South Carolina Church Records

United States   South Carolina    Church Records

Church records and histories are critical to research in South Carolina because of the lack of civil vital records prior to 1900. During the colonial period, the Church of England, with 25 parishes by 1778, was the official church of South Carolina. Lutherans, Huguenots, and Quakers also serviced many South Carolinians. Between the American Revolution and the year 1900, the largest religious groups in the state were Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterians.

The South Carolina Genealogical Society's project South Carolina Churches aims to create lists of churches for each county in the state.

The Inventory of (SC) Church Archives 1937-1939 is a free online digitized version of W.P.A. reports describing South Carolina church records. It has been made available online by the South Caroliniana Library. At present (9/27/10), it includes reports from Abbeville, Aiken, Allendale, Lancaster, Richland, and Saluda counties.

The Family History Library has a large collection of Baptist, Methodist, and Church of England (also known as Anglican, and later Protestant Episcopal) church records on microfilm. From the Charleston area, for example, the library has copies of records from the South Carolina Historical Society, Southern Baptist Convention, and local churches. These materials include records of the Methodists (1845 to 1980 on 145 microfiche), Baptists (1868 to 1955), Evangelical Lutherans (from 1778), Congregationalists (from 1732), Protestant Episcopals (from 1713), Lutherans (from 1749), and Society of Friends (from 1719).

Many denominations have collected their records into central repositories. Church repositories are listed in Local and Family History in South Carolina (see For Further Reading). You can also write to the following addresses to learn where their records are located.

Baptist
South Carolina Baptist Historical Collection James B. Duke Library Furman University    3300 Poinsett Highway Greenville, SouthCarolina 29613-0600 Telephone: 864-294-2194 Fax: 864-294-2194

See also:


 * Bolt, Ernest C. South Carolina Baptist Churches by Association. Nashville, Tennessee: Historical Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, 196-. Film 1001802
 * Townsend, Leah. South Carolina Baptists, 1670-1805. Florence, South Carolina: Florence Printing Co., 1935. 975.7 K2t

Church of England (Anglican, Protestant Episcopal)
Before the American Revolution, the state church of South Carolina was the Church of England (also called Anglican, and later Protestant Episcopal). Besides keeping parish registers, the church kept many records of a civil nature in their vestry books. In many instances, parish registers containing baptism, marriage, and death records have not survived when vestry books have.

Many of these records have been published. Baptisms and marriages from many colonial South Carolina parishes are indexed in the International Genealogical Index, see: Hugh Wallis's IGI Batch Numbers for South Carolina, USA and the South Carolina History Magazine ( 975.7 B2s).

To learn more about the origins of Church of England ministers sent to South Carolina from England during the colonial period, start with these books:


 * Fothergill, Gerald. A List of Emigrant Ministers to America, 1690-1811. London: E. Stock, 1904. Digital versions at Ancestry ($); Google Books; Internet Archive, 1965 reprint: 973 W2f 1965
 * Weis, Frederick Lewis. The Colonial Clergy of Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Boston, Mass.: Society of the Descendants of Colonial Clergy, 1955. 975 D3wc; digital version at World Vital Records ($).

Society of the Descendants of the Colonial Clergy points researchers to many valuable resources.

Church of England ministers sent to South Carolina had often been educated at the English universities of Cambridge and Oxford. The website Expert Links: English Family History and Genealogy contains links to many of these university's records available online under the "Occupations" section.

The Clergy of the Church of England website (work in progress) also contains details of many of their ministerial careers before departing for America.

A special society in South Carolina was organized to care for the families of Episcopal clergy:


 * Society for the Relief of Widows and Orphans of the Clergy of the Protestant Episcopal Church in South Carolina, 1762-1861. Typescript, Charleston Historical Society, Charleston, S.C. Microfilmed 1951. 23346-23347 Items 1-2

Saint Barnabus (Summerville, an Episcopol 1885-1930)

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons)
In 1883, many Catawbs joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Huguenot
Huguenots made settlements in Colonial South Carolina at Goose Creek, Orange Quarter, St. John's Berkeley, French Santee, New Bordeaux, and Purrysburgh.

Several histories of South Carolina Huguenots have been written, including:


 * Hirsch, Arthur Henry. The Huguenots of Colonial South Carolina. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1928. 975.7 F2h; digital version at World Vital Records ($). Wallace Davis published an index in 1989:  975.7 F2h index.

Many Huguenots appear in the following parish registers:


 * Clute, Robert F. The Annals and Parish Register of St. Thomas and St. Denis Parish in South Carolina from 1680 to 1884. Charleston, S.C.: Evans &amp; Cogswell, 1884. 975.7 A1 no. 33; digital versions at Ancestry ($); Google Books; another Google Books version; Internet Archive; World Vital Records ($).

Jews
Histories of the Jews in South Carolina include:


 * Elzas, Barnett Abraham. The Jews of South Carolina from the Earliest Times to the Present Day. Philadelphia, Pa.: J.B. Lippencott Co., 1905. Digital version at Google Books; 1972 reprint: 975.7 F2je
 * Gergel, Belinda Friedman and Richard Gergel. In Pursuit of the Tree of Life: A History of the Early Jews of Columbia, South Carolina and the Tree of Life Congregation. [Columbia, S.C.]: Tree of Life Congregation, 1996. 975.771/C1 K2g
 * Reznikoff, Charles and Uriah Z. Engelman. The Jews of Charleston: A History of an American Jewish Community. Philadelphia, Pa.: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1950. 975.7915 F2r

Several old Jewish cemeteries have been preserved in South Carolina, for example, see:


 * Elzas, Barnett Abraham. The Old Jewish Cemeteries at Charleston, S.C.: A Transcript of the Inscriptions on Their Tombstones, 1762-1903. Charleston, S.C.: Daggett Print., 1903. 975.791/C1 V2e; digital versions at Ancestry ($); Family History Archives; Google Books; Internet Archive; and World Vital Records ($).

Methodist
South Carolina Methodist Conference Archives Sandor Teszler Library Wofford College 429 N. Church Street Spartanburg, SC 29301-3663 Telephone: 864-597-4300 Fax: 864-597-4329

For a history of the Methodist Church in South Carolina, see:


 * Shipp, Albert Micajah. History of Methodism in South Carolina. Nashville, Tenn.: Southern Methodist Publishing House, 1884. Digital version at Google Books; Film 908353 Item 2. The appendix includes biographical sketches.

Presbyterian and Reformed
Department of History-Montreat Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) 318 Georgia Terrace P.O. Box 849 Montreat, NC 28757 Telephone: 704-669-7061 Fax: 704-669-5369

To locate Presbyterian records see:


 * Inventory of the Church Archives of South Carolina Presbyterian Churches; 1969 Arrangement with Indexes. N.p.: South Carolina Historical Records Survey, WPA, 1969. Film 906117- Film 906118
 * Howe, George. History of the Presbyterian Church in South Carolina. 2 vols. Columbia, South Carolina: Duffie and Chapman, 1870-1883. Digital versions of Volume 2 at Google Books and Internet Archive. 975.7 K2h; This volume covers the history of the church to 1800. James D. McKain published an index in 1995:  975.7 K2h index

Roman Catholic
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston has jurisdiction over the entire state.

|Charleston Diocese of Charleston Archives 119 Broad Street P.O. Box 818 Charleston, SC 29402 Telephone: 803-723-3488 Fax: 803-724-6387