Record losses
The South Carolina Archives notes: Public records were removed to Columbia early in 1865; on 17 February 1865, they were burned there during Sherman's occupation.
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 Orangeburg 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 1769 until 1868 it was called Orangeburg District, and its records from those years carry the district's name.
Wills and estates
- Will books · Probate Court1864-1957
- Estate papers · Probate Court1865-1917
- Cashbooks of the Probate Judge · Probate Court1866-1911
- Real estate books · Probate Court1866-1881
- Public guardian journals · Court of Common Pleas1881-1924
- Liquor permits · Probate Courtabout 1917
Deeds and land
- Plat books · Commissioner of Locations1784-1867
- Conveyance books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1865-1978
- Plats for writs of partition · Probate Court1865-1873
- Fee books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1866-1874
- Plat books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1866-1957
- Official bonds books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1868-1894
- Abstracts of agricultural lien books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1880-1950
Marriages, births and deaths
- Marriage licenses · Probate Court1911-1951
Equity court (estate and land suits)
- Partition books · Court of Equity1824-1837
- Equity file books · Court of Equity1865-1868
- Equity decree books · Court of Equity1866-1868
- Equity report books · Court of Equity1866-1868
- Sales books of the Master · Master1866-1929
- Equity bill dockets · Court of Equity1867-1868
- Equity petition dockets · Court of Equity1867-1868
- Money decrees books · Court of Equity1867-1868
- Equity bill dockets · Court of Common Pleas1869-1870
- Equity decree books · Court of Common Pleas1869-1870
- Equity minutes · Court of Common Pleas1869-1871
- Equity petition dockets · Court of Common Pleas1869-1871
- Equity report books · Court of Common Pleas1869-1887
- Equity file books · Court of Common Pleas1871-1880
- and 2 more series in the full listing
Confederate veterans and pensions
- Confederate pension rolls · Board of Honor1893-1919
- Minutes of the Board of Honor · Board of Honor1901-1918
- Distribution of state pension fund books · Clerk of Court1916-1920
Tax records
- Tax execution books of the Sheriff · Sheriff1865-1899
- Assessor's returns of taxable personal property · Auditor1868-1870
- Assessor's returns of taxable real property · Auditor1868-1870
- Auditor's tax duplicate books · Auditor1870-1954
- Delinquent tax sales books of the Delinquent Tax Collector · Delinquent Tax Collector1870-1891
- Delinquent tax sales books of the Auditor · Auditor1872-1883
- School tax correspondence and circulars · Auditor1883-1949
- Letters received · Treasurer1891-1892
- Annual county tax settlements of the Treasurer · Treasurer1916-1927
- Cancelled bonds, coupons, and notes · Treasurer1916-1938
- Treasurer's tax duplicate books · Treasurer1916-1967
- Annual school tax settlements of the Treasurer · Treasurer1918-1927
- General cashbooks of the Treasurer · Treasurer1927-1962
- Tax abatements · Treasurer1934-1935
- and 3 more series in the full listing
Elections and voters
- Democratic club rolls · Democratic Party (Orangeburg County, S.C.)1926-1942
Court records
- Minutes of the Commissioners of the Roads · Orangeburg District (S.C.). Commissioners of the Roads1827-1834
- Abstracts of citizens' copies of decrees in summary process (1854-1865) · Court of Common Pleas1865-1872
- Abstracts of citizens' copies of judgments (1854-1865) · Court of Common Pleas1865-1873
- Abstracts of judgments · Court of Common Pleas1865-1903
- Civil journals · Court of Common Pleas1865-1935
- Judgment rolls · Court of Common Pleas1865-1952
- Pleadings and judgments · Court of Common Pleas1865-1875
- Abstracts of decrees in summary process · Court of Common Pleas1866-1869
- Bar dockets · Court of Common Pleas1866-1867
- Civil journals · District Court1866-1868
- Contingent dockets · Court of General Sessions1866-1882
- Criminal journals · Court of General Sessions1866-1957
- Indictments · Court of General Sessions1866-1963
- Inquiry dockets · Court of Common Pleas1866-1867
- and 40 more series in the full listing
Schools
- General ledgers of the Superintendent of Education · Board of Education1870-1966
- Teachers' certification record books · Board of Education1871-1892
- Teachers' payrolls · Board of Education1883-1887
- Census files of school children · Board of Educationabout 1930-1975
- Coupon note of Springfield School District · School District No. 361930
County government
- Register of county officials · Clerk of Court1865-1910
- Quarterly financial statements · Board of Control1907-1916
- Insurance books of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics · Junior Order of United American Mechanics (Orangeburg County, S.C.)1913-1919
- Revocation of commissions · Clerk of Court1913-1951
- Liquor inspection book · Board of Control1914
- Bank interest notes · Highway Commission1932-1934
- Audit reports · County Council1967-1971
Other records
- Daybooks of Moses Boynton, Jr. · Boynton, Moses, Jr., Leather worker of Orangeburg, S.C1775-1779
- Execution books of the Sheriff · Sheriff1866-1934
- Sales books of the Sheriff · Sheriff1866-1949
- Writ books of the Sheriff · Sheriff1866-1914
- Coroner's inquisition books · Coroner1885-1945
- Papers · Sheriffabout 1940-1950
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 Orangeburg 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: Orangeburg 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, Orangeburg" 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: One of the seven original judicial districts of 1769; called a county since 1868
Later formed partly from Orangeburg County: Aiken County, Calhoun County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1769, 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.