Colleton County, South Carolina Genealogy

United States  South Carolina  Colleton County County in South Carolina Lowcountry.

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

County Courthouse
Colleton County Courthouse 101 Hampton Street Walterboro, SC 29488

Colleton County Probate Court 188 N. Walter Street P.O. Box 1036 Walterboro, SC 29488 Phone: 843-549-7216 Marriage and probate records

Colleton County Clerk of Court 101 Hampton Street P.O. Box 620 Walterboro, SC 29488 Phone: 843-549-5791 Court and land records

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

History
The county is named after Sir John Colleton, 1st Baronet (1608-1666). King Charles II appointed him one of the Lords Proprietor of Carolina in 1663.

Parent County
1798--Colleton County was created in 1798 from Charleston District. County seat: Walterboro 

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.

Record Loss

 * Pre-Civil War land records are lost

Neighboring Counties

 * Allendale
 * Bamberg
 * Beaufort
 * Charleston
 * Dorchester
 * Hampton
 * Orangeburg

Research Guides

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

African Americans
United States African Americans South Carolina African Americans

Cemeteries
Colleton County in S.C. Cemetery Project, courtesy: South Carolina Genealogical Society. Personal name index and list of cemeteries in the county.

Being an old county, cemeteries date back to 1788.

Abraham CME Church [AA] [1909] Ackerman Cemetery at Red Oak [1862] Abraham CME Church [AA] [1909] Ackerman Cemetery at Red Oak [1862] Ackerman Cemetery at Round O [1902] Adams-McMillan Cemetery [1916] Adnah Methodist Church Cemetery [1899] Aimwell Presbyterian Church Cemetery [AA] [1874] Amanda Brown Cemetery [AA] 1992] Antioch Memorial [AA] [1984] Ashepoo Fee Farm [AA] 1896] Ashton Cemetery [1920] Baldwin Family Cemetery [1998] Baptist Hill [AA] [1905] Barry Family Cemetery [1995] Battleham [AA] [1936] Bedon Baptist Church Cemetery [1864] Bennett Family Cemetery [1907] Bennett-Spell Cemetery [AA] [1946] Benton Family Cemetery [1882] Benton, Ulmer, Bowers Family Cemetery [1887] Bethel Baptist Church Cemetery [1970] Bethel Presbyterian Church Cemetery [1788] Bethel United Methodist Church Cemetery [1844] Black Creek Baptist Church Cemetery [1917] Black Family Cemetery [1898] Blocker Family Cemetery [1855] [No markers remain] Blue House [AA] [1970] Blue House #2 [AA] Bluff Plantation [AA] Boatright Grave [1861] Breland Family Cemetery [1850] Brick Band Cemetery [AA] [1904 Bridge Cemetery [1918] Buckhead Cemetery Buckhead Advent Christian Church Cemetery [1909] Buncomb [AA] [1957] Burr Hill Cemetery [AA] [1946] Buzzard’s Roost [AA] [1904] Camp Buddy [AA] [1935] Campbell [AA] [1906] Canaan Baptist Church Cemetery [1930] Canaday’s Cemetery [1890] Canady Family Cemetery [1893] Carson Family Cemetery [1915] Carter-Gatch Family Cemetery [No markers remain] Carter’s Ford Baptist Church Cemetery [1862] Carter Family Cemetery [1853] [Bamberg County] Carter, Philip Cemetery [1882] Carter’s Ford Baptist Church Cemetery [1863] Cattles Cemetery [No dates] Charlie Brown [AA] [No markers remain] Cherokee Plantation [AA] [1906] Chisolm [AA] [1967 Church Hill Cemetery [1916] Cockfield (or Riceland?) [AA] [1921] Colleton Mill Cemetery [1847] Combahee on Chee Haw Cemetery [AA] [1897] Combahee Landing [AA] [1941] Community Cemetery [AA] 1971 Conner Cemetery Cooks Hill [AA] [1912] Cottageville Cemetery [1833] Cottageville Baptist Church Cross Swamp Methodist Church Cemetery [1855] Cumberland United Methodist Church [AA] [1913] Cypress [AA] [1909] Dawn of Hope Cemetery Davis, Capt. John Nicholas Grave 1852] Davis Cemetery [AA] [1889] Deal Family Cemetery [AA] [2001] Doctor’s Creek Baptist Church Cemetery [1873] Drayton [AA] [1926] DuBois Family Cemetery [1876] Dunham at Spring Hill [AA] 1880] Ebenezer Baptist Church Cemetery [AA} 1961] Ebenezer Church @ Ashepoo [AA] Ebenezer Methodist Church Cemetery [1892] Edash Cemetery Edmundsbury Chapel Cemetery [State marker] [1773] Evergreen Christian Church Cemetery [1878] Fee Farm [AA] Fender/Avant Family Cemetery [1905] Fennicks [AA] Fenwick Island [AA] Ferguson Cemetery [White Meeting?] Fields, Billy Family Cemetery [AA] [1896] Fish-Broxton Family Cemetery [No markers remain] Fishburne Cemetery at Round O [No markers remain] Fishburne Family Cemetery [1991] Fishburne Hill [AA] [1917] Fish Creek Cemetery [AA] [No markers remain] Fisk, Jacob C. Grave [1936] Fist Creek [AA] Folly Creek [AA] [1908] Fox Cemetery [AA] [1903] Fox Cemetery [1862] Fraiser Cemetery [AA] [1913] Galilee Baptist Church [AA] [1954] Gallows Hill Cemetery [1888] Garrett Cemetery [AA] [1962] Garris Family Cemetery [1900] Garris, J. W. Grave [1922] Gatch, Franklin Cemetery [No markers remain] Glendale Memorial Cemetery at Walterboro [1941] Glover Family Cemetery [1838] Goff Cemetery [AA] [1924] Goodwin Family Cemetery [@1870] [Bamberg County] Goodwin, Padgett Family Cemetery [1884] Grace Advent Christian Church Cemetery [1885] Grant Cemetery [AA] [1908] Greater Mt. Olive AME Church [AA] [1929] Great Swamp Baptist Church Cemetery [1991] Green Cemetery [AA] Green Pond Baptist Cemetery [1960] Green Pond Memorial Cemetery [AA] [1918] Green Pond United Methodist Church Cemetery [1902] Greenlawn Memorial Gardens [1915] Grover Memorial Baptist Church [AA] [1962] Gruber Cemetery [1790] Hagan Family Cemetery (1876) Hamilton Cemetery [AA] [1881] Hayne, Isaac and Hayne Family Cemetery [1718] Heavenly Rest Cemetery [AA] [1975] Heyward Cemetery [AA] [1890] Herndon, John Cemetery [1884] Hickory Hill Baptist Church Cemetery [AA] [1895] Hiers Family Cemetery [1886] Hiott Cemetery [AA] [1911] Holden Cemetery [AA] [1931] Hudson Cemetery [AA] [1881] Hudson Cemetery [1909] Hughes Cemetery [1935] Hughes, Baby Girl Grave [1881] Hunter Gate [AA] 1994] Hunters Chapel Baptist Church Cemetery Hutchinson Island [AA] [1962] Hutchinson Island Cemetery [AA] [1894] Island Creek Cemetery [1860] Island Creek [AA] [1911] Jacksonboro Baptist Cemetery [1958] Jacques/Jaques Cemetery [1821] Johns, Richardson Family Cemetery [1851] Jones Family Cemetery [1875] Jones, English Family Cemetery [1910] Jones, Isham Family Cemetery [called Hickory Cemetery by locals] [Pre 1894] Jonesville Cemetery [1874] Jones Swamp Pentecostal Holiness Church Cemetery [1944] Jordan