Cedars Cemetery in Camden, South Carolina, dates back to plantation days. The earliest marked gravestone is dated 1839, a descendent of Bonds Conway, and over 1,500 gravestones mark the area. However, hundreds more are unmarked. The location survey, which took six months, resulted in connecting local families whose histories had been lost in time. The revelations of those buried at Cedars have made publishing of Camden Roots a necessary addition to the history of South Carolina by acknowledging the contributions of African Americans to the history of Camden, Kershaw County, and the state of South Carolina.