Record losses
The South Carolina Archives notes: Pre-1881 General Sessions Indictments and pre-1870 Judgment Rolls were lost at an undetermined date, under unknown circumstances.
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 Newberry 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 Newberry District, and its records from those years carry the district's name.
Wills and estates
- Estate papers · Probate Court1787-1889
- Estate record books · Court of Ordinary1787-1840
- Returns books · Court of Ordinary1839-1842
- Will books · Probate Court1839-1913
- Real estate books · Probate Court1859-1873
- Derelict estate account books · Court of Common Pleas1860-1897
- Real estate mortgage books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1872-1949
- Public guardian journals · Court of Common Pleas1881-1931
- Public guardian files · Court of Common Pleas1882-1901
- Writ of attachment book (real estate) · Court of Common Pleas1921-1925
- Real estate conveyance books · Auditor1926-1931
Deeds and land
- Abstracts of conveyance books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1785-1805
- Conveyance books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1785-1941
- Plats (fragments of judgment rolls) · Court of Common Pleas1788-1895
- Plat books · Commissioner of Locations1806-1860
- Attachment bonds for crops under lien · Court of Common Pleas1843-1895
- Official bonds books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1866-1913
- Abstracts of agricultural lien books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1875-1910
- Chattel mortgage books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1882-1914
- Citizens' copies of recorded instruments · Register of Mesne Conveyances1883-1920
- Miscellaneous records recorded by the Register of Mesne Conveyances · Register of Mesne Conveyances1886-1952
- Agricultural liens · Register of Mesne Conveyances1895-1896
- Railroad charters · Register of Mesne Conveyances1897
- Plat books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1901-1949
- Labor contracts (index) · Register of Mesne Conveyances1908-1928
- and 4 more series in the full listing
Equity court (estate and land suits)
- Equity papers · Court of Equityabout 1809-1872
- Equity petitions · Court of Equity1816-1868
- Annual reports of the Commissioner in Equity · Master1818-1864
- Equity bill records · Court of Equity1818-1826
- Equity bills · Court of Equity1818-1885
- Equity decrees · Court of Equity1818-1849
- Equity dockets · Court of Equity1818-1820
- Equity minutes · Court of Equity1818-1862
- Equity orders · Court of Equity1818-1868
- Equity records (general index) · Court of Equity1818-1868
- Equity reports · Master1818-1850
- Fieri facias executions · Court of Equity1819-1843
- Writs of attachment · Court of Equity1819-1833
- Writs of injunction · Court of Equity1819-1868
- and 15 more series in the full listing
Confederate veterans and pensions
- Federal pension papers · Clerk of Court1849-1893
- Reports of the Soldiers' Board of Relief · Clerk of Court1862-1863
- Confederate pension papers · Board of Honorabout 1890-1913
- Minutes of the Board of Honor · Board of Honor1901-1904
- Confederate veterans' enrollment books · Clerk of Court1902
- Distribution of state pension fund books · Probate Court1916-1918
Tax records
- Taxation of costs books · Master1834-1868
- Tax returns lists · Clerk of Court1840-1867
- Official bonds · Treasurer1843-1896
- Taxation of costs books · Court of Common Pleas1847-1901
- General ledgers of the Treasurer · Treasurer1868-1869
- General cashbooks of the Treasurer · Treasurer1881-1884
- Fifteen percent delinquent tax lists · Treasurer1882-1889
- Treasurer's tax duplicate books · Treasurer1882-1949
- Tax settlement books · Treasurer1895-1928
- Tax execution books of the Sheriff · Sheriff1897-1912
- Federal census forms for report on wealth, debt, and taxation · Clerk of Court1902
- Auditor's tax duplicate books · Auditor1906-1951
- Special school tax duplicate books · Auditor1906-1917
- Annual school tax settlements of the Treasurer · Treasurer1907-1923
- and 1 more series in the full listing
Elections and voters
- Voter registration books · Clerk of Court1882-1918
Court records
- Journals of the County and Intermediate Court · County and Intermediate Court1785-1798
- Record of estrays · Clerk of Court1787-1891
- Citizenship petitions · Clerk of Court1808-1890
- Rough criminal journals · Court of General Sessions1822-1834
- Minutes of the Commissioners of the Public Buildings · Newberry District (S.C.). Commissioners of the Public Buildings1829-1868
- Venire facias writs · Clerk of Court1835-1952
- Pleadings and judgments · Court of Common Pleas1839-1908
- Civil journals · Court of Common Pleas1840-1953
- Criminal journals · Court of General Sessions1840-1952
- Fines and forfeitures · Court of General Sessions1840-1859
- Rough minutes of the Commissioners of the Public Buildings · Newberry District (S.C.). Commissioners of the Public Buildings1840-1859
- Rules books · Court of Common Pleas1840-1870
- Receipt books · Court of Common Pleas1842-1894
- Courthouse bids and securities · Newberry District (S.C.). Commissioners of the Public Buildings1850
- and 46 more series in the full listing
Schools
- General ledgers of the Superintendent of Education · Board of Education1901-1910
County government
- Ledgers of James Anderson Johnson · Johnson, James Anderson, of Newberry County, S.C1827-1863
- Accounts and correspondence of John F. Peterson and Company · John F. Peterson and Company, Cotton merchants of Newberry County, S.C1838-1844
- Register of county officials · Clerk of Court1841-1891
- Accounts and receipts · Newberry District (S.C.). Commissioners of the Public Buildings1846-1868
- Sheriff's reports on the condition of the jail · Newberry District (S.C.). Commissioners of the Public Buildings1847
- Grand jury presentments · Newberry District (S.C.). Commissioners of the Public Buildings1849-1868
- Specifications for the Newberry District jail · Newberry District (S.C.). Commissioners of the Public Buildingsabout 1855
- Ledgers of G. D. Smith · Smith, G. D., Merchant of Newberry County, S.C1858-1859
- Statements of cessation of distillation of spirituous liquors · Newberry District (S.C.). Commissioners of the Public Buildings1866-1867
- Membership rolls of the Improved Order of Heptasuphs · Improved Order of Heptasuphs (Newberry County, S.C.)1901
- County jail floor plans · Commissioners to Erect a Jailabout 1917
- Record of county claims · Treasurer1928-1935
- Chain gang books · County Council1941-1961
Other records
- Sales books of the Sheriff · Sheriff1832-1964
- Coroner's inquisition books · Coroner1879-1939
- Jail books of the Sheriff · Sheriff1913-1937
- Writ books of the Sheriff · Sheriff1913-1965
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
- Newberry 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: Newberry 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, Newberry" 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 Ninety-Six and Orangeburg Districts
Check the parent county for earlier records: Lexington County
Later formed partly from Newberry County: Lexington County
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.