South Carolina Probate Records

Probate records of South Carolina were kept by the secretary of the province prior to 1732, and were later kept by the courts of ordinary and probate courts of each county. Most of the original wills for the colonial period have not survived. Pre-Civil War probate files for Beaufort, Chesterfield, Colleton, Georgetown, Lancaster, and Orangeburg districts were destroyed.

The Family History Library has microfilms of probate records for many counties. The South Carolina Department of Archives and History has similar holdings of microfilms or typescripts of the existing records. These include wills, inventories, bills of sale, power of attorneys, bonds, notes, administrations, judgments, and sales records.

The following are examples of publications that can help you locate colonial records:

Holcomb, Brent H. Probate Records of South Carolina. Three Volumes. Easley, South Carolina: Southern Historical Press, 1977-. (FHL book 975.7 P2p.) This contains records from 1746 to 1821 and is fully indexed.

Houston, Martha Lou, comp. Indexes to the County Wills of South Carolina. Originally published in 1939. Reprinted in Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1964. (FHL book 975.7 P22h 1964; film 908509 item 3; fiche 6046877.) This is an index to most pre-1860 county wills, but does not include Charleston County wills.

Moore, Carolina T., and Agatha Aimar Simmons. Abstracts of the Wills of the State of South Carolina. Three Volumes. Columbia, South Carolina: R. L. Bryan Co., 1960-69. (FHL book 975.7 P2m; film 1035622 items 1-3; fiche 6051514.) These volumes cover the years 1670 to 1784.