Calhoun County, South Carolina Genealogy

Guide to  ancestry, family history and genealogy court records, deeds, maps, immigration, maps, military records, newspapers, obituaries, plantations, probate records, slaves, local archives, libraries, museums, churches, cemeteries, and Civil War records.

Calhoun County, South Carolina Record Dates
Calhoun County's civil records start the following years:

County Courthouse
The county seat of Calhoun County is Saint Matthews, which was founded in 1841.

Calhoun County Courthouse 302 South Railroad Ave. St. Matthews, SC 29135-1452 Phone: 803-874-3524

Calhoun County Probate Judge 902 F.R. Huff Dr. St. Matthews, SC 29135-1490 Phone 803-874-3514

Calhoun County Clerk of Court P.O. Box 709 902 F.R. Huff Drive St. Matthews, SC 29135 Phone: 803-874-3524

Calhoun County Register of Deeds Courthouse Annex, Suite 108 St. Matthews 29135 Phone: 803-874-2435

Historical Facts
For documents of people who lived in this area 1768-1800, look at:


 * St. Matthew's Parish records since 1768
 * papers filed in the District Seat at Orangeburg, South Carolina
 * papers filed in the early capital at Charleston, South Carolina

The county is named after, who served as Vice President of the United States under both and  as well as secretary of state and of war and senator." Amelia Township, an original eighteenth-century settlement and part of the Royal Period of South Carolina, was situated in what is now Calhoun County. Learn more about the history of Calhoun County from the South Carolina State Library or from Carolana.com.

Parent County/Boundary Changes

 * 1908: - Calhoun created from Lexington and Orangeburg Counties.

For more information as well as maps of Calhoun County through time, see the South Carolina State Archives or For animated maps illustrating South Carolina county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation South Carolina County Boundary Maps" (1682-1987) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

County Pronunciation
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Record Loss
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

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: Calhoun County, available online, courtesy: South Carolina Department of Archives and History.

African Americans
United States African Americans South Carolina African Americans

Known plantations, South Carolina Plantations:


 * Aeolian Hill - St Matthews
 * Bellbroughton
 * Belleville - Fort Motte
 * Cave Hall
 * Devil's Track Place
 * Goshen
 * Hartland
 * Hickory Grove - Fort Motte
 * Lang Syne - Fort Motte
 * Midway - Fort Motte
 * Mount Joseph - Fort Motte
 * Oak Grove - St Matthews
 * Oakland
 * Pond Bluff - Fort Motte
 * Singleton
 * Spring Grove
 * Totness
 * Warley
 * Zante

Cemeteries

 * To view a cemetery list, see Calhoun County, South Carolina Cemeteries.


 * National Cemetery Administration

Federal
1910, 1920, and 1930 federal population schedules of Calhoun 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 History and Records
Calhoun 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
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 Calhoun, South Carolina at World Connect, results in more than 900 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 


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

Bibliography


 * Caver - Caver, Larry Eugene. The Caver Family of North America. Birmingham, Ala.: Caver Press, 1990..
 * Felder - Felder, Rice A. and Feller Publishing Fund. Descendants of James Addison Felder and Flavilla Shuler of Orangeburg County, South Carolina. Columbia, S.C.: Felder Publishing Fund, 1980..
 * King - King, Kermitt Sifley. The Kings of Calhoun County, Amelia Township. Columbia, S.C.: K.S. King, 1992..
 * Snelgrove - Snelgrove, Price Charles. Freeman Snelgrove and Some of His Descendants. Alford, Fla.: P.C. Snelgrove, 1993..
 * Wise - Bauer, William Rudolph. Reconstruction of the Genealogy of the Wise Family of the Congarees. Columbia, S.C.: W.R. Bauer, 2001.

History

 * Linder, Suzanne Cameron. Historical Atlas of the Rice Plantations of the ACE River Basin, 1860 (Columbia, South Carolina: S.C. Dept. of Archives and History, c1995 ), 684 pages. The plantations were in Beaufort, Colleton &amp; Charleston counties. ,

Land and Property
Because of South Carolina’s history as an agricultural state many residents owned land. For more information abou 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 shows where you may best expect to find land records for Calhoun County:

* Some Orangeburg District deeds were recorded in Charleston District and were not destroyed ** Orangeburg District, Lexington District, Orangeburg County, and Lewisburg County records destroyed by fire in 1865. Only Lexington County deeds after 1839 survive.


