[3] The "Turk" community traces its history back to an early settler from the Ottoman Empire, Joseph Benenhaley, who reputedly served the colonial cause in the American Revolutionary War.
[4] The Turks of South Carolina today include surnames such as Benenhaley, Oxendine, Scott, Hood, Buckner, Lowery, Chavis, and Ray.
[6] DNA reports on living members of the Turkish community who descend from Joseph Benenhaley showed that the genetic profile indicates significant connections to the Mediterranean/Middle Eastern/North African regions, along with substantial west European admixture and some potential evidence of Native American linkages.
Notably, the DNA results showed no discernible contributions from Sub-Saharan Africa, contradicting criticism that the community had claimed Turkish ancestry to cover African roots.
But for centuries our rich history has been overlooked and misrepresented, our cultural identity questioned, and we were denied equal access to education because of the tones of our skin.
These huddled families—mainly the Benenhaleys, Oxendines, Rays, Hoods, Buckners, and Lowreys—assumed a common identity as an outcast group, and they kept to themselves for many generations in rural South Carolina.
The community numbered about five hundred at its peak in the mid-twentieth century; and only in the past few decades have they begun assimilating into broader society.