Dorchester County, South Carolina Genealogy

United States  South Carolina  Dorchester County

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

County Courthouse
Dorchester County Courthouse101 Ridge Street St. George, SC 29477

Dorchester County Register of Deeds 201 Johnston Street Saint George, SC 29477 Phone: 843-563-0181 Land records on line index

Dorchester County Probate Court 5200 East Jim Bilton Blvd. St. George, SC 29477 Phone: 843-563-0105 Probate and marriage records

Dorchester County Clerk of Court 5200 East Jim Bilton Blvd. St. George, SC 29477 Phone: 843-563-0178

History
The county is named after the town of Dorchester, Massachusetts.

Parent County
1897--Dorchester County was created 25 February 1897 from Berkeley and Colleton Counties. County seat: St. George 

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

 * Bamberg
 * Berkeley
 * Charleston
 * Colleton
 * Orangeburg

Research Guides

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

Cemeteries
Dorchester County in S.C. Cemetery Project, courtesy: South Carolina Genealogical Society. List of cemeteries in the county.

Census
1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 federal population schedules of Dorchester 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.

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 Dorchester, South Carolina at World Connect, results in more than 2,000 entries.

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

Message Boards


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

Bibliography

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

 * Smith, Henry A.M. "The Town of Dorchester, in South Carolina: A Sketch of Its History," The South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, Vol. 6, No. 2 (Apr., 1905), pp. 62-95. Digital version at JSTOR ($).

Revolutionary War

 * "Dorchester its mystery fort," Americana, April 1933, Volume 27, Issue 2. American Historical Magazine : Somerville, NJ. Book. 973 B2a.

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
 * Dorchester County, South Carolina Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)