Records that survive
These are the record series of Chester 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 Chester District, and its records from those years carry the district's name.
Wills and estates
- Estate papers · Probate Court1787-1950
- Estate record books · Court of Ordinary1787-1845
- Inventories, appraisements, and sales books · Court of Ordinary1840-1855
- Will books · Court of Ordinary1840-1865
- Guardian, trustee, and committee account books · Court of Equity1841-1868
- Guardian, trustee, and committee account books · Court of Ordinary1842-1866
- Transcripts of wills from estate papers · Probate Court1854-1908
Deeds and land
- Abstracts of conveyance books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1785-1797
- Conveyance books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1785-1956
- Plat books · Commissioner of Locations1822-1857
- Plat books (index) · Register of Mesne Conveyancesabout 1869-1981
- Agricultural lien books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1875
Marriages, births and deaths
- Marriage books · Probate Court1911-1966
- Marriage licenses · Probate Court1911-1962
Equity court (estate and land suits)
- Equity minutes · Court of Equity1820-1868
- Equity petitions · Court of Equity1820-1868
- Equity records (general index) · Court of Equity1820-1868
- Equity bills · Court of Equity1821-1868
- Equity decree books · Court of Equity1829-1857
- Equity report books · Court of Equity1829-1857
- Minutes of the Master · Master1843-1869
- Equity bills · Court of Common Pleas1869-1874
- Equity records (general index) · Court of Common Pleas1869-1874
Confederate veterans and pensions
- Confederate veterans' enrollment books · Clerk of Court1902
Court records
- Journals of the County and Intermediate Court · County and Intermediate Court1785-1799
- Record of estrays · County and Intermediate Court1787-1795
- Civil journals · Court of Common Pleas1800-1843
- Criminal journals · Court of General Sessions1800-1885
- Execution dockets · Court of Common Pleas1800-1825
- Citizenship petitions · Court of Common Pleas1801-1901
- Citizenship petitions books · Clerk of Court1802-1868
- Miscellaneous indexes · Clerk of Court1802-1860
- Minutes of the Commissioners of the Roads · Chester District (S.C.). Commissioners of the Roads1850-1868
- Criminal journals · District Court1866-1868
- Minutes of the County Council · County Council1868-1872
- Course of study for School District No. 1 (Court House District) · Board of Education1893-1900
- Student records for School District No. 1 (Court House District) · Board of Education1893-1900
- General ledgers of School District No. 1 (Court House District) · Board of Education1912-1951
Schools
- General ledgers of the Superintendent of Education · Board of Education1930-1949
- General cashbooks of the Superintendent of Education · Board of Education1949-1959
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
- Chester 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: Chester 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, Chester" 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: Part of Camden District
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1785, 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.