Pickens County, South Carolina Genealogy

United States  South Carolina  Pickens County

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

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

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

 * Anderson
 * Greenville
 * Jackson County, North Carolina
 * Oconee
 * Transylvania County, North Carolina

Research Guides

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

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.
 * Sheriff, G. Anne Campbell. 1850 Federal Slave Census of Pickens District, South Carolina Eastern Division (Present-day Pickens County). Central, S.C.: G.A. Sheriff, 1991.
 * Sheriff, G. Anne Campbell. 1860 Federal Slave Census of Pickens District, South Carolina 5th Regiment (Present-day Pickens County). Central, S.C.: G.A. Sheriff, 1989.
 * Sheriff, G. Anne Campbell, Parcho Baker and Forest Acres Elementary School (Easley, S.C.). Black History in Pickens District, South Carolina. 2 vols. Easley, S.C.: Forest Acres Elementary School, 1991-1993.

Census
1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 federal population schedules of Pickens 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
LDS Ward and Branch Records


 * Easley

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 Pickens, South Carolina at World Connect, produces more than 45,000 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


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

Bibliography


 * [Bolding] Lesley, Agnes Bolding. Bolding Family, Jonathan Lee Bolding 1806-1879, A Pioneer Citizen of the Pea Ridge Section of Pickens County, South Carolina: A History of His Life and Times and of His Many Descendants. Pickens, S.C.: A.B. Lesley, [1956?].
 * [Bowen] Bowen, John McGowan. The Bowen Family, with McGowan and Brooks Lineage, of George's Creek, Pickens County, South Carolina. Atlanta, Ga.: J.M. Bowen, 1962.
 * [Bowen] South Carolina Genealogical Society. Old Pendleton Chapter. Bowen: Pickens County, South Carolina, Family Lines. n.p.: South Carolina Genealogical Society. Old Pendleton Chapter, 200-?.
 * [Brooks] Bowen, John McGowan. The Bowen Family, with McGowan and Brooks Lineage, of George's Creek, Pickens County, South Carolina. Atlanta, Ga.: J.M. Bowen, 1962.
 * [Chastain] Chastain, Victor T. Chastains of Pickens County, South Carolina, 1790-1986: Ten Shilling Bell. Pickens, S.C.: V.T. Chastain, 1986.
 * [Chastain] South Carolina Genealogical Society. Old Pendleton Chapter. Chastain Family: Pickens County, South Carolina. n.p.: South Carolina Genealogical Society. Old Pendleton Chapter, 2002.
 * [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.
 * [Gillespie] Trimble, David B. Buchanan and Gillespie of Southwest Virginia. Austin, Texas: D.B. Trimble, 1992. Available at FHL.
 * [Kelley] South Carolina Genealogical Society. Old Pendleton Chapter. Kelley Family: Pickens County, South Carolina. n.p.: South Carolina Genealogical Society. Old Pendleton Chapter, 2002.
 * [McGowan] Bowen, John McGowan. The Bowen Family, with McGowan and Brooks Lineage, of George's Creek, Pickens County, South Carolina. Atlanta, Ga.: J.M. Bowen, 1962.
 * [Mauldin] South Carolina Genealogical Society. Old Pendleton Chapter. Mauldin Family: Pickens County, South Carolina. 3 vols. 2002.
 * [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.

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.

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