Greenville County, South Carolina Genealogy

United States  South Carolina  Greenville County

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

History
The county is named after Revolutionary War hero Nathanael Greene (1742-1786).

Parent County
1798--Greenville County was created in 1798 from Washington District. County seat: Greenville 

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
Abbeville | Anderson | Henderson County, North Carolina | Laurens | Pickens | Polk County, North Carolina | Spartanburg | Transylvania County, North Carolina

Research Guides

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

African American

 * Heinegg, Paul. "'Other Free' Heads of Household in the 1790 South Carolina Census, by County," Free African Americans.com. [Includes free blacks in Abbeville County.]
 * McCuen, Anne K. Abstracts of Some Greenville County, South Carolina Records Concerning Black People, Free and Slave. 2 vols. Spartanburg, S.C.: The Reprint Co., 1991-2000.

Census
1800, 1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 federal population schedules of Greenville 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


 * Augusta
 * Greenville

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 Greenville, South Carolina at World Connect, produces more than 50,000 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


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

Bibliography


 * [Arnold] MacIvor, Hazel Arnold. Some Ancestors and Descendants of Benjamin Arnold, King William County, Virginia and Greenville, South Carolina. Lake Orion, Mich.: Arnold Family Association of the South, 1974.
 * [Brown] Brown, Richard L. and Robert E. Brown. A Brown Family of Spartanburg and Greenville Counties, South Carolina. Maplewood, N.J.: R.L. &amp; R.E. Brown, 1963. Item 5
 * [Cunningham] Paget, James Suddarth. Descendants of William Cunningham of Fauquier County, Virginia and Greenville County, South Carolina 28 July 1770 - 14 October 1853. Greer, S.C.: J.S. Paget, 1994.
 * [Evans] Roberts, Lesbia Word. The Family of Philip Evans, Greenville Co., S.C. Fort Worth, Texas: Mrs. W.E. Roberts, Jr., 1996.
 * [Forrester] Ambrose, Lorene Burton. Mills, Stokes, Forrester of Primarily Greenville County, South Carolina. Greer, S.C.: L.B. Ambrose, 1979.
 * [Kemp] Taylor, Jamie Kay Kemp. Kemps with Roots in Greenville County, South Carolina. Abernathy, Tex. : J.K.K. Taylor, 1994. Item 8
 * [Lendermon] Boswell, Imogene May and Jean Boswell Pippenger. The Ancestors and Descendants of Henry D. Lendermon Randolph County, North Carolina; Greenville County, South Carolina; Maury County, Tennessee; Carroll County, Tennessee; Marshall County, Mississippi. Carrollton, Texas: I.M. Boswell &amp; J.B. Pippenger, 1988.
 * [McBee] McBee, Vardry. Portraiture of Vardry McBee of South Carolina Born in Spartanburg District, 19 June 1775; Died in Greenville, 23 January 1864. n.p.: n.p., 1852.
 * [Mills] Ambrose, Lorene Burton. Mills, Stokes, Forrester of Primarily Greenville County, South Carolina. Greer, S.C.: L.B. Ambrose, 1979.
 * [Nash] Nash, James Henry. The Georgia Descendants of Edward Nash of Greenville County, South Carolina: and Some Related Families. Somerville, Tenn.: J.H. Nash, 1973.
 * [Snow] Franklin, Wanda Snow. Snow Family of Upper South Carolina Some Descendants of Barksdale Snow (c. 1786-1854) of Greenville District, South Carolina. Baltimore, Md.: Gateway Press, 2000. ; digital version at Family History Archives.
 * [Stokes] Ambrose, Lorene Burton. Mills, Stokes, Forrester of Primarily Greenville County, South Carolina. Greer, S.C.: L.B. Ambrose, 1979.
 * [West] West, Broadus B. Genealogy of Isaac West, of Greenville County, South Carolina. Spartanburg, S.C.: unknown, 1929. Item 1; digital version at Ancestry ($).

Land
Greenville County has placed the following records from their land and probates records online.

Greenville County Register of Deeds

Conveyance Books 1865 to 1872 Book AA 1865 - 1868 - 562 Viewable Page(s) Book BB 1868 - 1870 - 531 Viewable Page(s) Book CC 1870 - 1871 - 417 Viewable Page(s) Book DD 1872 - 1872 - 443 Viewable Page(s) Grantee Indexes 1787 to 1913 Book A 1897, 1900 - 1912 - 272 Viewable Page(s) Book G 1801 - 1819 - 188 Viewable Page(s) Book H 1819 - 1837 - 245 Viewable Page(s) Book I 1838 - 1846 - 85 Viewable Page(s) Real Estate Mortgage Books 1879, 1887 to 1889, 1893 to 1894, 1900 to 1901 Book II 1893 - 1894, 1901 - 585 Viewable Page(s) Book J 1879 - 422 Viewable Page(s) Book UU 1900 - 1901 - 459 Viewable Page(s) Book W 1887 - 519 Viewable Page(s) Book X 1887 - 1889 - 519 Viewable Page(s)

Warrants for Surveys 1868 to 1880

Greenville County Probate Court Records

Account Book 1896 to 1905, 154 pages

Estate Records over 80,000 pages

Guardian and Trustee Accounts 1865 to 1878, 410 pages

Index to Estate Papers 1787 to 1976

Miscellaneous Administration and Guardianship Bonds

1816 to 1857, 1874 to 1905 1837 - 1848 - 191 Viewable Page(s) 1845 - 1857 - 217 Viewable Page(s) 1874 - 1888, 1894 - 214 Viewable Page(s) 1888 - 1905 - 481 Viewable Page(s) Book A, 1816 - 1838 - 250 Viewable Page(s)

Returns 1817 to 1824, 27 pages

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.

The organization Strictly By Name provides free online indexes to early Greenville District land plats. They offer a record retrieval service to photocopy and transcribe microfilm copies of the original documents for a small fee. Available indexes:


 * Greenville District Land Plats, Vol. D: 1786, 1788-1799
 * Greenville District Land Plats, Vol. E: 1794-1799, 1803
 * Greenville District Land Plats, Vol. F: 1799, 1801-1803

Local Histories

 * Crittenden, S.S. The Greenville Century Book: Comprising an Account of the First Settlement of the County, and the Founding of the City of Greenville, S.C. Greenville, S.C.: Greenville News, 1903. Digital version at Google Books.
 * Richardson, James McDowell. History of Greenville County, South Carolina: Narrative and Biographical. Atlanta, Ga.: A.H. Cawston, 1930. ; digital version at Ancestry ($).

Newspapers
Greenville News Obituary Index

Probate
Greenville County has placed some of their probate records online.

The record sets below are viewable.

Will Books 1820 to 1907 Book B, 1820 - 1840 - 298 Viewable Page(s) Book C, 1840 - 1853 - 519 Viewable Page(s) Book D - E, 1853 - 1881 - 294 Viewable Page(s) Book F - G, 1881 - 1897 - 654 Viewable Page(s) Book H, 1896 - 1907 - 81 Viewable Page(s)

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.

Vital Records
Marriage


 * Holcomb, Brent H. Marriage and Death Notices from the Up-Country of South Carolina as Taken from Greenville Newspapers, 1826-1863. Columbia, SC, USA: SCMAR, 1983. ; digital version at Ancestry ($).

Death


 * Holcomb, Brent H. Marriage and Death Notices from the Up-Country of South Carolina as Taken from Greenville Newspapers, 1826-1863. Columbia, SC, USA: SCMAR, 1983. ; digital version at Ancestry ($).

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