Record losses
The South Carolina Archives notes: Sherman's army burned this county's courthouse, together with nearly all public records in March 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 Chesterfield 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 Chesterfield District, and its records from those years carry the district's name.
Wills and estates
- Guardian, trustee, and committee account books · Court of Equity1850-1867
- Estate papers · Probate Court1865-1950
- Bond books · Probate Court1866-1941
- Inventories, appraisements, and sales books · Probate Court1866-1944
- Returns books · Probate Court1866-1943
- Journals of the Probate Court · Probate Court1872-1942
- Cashbooks of the Probate Judge · Probate Court1873-1943
- Public guardian journals · Court of Common Pleas1889-1897
- Letters dismissory books · Probate Court1903-1938
Deeds and land
- Conveyance books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1861-1936
- Conveyance for the Cheraw and Anson Plank Road Company · Chesterfield District (S.C.). Commissioners of the Roads1861-1862
- Citizens' copies of recorded instruments · Register of Mesne Conveyancesabout 1865-1890
- Abstracts of agricultural lien books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1885-1907
- Record of escheated lands · Auditor1895-1896
- Plat books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1906-1929
Marriages, births and deaths
- List of marriages · Magistrates Court1881-1892
- Marriage books · Probate Court1911-1951
- Marriage licenses · Probate Court1911-1950
Equity court (estate and land suits)
- Equity appeals books · Court of Equity1850-1860
- Equity bills · Court of Equity1850-1868
- Equity minutes · Court of Equity1850-1868
- Equity report books · Court of Equity1850-1867
- Equity papers · Court of Equityabout 1860-1868
- Annual reports of the Commissioner in Equity · Master1861-1868
- Equity dockets · Court of Equity1867-1868
- Equity bills · Court of Common Pleas1869-1872
- Equity dockets · Court of Common Pleas1869-1870
- Equity minutes · Court of Common Pleas1869-1879
- Partition books · Probate Court1877-1879
- Equity report books · Court of Common Pleas1892-1899
Confederate veterans and pensions
- Confederate pension papers · Clerk of Court1887
- Confederate pension rolls · Board of Honor1889-1890
Tax records
- Tax returns lists · Clerk of Court1866-1867
- Auditor's tax duplicate books · Auditor1872-1933
- Delinquent tax sales books of the Treasurer · Treasurer1872-1902
- Annual reports of the County Treasurer · Court of General Sessions1876-1905
- Delinquent tax sales books of the Auditor · Auditor1878-1934
- Circulars and correspondence from the Comptroller General · Auditor1883-1897
- Tax execution books of the Treasurer · Treasurer1883-1891
- Abstracts of personal property taxes · Auditor1894
- Annual county tax settlements of the Treasurer · Treasurer1894-1917
- Dispensary accounts · Auditor1896-1904
- Income tax returns · Auditor1898-1916
- Cancelled bonds, coupons, and notes · Treasurer1914-1949
- Treasurer's tax duplicate books · Treasurer1923-1966
- General ledgers of the Treasurer · Treasurer1936-1963
- and 1 more series in the full listing
Elections and voters
- Statements and returns of votes · Clerk of Court1868-1978
- Democratic club primary election returns · Democratic Party (Chesterfield County, S.C.)1892-1930
- Poll lists for Democratic Club elections · Democratic Party (Chesterfield County, S.C.)1892-1901
Court records
- Fee books · Magistrates Court1831-1874
- Pleadings and judgments · Court of Common Pleas1859-1959
- Civil journals · Court of Common Pleas1865-1925
- Bastardy bonds · Court of Common Pleas1866-1868
- Coroner's inquisitions · Court of General Sessions1866-1950
- Criminal dockets · Court of General Sessions1866-1968
- Criminal journals (index) · District Courtabout 1866-1868
- Criminal journals · Court of General Sessions1866-1923
- Grand jury presentments · Court of General Sessions1866-1929
- Indictments · Court of General Sessions1866-1948
- Inquiry dockets · Court of Common Pleas1866-1870
- Judgment rolls · Court of Common Pleas1866-1951
- Papers · Court of General Sessions1866-1948
- Petitions and decrees in summary process · Court of Common Pleas1866-1870
- and 36 more series in the full listing
Schools
- Annual reports of the Superintendent of Education · Court of General Sessions1876-1906
- General ledgers of the Superintendent of Education · Board of Education1893-1921
- Annual reports of principals or teachers · Board of Education1940-1956
- High school accreditation applications · Board of Education1940-1957
- Budgets for school districts · Board of Education1944-1955
County government
- Annual reports of the County Commissioners · Court of General Sessions1872-1912
Other records
- Execution books of the Sheriff · Sheriff1847-1913
- Sales books of the Sheriff · Sheriff1847-1929
- Writ books of the Sheriff · Sheriff1855-1922
- Coroner's inquisition books · Coroner1869-1906
- Commitment fee books · Sheriff1902-1929
- Jail books of the Sheriff · Sheriff1917-1965
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 Chesterfield 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: Chesterfield 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, Chesterfield" 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 Cheraws 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.