Record losses
The South Carolina Archives notes: Although records were removed before General Edward H. Potter's Union cavalry destroyed Manning in April 1865, Clarendon's loose probate papers were destroyed later, at an undetermined date; they begin in 1875.
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 Clarendon 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 1857 until 1868 it was called Clarendon District, and its records from those years carry the district's name. From 1800 until 1857 its land was part of Sumter District, so look there for records from those years.
Wills and estates
- Papers · Probate Courtabout 1849-1939
- Letters books · Probate Court1874-1893
- Bond books · Probate Court1875-1920
- Cashbooks of the Probate Judge · Probate Court1875-1924
- Estate papers · Probate Court1875-1951
- Inventories, appraisements, and sales books · Probate Court1875-1951
- Will books · Probate Court1875-1896
- Returns books · Probate Court1878-1903
- Real estate books · Probate Court1883-1910
- Guardian ad litem bonds · Court of Common Pleas1896
- Appeals from the Probate Court · Court of Common Pleas1912-1920
- Journals of the Probate Court · Probate Court1914-1951
- Liquor permits · Probate Court1917-1919
- Correspondence and administrative reference file of the Superintendent of Education · Board of Education1947-1958
Deeds and land
- Citizens' copies of recorded instruments · Register of Mesne Conveyances1806-1951
- Conveyance books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1861-1921
- Official bonds of constables · Register of Mesne Conveyances1866-1913
- Plat books · Commissioner of Locations1867-1881
- Homestead exemption files · Court of Common Pleas1873-1891
- Official bonds · Register of Mesne Conveyances1875-1899
- Abstracts of agricultural lien books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1878-1909
- Charters · Register of Mesne Conveyances1882-1892
- Official bonds books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1896-1921
- Plat books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1905-1988
Marriages, births and deaths
- Marriage licenses · Probate Court1911-1950
Equity court (estate and land suits)
- Equity papers · Court of Equityabout 1854-1868
- Equity bills · Court of Equity1855-1868
- Equity bar petition dockets · Court of Equity1858-1868
- Equity decree books · Court of Equity1858-1868
- Equity minutes · Court of Equity1858-1868
- Equity petition dockets · Court of Equity1858-1868
- Minutes of the Master · Master1858-1868
- Sales books of the Master · Master1859-1868
- Equity bar petition dockets · Court of Common Pleas1869-1870
- Equity bill dockets · Court of Common Pleas1869-1872
- Equity bills · Court of Common Pleas1869-1870
- Equity decree books · Court of Common Pleas1869-1871
- Equity minutes · Court of Common Pleas1869-1871
- Equity petition dockets · Court of Common Pleas1869-1870
- and 1 more series in the full listing
Confederate veterans and pensions
- Confederate pension rolls · Board of Honor1900-1933
- Confederate pension papers · Board of Honor1904-1935
- Confederate pension receipts · Board of Honor1907-1923
- Cancelled checks · Board of Honorabout 1915-1936
- Distribution of state pension fund books · Probate Court1916-1962
- Bank books · Board of Honor1919-1929
- Confederate pension applications · Board of Honor1919-1926
- Bank statements · Board of Honor1920-1929
Tax records
- Witnesses pay certificates · Treasurer1875-1914
- Annual reports of the County Treasurer · Court of General Sessions1881-1920
- Tax execution books of the Sheriff · Sheriff1886-1889
- Treasurer's tax duplicate books · Treasurer1886-1975
- Tax execution books of the Treasurer · Treasurer1888-1924
- Jurors pay certificates · Treasurer1903
- Seven percent delinquent tax lists · Treasurer1904-1911
- School funds cashbooks of the Treasurer · Treasurer1912-1934
Elections and voters
- Voter registration books · Clerk of Court1882-1958
- Democratic club rolls · Democratic Party (Clarendon County, S.C.)1891-1948
Court records
- Papers · Court of Common Pleasabout 1840-1950
- Petitions and decrees in summary process · Court of Common Pleas1854-1870
- Orders · Court of Common Pleas1856-1941
- Criminal dockets · Court of General Sessions1857-1967
- File dockets · Court of Common Pleas1858-1904
- Venire facias writs · Clerk of Court1858-1937
- Subpoena writs · Court of Common Pleas1860-1938
- Trial papers · Court of Magistrates and Freeholders1863-1865
- Civil journals · Court of Common Pleas1865-1931
- Criminal journals · Court of General Sessions1865-1935
- Peace bonds · Court of General Sessions1865-1911
- Pleadings and judgments · Court of Common Pleas1865-1947
- Trover bonds · Court of Common Pleas1865-1868
- Writs of attachment · Court of Common Pleas1865-1938
- and 80 more series in the full listing
Schools
- Annual reports of the Commissioners of the Free Schools · Court of General Sessions1864-1865
- Annual reports of the School Commissioner · Court of General Sessions1881-1895
- Annual reports of the Superintendent of Education · Court of General Sessions1895-1926
- Complaints files · Board of Education1948-1951
- Jeanes teachers' (Negro Rural School Fund) records · Board of Education1949-1952
- General ledgers of the Superintendent of Education · Board of Education1956-1957
County government
- Annual reports of the Commissioners of the Public Buildings · Court of General Sessions1860-1867
- Annual reports of the Commissioners of the Poor · Court of General Sessions1866
- Annual reports of the Commissioners of the Roads · Court of General Sessions1866-1867
- Claims against the county · County Council1874-1875
- Annual reports of the County Commissioners · Court of General Sessions1881-1901
- Annual reports of the County Supervisors · Court of General Sessions1897-1917
- Cashbooks of the Board of Control · Board of Control1897-1901
- Dispensary ledgers · Board of Control1907-1909
- Reports of the County Dispensary · Court of General Sessions1907
- Stock ledgers of the Board of Control · Board of Control1907-1908
- Annual reports of the Highway Commissioners · Court of General Sessions1924-1927
- Resolutions of the County Council · County Council1953-1992
- Ordinances of the County Council · County Council1976-1993
Other records
- Writ books of the Sheriff · Sheriff1870-1922
- Coroner's inquisition books · Coroner1877-1941
- Execution books of the Sheriff · Sheriff1877-1919
- Sales books of the Sheriff · Sheriff1877-1937
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
- Clarendon 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: Clarendon 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, Clarendon" 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
Later formed partly from Clarendon County: Florence County
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.