Record losses
The South Carolina Archives notes: Sumter suffered a major loss of probate records and deeds, on 27 November 1801, when fire destroyed the residence of Sumter District Clerk of Court John Horan, in Stateburg. This fire also consumed the records of Clarendon, Claremont, and Salem counties .
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 Sumter 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 Sumter District, and its records from those years carry the district's name.
Wills and estates
- Estate papers · Probate Court1800-1900
- Will books · Probate Court1800-1963
- Inventories and appraisements books · Court of Ordinary1811-1836
- Guardian, trustee, and committee account books · Court of Equity1813-1839
- Petitions and bonds for appointments of guardians, trustees, and committees · Probate Courtabout 1813-1915
- Administration bond books · Probate Court1816-1908
- Guardianships, committeeships, lunacy inquiries, and industrial school commitments (index) · Probate Court1816-1948
- Journals of the Probate Court · Probate Court1816-1902
- Returns books · Probate Court1816-1916
- Guardian, trustee, and committee accounts · Master1817-1840
- Sales books of the Court of Ordinary · Court of Ordinary1817-1836
- Inventory of the records in the office of the Secretary of State (Charleston) · Clerk of Court1820
- Guardianship record books · Court of Ordinary1835-1839
- Estate record books · Court of Ordinary1836-1849
- and 10 more series in the full listing
Deeds and land
- Conveyance books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1801-1949
- Abstracts of conveyance books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1802-1852
- Plat books (copies) · Commissioner of Locations1802-1841
- Plat books · Commissioner of Locations1802-1881
- Plat books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1802-1949
- Lands devised books · Probate Court1883-1955
- Master's conveyance books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1900-1921
- Charter books · Register of Mesne Conveyances1951
Marriages, births and deaths
- Marriage licenses · Probate Court1911-1950
Equity court (estate and land suits)
- Equity bills · Court of Equity1816-1868
- Annual reports of the Commissioner in Equity · Court of Equity1817-1841
- Equity minutes · Court of Equity1817-1822
- Equity petitions · Court of Equity1817-1868
- Equity records (general index) · Court of Equity1817-1868
- Equity report books · Court of Equity1817-1858
- Fieri facias executions · Court of Equity1817-1840
- Writs of ne exeat · Court of Equity1817-1835
- Writs of injunction · Court of Equity1818-1826
- Equity decree books · Court of Equity1828-1833
- Equity bills · Court of Common Pleas1869-1872
- Equity petitions · Court of Common Pleas1869-1871
- Equity records (general index) · Court of Common Pleas1869-1872
- Equity report books · Court of Common Pleas1869-1952
- and 1 more series in the full listing
Confederate veterans and pensions
- Confederate pension rolls · Board of Honor1901-1920
- Minutes of the Board of Honor · Board of Honor1901-1919
Tax records
- Taxation of costs books · Court of Common Pleas1829-1833
- Treasurer's tax duplicate books, School District 17 (City of Sumter) · Treasurer1960
Elections and voters
- Voter registration books · Clerk of Court1895
Court records
- Pleadings and judgments · Court of Common Pleas1802-1952
- Civil journals · Court of Common Pleas1810-1953
- Rough civil journals · Court of Common Pleas1821-1840
- Abstracts of decrees in summary process · Court of Common Pleas1825-1856
- Criminal journals · Court of General Sessions1827-1853
- Minutes of the Sumterville Academical Society · Sumterville Academical Society (Sumter County, S.C.)1837-1867
- Criminal dockets · Court of General Sessions1840-1857
- Record of estrays · Clerk of Court1840-1845
- Judgment rolls (fragments) · Court of Common Pleas1843-1853
- Criminal dockets · Magistrates Court1852-1884
- Dockets of the Court of Magistrates and Freeholders · Court of Magistrates and Freeholders1853-1865
- Record of estrays · Magistrates Court1854-1867
- Minutes of the Board of Control · Board of Control1893-1907
- Journals of Albert B. Stuckey · Stuckey, Albert B., Attorney of Sumter County, S.C1896-1919
- and 3 more series in the full listing
Schools
- Teachers' certification record books · Board of Education1870-1952
- General cashbooks of the Superintendent · Board of Education1887-1893
- List of the graduates of the Washington Street Graded School · Board of Education1891-1907
- Scrapbooks of graduates of Sumter High School · Board of Education1908-1952
- Superintendent's correspondence · Board of Education1918-1924
- Superintendent's account files · Board of Education1920-1921
- Teachers' certification renewal record (City of Sumter) · Board of Education1929-1945
- Applications for state aid for School District No. 17 (City of Sumter, S.C.) · Board of Education1932-1960
- List of library accessions for City of Sumter schools · Board of Educationabout 1945-1948
- Budgets for School District No. 17 (City of Sumter, S.C.) · Board of Education1948-1968
- Budgets for School Districts No. 1, No. 17, and No. 34 · Board of Education1948-1949
- Audit reports of School District No. 17 (City of Sumter, S.C.) · Board of Education1975-1977
County government
- Constitution and amendments of the Sumterville Academical Society · Sumterville Academical Society (Sumter County, S.C.)1837-1839
- General ledgers of the County Council · County Council1868-1878
- Claims against the county · County Council1878-1893
- Letterbooks · County Council1879-1904
- Code of ordinances · County Council1985-1996
Other records
- Memoranda of sales · Sheriff1821-1823
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
- Sumter 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: Sumter 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, Sumter" 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: Camden District, as Sumter District; called a county since 1868
Later formed partly from Sumter County: Lee County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1800, 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.