Record losses
The South Carolina Archives notes: Official negligence in the 1830s destroyed a large quantity of loose records of the court of general sessions. Northern "tourists," many of whom were members of Rev. Henry Ward Beecher's congregation from Brooklyn, New York, looted other material from both public and private repositories in Charleston in April 1865. Loose probate papers were destroyed in Columbia 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 Charleston 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 Charleston District, and its records from those years carry the district's name.
Wills and estates
- Letters of administration books · Court of Ordinary1775-1839
- Letters of administration with will annexed books · Court of Ordinary1778-1839
- Estate papers · Probate Court1783-1950
- Inventories and appraisements books · Court of Ordinary1783-1846
- Letters of guardianship books · Probate Court1783-1839
- Letters testamentary books · Court of Ordinary1783-1851
- Order books · Court of Ordinary1783-1812
- Will books · Probate Court1783-1874
- Journals of the Court of Ordinary · Court of Ordinary1808-1864
- Guardian, trustee, and committee bonds · Master1810-1866
- File books · Probate Courtabout 1827-1881
- Real estate books · Probate Court1835-1906
- Inventories, appraisements, and sales books · Court of Ordinary1839-1867
- Returns books · Court of Ordinary1839-1865
- and 12 more series in the full listing
Deeds and land
- Plat collection of John McCrady · Register of Mesne Conveyancesabout 1680-1929
- Conveyance books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1785-1942
- Memoranda · Register of Mesne Conveyances1787-1789
- Deeds of trusts · Court of Equity1791-1810
- Record of marriage licenses granted · Court of Ordinary1809-1816
- Plat books · Commissioner of Locations1832-1841
- Plat books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1837-1948
- Mechanics' liens · Register of Mesne Conveyances1871
- Warrants of survey books · Commissioner of Locations1878-1879
- Warrants of survey · Commissioner of Locations1878-1879
- Transcripts of Berkeley County chattel mortgages · Register of Mesne Conveyances1885-1895
Equity court (estate and land suits)
- Equity bills · Court of Equity1791-1867
- Equity decree books · Court of Equity1791-1868
- Equity papers · Court of Equityabout 1791-1871
- Equity petitions · Court of Equity1791-1868
- Equity records (general index) · Court of Equity1791-1868
- Equity report books · Court of Equity1791-1868
- Rough equity minutes · Court of Equity1791-1830
- Writs of partition · Court of Common Pleas1791-1875
- Equity minutes · Court of Equity1792-1868
- Lunacy inquiries · Court of Equity1796-1823
- Equity decrees (enrolled) · Court of Equity1797-1871
- Equity decrees · Court of Equity1800-1862
- Equity file books · Court of Equity1800-1855
- Equity minutes in Chambers · Court of Equity1800-1848
- and 31 more series in the full listing
Confederate veterans and pensions
- Militia rolls · Clerk of Court1878
- Confederate pension rolls · Board of Honor1888-1959
- Confederate pension papers · Board of Honor1893-1969
- Confederate pension applications · Board of Honorabout 1919-1934
Tax records
- Taxation of costs books · Court of Common Pleasabout 1796-1899
- Tax execution books of the Sheriff · Sheriff1855-1867
- Office files · Auditor1868-1909
- Assessor's returns of taxable real property · Auditor1882-1926
- Receipts for fines assessed in Magistrate's Court · Auditor1892-1899
- Taxation of costs files (U.S. Supreme Court) · Court of Common Pleas1893
- Treasurer's tax duplicate books · Treasurer1900-1901
- Open accounts on Sheriff's books · Treasurer1933
Elections and voters
- Voter registration books · Clerk of Courtabout 1890
- Oaths of election managers · Clerk of Court1891-1906
- Poll lists · Clerk of Court1891-1906
Court records
- Petitions for dower · Court of Common Pleas1778-1834
- Indictments · Court of General Sessions1786-1908
- Renunciations of dower books · Court of Common Pleas1786-1885
- Renunciations of dower (City of Charleston paper medium loan) · Court of Common Pleas1788
- Executions · Court of Common Pleas1791-1856
- Judgment rolls · Court of Common Pleas1791-1904
- Petitions and decrees in summary process · Court of Common Pleas1791-1870
- Petitions and property schedules of insolvent debtors · Court of Common Pleas1791-1859
- Citizenship petitions · Court of Common Pleas1796-1905
- Miscellaneous indexes · Court of Common Pleas1796-1905
- Returns of attachments · Court of Common Pleas1798-1832
- Civil journals · Court of Common Pleas1799-1901
- Papers · Court of Common Pleasabout 1800-1900
- Manumissions (index A-D) · Clerk of Court1801-1848
- and 70 more series in the full listing
Schools
- Freedom of Choice forms · Board of Education1967-1968
County government
- Ledgers of Allen and Johnston and Company · Allen and Johnston and Company, Factors of Charleston County, S.C1833-1836
- Account books of T. W. Mordecai and Company · T. W. Mordecai and Company, Merchants of Charleston County, S.C1839
- Register of county officials · Clerk of Court1840-1910
- Depositors' account books of the Palmetto Savings Bank · Palmetto Savings Bank (Charleston County, S.C.)1858-1866
- Dividends paid by the Palmetto Savings Bank · Palmetto Savings Bank (Charleston County, S.C.)1858-1864
- Signatures of depositors of the Palmetto Savings Bank · Palmetto Savings Bank (Charleston County, S.C.)1858-1866
- Sales books of Evans and Cogswell Company · Evans and Cogswell Company, Printers of Charleston County, S.C1862-1864
- Cashbooks of the Charleston Board of Trade · Board of Trade (Charleston S.C.)1866-1872
- Arrears of dues files · Board of Trade (Charleston S.C.)about 1867-1875
- Ledgers of S. S. Fraser and Company · S. S. Fraser and Company, Ship Chandlers of Georgetown County, S.C1875-1877
- Cashbooks of S. S. Fraser and Company · S. S. Fraser and Company, Ship Chandlers of Georgetown County, S.C1876-1878
- Ledgers of Samuel Inabinett and O. J. Rhodes and Company · Samuel Inabinett and O. J. Rhodes and Company (Charleston County, S.C.)1877
- Records of requests for dispensary account books · Board of Control1893-1906
- Dispensary ledgers · Board of Control1907-1916
- and 2 more series in the full listing
Other records
- Verdict of Common Pleas jury in inquest of escheated lot on Church Street in Charleston · Escheator1787
- Fee books · Sheriff1862-1864
- Coroner's inquisition books · Coroner1878-1912
- Testimonies in inquisitions · Coroner1887-1897
- Transcript of inquest on Thomas Pinckney, Jr. · Coroner1899
- Statements and exhibits in inquests · Coroner1930-1949
- Records and information management consultant report · Records Management Division1982
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
- Charleston 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: Charleston 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, Charleston" 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 Charleston County: Berkeley 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.