Records that survive
These are the record series of Cherokee 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. Cherokee County was formed in 1897, so records from before then are with the county or counties it was formed from.
Wills and estates
- Estate papers · Probate Court1897-1950
- Works Progress Administration inventory of county schools · Board of Education1935
- Accounts of the Public Works Administration · Treasurer1936-1937
Deeds and land
- Abstracts of agricultural lien books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1897-1909
- Charters · Register of Mesne Conveyances1897-1899
- Conveyance books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1897-1923
- Mechanics' liens books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1897-1931
- Master's conveyance books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1899-1923
- Contract books of the South Carolina Cotton Growers Cooperative Association · Register of Mesne Conveyances1923-1930
Marriages, births and deaths
- Marriage books · Probate Court1911-1953
- Marriage licenses · Probate Court1911-1950
- Vital statistics correspondence · Clerk of Courtabout 1943-1948
Equity court (estate and land suits)
- Equity report books · Court of Common Pleas1897-1926
Confederate veterans and pensions
- Confederate pension rolls · Board of Honorabout 1897-1920
- Confederate pension papers · Board of Honorabout 1899-1918
Tax records
- Auditor's tax duplicate books · Auditor1897-1960
- Register of bills payable · Treasurer1897-1926
- Annual county tax settlements of the Treasurer · Treasurer1898-1915
- Annual reports of the County Treasurer · Court of General Sessions1901-1928
- Cancelled bonds, coupons, and notes · Treasurer1915-1968
- Tax settlement files · Clerk of Court1915-1939
- Abstracts of annual settlements with the Comptroller General · Treasurer1923
- General cashbooks of the Treasurer · Treasurer1923-1964
- General journals of the Treasurer · Treasurer1923-1937
- General ledgers of the Treasurer · Treasurer1923-1969
- School funds cashbooks of the Treasurer · Treasurer1925-1963
- Register of interest on notes payable · Treasurer1929-1953
- Minutes of the County Board of Assessors · Board of Assessors1938-1943
- General correspondence · Auditor1942-1949
- and 2 more series in the full listing
Elections and voters
- Voter registration books · Clerk of Court1897-1948
- Voter registrations for women · Clerk of Court1920-1946
- Voter registrations for the Town of Blacksburg · Clerk of Court1923
- Statements and returns of votes · Clerk of Court1940-1954
Court records
- Calendar no. 1 · Court of Common Pleas1897-1931
- Calendar no. 2 · Court of Common Pleas1897-1937
- Calendar no. 3 · Court of Common Pleas1897-1922
- Civil journals · Court of Common Pleas1897-1925
- Criminal dockets · Court of General Sessions1897-1951
- Criminal journals · Court of General Sessions1897-1934
- Grand jury presentments · Court of General Sessions1897-1960
- Indictments · Court of General Sessions1897-1955
- Jurors, witnesses, and constables payrolls · Clerk of Court1897-1929
- Pleadings and judgments · Court of Common Pleas1897-1922
- Witnesses payrolls · Court of General Sessions1897-1954
- Orders · Court of General Sessions1900-1931
- Criminal dockets · Magistrates Court1906-1927
- Motor vehicle registrations · Clerk of Court1906-1924
- and 25 more series in the full listing
Schools
- Annual reports of the Superintendent of Education · Court of General Sessions1908
- Audit reports of the Gaffney City School · Court of General Sessions1947-1951
County government
- Claims against the county · County Council1897-1912
- Expenditures in support of the poor · County Council1897-1899
- Chain gang books · County Council1905-1918
- Ledgers of the Sinking Fund Commission · Sinking Fund Commission1908-1947
- Reports of the Committee to Investigate the Financial Affairs of Cherokee County · Clerk of Court1908
- Chain gang account books · County Council1913-1916
- Annual reports of the Sinking Fund Commission · Sinking Fund Commission1917-1918
- Road work payroll ledgers · County Council1917-1919
- County funds voucher registers · Treasurer1925-1928
- Cashbooks of the Sinking Fund Commission · Sinking Fund Commission1930-1949
- Audit reports of the County Hospital · Court of General Sessions1941-1959
- Civil defense general files · Council for Defense1942-1945
- Civil defense training reports · Council for Defense1942-1945
Other records
- Coroner's inquisition books · Coroner1897-1949
- Execution books of the Sheriff · Sheriff1897-1930
- Jail books of the Sheriff · Sheriff1897-1966
- Sales books of the Sheriff · Sheriff1897-1957
- Writ books of the Sheriff · Sheriff1897-1952
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
- Find Cherokee County's official website
We haven't checked this county's website yet, so this opens a web search. Look for an address ending in .gov, then find the probate judge, the register of deeds and the clerk of court.
- 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: Cherokee 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, Cherokee" 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: Spartanburg County, Union County, York County
Check the parent counties for earlier records: Spartanburg County, Union County, York County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1897, 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.