I hope someone who is interested in Abbeville is also interested in the origin of the South Carolina 3rd Regiment which was formed 6 Jun 1775 in Ninety-six Courthouse in Abbeville County, SC. I have looked for years for background on Thomas Donaldson who enlisted in Rev War 4 Apr 1776 in Abbeville - didn't know if it was city or county. When the National Archives finally was put on the computer I wrote (I had written for years but evidently the records were lost until everything was digitalized!) and received two pieces of paper, preprinted for the South Carolina 5th Regiment. I thought: Glory Hallelujah and sent off a supplement on Thomas Donaldson to DAR. I was refused!! The genealogist who answered my application said if Thomas lived in Abbeville he could not have been a member of the 5th, he was a minor and I would have to find where his father lived to prove where Thomas lived during the Rev War. So there! The 5th Regiment was formed in Charleston instead of Abbeville, so I can understand that objection. One time I was in the Caroliniana Library in University of South Carolina in Columbia, SC and was telling a gentleman that I was looking for Thomas who was supposed to have been in the 3rd Regiment. The gentleman, who worked there and seemed to know about these things, told me the 3rd was one of the elite groups, Riflemen, but as time passed their numbers dropped so low they merged with the 5th to be able to keep going. Since I had been told that by the gentleman in Caroliniana Library, when I wrote National Archives I asked for Thomas Donaldson, 5th Regiment. That is what I received - two pieces of paper preprinted for the 5th regiment and having Thomas Donaldson's name written on them, and that is what I sent off to DAR. So, does anyone have knowledge of the South Carolina 3rd Regiment formed in 1775 in Ninety-six Courthouse in Abbeville County, SC?? I feel like the man was in the Rev War but I need help to prove it. Since so many boys enlisted in the Rev War were underage and served as drummer boys and the like, I feel that my Thomas being underage should not mean anything. As far as telling who his father was and where the father lived - - - I would love to know that myself. Gloria Donaldson Wells gdwells@bellsouth.net