Record losses
The South Carolina Archives notes: Major loss of equity records resulted from the negligence of Thomas P. Evans, commissioner in equity from 1822-1829.
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 Kershaw 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 Kershaw District, and its records from those years carry the district's name.
Wills and estates
- Estate papers · Probate Court1791-1931
- Estate record books · Court of Ordinary1791-1824
- Inventories, appraisements, and sales books · Court of Ordinary1791-1827
- Petitions for guardianship · County and Intermediate Court1792-1795
- Will of Lovick Rochell · Rochell, Lovick1809
- Dedimus potestatem files · Court of Common Pleas1811
- Petitions for guardianship of free persons of color · Court of Common Pleas1816-1861
- Papers · Probate Court1821-1897
- Will books · Probate Court1840-1877
- Guardian, trustee, and committee bonds · Master1845-1864
- Real estate conveyance books · Auditor1871-1889
- Guardian, trustee, and committee bonds · Court of Common Pleas1881
- Petitions for appointment of committees · Probate Court1887
- Correspondence of the Probate Judge · Probate Court1935-1952
Deeds and land
- Conveyance books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1791-1934
- Citizens' copies of recorded instruments · Register of Mesne Conveyances1800-1917
- Plat books · Commissioner of Locations1802-1863
- Inquisitions on escheated lands · Court of Common Pleas1808-1809
- Official bonds of constables · Register of Mesne Conveyances1824-1874
- Livestock brand registrations · Register of Mesne Conveyances1830
- Mortgages to the Master/Commissioner in Equity · Master1854-1867
- Agricultural lien books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1872-1926
- Charters · Register of Mesne Conveyances1878-1900
- Agricultural liens · Register of Mesne Conveyancesabout 1898
- Plat books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1903-1948
- Master's conveyance books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1914-1925
Marriages, births and deaths
- Marriage books · Probate Court1911-1960
- Marriage licenses · Probate Court1938-1950
Equity court (estate and land suits)
- Equity minutes, orders, and reports (drafts) · Master1800-1832
- Writs of ne exeat · Court of Equity1809-1849
- Letters received · Master1812
- Equity petitions · Court of Equity1820-1833
- Equity minutes · Court of Equity1822-1863
- Equity papers · Court of Equity1824-1868
- Receipt books · Master1824-1832
- Abstracts of equity decrees · Court of Equity1825-1868
- Equity dockets · Court of Equity1825-1829
- Equity file books · Court of Equity1825-1866
- Equity rolls · Court of Equity1825-1868
- Fieri facias executions · Court of Equity1825-1827
- Bonds · Master1829-1867
- Equity bill dockets · Court of Equity1830-1868
- and 21 more series in the full listing
Confederate veterans and pensions
- Confederate pension applications · Board of Honor1889
Tax records
- Tax executions of the County and Intermediate Court · County and Intermediate Court1796-1798
- Taxation of costs files · County and Intermediate Court1797
- Taxation of costs books · Court of Common Pleas1800-1882
- Tax executions of the Sheriff · Sheriff1822-1832
- Taxation of costs books · Master1842-1933
- Annual reports of the County Treasurer · Court of General Sessions1869-1870
- Delinquent tax sales book of the Auditor · Auditor1873-1878
- Treasurer's tax duplicates · Treasurer1873-1901
- Annual county tax settlements of the Treasurer · Treasurer1874-1885
- General cashbooks of the Treasurer · Treasurer1880-1885
- Monthly reports of the County Treasurer · County Council1889
- School fund cashbooks of the Treasurer · Treasurer1893-1920
- Tax settlement books · Treasurer1894-1926
- Tax collection book · Treasurer1902-1906
- and 4 more series in the full listing
Elections and voters
- Election files · Clerk of Court1856-1922
- Voter registration books · Clerk of Court1928-1948
Court records
- Papers · County and Intermediate Court1783-1799
- Judgment rolls · County and Intermediate Court1787-1799
- Orders appointing overseers of roads · County and Intermediate Court1789
- Capias ad satisfaciendum executions · County and Intermediate Court1790-1799
- Fieri facias executions · County and Intermediate Court1790-1799
- Rough journals of the County and Intermediate Court · County and Intermediate Court1790
- Summary process dockets · County and Intermediate Court1790-1799
- Attachment bonds · County and Intermediate Court1791-1796
- Civil dockets · County and Intermediate Court1791-1799
- Criminal dockets · County and Intermediate Court1791-1799
- Estrays · County and Intermediate Court1791-1798
- Indictments · County and Intermediate Court1791-1799
- Journals of the County and Intermediate Court · County and Intermediate Court1791-1799
- Petitions and property schedules of insolvent debtors · County and Intermediate Court1791-1799
- and 147 more series in the full listing
County government
- Commissions · Clerk of Court1800
- Correspondence of John McCreary · McCreary, John, of Chester County, S.C1800
- Annual reports of the Commissioners of the Poor · Court of General Sessions1813-1863
- Cashbooks of Royal Bullard · Bullard, Royal, Attorney of Kershaw County, S.C1814-1826
- Account books of John Goodwin · Goodwin, John, Merchant of Kershaw County, S.C1820-1829
- Executions · Kershaw District (S.C.). Commissioners of the Roads1821
- Annual reports of the Commissioners of the Roads · Court of General Sessions1822-1866
- Road petitions · Kershaw District (S.C.). Commissioners of the Roads1832
- Cashbooks of Marshall Jones · Jones, Marshall, Merchant of Kershaw County, S.C1837-1838
- Annual reports of the Commissioners of the Public Buildings · Court of General Sessions1844-1856
- Cashbooks of James M. Davis · Davis, James M., Attorney of Kershaw County, S.C1865-1873
- List of road hands assigned · Kershaw District (S.C.). Commissioners of the Roads1865
- Resolutions of the Kershaw County Bar Association · Kershaw County Bar Association1869-1887
- Annual reports of the County Commissioners · Court of General Sessions1875-1899
- and 2 more series in the full listing
Other records
- Execution books of the Sheriff · Sheriff1795-1798
- Writ books of the Sheriff · Sheriff1795-1841
- Receipts · Sheriff1800-1802
- Executions of the Sheriff · Sheriff1808-1857
- Writ books of the Coroner · Coroner1811-1823
- Receipt books · Sheriff1813-1818
- Sales books of the Sheriff · Sheriff1817-1914
- Receipts of Littleton Trapp · Trapp, Littleton1820
- Attorneys' instructions · Sheriff1823-1877
- Pardons · Sheriff1830
- Ledger of D. and J. Clarke · Clark, D. and J., Merchants of Kershaw District, S.C1833-1835
- Receipts for nulla bona executions · Sheriff1838
- Cashbooks of the Sheriff · Sheriff1841-1861
- Ledger of Rasser and Ingram Firm · Rasser, William and Ingram, John, Merchants of Kershaw District, S.C1843-1847
- and 5 more series in the full listing
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
- Kershaw 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: Kershaw 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, Kershaw" 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: Claremont County (extinct), Fairfield County, Lancaster County, Richland County
Check the parent counties for earlier records: Fairfield County, Lancaster County, Richland County
Later formed partly from Kershaw County: Lee County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1791, 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.