Anderson County, South Carolina Genealogy


 * This article is about a northwestern South Carolina county. For other uses, see Anderson.

United States  South Carolina  Anderson County

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

County Courthouse
Anderson County Courthouse P.O. Box 8002 Main Street County Courthouse Anderson, SC 29622

Anderson County Probate Court 100 South Main Street P.O. Box 8002 Anderson, SC 29622 Phone: 864-260-4049 Marriage and probate records

Anderson County Clerk of Court 100 South Main Street P.O. Box 8002 Anderson, SC 29622 Phone: 864-260-4053 Court records

History
The county was named after Revolutionary War hero Robert Anderson (1741-1813).

Parent County
1826--Anderson County was created 20 December 1826 from Pendleton District. County seat: Anderson

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
Abbeville | Elbert County, Georgia | Greenville | Hart County, Georgia | Laurens | Oconee | Pickens

Research Guides

 * South Carolina Archives Summary Guide: Anderson County, available online, courtesy: South Carolina Department of Archives and History.
 * South Carolina Archives Summary Guide: Pendleton District, available online, courtesy: South Carolina Department of Archives and History.
 * W.P.A. Inventory of the County Archives of South Carolina No. 4, Anderson County (Anderson) . Columbia, South Carolina : Historical Records Survey, 1939.

African American

 * Megginson, W.J. Black Soldiers in World War I: Anderson, Pickens and Oconee Counties, South Carolina; with a Discussion of Pensions for Civil War Slave Labor. Seneca, S.C.: Oconee County Historical Society, 1994.
 * Williams, Bvenitta J. African-American Cemeteries, Anderson County, South Carolina. Mansfield, Ohio: Family History Services, 1997.

Cemeteries
The book, Book of the Dead, by R.M. Smith is excellent for finding cemetery inscriptions in Anderson County as 22,000 names are listed in alphabetical order for the entire county. This book is 439 pages, covering 200 cemeteries including many private family cemeteries. Inscriptions include people born in the 1750s. Anderson County in S.C. Cemetery Project, courtesy: South Carolina Genealogical Society. Personal name index and list of cemeteries in the county.


 * Pickens Chapel Cemetery

Census
1790 (Pendleton), 1800 (Pendleton), 1810 (Pendleton), 1820 (Pendleton), 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 federal population schedules of Anderson 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.

See Anderson County, SC census assignments and Pendleton District, SC census assignments, including links to transcribed files [The USGenWeb Census Project®]

1800
The book, 1800 Census of Pendleton District, SC by William Stewart is an excellent book. It covers present day Anderson County, Pickens County and Oconee County. The author provides many annotations of people and families listed in this census, especially migration information before 1800 from Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina and after 1800 to Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas. 975.72 X2s 1800

1810

 * Sheriff, G. Anne Campbell and Lavinia Moore. Pendleton District, South Carolina 1810 Census Present Day Anderson, Oconee and Pickens Counties. Central, S.C.: G.A. Sheriff, 1994. 975.72 X2s 1810

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 version at Google Books. [See South Carolina, Anderson District on page 143.]

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

LDS Ward and Branch Records


 * Anderson

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 Anderson, South Carolina at World Connect, results in more than 45,000 entries. Persons born in Pendleton, South Carolina produces 25,000 additional results.

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


 * Cheek, Linda G. Families of Old Pendleton District, South Carolina. 4 vols. Greenville, S.C.: Southern Historical Press, 2006-2007.
 * Simpson, Richard Wright. History of Old Pendleton District with a Genealogy of the Leading Families of the District. Covington, Tenn.: Bradford, Jesse Lee, [1913?]. ; ; 1978 reprint: ; digital version at World Vital Records ($). Genealogy Trails hosts a free online index to biographies found in this book.
 * Via, Eva Ann Wilson. Piercetown Cousins: History of Piercetown, Anderson County, South Carolina, 1835-1993, Including Wilson, Owen and 28 Allied Families. Baltimore, Md.: Gateway Press, 1993.

Message Boards


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

Bibliography


 * [Acker] Acker, George H. Descendants of Peter Acker and Wife Jane Sutherland, Settlers of 1787 in the Pendleton District of South Carolina. Cleveland, Ohio: G.H. Acker, 1966. Item 4
 * [Adams] Baldwin, Emma Grace. An Adams-Goolsby Genealogy: Some Descendants of Robert Adams of Virginia, Georgia, and Texas, 1624- 1982 ; and a Shirley Genealogy: Some Descendants of Thomas Shirley of Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, and Texas, 1612-1982. Tenaha, Texas: E.G. Baldwin, 1983.
 * [Corbin] Whitten, William C. Peter Corbin of Pendleton S.C. District and Descendants. Clemson, S.C.: W.C. Whitten, 1988.
 * [Davis] Mentzel, Laura W. Davis Families of the Savannah River Valley: Containing a Record of the Descendants of Van and Harmon Davis from 1725-1978, Covering the Counties of Newberry, Anderson, Pickens, Oconee Counties of South Carolina; Habersham, Franklin, Hart, Stephens, Polk, Paulding, Gwinnett Counties of Georgia. Salt Lake City, Utah: Hobby Press, 1978.
 * [Sartor] Sartor, A.F. A Sartor-Shults Family History. Pearland, Texas: A. Sartor, 1989. 929.273 Sa77sa
 * [Turner] Lennon, Rachael Mills. "The Wives of Jonathan Turner: Identification of Women in Pre-Twentieth-Century South Carolina," National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Vol. 92, No. 4 (December 2004):245-255. 973 B2ng v. 92 (2004)
 * [Turner] Lennon, Rachal Mills. "Jonathan Turner-More than a Name: A Carolina Case Study in Dissecting Records," National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Vol. 97, No. 1 (Mar. 2009):17-28. FHL 973 B2ng v. 97
 * [Wright] Kay, William D. Robert Norris Wright, Esquire: 1812-1885, His Life and Four Generations of His Family, Anderson County South Carolina. Mt. Pleasant, S.C.: W.D. Kay, 2005.

