Dillon County, South Carolina Genealogy

Guide to Dillon County, South Carolina ancestry, genealogy and family history, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, and military records.

Description
The County was named for prosperous local citizen James W. Dillon (1826-1913), an Irishman who settled there and led a campaign to bring the railroad into the community. The County is located in the east area of the state.

County Courthouse
Dillon County Courthouse 301 West Main Street PO Box 1220 Dillon, SC 29536 Phone: 843-774-1425 Dillon County Website

County Pronunciation .

Cemeteries

 * To view a cemetery list, see Dillon County, South Carolina Cemeteries.
 * National Cemetery Administration

Census Records

 * 1829-1920 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index & Images

Church Records
Episcopal Church Before 1785, residents of what is now Dillon County were served by these colonial parishes.


 * Prince Frederick Parish 1734
 * St. David's Parish 1768

List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places

Ethnic, Political, and Religious Groups
African Americans United States African Americans South Carolina African Americans Known plantations South Carolina Plantations:
 * Coursar
 * Ford

Genealogies
General Surname indexes to Leonardo Andrea's Files | Folders | Resources are available online, courtesy: The Andrea Files: South Carolina Genealogical Research. Learn more.

Bibliography
 * Bethea - Cooper, John P.Sketches of John Purley Cooper and Wife Ethel Mae Bethea: With Notes on Their Ancestry, Descendants, Some Kindred and Random Collections. Ruxton, Md.: J.P. Cooper, 1989.
 * Campbell - Campbell, Rachel M. and Charles Campbell McCall. Campbell and McCall Family History. Baltimore, Md.: Gateway Press, n.d..
 * Carmichael Carmichael, Roderick L. The Scottish Highlander Carmichaels of the Carolinas. Richmond, Va.: Whittet and Shepperson, 1935.
 * Carmichael - Harrell, Elizabeth Jean. The Carmichaels: Archibald Carmichael (c. 1749-1830s) of Scotland and the Carolinas and His Descendants Who Migrated to Hinds County, Mississippi. Los Altos, Calif.: E.J. Harrell, 1989..
 * Carmichael - Steele, Anita Martin and Lorena Martin Spillers. Martin and Carmichael Descendants in Georgia 1811-1994. Baltimore, Md.: Gateway Press, 1994..
 * Lewis Lewis, J.D. My Neck of the Woods: The Lewis Families of Southeastern North Carolina and Northeastern South Carolina. Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2002. book 929.273 L585Ljd, CD-ROM no. 1036
 * Moody - Moody, Mary C. The Moodys and Related Families. Arlington, Texas: M.C. Moody, 1979..

Land and Property Records
Online Land Indexes and Records The following chart show where you may best expect to find land records.

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.

Local Histories
Dillon county was named for James W. Dillon, a local prominent resident from Ireland who was instrumental in bringing the railroad to the county. Learn more about the history of Dillon County from the South Carolina State Library or from Carolana.com.


 * Stokes, Durward T. The History of Dillon County, South Carolina (Columbia, South Carolina University of South Carolina Press, c1978), 523 pages. Comprehensive History of Dillon County. Book found at and Other Libraries.

Maps and Gazetteers

 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Military Records
War of 1812
 * "Capt. Bethea's co.," Pee Dee Queue, May 1999, Volume 23, Issue 3. Pee Dee Chapter, South Carolina Genealogical Society Marion, SC.

Civil War Online Civil War Indexes and Records
 * 1861-1865 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index & Images
 * 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. Dillon County did not exist during the Civil War. It was created 1910 from Marion County. During the Civil War, men from the area of Dillon County mostly would have served in various regiments recruited in Marion County. Counties were called districts during the Civil War.

Other Resources
 * Stokes, Durward T. The History of Dillon County, South Carolina (Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press, c1978), 523 pages. Comprehensive History of Dillon County. Civil War pages 88-111. Book found at and Other Libraries.

