About the Author

Raised in Beaufort, South Carolina, Alexia Jones Helsley was a member of the Beaufort High School class of 1963. She is an adjunct history professor at the University of South Carolina-Aiken. Her 37-year career as an archivist with the South Carolina Department of Archives and History included publications on national and state historical topics. Her books include South Carolinians in the War for American Independence, Unsung Heroines of the Carolina Frontier, and The Many Faces of Slavery (co-author). Alexia recently taped Branches, an eight-part program on how historians and genealogists can use state records, for SC-ETV.