Berkeley County, South Carolina Genealogy

United States  South Carolina  Berkeley County

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

County Courthouse
Berkeley County Courthouse 223 North Live Oak Drive Moncks Corner, SC 29461-2331 Phone: 843-761-6900

Berkeley County Probate Court 300 California Avenue Moncks Corner, SC 29461 Phone: 843-719-4519

Register of Deeds 1003 Highway 52 Moncks Corner, SC 29461-6120 Phone: 843-719-4084

Clerk of Courts 300-BCalifornia Ave. Moncks Corner, SC 29461 Phone: 843-719-4400

Hours 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday - Friday

History
The county was named after Virginia Governor William Berkeley (1605-1677).

Dubose, Samuel, and Frederick A. Porcher. A Contribution to the History of the Huguenots of South Carolina, Consisting of Pamphlets  ([S.l.] : T. Gaillard Thomas, c1972), 48 pages. Historical sketches of the Huguenot families which settled in the alluvial regions within fifty miles of Charleston. FHL book at, and Other Libraries. Digital copies at Google Books and Internet Archives.

Stockton, Robert P. Historic Resources of Berkeley County, South Carolina  (Moncks Corner, South Carolina : Berkeley County Historical Society, South Carolina, c1990 ), 71 pages. This work is based on the Berkeley County Architectural and Historical Inventory completed before Hurricane Hugo. Includes descriptions and photos of historical sites. Book found at and Other Libraries.

Bridges, Anne B. St. James Santee Plantation Parish [South Carolina] : History &amp; Records, 1685-1925  ( Spartanburg, South Carolina : The Reprint Co., c1997 ), 541 pages. Includes church records for St. James Santee, 1758-1788 (Church of England); previously unpublished records, 1846-1921 (assumed to be Episcopalian). Also includes cemetery records for the church and lists of French &amp; Swiss refugees &amp; inhabitants. The old parish existed in today's Charleston &amp; Berkeley counties. Book found at Book found at and Other Libraries.

Easterby, James H. Wadboo Barony : Its Fate as Told in Colleton Family Papers, 1773-1793 (Columbia, South Carolina : University of South Carolina Press, c1952), 684 pages. The barony was located in today's Berkeley County, South Carolina. Book at FHL and Other Libraries.

Parent County
1882--Berkeley County was created 31 January 1882 from Charleston County. County seat:  Moncks Corner

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

 * Charleston
 * Clarendon
 * Dorchester
 * Georgetown
 * Orangeburg
 * Williamsburg

Research Guides

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

African Americans
United States African Americans South Carolina African Americans


 * Freedmen's Bureau Labor Contracts, Berkeley County, SC, courtesy: The Africana Heritage Project at The University of South Florida.
 * Heinegg, Paul. "'Other Free' Heads of Household in the 1790 South Carolina Census, by County," Free African Americans.com. [Includes free blacks in Berkeley County.]

Cemeteries
There are more than # burial grounds in the county. To view a list, see Berkeley County, South Carolina Cemeteries.

Census
1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 federal population schedules of Berkeley 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
Berkeley County Churches identifies dozens of churches in the area, courtesy: South Carolina Genealogical Society.

See also St. Andrew's Parish See also St. James Goose Creek Parish  See also St. John's Berkeley Parish  See also St. Thomas and St. Denis Parish

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 25 genealogies have been published about Berkeley County families. To view a list, visit Berkeley County, South Carolina Genealogy.

Historic Residences

 * Lees, William B. "The Historical Development of Limerick Plantation, a Tidewater Rice Plantation in Berkeley County, South Carolina, 1683-1945," The South Carolina Historical Magazine, Vol. 82, No. 1 (Jan., 1981), pp. 44-62. Digital version at JSTOR ($).

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.


 * Chapman, Charles S. A Working Plan for Forest Lands in Berkeley County, South Carolina. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1905. Digital version at Google Books.

Local Histories

 * Orvin, Maxwell Clayton. Monck's Corner, Berkeley County, South Carolina. Charleston, S.C.?: unknown, 1950. Digital version at Ancestry ($).

Revolutionary War

 * "Pee Dee supplies for the siege of Charleston, 1780," Darlington Flag, Fall 2006, Volume 18, Issue 4. Old Darlington District Chapter, South Carolina Genealogical Society : Hartsville, SC.
 * "Battle of the Great Cane Brake on the Reedy River, 1775," Greenville County Historical Society Proceedings and Papers, 2005, Volume 12. Greenville County Historical Society : Greenville, SC.
 * "Elizabeth Jackson, Waxham women aid Revolutionary soldiers, Charleston, 1781," Chester District Genealogical Society Bulletin, March 2003, Volume 27, Issue 1. Chester County Genealogical Society : Richburg, SC. Book 975.74 D25b Film 2416428, 2406014, 2416420, 2435185, 1709620.
 * "Rebel prisoners from Charleston, 1780," Ancient City Genealogist, February 2002, Volume 13, Issue 1. St. Augustine Genealogical Society : St. Augustine, Florida.
 * "Nathanael Greene's troops attack British, 1781," St. Lucie River Whig, Summer 2000, Volume 8, Issue 3. St. Lucie River Chapter : Lucie, Florida.
 * "Dorchester its mystery fort," Americana, April 1933, Volume 27, Issue 2. American Historical Society : Somerville, New Jersey. Book 973 B2a

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, Berkeley County, p. 182. Identifies War of 1812 veterans living in this county in 1883.]

Civil War
Bridges, Anne B. St. James Santee Plantation Parish [South Carolina] : History &amp; Records, 1685-1925  ( Spartanburg, South Carolina : The Reprint Co., c1997 ), 541 pages. Civil War pages 195-227. Includes church records for St. James Santee, 1758-1788 (Church of England); previously unpublished records, 1846-1921 (assumed to be Episcopalian). Also includes cemetery records for the church and lists of French &amp; Swiss refugees &amp; inhabitants. The old parish existed in today's Charleston &amp; Berkeley counties. Book found at  and Other Libraries.

Newspapers
Historic


 * South Carolina Temperance Advocate and Register of Agriculture and General Literature (Columbia, S.C.) 1841-1854.
 * The Berkeley County Gazette (Mount Pleasant, S.C.) 1882-189?.
 * The Berkeley Democrat (Monck's Corners, S.C.) 1913-1990.
 * The Berkeley Independent (Moncks Corner, S.C.) 1987-current.
 * The Echo and Press (Monck's Corner, S.C.) 1899-1917.
 * The Goose Creek Gazette (Goose Creek, S.C.) 1979-current.

Current

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:

Probate

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

Published abstracts

 * [1768] Quit Rent Rolls. [Includes Berkeley County]

Family History Centers
Moncks Corner South Carolina 319 West Main St Moncks Corner, Berkeley, South Carolina, United States Phone: 843-761-8671 Hours: W-Th 6pm-9pm; Sat 10am-2pm

Web Sites

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