Records that survive
These are the record series of Marlboro 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 Marlboro District, and its records from those years carry the district's name.
Wills and estates
- Estate papers · Probate Court1787-1959
- Will books · Probate Court1787-1957
- Estate record books · Court of Ordinary1788-1840
- Inventories, appraisements, and sales books · Probate Court1788-1955
- Guardian, trustee, and committee bonds · County and Intermediate Court1792-1798
- Guardian, trustee, and committee bonds · Probate Court1800-1872
- Journals of the Probate Court · Probate Court1800-1954
- Citizens' copies of letters of guardianship · Probate Court1807-1872
- Guardian, trustee, and committee accounts · Probate Court1832-1917
- Petitions to the Probate Court · Probate Court1834-1934
- Bond books · Probate Court1835-1936
- Letters books · Probate Court1840-1911
- Real estate books · Probate Court1840-1915
- Returns books · Probate Court1840-1949
- and 33 more series in the full listing
Deeds and land
- Abstracts of conveyance books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1786-1802
- Conveyance books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1786-1925
- Citizens' copies of recorded instruments · Register of Mesne Conveyances1793-1921
- Plat books · Commissioner of Locations1802-1860
- Plat books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1802-1908
- Official bonds · Register of Mesne Conveyances1842-1869
- Mortgages to the Master/Commissioner in Equity · Master1853-1868
- Homestead exemption files · Court of Common Pleas1855-1935
- Petitions for warrant of survey · Commissioner of Locations1856-1874
- Oaths and appointments · Register of Mesne Conveyances1857
- Powers of attorney · Register of Mesne Conveyances1860-1870
- Official bonds books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1866-1924
- Mortgages and liens (index) · Register of Mesne Conveyances1869-1872
- Lands devised books · Probate Court1872-1949
- and 6 more series in the full listing
Marriages, births and deaths
- Marriage licenses · Probate Court1788-1963
- List of marriages · Magistrates Court1895-1896
- Marriage books · Probate Court1911-1978
Equity court (estate and land suits)
- Writs of partition · Court of Common Pleas1800-1870
- Transcripts of Cheraw District equity decrees open to execution · Court of Equity1814-1849
- Transcripts of Cheraw District bonds · Court of Equity1825-1849
- Account books of the Master · Master1849-1877
- Annual reports of the Commissioner in Equity · Master1850-1868
- Bond books · Court of Equity1850-1867
- Equity appeals books · Court of Equity1850-1867
- Equity bills · Court of Equity1850-1868
- Equity decree books · Court of Equity1850-1859
- Equity dockets · Court of Equity1850-1868
- Equity file books · Court of Equity1850-1868
- Equity minutes · Court of Equity1850-1868
- Equity orders books (transcripts of Cheraw Equity District orders, 1832-1849) · Court of Equity1850
- Equity petitions · Court of Equity1850-1868
- and 18 more series in the full listing
Confederate veterans and pensions
- Minutes of the Board of Honor · Board of Honor1889
- Confederate pension application books · Board of Honor1898-1900
- Confederate pension rolls · Board of Honor1898
- Confederate veterans' enrollment books · Clerk of Court1902
- Distribution of state pension fund books · Clerk of Court1916-1919
- Confederate pension check stub books · Board of Honor1919-1924
- Confederate pension papers · Board of Honor1938-1965
Tax records
- Tax returns lists · Clerk of Court1810-1819
- Taxation of costs books · Clerk of Court1846-1849
- Tax execution books of the Sheriff · Sheriff1868
- Taxation of costs files · Court of Common Pleas1870
Elections and voters
- Election files · Clerk of Court1865-1922
- Democratic club rolls · Democratic Party (Marlboro County, S.C.)1911-1920
- Voter registration books · Clerk of Court1916
Court records
- Journals of the County and Intermediate Court · County and Intermediate Court1785-1799
- Venire facias writs · County and Intermediate Court1785-1799
- Attachment bonds · County and Intermediate Court1786-1799
- Issue dockets · County and Intermediate Court1786-1799
- Petitions and decrees in summary process · County and Intermediate Court1786-1799
- Subpoena writs · County and Intermediate Court1786-1799
- Appearance books · County and Intermediate Court1787-1799
- Criminal dockets · County and Intermediate Court1787-1794
- Judgment rolls · County and Intermediate Court1794-1799
- Abstracts of decrees in summary process · County and Intermediate Court1795-1799
- Confessions of judgment before the clerk · County and Intermediate Court1799
- Abstracts of decrees in summary process · Court of Common Pleas1800-1870
- Abstracts of judgments · Court of Common Pleas1800-1870
- Coroner's inquisitions · Court of General Sessions1800-1911
- and 94 more series in the full listing
Schools
- Annual reports of the Commissioners of the Free Schools · Court of General Sessionsabout 1850-1876
- List of School Commissioners and Superintendents of Education · Board of Educationabout 1868-1970
- Annual reports of the School Commissioner · Court of General Sessions1883-1884
- General cashbooks of the Superintendent · Board of Education1895-1898
- Directory of teachers · Board of Education1918-1958
- Annual reports of the Superintendent of Education · Board of Education1939-1950
County government
- Annual reports of the Commissioners of the Poor · Court of General Sessions1821-1863
- Register of county officials · Clerk of Court1841-1911
- Annual reports of the Commissioners of the Public Buildings · Court of General Sessions1845-1861
- Annual reports of the Commissioners of the Roads · Court of General Sessions1846-1867
- Ledgers of James T. Barentine · Barentine, James T., Merchant of Marlboro County, S.C1852-1853
- Commissions · Register of Mesne Conveyances1854-1866
- Ledgers of A. N. Bristow · Bristow, A. N., Tavernkeeper of Marlboro County, S.C1855-1857
- Account books of Milton McLaurin · McLaurin, Milton, Attorney of Marlboro County, S.C1887-1918
- Annual reports of the County Commissioners · Court of General Sessions1917
- Audit reports · County Council1937
Other records
- Execution books of the Sheriff · Sheriff1823-1889
- Sales books of the Sheriff · Sheriff1825-1885
- Writ books of the Sheriff · Sheriff1841-1892
- Receipts for records and equipment turned over to successors · Sheriff1845-1853
- Executions of the Sheriff · Sheriff1859-1869
- Coroner's inquisition books · Coroner1870-1913
- Writ books of the Coroner · Coroner1871-1900
- Receipt books · Sheriff1879
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
- Marlboro 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: Marlboro 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, Marlboro" 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 Cheraws District
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.