Aiken County, South Carolina Genealogy

United States  South Carolina  Aiken County

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

History
The county is named after "William Aiken (1779-1831), founder and president of the pioneering South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company."

Parent County
1871--Aiken County was formed 10 March 1871 with parts from Barnwell, Edgefield, Lexington and Orangeburg Counties. County seat: Aiken

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
Barnwell | Burke County, Georgia | Edgefield | Lexington | Orangeburg | Richmond County, Georgia | Saluda

Research Guides

 * South Carolina Archives Summary Guide: Aiken County, available online, courtesy: South Carolina Department of Archives and History.
 * W.P.A. Inventory of the County Archives of South Carolina, No. 2, Aiken County (Aiken). Columbia, S.C.: Historical Records Survey, 1938.

Cemeteries

 * Allen, Rebecca. Aiken County, South Carolina Cemetery Inscriptions: Graniteville [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2001. Digital version at Ancestry (free, but requires registration).
 * Allen, Rebecca. Aiken County, South Carolina: Cemetery Records [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2001. Digital version at Ancestry (free, but requires registration). (Online description identifies cemeteries that are included.)
 * Allen, Rebecca. Aiken County, South Carolina Cemetery Inscriptions [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2000. Digital version at Ancestry ($). (Online description identifies cemeteries that are included.)

Census
1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 federal population schedules of Aiken 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
The Inventory of (SC) Church Archives 1937-1939 is available for free online, courtesy: South Caroliniana Library. Aiken County's W.P.A. reports are included.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

LDS Ward and Branch Records


 * Aiken

Presbyterian


 * Coles, W.R. The Immanuel Presbyterian Mission at Aiken, S.C. 1893. Digital version at Internet Archive.

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 Aiken, South Carolina at World Connect, results in more than 8,000 entries.

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


 * Rowland, Arthur Ray. Neighbors of North Augusta and Its Geographical Ancestors including Hamburg Township and Schultz Township in Edgefield County and Aiken County, South Carolina : from U.S. census records, 1850-1900. North Augusta, S.C.: RR Books, 2006.

Message Boards


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

Bibliography


 * [Holley] McCreary, Richard A. The Sovereign Evans Holley Family of Aiken County, South Carolina. Columbia, S.C.: R.A. McCreary, 1993?.
 * [Johnson] Rumph, Thedoshia Juanita Harvey and Marian Dale Harvey. Family History of Jacob E. Johnson (Birth/Death Dates Unknown) &amp; Elizabeth Johnson Born in 1809 in Virginia, Died 6-2-1895 in Aiken, S.C. Pemberton, N.J.: T.J.H. Rumph, 2001.
 * [Kirkland] The 14 Children of John &amp; Lavina Kirkland John b. 1810 d. 1889 (Aiken Co.) South Carolina.

Historic Residences

 * Greetings from Aiken, S.C. 1909. Digital version at Internet Archive. [Includes photographs of many historic buildings.]

Land
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

 * Aiken, South Caorlina. A Description of the Climate, Soils, and the Nature of the Products in the Vicinity of Aiken, S.C. ... New York and Aiken: J.C. Derby, Publisher, 1870. Digital version at Internet Archive.
 * Toole, Gasper Loren. Ninety Years in Aiken County: Memoirs of Aiken County and Its People. unknown: unknown, 1958?. ; digital versions at Ancestry ($) and World Vital Records ($).

Newspapers 
World Vital Records, a subscription website, offers access to the following Aiken County newspapers:


 * Aiken Courier Journal (1874-1878)
 * Aiken Journal (1874)
 * Aiken Journal and Review (1885-1923, gaps)
 * Aiken Recorder (1886-1906, gaps)
 * Aiken Tribune (1871, 1873, 1875)

Ancestry, a subscription website, offers access to the following Aiken County newspaper:


 * Aiken Standard (1969-1977). Aiken, South Carolina, United States Of America. Database created from microfilm copies of the newspaper. Available 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
 * Aiken County, South Carolina Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)