Union County, South Carolina Genealogy

United States  South Carolina  Union County

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

History
The county is named after Union Church.

Parent County
1798--Union County was created in 1798 from Ninety Six District. County seat: Union 

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
Cherokee | Chester | Fairfield | Laurens | Newberry | Spartanburg | York

Research Guides

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

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

The original manufactures schedules for South Carolina are kept at the NARA, Washington, D.C. FHL copies: 1024517 - 1024518.

Published abstract:


 * National Archives. Indexes to Manufactures Census of 1820. 1920; reprint, Knightstown, Ind.: Bookmark, 1977. 973 X2m 1820; digital version at Lineages. [Includes this county.]

1840 Revolutionary War Pensioners


 * A Census of Pensioners for Revolutionary or Military Services: With their Names, Ages, and Places of Residence, as Returned by the Marshalls of the Several Judicial Districts, Under the Act for Taking the Sixth Census. Washington, D.C.: Blair and Rives, 1841. 973 X2pc 1840;  2321; digital versions at U.S. Census Bureau and Google Books et. al. [See South Carolina, Union District on page 143.]

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 Union, South Carolina at World Connect, produces more than 35,000 results.

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

Message Boards


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

Bibliography


 * [Addington] Patterson, Naomi Louise Addington. Addington, a Directory of the Descendants of Henry and Sarah Addington of Union County, South Carolina. Bowie, Md.: Heritage Books, 1989.
 * [Campbell] Temple, Sarah E. Our Campbell Ancestors, 1742-1937: Traditions and History of the Family of Five Campbell Brothers and Sisters, John, James Douglas, Hester, Mary and Samuel; Including What is Known of Them in New Jersey, York County, Pennsylvania, Union County, South Carolina, and in Ohio; A Genealogy of the Known Descendants of John Campbell through His Son James, and Samuel Campbell through His Son Ralph; Also Brief Ancestral Notes on Families Connected by Marriage with the Foregoing, viz; Parnell, Clark, Spray, Wilson, Haskett, Mendenhall and Underhill. Burbank, Calif.: Ivan Deach, Jr., 1939.
 * [Coleman] Rosson, Etta Coleman and Mrs. J.T. McBryde. Descendants of Robert Coleman and Elizabeth Roe: and Some Other Colemens of Fairfield and Union District, South Carolina. Typescript, National Library, DAR. Microfilmed 1971. Item 1
 * [Farr] Farr, Eugene. Farr and Near Farr Descendants of Col. William Farr of Union County, South Carolina from 1735: (Allied Families: Alley, Bailey, Fowler, Garner, Glenn, Lipsey, Lowry, McDuff (McElduff), Stribling, Thomas and Many, Many Others. Chesterfield, Mo.: E. Farr, 1997.
 * [Foster] Martindale, Donald L. Some Descendants of George Foster of Charlotte CO., VA, 1695-1997 Emphasizing Three Foster Families (James, Allen, and Singlton) Who Migrated from Union County, South Carolina to Yell County, Arkansas in 1842. Roanoke, Va.: D.L. Martindale, 1998.
 * [Gee] Gee, Wilson. The Gee family of Union County, South Carolina. Charlottesville, Va.: Priv. print. for the author by Jarman's, 1935. Item 29; digital versions at Ancestry ($) and World Vital Records ($).
 * [Holder] Woolen, Edward A. Holder Family Biographical and Historical Records and Genealogy of Daniel Holder, 1758-1843 of Fauquier &amp; Pittsylvania Counties, Virginia and Union County, South Carolina. Decorah, Iowa: Anundsen, 1992.
 * [Humphries] Holcomb, Brent H. and Katherine L. Hester. Ancestors and Descendants of Charles Humphries (d.1837) of Union District, South Carolina, 1677-1984 Including Records from Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Other States. Columbia, S.C.: B.H. Holcomb, 1985.
 * [Lockhart] Sudberry, Sabra. Descendants of James and Ann Lockhart of Union County, South Carolina. Jasper, Ala.: S. Sudberry, 1998.
 * [McLure] Butt, Mary McLure and Sarah Porter Carroll. While the Cotton Blooms a Pre Civil War History of the Family of John William McLure of Chester and Union Counties, S.C., Including the History of the Church of the Nativity, the Diary of Jane Poulton, Letters from the McLure Family Collection. Greenville, S.C.: A Press Printing Co., 1990.
 * [McLure] Butt, Mary McLure and Sarah Porter Carroll. Shadows on the Southland for the Family of John William McLure of Union County, South Carolina in the Wake of the War Between the States. Greenville, S.C.: A Press, [1993?].
 * [Mullinax] Mullinax, Jack D. The Mullinax Family of Northern South Carolina (York, Union and Cherokee Counties) and Southern North Carolina (Cleveland, Gaston and Lincoln Counties). Chesnee, S.C.: Chesnee Hardware, 1983.
 * [Potts] Whisenant, Dora Gordon. Potts from Union District, South Carolina to Tennessee. Fayetteville, Tenn.: D.G. Whisenant, 2009.
 * [Prince] Prince, Vivian Christine, Frances Prince Gaddy, and Louis R. Prince. Prince - The Descendants of William Prince (1788-1869) of Union County and Pickens County, South Carolina. n.p.: V.C. Prince, F.P. Gaddy, and L.R. Prince, 1985.
 * [Ray] Davis, Carrie L. Ancestors and Descendants and Allied Families of Medora Virginia Ray Union District, South Carolina. Greenville, S.C.: C.L. Davis, 1988.
 * [Shelton] Gee, Wilson. "The Bowles, Anderson and Shelton Families as Related to the Descendants of William Sims (1765-1833), and His Wife, Elizabeth Shelton Sims (1767-1833), of Union County, South Carolina," The William and Mary Quarterly, 2nd Ser., Vol. 16, No. 4 (Oct. 1936):602-608. 973 H25w ser. 2 v. 16 (1936); digital version at JSTOR ($).
 * [Sims] Gee, Wilson. "The Bowles, Anderson and Shelton Families as Related to the Descendants of William Sims (1765-1833), and His Wife, Elizabeth Shelton Sims (1767-1833), of Union County, South Carolina," The William and Mary Quarterly, 2nd Ser., Vol. 16, No. 4 (Oct. 1936):602-608. 973 H25w ser. 2 v. 16 (1936); digital version at JSTOR ($).

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.

Probate
The South Carolina Department of Archives and History has microfilms or typescripts of wills, inventories, bills of sale, power of attorneys, bonds, notes, administrations, judgments, and sales records. They have placed Will Transcriptions for 1782 to 1855 online. Index searchable by name and the image is available.

Death

 * [1900, 1913-1914] South Carolina Death Records, 1821-1955, available online, courtesy: Ancestry.com ($). [Includes Union City death records, 1900, 1913-1914.]

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