Saluda County, South Carolina Genealogy

United States  South Carolina  Saluda County

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

County Courthouse
Saluda County Courthouse 100 E. Church St. Saluda, South Carolina 29138

Probate Judge 100 E. Church St., Suite 4 Saluda, SC 29138 Phone: 864-445-4500 Probate and marriage records

Clerk of Court 100 E. Church St., Suite 6 Saluda, SC 29138 Phone: 864-445-4500 Court and land records

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

History
The county is named after the Saluda River, which flows through Western South Carolina.

Parent County
1896--Saluda County was created 25 February 1896 from Edgefield County. County seat:  Saluda 

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
Aiken | Edgefield | Greenwood | Lexington | Newberry

Research Guides

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

African Americans
United States African Americans South Carolina African Americans

Cemeteries
Saluda 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 Saluda 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.

Church
The Inventory of (SC) Church Archives 1937-1939 is available for free online, courtesy: South Caroliniana Library. Saluda County's W.P.A. reports are included.

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 Saluda, South Carolina at World Connect, produces more than 6,500 results.

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


 * The Family History of Saluda County 1895-1980, Saluda, South Carolina. n.p.: Inter Collegiate Press, [1980?].

Message Boards


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

Bibliography


 * [Hendricks] Frontier Hendricks Association. Hendricks/etc. in South Carolina Backcountry Elsewhere than in Forks of Broad and Saluda--After the Revolution [Unauthorized].
 * [Jones] Phelps, Dallas LeRoy. Descendants of William A. Jones of Edgefield and Saluda County, S.C. 2003. Item 109
 * [Langford] Langford, George Shealy. Langfords in America Sketches on Early Arrivals and Migrations: Genealogical Recording on Descendants from Early Saluda River, South Carolina Families (Lexington, Newberry, Saluda and Old Edgefield Counties), 1773-1975: Some Related Families [of] Holley, Waters, Shealy, Timms, Robertson. College Park, Md.: Langford, 1977.
 * [Long] Evans, Eytive Long. A Documented History of the Long Family, Switzerland to South Carolina, 1578-1956, Including Allied Families a Documentary Record of the Long (Lang) Family of Newberry, Edgefield, and Saluda Counties, South Carolina, Including Many Allied Families. 1956.
 * [Merchant] Phelps, Dallas LeRoy. The Merchant-Padgett Family of Edgefield and Saluda County, South Carolina. Camden, S.C.: D.L. Phelps, 2008.
 * [Padgett] Paget, James Suddath and Dallas LeRoy Phelps. Watson-Smith-Padgett Families of Edgefield and Saluda Counties, South Carolina. 1995. Item 19
 * [Padgett] Phelps, Dallas LeRoy. The Merchant-Padgett Family of Edgefield and Saluda County, South Carolina. Camden, S.C.: D.L. Phelps, 2008.
 * [Smith] Paget, James Suddath and Dallas LeRoy Phelps. Watson-Smith-Padgett Families of Edgefield and Saluda Counties, South Carolina. 1995. Item 19
 * [Watson] Paget, James Suddath and Dallas LeRoy Phelps.Watson-Smith-Padgett Families of Edgefield and Saluda Counties, South Carolina. 1995. Item 19

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.

Revolutionary War

 * "Veterans list, (sel.)," Genealogical Roots and Branches, Winter 2001, Volume 22, Issue 4. Old Ninety-Six Chapter : Greenwood, SC.

Periodicals
Tap into the minds of local experts. Editors of genealogical periodicals publish unique sources that researchers new to their area may not encounter. Periodicals at various levels (county, region, and state) may carry articles useful to research in this area. For this county, see:

Family History Centers
Family History Centers in South Carolina

Web Sites

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