in the tribe at present, Chapman added that the tribe is working on gaining state recognition in South Carolina. The Waccamaw Indians were the first tribe to be recognized by the state in 2005. The process requires family trees on every tribe member as well as proof of bloodlines. • “There’s a lot of paperwork to it,” Chapman said. “You just have to document everything. But as far as us going through the state recognition process, we’re working towards that. We will get it, but it’s not the main objective.” • Indeed, Chapman reiterated many times that the main objective is to preserve a culture that might otherwise be lost. • “The biggest thing is, with or without recognition, Sumter needs to recognize that we’re not Turks,” Chapman said. “We’re Native American Indians, and we’re very proud of that heritage.” • But sharing the heritage with the public isn’t the only goal; Chapman and other tribe members are also concerned with their descendants knowing who they are. Frequently, tribe members get together and bead and work on other cultural activities. Most recently, the tribe invited some drummers down to work with some of the young men. • “We want our future children to know their heritage,” she said. “It’s that culture that we need to carry on. We can’t let our ancestors down like that. We’re not doing it for any other reason but that it’s our heritage, and we are proud to know we are of Indian descent. This should make anyone proud. Our Indian ancestors fought for this country, and now we must fight to keep a culture that is dying alive. It’s time that Sumter realizes who we are.” she is an elder of the Sumter Band of Cheraw Indians Annie Mae O. Miller Annie Mae Oxendine Miller, 75, wife of John C. Miller, died Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012, at Tuomey Regional Medical Center. Born in Sumter, she was a daughter of the late Mansfield and Nellie B. Oxendine. Mrs. Miller was a member of the Salvation Army Church. She was formerly employed by Campbell Soup Co. and the Salvation Army. Survivors include her husband; six children, Ralph J. Oxendine, Angela Oxendine, Scottie Oxendine, Sherry O. Sanborn (Gary), Luann Holliday and Mandy O. Chapman, all of Sumter; 11 grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; two sisters, Marion O. Benenhaley of Dalzell and Jeanette O. McCoy of Sumter; and two brothers, William “Billy” Oxendine and Burgess Oxendine, both of Sumter. She was preceded in death by a son, Ronnie L. Oxendine; a grandson, Matthew Kevin Hurst; two brothers, Toby Oxendine and Cecil Oxendine; and a sister, Louise O. Horn. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday in the Elmore-Cannon-Stephens Funeral Home chapel with Maj. Newton Brown and Maj. Robbie Robbins officiating. Burial will be in the Long Branch Baptist Church cemetery. The family will receive friends from 4 to 6 p.m. today at Elmore-Cannon-Stephens Funeral Home and other times at the home, 1410 Camp Branch Road, and also at the home of Gary and Sherry Sanborn, 365 Trailwood Drive. Memorials may be made to the Salvation Army Church, 16 Kendrick St., Sumter, SC 29150. Elmore-Cannon-Stephens Funeral Home and Crematorium of Sumter is in charge of the arrangements. Posted in Obituaries on Saturday, December 15, 2012 [4, 7, 11, 12] | |
| _UID | 1E9A6EB3F92E4F478B14EC3E90E11D887583 | |
| Death | 13 Dec 2012 | Tuomey Regional Medical Center, Sumter, Sumter County, South Carolina |
| Burial | 16 Dec 2012 | Long Branch Baptist Church Cemetery, Dalzell, Sumter County, South Carolina [12] |
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| Person ID | I71006 | Singleton and Related Families |
| Last Modified | 9 Jan 2024 | |
| Father | Mansfield OXENDINE, Sr., b. 13 May 1912/08 d. 29 Aug 1990 | |
| Mother | Nellie BENENHALEY, b. 13 Jan 1912, Sumter County, South Carolina d. 15 Nov 2001, local nursing center, Sumter County, South Carolina (Age 89 years) | |
| Marriage | 13 Jul 1929 | Sumter County, South Carolina [16] |
| _UID | 35D74A84B0D143AA863D4CEDAE6016379FFB | |
| _UID | 35D74A84B0D143AA863D4CEDAE6016379FFB | |
| Family ID | F49429 | Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Family 1 | Thomas William CARPENTER, Jr. | |
| _UID | 04EC571BFB4A4386BEB429A38D4673CABE32 | |
| _UID | 04EC571BFB4A4386BEB429A38D4673CABE32 | |
| Family ID | F49671 | Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified | 23 Mar 2026 | |
| Family 2 | Leverne BENENHALEY d. Bef 29 Oct 2005 | |||||||||||||||
| _UID | E1C74B99A43D4E3A9914FCBF783F589804D9 | |||||||||||||||
| _UID | E1C74B99A43D4E3A9914FCBF783F589804D9 | |||||||||||||||
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| Family ID | F18897 | Group Sheet | Family Chart | ||||||||||||||
| Last Modified | 18 Mar 2008 | |||||||||||||||
| Family 3 | John Charles MILLER, b. 20 Jan 1947, Morristown, New Jersey d. 23 May 2017 (Age 70 years) | |||||||||
| _UID | 8FA027B5E7CD40C194A7136A5E0A4E5886CE | |||||||||
| _UID | 8FA027B5E7CD40C194A7136A5E0A4E5886CE | |||||||||
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| Family ID | F49445 | Group Sheet | Family Chart | ||||||||
| Last Modified | 6 Jun 2017 | |||||||||
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