Records that survive
These are the record series of Saluda 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. Saluda County was formed in 1896, so records from before then are with the county or counties it was formed from.
Wills and estates
- Estate papers · Probate Court1896-1949
- Returns books · Probate Court1896-1940
- Administration bond books · Probate Court1897-1959
- Administration bonds with will annexed books · Probate Court1897-1959
- Guardian, trustee, and committee bond books · Probate Court1897-1926
- Inventories, appraisements, and sales books · Probate Court1897-1928
- Journals of the Probate Court · Probate Court1897-1934
- Cashbooks of the Probate Judge · Probate Court1898-1947
- Real estate books · Probate Court1899-1951
- Guardian, trustee, and committee account books · Probate Court1926-1963
Deeds and land
- Chattel mortgage indexes · Register of Mesne Conveyances1896-1953
- Conveyance books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1896-1921
- Master's conveyance books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1898-1917
- Chattel mortgage books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1901-1956
- Plat books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1912-1928
Marriages, births and deaths
- Marriage books · Probate Court1911-2000
- Marriage licenses · Probate Court1911-1950
Equity court (estate and land suits)
- Ledgers of the Master · Master1897-1929
Tax records
- School funds cashbooks of the Treasurer · Treasurer1895-1935
- Tax execution books of the Treasurer · Treasurer1895-1899
- Treasurer's tax duplicate books · Treasurer1897-1966
- Road tax books · Treasurer1903-1921
- General cashbooks of the Treasurer · Treasurer1911-1948
- Record of closed banks · Treasurer1931-1935
- Delinquent tax sales books of the Delinquent Tax Collector · Delinquent Tax Collector1934-1939
- General ledgers of the Treasurer · Treasurer1936-1966
- Cancelled bonds, coupons, and notes · Treasurer1955
Elections and voters
- Democratic club rolls · Democratic Party (Saluda County, S.C.)1920-1926
- Voter registration books · Clerk of Court1938
Court records
- Jurors and witnesses pay stubs · Court of General Sessions1897-1898
- Minutes of the Board of Education · Board of Education1899-1933
- Civil dockets · Magistrates Court1929-1958
- Criminal dockets · Magistrates Court1933-1964
Schools
- Register of claims · Board of Education1932-1936
- School bonds registers · Board of Education1932-1936
County government
- Claims against the county · County Council1906-1937
- Ledgers of the Sinking Fund Commission · Sinking Fund Commission1935
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
- Saluda 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: Saluda 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, Saluda" 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: Edgefield County
Check the parent county for earlier records: Edgefield County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1896, 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.