Fairfield County, South Carolina Genealogy

United States  South Carolina  Fairfield County


 * This article is about a county in South Carolina. For other uses, see Fairfield (disambiguation).

Quick Dates
Fairfield County's civil records start the following years:

History
The county name is derived from the fair fields within its bounds.

Parent County
1798--Fairfield County was created in 1798 from Camden District. County seat: Winnsboro

Boundary Changes
"Rotating Formation South Carolina County Boundary Maps" (1682-1987) may be viewed for free at the My South Carolina Genealogy website. They rely on AniMap 3.0 software.

Neighboring Counties
Chester | Kershaw | Lancaster | Newberry | Richland | Union

Research Guides

 * South Carolina Archives Summary Guide: Fairfield County, available online, courtesy: South Carolina Department of Archives and History.

Cemeteries
Descendants of Abner Ross and Mary "Polly " Whitaker of Fairfield District, SC - Robertson Cemetery near Shrine Circle

Centerville Cemetery Interments, Ridgeway, Fairfield County, South Carolina

Salem Presbyterian Church Cemetery, (Salem Crossroads), Blair, South Carolina

Census
1800, 1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 federal population schedules of Fairfield County are available online. For tips on accessing census records online, see South Carolina Census. If you're having trouble finding your ancestors in online indexes, try checking printed indexes. Created by local experts familiar with the area's families, these indexes are often transcribed more accurately than online nationwide indexes.

See South Carolina Population Schedule Indexes: Fiche, Film, or Book for more information about statewide printed indexes.

1820 Manufactures

The original manufactures schedules for South Carolina are kept at the NARA, Washington, D.C. FHL copies: 1024517 - 1024518.

Published abstract:


 * National Archives. Indexes to Manufactures Census of 1820. 1920; reprint, Knightstown, Ind.: Bookmark, 1977. 973 X2m 1820; digital version at Lineages. [Includes this county.]

1840 Revolutionary War Pensioners


 * A Census of Pensioners for Revolutionary or Military Services: With their Names, Ages, and Places of Residence, as Returned by the Marshalls of the Several Judicial Districts, Under the Act for Taking the Sixth Census. Washington, D.C.: Blair and Rives, 1841. 973 X2pc 1840;  2321; digital versions at U.S. Census Bureau and Google Books et. al. [See South Carolina, Fairfield District on page 142.]

Church
LDS Ward and Branch Records


 * Ridgeway
 * Winnsboro

DNA
DNA has been collected from men claiming descent from the following Charleston County residents. FamilySearch has not independently verified the lineages of those tested.

Family Histories
It is anticipated that this bibliography will eventually identify all known family histories published about residents of this county. Use this list to:


 * Locate publications about direct ancestors
 * Find the most updated accounts of an ancestor's family
 * Identify publications, to quote Elizabeth Shown Mills, about an ancestor's "FAN Club" [Friends, Associates, and Neighbors]

General

As of August 2010, a query for persons born in Fairfield, South Carolina at World Connect, produces more than 18,000 results.

Surname indexes to Leonardo Andrea's Files | Folders | Resources are available online, courtesy: The Andrea Files: South Carolina Genealogical Research. Learn more.

Message Boards


 * Fairfield County, SC Family History and Genealogy Message Board (Ancestry)
 * Fairfield County, SC Genealogy Forum (GenForum)