 * Plats For State Land Grants 1784-1868 For information about the State Land Grants, see State Land Grants

Migration
Early migration routes to and from Calhoun County for European settlers included:


 * Camden-Charleston Path 1732
 * Old South Carolina State Road 1747

Civil War
Online Records
 * 1861-1865 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1861 - 1865 U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry — index (free)
 * 1861 - 1865 U.S., Union Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry — index (free)

Regiments. Calhoun County did not exist during the Civil War. It was created in 1908 from Lexington and Orangeburg Counties. During the Civil War, men from the area of Calhoun County mostly would have served in various regiments recruited in those counties. Counties were called districts during the Civil War. The following regiment apparently had men from the area of present day Calhoun County:


 * - 1st Regiment, South Carolina Infantry (Butler's) (1st Regulars), Company A (also called Company B and Beauregard Artillery)
 * - 20th Regiment, South Carolina Infantry

Newspapers
Historic

The Library of Congress has identified the following historic newspapers for Calhoun 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.


 * Calhoun Advance (St. Matthews, S.C.) 1908-1920.
 * St. Matthews Recorder (St. Matthews, S.C.) 1903-1906.
 * The Calhoun Times (Saint Matthews, S.C.) 1922-current.
 * The Carolinian (St. Matthews, S.C.) 1920-1922.
 * The Commercial Advance (St. Matthews, S.C.) 1906-1908.
 * The St. Matthews Herald (St. Matthews, S.C.) 1890-1897.
 * The St. Matthews Record  (St. Matthews, S.C.) 1914-1915.

Current

Periodicals
See: Periodicals for description.


 * South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research

Probate Records
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 Probate Records.

Online Probate Records
 * 1670-1980 - South Carolina Wills and Probate Records 1670-1980 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1671-1977 - at FamilySearch — images
 * 1732-1964 - at FamilySearch — images

Taxation
Tax-related records are kept by the offices of the county Assessor, Auditor, Sheriff, and Treasurer. Taxes were levied on real and personal property and can help establish ages, residences, relationships, and the year an individual died or left the area. They can be used as substitutes for missing or destroyed land and census records.


 * South Carolina Department of Archives and History tax lists for Calhoun County.

 Published abstracts 


 * 1818 - St. Matthews Tax List, 1818, South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research, Vol. 1, No. 3 (Summer 1973); Vol. 1, No. 4 (Fall 1973).

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 Calhoun 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.


 * 1766-1900 - at FamilySearch — images

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 Calhoun 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 and images


 * 1911-1972 - Calhoun County, South Carolina Marriage Register, 1911-1972 - index
 * 1911-1950 - Calhoun County, South Carolina Marriage Licenses, ca. 1911-1950 - records
 * 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 Calhoun 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


 * 1915-1965 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 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.

Museums
This museum is county-run rather than by a society.


 * Calhoun County Museum Address: 313 Butler Street St. Matthews, SC 29135 Telephone: (803) 874 - 3964 Hours of Operation: Tuesday to Friday - 9:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. The Archive: The genealogy materials are housed in the museum's archive. Among other materials, there are African American books; cemetery books; Church books, county books; court record books; Jewish history; marriage, death and will books, native American books, South Carolina Civil War, and more. Categories and titles of the Archive's holdings are available at "The Archive" link above. They will assist with any genealogical or historical research, but please call ahead to set up an appointment

Societies, Libraries and Museums

 * Calhoun County Library Address: Calhhoun County Library 900 FR Huff Dr, St, Marrhews, South Carolina 29135 Telephone: 877-887-5588 - Toll Free; 803-874-3389 - phone FAX: 803-874-4154  Hours of Operation: Monday, Wednesday: 10am - 6pm, Tuesday, Thursday: 10am - 8pm, Friday: 10am - 5pm, Saturday: 10am - 3pm The Calhoun County Library is part of the Palmetto Library Consortium which consists of 16 libraries that have consolidated some services for eficience. Though they do have some books on genealogy, they have turned their genealogical materials to the Calhoun Museum and Cultural Center

Family History Centers
note: the societies with their own memberships, libraries, museums and collections.

Websites

 * Calhoun County, SC History, Records, Facts and Genealogy (Genealogy Inc)
 * Calhoun County, SCGenWeb
 * Calhoun County, South Carolina Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)