Tammy S. Bryon, the daughter of M. C. Sheriff who was a member of the Oconee Historical Society, researches the history of Oconee County and gives information on the graves of the American Revolutionary War Patriots. During the construction of Lake Hartwell, Mr. Sheriff told the Army Corps of Engineers that the lake would cover American Revolutionary War soldiers, Native Americans, and slave graves. During a drought in 1987, the graveyards of the Isbell and Cleveland families were exposed. Both families from Wilkes County, North Carolina, descend from American Revolutionary War soldiers who fought at the Battle of Kings Mountain under Colonel Benjamin Cleveland. The Cleveland family graves were moved to Beaverdam Baptist Church cemetery in Fair Play, South Carolina, under the order of U. S. District Court Judge Ross Anderson. Mr. Sheriff placed markers behind the South Carolina Welcome Center for the soldiers. This is closest to where they were originally interred.