Bibliography


 * [Ashford] Ashford, Charlie Rabb. Some of the Ancestors and Descendants of James and George Ashford, Jr. of Fairfield County, South Carolina. 1956. Item 1; digital version of 1987 edition at Ancestry ($).
 * [Brice] Brice, Laurie Simonton. The Name and Record in Ireland of the Brice Family Whose Descendants First Settled in Fairfield County, South Carolina about 1785. MSS., South Carolina Historical Society, Charleston, S.C. Microfilmed 1952. Item 7
 * [Brice] Brice, L.S. The Brice Family Who Settled in Fairfield County, South Carolina about 1785. 1956.
 * [Brice] Myer, Lois C. Descendants of Dr. Alexander Rosborough and Mary Hemphill in Chester Co., South Carolina: Descendants of James Strong and Elizabeth of Chester Co. South Carolina; Descendants of James Brice and Jane Wilson of Antrim Co. Ireland and Fairfield Co., South Carolina; Descendants of Andrew Hemphill and Isabelle McKeown of Chester Co., South Carolina; Descendants of William Maffatt and Barbara Chesnut of Chester Co. South Carolina; Descendants of James Knox and Elizabeth Craig of Tennessee; Descendants of William Gaston and Miss Lemon of Clough Water, Iresland and Chester Co., South Carolina; More Roseborough and Gaston Family Records. Typescript. Microfilmed 1969.
 * [Brown] Terrar, Edward. Genealogical Information About the Brown and Related Gibson, Raines, Tompkins, Mann Families: in Blythewood/Doko (Richland/Fairfield, Co.), South Carolina. Silver Spring, Md.: E. Terrar, 1992.
 * [Buchanan] McMaster, Louise M. Ancestry of the Buchanan Family of Fairfield County, South Carolina. n.p.: L.M. McMaster, 1945. Item 23
 * [Coleman] Rosson, Etta Coleman and Mrs. J.T. McBryde. Descendants of Robert Coleman and Elizabeth Roe: and Some Other Colemens of Fairfield and Union District, South Carolina. Typescript, National Library, DAR. Microfilmed 1971. Item 1
 * [Gibson] Rowland, Jane Thomas. Gibson Family from Fairfield Co. South Carolina and Monroe Co. Georgia: Papers from the Family Files with Rowland/Thomas Connections and Some Ancestors and Descendants of Jane Thomas Rowland and Arthur Ray Rowland. Augusta, Ga.: RR Books, 1998.
 * [Hill] Hill, George Anderson. Hill &amp; Hill-Moberly Connections of Fairfield County, South Carolina. Ponca City, Okla.: Hill, 1961.
 * [Jennings] Konde, Alice and Paul M. Crocker. Some Descendants of John Jennings, ca. 1740/45-ca. 1819, of Fairfield and Edgefield Districts, South Carolina. Port St. Lucie, Fla.: A. Konde, 1989.
 * [Kennedy] Kennedy, Gayle Marie. My Kennedy Ancestors of Fairfield County, South Carolina. Typescript, 1969. Item 2
 * [Montgomery] Burrows, Brenda Sue Montgomery and Threlka Jane Montgomery Morrison. The Montgomery Family of Fannin County, Texas from 1773 to 1986: Descendants of Okitbbeha and Holmes Counties Mississippi and Fairfield District, South Carolina. n.p.: B.S.M. Burrows, T.J.M. Morrison, 1986.
 * [Scott] Wiese, O'Levia Neil Wilson. William Scott of Fairfield County, South Carolina, and His Descendants. Waco, Texas: L.N.W. Wiese, 1987.
 * [Thompson] Beckman, Ludwig A. Alexander Thompson of Fairfield District, South Carolina: The Genealogical Record of His Descendants. Ellisville, Miss.?: unknown, 1950. Digital versions at Ancestry ($) and World Vital Records ($).
 * [Yongue] Coleman, Susan Lee and Amanda Penn Devore Gibson. Alexander William Yongue and Mary Ann Ellison of Fairfield County, South Carolina and Marion County, Florida: With Related Families: Yongue--Ellison--Potts, Pickett--Henson--Boulware --Muscoe--Gray. [Amarillo, Texas: S. Coleman], 1991.

Land
Plats For State Land Grants 1784-1868

This series consists of recorded copies of plats for state land grants for the Charleston and the Columbia Series with their certificates of admeasurement or certification. All personal names and geographic features on these plats are included in the repository's On-line Index to Plats for State Land Grants

The South Carolina Constitution of 1790 required the surveyor general to maintain offices in both the new capital at Columbia and in Charleston. The surveyor general began to use separate volumes for recording plats in his Columbia office in 1796. Before that, all plats were recorded in the set of volumes begun in Charleston in 1784. After 1796, most plats for land grants in the Upper Division of the state were recorded and filed in Columbia. The surveyor general chose to make the Columbia volumes a continuation of the state plat volumes begun in Charleston and gave the initial Columbia volume the number thirty-six to correspond with the number of the volume that had then been reached in the Charleston series. As a result, there are volumes numbered thirty-six through forty-three from each office, but the records in them are not duplicative.

Also included are the Plan Books containing Plats and Plans.

Local Histories

 * Ederington, William. Ederington's History of Fairfield County, South Carolina: A Manuscript History published in the News &amp; Herald, a newspaper of Winnsboro, Fairfield County, South Carolina, in installments, on the dates as indicated with each installment herein. Tuscaloosam sic, Ala.: Willo Pub. Co., 1961.

Revolutionary War

 * McCrady, Edward. Heroes of the Old Camden District, South Carolina, 1776-1861: An Address to the Survivors of Fairfield County, Delivered at Winnsboro, S.C., September 1st, 1888, by Col. Edward McCrady, Jr., of Charleston, S.C. Richmond, Va.: Wm. Ellis Jones, Book and Job Printer, 1888. Digital version at Google Books.

Probate
The South Carolina Department of Archives and History has microfilms or typescripts of wills, inventories, bills of sale, power of attorneys, bonds, notes, administrations, judgments, and sales records. They have placed Will Transcriptions for 1782 to 1855 online. Index searchable by name and the image is available.


 * Will of John Lee of Little River, Fairfield Co., S.C. 1786. MSS., South Carolina Archives, Kershaw County Wills, Vol. 1 of Wills not recorded, pp. 59-61. Item 37

Web Sites

 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
 * Family History Library Catalog
 * Fairfield County, South Carolina Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)