Cemetery [1896] Judge Cemetery [AA] [1925] Key Family Cemetery [1851] Kicklighter Family Cemetery [1893] Kinard Family Cemetery [1910] Kinsey Cemetery [1902] Koger Family Cemetery [1874] Larisey Cemetery [1844] Laurel Springs Plantation [AA] [1906] Lemack’s Family Cemetery Linder Cemetery [No markers remain] Little Rock Holiness Church Cemetery [NA] [1921] Little Swamp Methodist Church Cemetery [Bamberg County] Live Oak Cemetery [1806] Live Oak [AA] Live Oak Hill Cemetery [1828] Lodge Methodist Church Cemetery [1910] Longfield [AA] [1892] Lovely Hill Baptist Church Cemetery [AA] [1918] Lynah Cemetery [1881] Macedonia [AA] [1980] Magwood [AA] [1929] Mannerack Cemetery [1999] Maple Cane Baptist Church Cemetery [1879] Martin Cemetery [1860] May Family Cemetery McCants Cemetery [AA] [1925]McCune Branch Baptist Church Cemetery [1915] McDonald Family Cemetery [1838] McMillan, John Family Cemetery [1863] Medlin Cemetery [2000] Meeting House Family Cemetery [White Meeting?] [1882] Middleton Cemetery [AA] [1898] Minus-Conner Family Cemetery Mitchell Cemetery [AA] [1986] Montgomery Family Cemetery [1997] Mt. Carmel Rose Garden Cemetery [1958] Mt. Carmel Southern Methodist Church Cemetery [1941] Mt. Carmel United Methodist Church Cemetery [1884] Mt. Olive AME Church [AA] [1918] Mt. Nebo Baptist Church Cemetery [AA] Mt. Zion AME Church Cemetery [AA] [1925] Mt. Zion Baptist Church [1967] Mulberry [AA] [No markers remain] Munro Cemetery [179?] Murdaugh Family Cemetery [1855] Murray Cemetery [AA] [1907] Myrtle Grove Plantation [AA] [1892] Nazarene Baptist Church [AA] 1943] Neyle, Henry Farm Cemetery [1863] Newhouse Cemetery [AA] [1968] The Oaks Plantation Oakman Branch Memorial Gardens [AA] [1993] Old Cedar Cemetery [1855] Old Ebenezer Church at Ashepoo [AA] [1904] Old Field Creek Cemetery [@1859] Old House at Molcenia Plantation [AA] [1895] Old Macadonia [AA] [1920] Old Miss Cemetery Old Round O Baptist Cemetery [1857] Old St. Paul’s Stono Cemetery Orange Grove Plantation Cemetery [AA] [1885] Padgett Family Cemetery [1897] Padgett, Benton Family Cemetery [No markers remain] Padgett, Isham Family Cemetery [No markers remain] Patrick [Hucks, Liston] Family Cemetery (1849) Paul Cemetery [AA] [1940] Peniel Baptist Church Cemetery [1888] Peniel United Methodist Church Cemetery [1881] Perry Family Cemetery [1822] Pine Grove No. 1 Baptist Church Cemetery [1897] Pleasant Grove Baptist Church [1887] Poco Sabo Plantation / Bellinger Cemetery [1801] Polk Family Cemetery [1894] Pon Pon Chapel of Ease [1795] Postell Cemetery [1810] Preston [AA] [1933] Price Cemetery [AA] [1901] Pringle Cemetery [AA] [1930] Pringle Bend Cemetery [1769] Providence United Methodist Cemetery [1883] Pye Cemetery [1841] Pynes Cemetery [AA] [1898] Ramsey Family Cemetery [1878] Red Bank United Methodist Church [AA] [1906] Reeves Cemetery [1997] Rehoboth Methodist Church Cemetery [1892] Rentz- Campbell Cemetery [1833] Rice Path Christian Church Cemetery [1897] Rice Family Cemetery/Wiggins [1950] [No markers remain] Rice [Risher] Family Cemetery [1843] Richardson Family Cemetery [1990] Risher, Col. Joseph [Padgett] Family Cemetery [1857] Risher, Richard Family