Record losses
The South Carolina Archives notes: Probate records (1781-87) and clerk of court's records, including deeds (1791-99), were destroyed with the records of Orangeburg County in February 1865.
Compare the years below for gaps. Where records are missing, try the parent county or district, state records such as land grants and tax lists, church records and newspapers. See Burned Counties.
Records that survive
These are the record series of Barnwell County held at the South Carolina Department of Archives and History in Columbia, in the original or on microfilm, with the office that kept each and the years covered. A span can include gaps. From 1800 until 1868 it was called Barnwell District, and its records from those years carry the district's name.
Wills and estates
- Estate papers · Probate Court1787-1932
- Estate record books · Court of Ordinary1787-1797
- Will books · Probate Court1797-1876
- Sales books of the Court of Ordinary · Court of Ordinary1808-1842
- Inventories and appraisements books · Probate Court1809-1876
- Journals of the Court of Ordinary · Court of Ordinary1819-1838
Deeds and land
- Transcripts of Orangeburg District plat books · Commissioner of Locations1784-1793
- Abstracts of conveyance books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1786-1790
- Conveyance books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1789-1945
- Plat books · Commissioner of Locations1801-1868
- Plat books (copies) · Commissioner of Locations1807-1841
- Master's conveyance books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1912-1937
- Plat books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1921-1985
- Plats · Register of Mesne Conveyances1981-1985
Marriages, births and deaths
- Marriage books · Probate Court1911-1959
- Marriage licenses · Probate Court1911-1951
Equity court (estate and land suits)
- Equity papers · Court of Equity1800-1868
- Equity bills · Court of Equityabout 1818-1868
- Equity minutes · Court of Equity1820-1841
- Equity decree books · Court of Equity1821-1839
- Equity report books · Court of Equity1821-1848
Tax records
- Tax return lists · Clerk of Court1810-1845
Court records
- Journals of the County and Intermediate Court · County and Intermediate Court1786-1791
- Miscellaneous records of the County Intermediate Court · County and Intermediate Court1787-1791
- Civil journals · Court of Common Pleas1800-1832
- Criminal journals · Court of General Sessions1800-1880
- Papers · Court of Common Pleas1800-1868
- Rough civil journals · Court of Common Pleas1800-1813
- Rough criminal journals · Court of General Sessions1800-1822
- Venire facias writs · Clerk of Court1800-1866
- Abstracts of judgments · Court of Common Pleas1802-1821
- Manumissions book · Clerk of Court1803-1845
- Civil dockets · Magistrates Court1853-1854
- Criminal journals · District Court1866-1868
- Papers · Court of General Sessionsabout 1880-1890
- Indictments (index) · Court of General Sessions1889-1986
- and 2 more series in the full listing
Schools
- Teachers' pay certificates · Treasurer1875-1876
- Monthly reports of teachers · Treasurer1880
Other records
- Accounts · Sheriff1841-1844
- Receipts for records and equipment turned over to successors · Sheriff1857
See the full list at the South Carolina Archives
Source: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Summary Guide to County Records. Many county offices keep their own older books too, so ask the county as well. South Carolina required marriage licenses from July 1, 1911, and statewide birth and death registration began in 1915.
Where to find the records
- Barnwell County official website
Hours, addresses and phone numbers for the probate judge, the register of deeds and the clerk of court, and any online record search the county offers.
- The probate judge
Wills and estates (from 1868; before that, the Court of Ordinary), and marriage licenses from July 1911.
- The register of deeds
Deeds and mortgages. The office was called the Register of Mesne Conveyances (RMC) until 1998, and in most counties the clerk of court records deeds instead.
- The clerk of court
Civil and criminal court records, and in some counties the old equity court's files on estate divisions and land disputes.
- The South Carolina Department of Archives and History
Older county records in the original or on microfilm, plus colonial and state land grants and plats, and Confederate pension applications.
- South Carolina Archives: Barnwell County recordsfree
Every record series the state archives holds for this county, with its years, office and microfilm.
- South Carolina Archives Online Records Indexfree
Search by name for land grants and plats, Confederate pension applications, will transcripts and other records, many with images.
- FamilySearch Catalogfree
Search by place for "South Carolina, Barnwell" to find filmed and digitized records, many viewable free online with a FamilySearch account.
Offices change their hours and access rules; call before you visit.
Boundaries and parent counties
Formed from: Orangeburg District, as Barnwell District; called a county since 1868
Later formed partly from Barnwell County: Aiken County, Allendale County, Bamberg County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1800, search the parent county. The Atlas of Historical County Boundaries shows each boundary change.
Research tip
Until the early 1780s, South Carolina's wills were recorded in Charleston for the whole colony, so look there for an ancestor who died before then. Before 1868, the equity court's suits over estate divisions and land often name every heir.