Records that survive
These are the record series of Marion 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 Marion District, and its records from those years carry the district's name.
Wills and estates
- Estate papers · Probate Court1800-1915
- Inventories, appraisements, and sales books · Court of Ordinary1800-1859
- Journals of the Court of Ordinary · Court of Ordinary1800-1811
- Will books · Probate Court1800-1888
- Rough journals of the Court of Ordinary · Court of Ordinary1810-1825
Deeds and land
- Conveyance books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1800-1922
- Plat books · Commissioner of Locations1800-1875
- Plats · Register of Mesne Conveyances1871
- Plat books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1877-1925
Marriages, births and deaths
- Marriage license transcripts · Probate Court1800-1859
- Marriage books · Probate Court1911-1952
- Marriage licenses · Probate Court1911-1950
Equity court (estate and land suits)
- Equity bills · Court of Equity1827-1868
- Equity records (general index) · Court of Equity1827-1868
- Equity bills · Court of Common Pleas1869-1873
- Equity records (general index) · Court of Common Pleas1869-1873
Court records
- Judgments (index) · Court of Common Pleas1800-1870
- Civil dockets · Magistrates Court1841-1847
- Minutes of the County Council · County Council2013-2015
Other records
- Commonplace books · Hamer, Robert Cabout 1844
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 Marion 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: Marion 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, Marion" 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: Georgetown District, as Marion District; called a county since 1868
Later formed partly from Marion County: Dillon County, Florence County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1800, 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.