Cemetery [1827] Risher - Spell Cemetery [1897] River Cemetery [AA] [1911] Riverside Plantation Cemetery [1860] [No markers remain] Rizer Family Cemetery [1870] Robinson Family Cemetery [No markers remain] Rock Spring Rose Hill at Bluff Plantation [AA] [1886] Rose Hill at Laurel Springs [AA] [1909] Round O Baptist Cemetery [@1857] Ruffin Baptist Church Cemetery [1945] Salkehatchie Presbyterian Church Cemetery [1790] [State Marker] Salley-Warren Cemetery Samaritan Baptist Church Cemetery [AA] [1976] Sanders Cemetery #1 [AA] [1918] Sanders Cemetery –Round O [AA] [1875] Sanders Family Cemetery [1814] Sanders Hill Sandy Dam Methodist Cemetery [1854] Sandy Run [AA] [1953] Savannah Hill [AA] [1880] Scott Cemetery [AA] [1942] Setti Family Cemetery [1984] Shieder, Raysor, Risher Family Cemetery Sheridan Cemetery [1911] Sheridan Cemetery (Dr.) 1853] Shiloh Baptist Church Cemetery [1893] Simmons Cemetery [AA] [1905] Smith, Getha E. Family Cemetery [1910] Smith, Jasper M. Family Cemetery [1853] Smith, J. W. Cemetery [Confederate Marker/No Dates] Smith, Sam Cemetery [AA] [1902] Smith, William H. [York] Family Cemetery [1891] Smoak Family Cemetery [1834] Smoaks Baptist Church Cemetery [1876] Smoaks Trinity Methodist Church Cemetery [1955] Smyly Family Cemetery [1853] Snipes Cemetery at Green Pond [AA] [1905] Spell, Paul W Cemetery [1857] Spell Cemetery [1843] Springhill [AA] [1901] Spring Hill Baptist Cemetery [1888] St. James Catholic Cemetery [1835] St. Mary Cemetery [AA] [1917] St. Paul CMC Church [AA] [1905] Stephens Family Cemetery 1845] Stock Cemetery [AA] [1899] Stock Cemetery [1784] Stokes Cemetery [1884]Stokes, Peter Family Cemetery (1817) Aka May, Peter Stokes, Raysor Family Cemetery Stokes - Connor - Williams Cemetery [1841] (Stokes) William Stokes and Henry Stokes Family Cemetery [1814] Aka Stokes-Tucker Family Cemetery Strickland Family Cemetery [1890] Sutton Cemetery [1996] Sycamore Tract Cemetery [AA] [1930] Sykes-Savannah United Methodist Church [AA] Tabernacle Methodist Church Cemetery (1876) Tabor Methodist Church Cemetery [1904] Thomas Family Cemetery [1866] Tillman Cemetery [AA] [1986] Toomer Cemetery [AA] Tomotly Slave Cemetery [AA] [1818] Tomotly Plantation Cemetery [1816] Trinity Methodist Church Cemetery Ulmer Family Cemetery [1875] Varn Family Cemetery [1860] Varn, Daniel D. Family Cemetery [no markers remain] Walker, George W. Family Cemetery [No markers remain] Walker, Isham Family Cemetery [1833] Walker, Dr. J. B. Grave [1848] Warren Family Cemetery [1799] Warren, Key Family Cemetery [1851] Welch Creek Baptist Church Cemetery [1975] Wesley Chapel United Methodist Church Cemetery [1832] Wesley Grove UMC [AA] [1929] White Cemetery White Family Cemetery White Hall Cemetery [AA] [1904] White House Plantation/Bellinger [1848] White House Plantation [AA] [1911] White Meeting House Cemetery Whitmarsh Wiggins Cemetery [AA] Williams Cemetery [1879] Williams Family Cemetery Williams Cemetery [AA] [1973] Williams, Rev. B. W. [AA] [1918] Williams, J. B. (Butch) Family Cemetery (1900) Woodfoot Cemetery [AA] [1913] Zion AME Church [AA] [1904] Zion Baptist Church Cemetery [AA] [1963] Zion UMC Cemetery [AA] [1913]

