Orangeburg County, South Carolina Genealogy

United States  South Carolina  Orangeburg County

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

County Courthouse
Orangeburg County Courthouse 190 Gibson Street Orangeburg, SC 29115

Clerk of Court 190 Gibson Street Orangeburg, SC 29115 Phone: 803-533-6260 Court records

Register of Deeds 190 Gibson St. Orangeburg, SC 29116 Phone: 803-533-6235 Land records On-line Research

Probate Court 190 Gibson St. Orangeburg, SC 29116 Phone: 803-533-6280

Hours: 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday - Friday

History
The county is named after William V, Prince of Orange (1748-1806). Orangeburg County was the site of the Revolutionary War Battle of Eutaw Springs.

Parent County
1769--Orangeburg County was created in 1769 from Colleton (old) and Berkeley (old) Counties. County seat:  Orangeburg 

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.

Variant Spellings

 * Orangeburgh

Record Loss

 * Lost census: 1890
 * Many records were destroyed during the Civil War

Neighboring Counties

 * Aiken
 * Bamberg
 * Barnwell
 * Berkeley
 * Calhoun
 * Clarendon
 * Colleton
 * Dorchester
 * Lexington

Research Guides

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

African American

 * Heinegg, Paul. "'Other Free' Heads of Household in the 1790 South Carolina Census, by County," Free African Americans.com. [Includes free blacks in South Orangeburgh District.]
 * Morris-Crowther, Jayne. "An Economic Study of the Substantial Slaveholders of Orangeburg County, 1860-1880," The South Carolina Historical Magazine, Vol. 86, No. 4 (Oct. 1985):296-314. Digital version at JSTOR ($).

Cemeteries

 * Elzas, Barnett A. The Jewish Cemetery at Orangeburg, S.C. Charleston, S.C.: B.A. Elzas, 1910. Digital version at Internet Archive.

Census
1790, 1800, 1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 federal population schedules of Orangeburg 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

 * Jarrell, Lawrence E. 1820 Orangeburgh, South Carolina Census. High Point, N.C.: Alligator Creek Genealogy Publications, 1998. 975.779 X2j 1820

1850

 * Black, James M. 1850 Census of Orangeburg County, S.C.: Transcribed from the Original Records from the National Archives as Contained on the Microfilm Copy in the Genealogical Library. 1956. 975.779 X2p 1850
 * Buff, L.H. The Orangeburg District (SC) 1850 Census. Lexington, S.C.: Lexington Genealogical Association, 1997. 975.779 X2b 1850

Church

 * Clute, Robert F. The Annals and Parish Register of St. Thomas and St. Denis Parish in South Carolina from 1680 to 1884. Charleston, S.C.: Evans &amp; Cogswell, 1884. ; digital versions at Ancestry ($); Google Books; another Google Books version; Internet Archive; World Vital Records ($).

Presbyterian


 * Estes, Frank B. History of Orangeburg Presbyterian Church 1835-1935. 1935. Digital version at Internet Archive.

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.

Genealogy
More than 20 genealogies have been published about Orangeburg County families. To view a list, visit Orangeburg County, South Carolina Genealogy.

Immigration

 * Orangeburgh German-Swiss Genealogical Society. Orangeburgh German Swiss Newsletter. 1981-.  Item 5
 * Orangeburgh German-Swiss Genealogical Society. Orangeburgh Immigrants and First Families. Orangeburg, S.C.: Orangeburgh German-Swiss Genealogical Society, 1990.
 * Ravenel, Daniel. Liste des François et Suisses: From an Old Manuscript of French and Swiss Protestants Settled in Charleston, on the Santee and at the Orange Quarter in Carolina, Who Desired Naturalization, Prepared Probably about 1695-6. 1822; reprint, New York: Knickerbocker Press, 1888. ; digital version at World Vital Records ($).

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

 * Salley, A.S. The History of Orangeburg County, South Carolina: From Its First Settlement to the Close of the Revolutionary War. Orangeburg, S.C.: R.L. Berry, 1898. ; 1969 reprint: ; ; digital versions at Google Books; Internet Archive; World Vital Records ($); another World Vital Records ($) version.

Military
The Battle of Eutaw Springs was fought in Orangeburg County, South Carolina.

Revolutionary War

 * "Foot Rovers aka Raccoon Co., 1775," Rice Planter, Summer 2003, Volume 11, Issue 2. Rice Planter / Old St. Bartholomew Chapter : Columbia, SC.
 * "Wm. Paulling pension, 1832," Orangeburg German-Swiss Newsletter, Fall 2000, Volume 8, Issue 4. Orangeburg German Swiss Genealogical Society : Orangeburg, SC.
 * "Captain Jacob Rumph's Company, 1783," Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine, March 1964, Volume 98, Issue 3. Daughters of the American Revolution : Washington D.C.
 * "Casualty list, Eutaw, 1781," Carolina Genealogist, Fall 1971, Issue 5. Heritage Paper : Danielsville, GA 30633.
 * Ruple, Jack D. Orangeburg documents. Little Rock, Arkansas : J.D. Ruple, c1987. Book 975.77 R28r Fiche 6010949

War of 1812

 * List of Pensioners on the Roll, January 1, 1883; Giving the Name of Each Pensioner, the Cause for Why Pensioned, the Post-Office Address, the Rate of Pension Per Month, and the Date of Original Allowance... Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1883. 973 M2Lp v. 5; digital versions at Google Books and Internet Archive. [See Vol. 5, South Carolina, Orangeburgh County [sic], p. 187. Identifies War of 1812 veterans living in this county in 1883.]

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