Conveyance Books
Some of the original Anderson County Conveyance Books have been microfilmed (1789-1901):. Early records have been published:


 * [1790-1806] Willie, Betty. Pendleton District, S.C. Deeds, 1790-1806. Easley, S.C.: Southern Historical Press, 1982. 975.72 R2w
 * [1807-1812] Pruitt, A.B. Abstracts of Deeds: Pendleton District, SC, Books IJ, K, and L (1807-1812). n.p.: A.B. Pruitt, 2006-2007. 975.72 R28p
 * [1818-1822] Pruitt, A.B. Abstracts of Deeds: Pendleton District, SC, Books O and P (1818-1822). n.p.: A.B. Pruitt, 2007. 975.7 R2pa
 * [1822-1830] Pruitt, A.B. Abstracts of Deeds Pendleton District and Anderson District, SC: Books Q, R, and S (1822-1830). n.p.: A.B. Pruitt, 2009. 975.72 R2p
 * [1830-1836] Pruitt, A.B. Abstracts of Deeds Anderson District SC: Books T and U (1830-1836). n.p.: A.B. Pruitt, 2010. 975.725 R2p

Land Ownership Maps
The Library of Congress created an 1877 land ownership map for Anderson County and the state created a 1897 land ownership map.

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.

Clayton's M.A. Thesis analyzes some of these records:


 * Clayton, Frederick Van. The Settlement of Pendleton District, 1777-1800. M.A. Thesis, University of South Carolina, 1930. Reprint: Easley, S.C.: Southern Historical Press, 1988. 975.72 W2c

Local Histories

 * Vandiver, Louise Ayer. Traditions and History of Anderson County. Atlanta, Ga.: Ruralist Press, 1928. Digital versions at Ancestry ($) and World Vital Records ($).

Revolutionary War

 * "Selected final pension vouchers index, 1818-1864," Old Pendleton District Newsletter, March 2006, Volume 20, Issue 3. Old Pendleton District Chapter, South Carolina Genealogical Society : Easley, South Carolina.
 * "Veterans Bio. buried in Pickens cemetery," Carolina Herald and Newsletter, August 2001, Volume 29, Issue 3. South Carolina Genealogical Society : Greenville, SC. Book 975.7 B2c. Digital version for v. 33and v. 34 through BYU Family History Archives.
 * "Siege of the town of Ninety Six, 1775," St. Lucie River Whig, Winter 2001, Volume 10, Issue 1. St. Lucie River Chapter : Lucie, Florida.
 * "Pensioners in 1840 census," Pendleton District Newsletter, April 1994, Volume 8, Issue 4. Old Pendleton District Chapter, South Carolina Genealogical Society : Easley, SC.
 * "Land grants, 1777-1800, Pendleton District," Jacksonville Genealogical Society Quarterly, December 1984, Volume 12, Issue 4. Jacksonville Genealogical Society : Jacksonville, FL.

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, Anderson County, p. 181. Identifies War of 1812 veterans living in this county in 1883.]
 * "Major Gen. John Floyd's Army," Anderson Record, September 1993, Volume 6, Issue 3. Anderson County Chapter, South Carolina Genealogical Society : Anderson, SC.

Civil War

 * Keys, Thomas Bland. "The Federal Pillage of Anderson, South Carolina: Brown's Raid," The South Carolina Historical Magazine, Vol. 76, No. 2 (Apr. 1975):80-86. 975.7 B2s v. 76 (1975); digital version at JSTOR ($).

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. The Wills from Pendleton District were transcribed as Anderson County.

Taxation
Anderson District tax returns, 1835-1861 (gaps), are kept at the South Carolina Department of Archives and History. Copies: 1835 returns have been abstracted:


 * [1835] Property Return Abstracts, 1835, Upper South Carolina Genealogy and History, Vol. 7, No. 4 (Dec. 1990).

To see how the Civil War financially impacted residents of Anderson County, South Carolina, compare values of real and personal estates on the 1860 Census with 1866-1867 tax records:


 * [1866-1867] Rich, Peggy Burton and Margarette Gibbs Ogle. Pickens District, South Carolina 1866 Tax List, January 1, 1866- January 1, 1867. n.p.: South Carolina Genealogical Society. Old Pendleton Chapter, 1991.

Original tax duplicate records for the years 1871, 1873-1875, 1885, and 1890 are kept at the South Carolina Department of Archives and History. Copies: 1872 tax duplicates are also there. Copies:

1872 tax delinquents have been published:


 * Delinquent Tax Notice, 1872, Upper South Carolina Genealogy and History, Vol. 3, No. 3 (Jul. 1985).

Societies and Libraries
The Anderson County main library is located at 300 N. McDuffie Street, Anderson, S.C. 29621. Contact the library at 864 260-4500 for current hours. The South Carolina room is dedicated for genealogical research. It contains many local and family histories. Subscriptions to Ancestry Library Edition and Heritage Quest Online are available. Here is the web site for the Anderson County Library South Carolina room.

Websites

 * Old Pendleton District
 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
 * Anderson County, South Carolina Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Anderson County, South Carolina Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)