Records that survive
These are the record series of Greenwood 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. Greenwood County was formed in 1897, so records from before then are with the county or counties it was formed from.
Wills and estates
- Inventories, appraisements, and sales books · Probate Court1897-1952
Deeds and land
- Conveyance books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1899-1923
- Master's conveyance books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1904-1923
- Plat books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1912-1945
Marriages, births and deaths
- Marriage licenses · Probate Court1911-1950
- Marriage registers · Probate Court1911-1970
Confederate veterans and pensions
- Confederate pension papers · Board of Honor1960-1973
Tax records
- Auditor's tax duplicate books · Auditor1897-1974
- School funds cashbooks of the Treasurer · Treasurer1897-1944
- Tax abatement books · Auditor1934
- General ledgers of the Treasurer · Treasurer1938-1940
- Treasurer's tax duplicate books · Treasurer1938-1963
Elections and voters
- Voter registration books · Clerk of Court1900-1906
Court records
- Criminal dockets · Magistrates Court1935-1962
- Precinct lists · Clerk of Court1948-1966
Schools
- General cashbooks of the Superintendent · Board of Education1901-1964
- General ledgers of the Superintendent of Education · Board of Education1911-1984
County government
- General ledgers of the County Council · County Council1935-1955
- Audit reports · County Council1938-1979
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
- Greenwood 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: Greenwood 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, Greenwood" 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: Abbeville County, Edgefield County
Check the parent counties for earlier records: Abbeville County, Edgefield County
Later formed partly from Greenwood County: McCormick 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.