Records that survive
These are the record series of McCormick 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. McCormick County was formed in 1916, so records from before then are with the county or counties it was formed from.
Wills and estates
- Estate papers · Probate Court1917-1949
Marriages, births and deaths
- Marriage licenses · Probate Court1911-1950
- Marriage registers · Probate Court1916-1952
Confederate veterans and pensions
- Distribution of state pension fund books · Probate Court1917-1966
- Confederate pension papers · Board of Honor1918-1965
Elections and voters
- Voter registration books · Clerk of Court1916-1961
- Democratic club rolls · Democratic Party (McCormick County, S.C.)1934-1942
Court records
- Abstracts of judgment (index) · Court of Common Pleasabout 1917-1960
- Coroner's inquisitions · Court of General Sessions1917-1970
- Criminal journals · Court of General Sessions1917-1953
- Indictments · Court of General Sessions1917-1955
- Judgment rolls · Court of Common Pleas1917-1950
- Register of motor vehicles · Clerk of Court1917
Schools
- Census of school children · Board of Education1919
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 McCormick 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: McCormick 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, McCormick" 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, Greenwood County
Check the parent counties for earlier records: Abbeville County, Edgefield County, Greenwood County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1916, 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.