Kershaw County, South Carolina Genealogy

United States  South Carolina  Kershaw County

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

County Courthouse
Kershaw County Courthouse 1121 Broad St. Camden, SC 29020

Clerk of Court 1121 Broad St., Room 313 Camden, SC 29020 Phone: 803-425-1500

Register of Deeds 515 Walnut Street, Room 180 Camden, SC 29020 Phone: 803-425-1500 Land records

Probate Judge 1121 Broad St., Room 225 Camden, SC 29020-3635 Phone: 803-425-1503 Probate and marriage records

Hours: 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday - Friday

History
The county is named after Joseph Kershaw.

Parent County
1798--Kershaw County was created in 1798 from Camden District. County seat: Camden 

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
Chesterfield | Darlington | Fairfield | Lancaster | Lee | Richland | Sumter

Research Guides

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

Cemeteries
Kershaw County in S.C. Cemetery Project, courtesy: South Carolina Genealogical Society. List of cemeteries in the county.


 * Hough, Perry B. Bennett. "Inscriptions from Beaver Creek Churchyard, Kershaw County," The South Carolina Historical Magazine, Vol. 60, No. 4 (Oct., 1959):205-207. Digital version at JSTOR ($).
 * Lloyd, Richard W. "Inscriptions from Cemeteries in and Near Camden," The South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, Vol. 25, No. 1 (Jan., 1924), pp. 47-55. Digital version at JSTOR ($). [Includes Chestnut Cemetery (Knight's Hill), Presbyterian Cemetery (Camden), Boykin Family Cemetery, Cemetery on Old Boykin Plantation, Cemetery on Lenoir Plantation, Cemetery on South West Side of the Ridgeway Road.]

Census
1800, 1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 federal population schedules of Kershaw 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 Kershaw County, SC census assignments, including links to transcribed files [The USGenWeb Census Project®]

1800

 * Kershaw County Historical Society. The Second Federal Census, 1800, South Carolina, Kershaw County. Kershaw, S.C.: Kershaw County Historical Society, 1970. 975.761 X2p 1800

1810

 * Kershaw County Historical Society. The Third Federal Census, 1810, South Carolina, Kershaw County. Kershaw, S.C.: Kershaw County Historical Society, 1972. 975.761 X2t 1810

1820

 * Kershaw County Historical Society. The Fourth Federal Census, 1820, South Carolina, Kershaw County. Kershaw, S.C.: Kershaw County Historical Society, 1973. 975.7 A1 no. 29

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

 * Draine, Tony. Kershaw District, South Carolina Census, 1840. Columbia, S.C.: Congaree Publicatoins, 1986. 975.761 X2d 1840
 * Phelps, Dallas LeRoy. 1840 Census of Kershaw County, South Carolina. Camden, S.C.: D.L. Phelps, 2001. 975.761 X2p 1840

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, Kershaw District on pages 142-143.]

1850

 * South Carolina Genealogical Society. Catawba-Wateree Chapter. 1850 Kershaw County, South Carolina Census Expanded with Genealogy. Camden, S.C.: South Carolina Genealogical Society. Catawba-Wateree Chapter, 1997. 975.761 X2k 1850

1870 Mortality Schedule

 * Phelps, Dallas LeRoy. 1870 Kershaw County Mortality Census. 975.761 X2p 1870

Church
Quaker


 * Carroll, Kenneth L. "The Irish Quaker Community at Camden," The South Carolina Historical Magazine, Vol. 77, No. 2 (Apr., 1976), pp. 69-83. Digital version at JSTOR ($).

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 Kershaw County families. To view a list, visit Kershaw County, South Carolina Genealogy.

Immigration
Church

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.

Local Histories

 * Kirkland, Thomas J. Historic Camden. Columbia, S.C.: State Co., 1905-1926. Items 1 - 2; digital version at Ancestry ($).

Revolutionary War

 * "Henry Felder Rev. War petition excerpt, 1785," Catawba-Wateree Messenger, June 2007, Volume 20, Issue 6. Catawba Wateree Genealogical Society c/o Camden Archives and Museum : Camden, SC
 * "Patriot defeat at Camden, 1780," SAR Magazine, Summer 2005, Volume 100, Issue 1. National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution : Louisville, KY. Book 973 B2sa.
 * "Battle of Camden and preservation of the field, 1780," Periodical:Journal of America's Military Past, Winter 2004, Volume 30, Issue 3. Council on America's Military Past : Ft. Myer, VA.
 * "SC Royalists, 1781, Camden," Dutch Fork Digest, June 2002, Volume 17, Issue 1. Dutch Fork Chapter, South Carolina Genealogical Society : Chapin, SC.
 * "Rugeley's Clermont, 1776-80," Update, February 2002, Issue 3. Kershaw County Historical Society : Camden, SC.
 * "Colonel Rudgely surrenders to William Washington, 1780, SC," St. Lucie River Whig, Spring 2001, Volume 9, Issue 2. St. Lucie River Chapter : St. Lucie, FL.
 * "Battle of Camden," Update, February 2001, Issue 3. Kershaw County Historical Society:Camden, SC.
 * "Capt. Martin Livingston's Royalists," Dutch Fork Digest, January 2001, Volume 16, Issue 1. Dutch Fork Chapter, South Carolina Genealogical Society : Chapin, SC.
 * "Muster, SC Royalists, 1781," Dutch Fork Digest, July 2000, Volume 15, Issue 3. Dutch Fork Chapter, South Carolina Genealogical Society : Chapin, SC.
 * "Revolutionary war pensioners, 1841," Carolinas Genealogical Society Bulletin, November 1965, Volume 2, Issue 3. Carolinas Genealogical Society : Monroe, NC. Book 975 B2c.
 * "Battle of Hobkirk Hill," American Monthly Magazine, January 1909, Volume 34, Issue 1. Daughters of the American Revolution : Washington, D.C. Book 973 B2dar.
 * "Battle of Camden losses, 1780," New England Historical and Genealogical Register, October 1873, Volume 27, Issue 4. New England Historical and Genealogical Society : Boston, MA.

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, Kershaw County, p. 186. Identifies War of 1812 veterans living in this county in 1883.]

Newspapers
Camden Archives and Museum Obituary Index

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 Camden County were transcribed as Kershaw County.


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

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