Records that survive
These are the record series of Edgefield 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 Edgefield District, and its records from those years carry the district's name.
Wills and estates
- Estate papers · Probate Court1785-1939
- Will books · Probate Court1787-1905
- Estate record books (abstracts) · Court of Ordinary1800-1839
- Estate record books · Court of Ordinary1800-1839
- List of guardians · Court of Equity1815-1830
- Receipt books · Court of Ordinary1825-1852
- Receipts for distribution of funds from sale of real estate · Court of Ordinary1825-1852
- Petitions for guardianship · Court of Ordinary1833-1838
- Guardian, trustee, and committee account books · Court of Equity1834-1868
- Guardian, trustee, and committee bond books · Probate Court1834-1903
- Inventories, appraisements, and sales books · Probate Court1836-1915
- Letters books · Court of Ordinary1837-1849
- Bond books · Court of Ordinary1838-1850
- Returns books · Probate Court1838-1913
- and 13 more series in the full listing
Deeds and land
- Conveyance books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1786-1929
- Abstracts of conveyance books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1796-1821
- Abstracts of plat books · Commissioner of Locations1802-1846
- Plat books · Commissioner of Locations1802-1879
- Plat books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1859-1975
- Lands devised books · Probate Court1876-1910
- Abstracts of agricultural lien books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1878-1907
- Master's conveyance books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1883-1927
- Miscellaneous records recorded by the Register of Mesne Conveyances · Register of Mesne Conveyances1884-1910
- Easements and rights of way books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1968-1976
Marriages, births and deaths
- Marriage books · Probate Court1911-1976
- Marriage licenses · Probate Court1911-1999
Equity court (estate and land suits)
- Equity bills · Court of Equityabout 1814-1868
- Equity records (general index) · Court of Equity1814-1868
- Equity decree books · Court of Equity1815-1826
- Equity minutes · Court of Equity1815-1868
- Rough equity minutes · Court of Equity1815-1822
- Equity report books · Court of Equity1816-1860
- Equity petitions · Court of Equityabout 1818-1868
- Partition books · Court of Ordinary1825-1839
- Minutes of the Master · Master1841-1868
- Sales books of the Master · Master1843-1904
- Equity orders books · Court of Equity1849-1858
- Receipt books · Master1860-1870
- Equity minutes · Court of Common Pleas1869-1870
- Equity petitions · Court of Common Pleas1869
- and 1 more series in the full listing
Confederate veterans and pensions
- Militia and road duty fines and executions books · Sheriff1836-1855
- Papers · Edgefield District (S.C.). Soldiers' Board of Relief1863-1864
- Distribution of state pension fund books · Clerk of Court1916-1933
- Confederate pension applications · Board of Honor1919-1923
- Ledgers of the Veteran Farm Training program · Board of Education1955-1958
Tax records
- Tax execution books of the Sheriff · Sheriff1868-1900
- Assessor's returns of taxable personal property · Auditor1869-1870
- Delinquent tax sales books of the Auditor · Auditor1871-1878
- Fifteen percent delinquent tax lists · Treasurer1881-1900
- Record of taxes collected · Sheriff1895
- Treasurer's tax duplicate books · Treasurer1903-1973
- Cancelled bonds · Treasurer1916-1951
- Auditor's tax duplicate books · Auditor1922-1931
- Property tax maps (Towns of Edgefield, Johnston, and Trenton) · Tax Assessor1967-1971
Elections and voters
- Statements and returns of votes · Clerk of Court1876
Court records
- Journals of the County and Intermediate Court · County and Intermediate Court1785-1795
- Papers · Court of Common Pleasabout 1790-1870
- Execution dockets · County and Intermediate Court1792
- Fieri facias executions · Court of Common Pleasabout 1800-1870
- Judgment rolls · Court of Common Pleas1800-1871
- Petitions and decrees in summary process · Court of Common Pleas1800-1861
- Pleadings and judgments · Court of Common Pleas1800-1913
- Register of magistrates and constables · Clerk of Court1800-1840
- Rough civil journals · Court of Common Pleas1800-1817
- Criminal journals · Court of General Sessions1802-1879
- Civil journals · Court of Common Pleas1807-1896
- Abstracts of decrees in summary process · Court of Common Pleas1821-1860
- Confessions of judgment before the clerk (recorded copy) · Court of Common Pleas1821-1844
- Bar dockets · Court of Common Pleas1829-1871
- and 14 more series in the full listing
Schools
- General ledgers of the Superintendent of Education · Board of Education1900-1968
- Directory of teachers · Board of Education1930-1958
- Annual reports of principals or teachers · Board of Education1944-1949
- High school accreditation applications · Board of Education1944-1968
- Correspondence of the Superintendent of Education · Board of Educationabout 1945-1972
- Annual reports of the Adult Education Program · Board of Education1948-1955
- Jeanes teachers' (Negro Rural School Fund) aid applications · Board of Education1948
- Elementary school accreditation files · Board of Education1953-1968
- Freedom of Choice forms · Board of Education1966-1969
- Title V correspondence · Board of Education1967-1968
- Title 45 papers · Board of Education1971
County government
- History of Edgefield County from the earliest settlement to 1897 · Chapman, John A1897
Other records
- Writ books of the Sheriff · Sheriff1800-1930
- Execution books of the Sheriff · Sheriff1804-1925
- Sales books of the Sheriff · Sheriff1825-1895
- Sheriff's returns books · Sheriff1830-1868
- Coroner's inquisition books · Coroner1844-1902
- Jail books of the Sheriff · Sheriff1865-1961
- Account books of the Sheriff · Sheriff1897-1898
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 Edgefield 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: Edgefield 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, Edgefield" 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 Ninety-Six District
Later formed partly from Edgefield County: Aiken County, Greenwood County, McCormick County, Saluda 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.