Record losses
The South Carolina Archives notes: Beaufort suffered a major loss in February 1865 after records had been removed to Columbia for safety and suffered subsequent losses during Reconstruction.
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 Beaufort 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 1769 until 1868 it was called Beaufort District, and its records from those years carry the district's name.
Wills and estates
- Real estate conveyance books · Auditor1871-1874
Deeds and land
- Conveyance books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1863-1926
- Plat books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1868-1920
- Land condemnation proceedings for lighthouse construction · Court of Common Pleas1882-1883
Tax records
- Treasurer's tax duplicate books · Treasurer1870-1884
- Direct tax cases · Court of Common Pleas1892-1899
- Delinquent tax lists of the Auditor · Auditor1893-1907
Elections and voters
- Statements and returns of votes · Clerk of Court1880-1892
Court records
- Judgment rolls · Court of Common Pleas1803
- Minutes of the Board of Trustees · School District No. 1 (Beaufort, S.C.). Board of Trustees1925-1930
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
- Beaufort 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: Beaufort 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, Beaufort" 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: One of the seven original judicial districts of 1769; called a county since 1868
Later formed partly from Beaufort County: Hampton County, Jasper County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1769, 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.