Allendale County, South Carolina Genealogy

United StatesSouth Carolina Allendale County

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

County Courthouse
Allendale County Courthouse 292 Barnwell Hwy. Allendale, SC 29810

Allendale County Probate Judge P.O. Box 603 Allendale, SC 29810 Phone: 803-584-5157 Probate and Marriage records

Allendale County Clerk of Court P.O. Box 126 Allendale, SC 19810 Phone: 803-584-2737 Court records

History
Allendale County is named for the town of Allendale which was named for Paul H. Allen, the first postmaster of Allendale. Allendale County is the youngest of South Carolina's counties. Learn more about the history of Allendale County from the South Carolina State Library or from Carolana.com.

Parent County/Boundary Changes

 * 1919 - Allendale was created from Barnwell and Hampton Counties.

For more information as well as maps of Allendale County through time, see the South Carolina State Archives or South Carolina County Maps and Atlases.

County Pronunciation
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County Seat
The county seat of Allendale County is Allendale.

Places / Localities
The preceding list of places includes incorporated cities and towns, unincorporated towns and communities, and place names that may have been used in family histories. Some have well-organized records and even have web sites. Some are simply social communities with no official records, but which may be referenced in small-town newspapers. The list is provided to help researchers identify localities within the county. As records or histories of these localities are identified, a page will be added for each of these place names.

Research Guides

 * South Carolina Archives Summary Guide: Allendale County, available online, courtesy: South Carolina Department of Archives and History.
 * W.P.A. Inventory of the County Archives of South Carolina No. 3, Allendale County (Allendale). Columbia, S.C.: Historical Records Survey, 1938.

African Americans
United States African Americans South Carolina African Americans


 * Vandervelde, Isabel. Other Free People in Early Barnwell District. Newberry, S.C.: Art Studio Press, 2001. Digital version at Family History Archives;

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

Census
1920 and 1930 federal population schedules of Allendale 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. Allendale County's W.P.A. reports are included.

Allendale County Churches identifies dozens of churches in the area, courtesy: South Carolina Genealogical Society.

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
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 Allendale, South Carolina at World Connect, results in more than 700 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


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

Bibliography

Land
Because of South Carolina’s history as an agricultural state many residents owned land. For more information about types of land records see South Carolina Land and Property. Tracing records through South Carolina county and district changes can be difficult. In general, for earliest records begin by searching the Charleston District, then your ancestor’s residential district, then neighboring districts, then the residential county, then neighboring counties. Not all districts and counties kept records. The following chart show where you may best expect to find land records for Allendale County:

* Orangeburg District records destroyed by fire

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.

Civil War, 1861-1865
Allendale County was created after the Civil War in 1919 from Barnwell and Hampton counties. During the Civil War, men from the area of Allendale County would have served in various regiments recruited in those counties. Counties were called districts during the Civil War.

Newspapers
Historic

The Library of Congress has identified the following historic newspapers for Allendale County, South Carolina on their Chronicling America website. For publication details, including dates of publication, frequency, preceding and succeeding titles, and to find out which libraries have holdings, click on the newspaper title.


 * Allendale County Citizen (Allendale, S.C.) 1919-1981.
 * Allendale County Citizen Leader (Allendale, S.C.) 1981-current.
 * The Allendale County News Leader (Allendale, S.C.) 1980-1981.
 * The Allendale Enterprise (Allendale, Barnwell Co., S.C.) 1889-1892.
 * The Allendale Pen and Press (Allendale, S.C.) 1897-1899.
 * The County News (Allendale, S.C.) 1943-1969.
 * The Fairfax Citizen (Fairfax, S.C.) 1917-1919.
 * The Fairfax Enterprise (Fairfax, Barnwell Co., S.C.) 1892-1908.

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
Probate is the “court procedure by which a will is proved to be valid or invalid” and encompasses “all matters and proceedings pertaining to the administration of estates, guardianships, etc.” Various types of records are created throughout the probate process. These may include, wills, bonds, petitions, accounts, inventories, administrations, orders, decrees, and distributions. For further information see probate records in South Carolina.

Vital Records
Birth, marriage, and death records were not recorded by South Carolina until the 1900s, thus leaving a lack of vital records. Substitute records, when available, are used to obtain this information. These substitute records including newspapers, court records have been added to this section, when applicable.

Birth
State-wide birth registration began in 1915. For a copy of a birth from 1915 or later, contact the South Carolina Department of Health. The Allendale County Health Department also has copies but they provide only an abbreviated form with limited information. For more information, see the South Carolina Vital Records page.

Marriage
In South Carolina, marriage licenses were not required by local governments until 1 July 1911. However, in the 1700s, the Church of England parish churches were required to record all marriages - even if the couple were not members of the denomination. Not all churches recorded these marriages and some have not survived. See South Carolina Vital Records for more information.

The Allendale County probate court holds marriage licenses issued from 1 July 1911 to the present. Statewide registration of marriages began in July 1950 and the South Carolina Division of Vital Records has copies of licenses issued after 1 July 1950 through November 2009.

Newspapers are used as a substitute to locate marriage information. See South Carolina Newspapers.

Marriages - Indexes


 * There are several online marriage indexes containing miscellaneous marriage records found in some counties of South Carolina listed on the South Carolina Vital Records page.

Death
State-wide death registration began in 1915. For a copy of the death certificates from 1915 or later, contact the South Carolina Department of Health. The Allendale County Health Department only has copies for deaths occurring in the last 5 years. For more information, see the South Carolina Vital Records page.

Deaths - Indexes and Records


 * 1914-1960 - State-wide South Carolina Death Indexes. There are several online death indexes covering all of South Carolina listed on the South Carolina Vital Records page.

Archives, Libraries, and Museums

 * Allendale County Library Address: P.O. Box 280 158 McNair Street Allendale, SC 29810-0280 Telephone: (803)584-2371 Library hours: Monday - Thursday 9:00am - 6:00pm, Friday 9:00am - 5:00pm The Allendale County Library  has a local history collection. It is part of the Allendale, Hampton, Jasper Regional Library System. The 5 participating libraries share a catalog and other functions and resources.

Family History Centers
Family History Centers in South Carolina

Web Sites

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