Newspapers

 * 1800s-1999 Newspapers.com Marriage Index, 1800s-1999 at Ancestry ($)

Historic The Library of Congress has identified the following historic newspapers for Dillon 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.
 * Latta Observer (Latta, S.C.) 1910-1983.
 * The Dillon Herald (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-current.

University of South Carolina Library Catalog
 * Historical Newspapers of South Carolina at University of South Carolina Libraries - not complete

Current
 * The Dillon Herald (Dillon, S.C.) Online edition.

Obituaries

 * Dillon County and Dillon, SC Obituaries from newspapers

Periodicals

 * Pee Dee Queue

Probate Records
Online Probate Indexes and Records
 * 1670-1980 South Carolina Wills and Probate Records 1670-1980 at Ancestry.com — index and images ($)
 * 1671-1977 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Images Only
 * 1732-1964 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Images Only
 * 1782-1866 South Carolina, Will Transcripts 1782-1866 at Findmypast — index, ($) — $, index

Social Security Records

 * 1935-2014 at FamilySearch — How to use this collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
 * 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007

Tax Records
Online Tax Indexes and Records
 * South Carolina Department of Archives and History tax lists for Dillon County.

Published abstracts 
 * 1811, 1814, 1824 Holcomb, Brent H. and Silas Emmett Lucas. Some South Carolina County Records... 2 vols. Easley, S.C.: Southern Historical Press, 1976-1989. Includes 1811, 1814, and 1824 tax lists for Marion District.

Birth

 * 1766-1900 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index & Images
 * 1915-1917 South Carolina, U.S., Births, 1915-1917 at Ancestry - index & images ($)

Marriage
Online Marriage Records and Indexes
 * 1895-1954 Dillon County, South Carolina Proofs of Marriage, ca. 1895-1954; Marriage Licenses and Marriage Registers, ca. 1911-1950 - records
 * 1903-1929 Early Marriage Extracts from The Dillon Heraldat the Dillon County Library - index
 * Dillon County Marriage Database
 * Extracts from Dillon County Newspapers
 * There are several online marriage indexes containing miscellaneous marriage records found insome counties of South Carolina listed on the South Carolina Vital Records page.

Death
Deaths - Indexes and Records
 * 1816-1990 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index
 * 1821-1969 South Carolina, U.S., Death Records, 1821-1969 at Ancestry - index & images ($)
 * 1915-1943 South Carolina, Deaths, 1915-1943 at MyHeritage - index & images ($)
 * 1915-1965 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index & Images
 * 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.

Family History Centers

 * Camden South Carolina Family History Center
 * Florence South Carolina Family History Center
 * Pembroke North Carolina Family History Center

Libraries
The Dillon County Library System has three libraries and a bookmibile. The Dillon Library is the main branch. Dillon County Library - Headquarters Addeess: 600 East Main Street Dillon, South Carolina 29536 Telephone: 843-774-0330 Fax: (843) 774-0733 Hours: Monday to Tuesday 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Wednesday to Friday 9:00a.m to 6:00 p.m., Saturday 9:pp a.m to 1:00 p.m Lake View Library Branch Address: 207 South Main Street, P.O. Box 704 Lake View, South Carolina 29563 Telephone: 843-759-2692 Hours: Monday to Friday 10:00 a.m to 6:00 p.m., Saturday 10:00 a.m - 1:00 p.m. Latta Library Branch Address: 101 North Marion Street Latta, South Carolina 29565 Telephone: 8-3-752-5389 Fax: (843) 752-7457 Hours: Monday to Friday 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Museums
Dillon County Museum The Museum offers a turn of the twentieth century glimpse of life in Dillon County. Documents, photographs, and other memorabilia trace the history of the area.Website

Societies

 * Dillon County Historical Society P.O. Box 1806 Dillon, SC 29536 E-mail: [mailto:dnborders@gmail.com dnborders@gmail.com] Website

Websites

 * Dillon County, SCGenWeb
 * Dillon County, South Carolina Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Helen's Little Corner
 * – The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records.

Research Guides

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