Beaver Creek Indians - Lazarus Chavis

Lazarus Chavis

Lazarus Chavis (b. 1767 - d. after 1830) has been identified as the tribe's earliest known ancestor. He and his descendants are the central figures in the tribe's history, identity, and genealogy. Documentation of his life in numerous sources enabled the tribe to achieve state recognition in the 21st century, because records showed he identified as Indian. This provided proof that the people had a continuity of cultural and ethnic identity after the American Revolutionary War and through times of change.

Chavis lived during a time when Native Americans were treated poorly, and most of those remaining in South Carolina were left landless after populations were decimated by infectious disease, slavery and warfare during the English colonial period. While some Native Americans denied or tried to hide their ethnicity in order to assimilate with majority culture, he identified openly as Indian. He was recorded as such in numerous legal documents. Records indicate he served in the American Revolutionary War and received a pension for the military service. He is also listed in the first U.S. Federal Census of 1790 and every census after that through 1830.

Because his Native American ethnicity is documented through multiple and unrelated sources, his life demonstrated continuity of identity through early colonial and republican history. Such documentation was critical for the tribe's achieving state recognition in the 21st century. As Chavis was the foundation of the tribe's legal existence, he has come to define the extent and limits of its ancestry. Today he is defined as the common ancestor for all the members of the tribe. To be a member of the tribe, an individual must demonstrate direct descent from Chavis.