Books TITLED "Upper Colleton County Cemeteries" and "Lower Colleton County Cemeteries" These books are a great resource for cemeteries of Colleton County.


 * Glover, Beulah. "Tombstone Inscriptions, Colleton County," The South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, Vol. 40, No. 1 (Jan., 1939), pp. 36-39. Digital version at JSTOR ($).

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

1800


 * Jarrell, Lawrence E. Early Colleton, South Carolina Census Complete Transcription of the Federal Census Records; 1790 Charleston District Census, St. Bartholomew's, St. George's-Dorchester; St. Paul's and St. John's-Colleton Parishes 1800 Colleton District Census--St. Bartholomew's, St. George's-Dorchester and St. Paul's Parishes; 1810 Colleton District Census. High Point, N.C.: Alligator Creek Genealogy Publications, 1998. 975.79 X2j

1810


 * Jarrell, Lawrence E. Early Colleton, South Carolina Census Complete Transcription of the Federal Census Records; 1790 Charleston District Census, St. Bartholomew's, St. George's-Dorchester; St. Paul's and St. John's-Colleton Parishes 1800 Colleton District Census--St. Bartholomew's, St. George's-Dorchester and St. Paul's Parishes; 1810 Colleton District Census. High Point, N.C.: Alligator Creek Genealogy Publications, 1998. 975.79 X2j

1820


 * Jarrell, Lawrence E. 1820 Colleton, South Carolina Census. High Point, N.C.: Alligator Creek Genealogy Publications, 1998. 975.795 X2j 1820

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

Genealogy
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 Colleton, South Carolina at World Connect, results in more than 20,000 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

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

Deeds
Antebellum deed books are lost; however, a guide has been published to help researchers study the pre-Civil War period:


 * McElligott, Carroll Ainsworth and Ronald J. McElligott. A Guide to the Pre-Civil War Land Records of Colleton County, South Carolina: Abstracts of Land Records Executed Prior to 1 January 1866 from the Direct Index to Deeds, 1865-1974. Bowie, Md.: Heritage Books, 2000. 975.795 R2m

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.

French and Indian War

 * Weir, Robert M. "Muster Rolls of the South Carolina Granville and Colleton County Regiments of Militia, 1756," The South Carolina Historical Magazine, Vol. 70, No. 4 (Oct., 1969), pp. 226-239. Digital version at JSTOR ($).
 * "Muster rolls of Colleton co. regim., 1756," South Carolina Historical Magazine, October 1969, Volume 70, Issue 4. South Carolina History Society : Charleston, SC. Book 975.7 B2s.

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, Colleton County, p. 184. Identifies War of 1812 veterans living in this county in 1883.]

Revolutionary War

 * "Revolutionary War Volunteer Roll, 1775," National Genealogical Society Quarterly, March 1930, Volume 18, Issue 1. National Genealogical Society : Arlington,VA.

Newspapers
Colleton County Newspaper Index

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:
 * South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research

Probate

 * Coldham, Peter Wilson. North American Wills Registered in London 1611-1857. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2007. [Includes wills of residents of Colleton County proved in London, see place-name index. These records often help establish an immigrant's place of origin.]

Published abstracts:

 * [1760] "Colleton County excerpts from 1760 SC Tax List," available online, courtesy: SCGenWeb. [The original "Records of the Receiver - General Accounts of Quit Rents Paid" are kept at the South Carolina Department of Archives and History.
 * [1785] St. Andrew's Parish Tax Returns, 1785, South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research, Vol. 5, No. 2 (Spring 1977).
 * [1785] St. Bartholomew's Parish Tax Returns, 1785, South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research, Vol. 5, No. 3 (Summer 1977).
 * [1785] St. Paul's Parish Tax Returns, 1785, South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research, Vol. 5, No. 2 (Spring 1977); Vol. 5, No. 3 (Summer 1977).
 * [1809] Return of the Poor Tax Collected by John Mikell, 1809, South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research, Vol. 35, No. 2 (Spring 2007).

Colleton
Family History Centers in South Carolina

Web Sites

 * Colleton County, SCGenWeb
 * Colleton County, South Carolina (Government Site) Includes Property and Tax Search for recent residents
 * Colleton County, South Carolina Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Colleton County, South Carolina Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)