Georgetown District, South Carolina Genealogy

United StatesSouth CarolinaGeorgetown District


 * Not to be confused with Georgetown County created in 1800 by renaming Winyah County. From 1800 to 1868 that Georgetown County was also known by the alias of Georgetown District.

History
Georgetown District was created in 1768 by renaming Craven County. See the 1768 South Carolina map.

In 1785 four subordinate counties were formed within the overarching Georgetown District:


 * Kingston County—in 1801 renamed Horry County
 * Liberty County—in 1798 renamed Marion County
 * Williamsburg County—abolished 1798, then in 1804 re-established with the same boundaries
 * Winyah County—in 1800 renamed Georgetown County

Prior to 1798 none of these counties became functional. They were counties in name only. Records were kept either at the parish level, at the District Seat level in Georgetown, or at the capital in Charleston. See the 1785 South Carolina Map.

In 1800, South Carolina abolished overarching administrative court districts like Georgetown District, and switched to the county-only concept. An all new Georgetown County was created in 1800 by renaming Winyah County. However they called their counties, districts until 1868, after the Civil War.

Georgetown District had 22,938 free inhabitants and 16,568 slaves in 1800, according to The American Universal Geography by Jedidiah Morse (1805). The population of Georgetown District in the 1840 census was 18,274, according to The Geography of South Carolina by William Gilmore Simms (1844), which says that only 2,281 of these were free.

Simms also noted that, in 1844, "Agriculture is the only employment" and that there were "no manufactures." The latter source also noted that, at the time of publication, Georgetown District only comprised two parishes: All Saints and Prince George.

For documents of people who lived in this area from 1768 to 1800, look in:


 * St. James Santee Parish records since 1706
 * Prince George Parish records since 1721
 * Prince Frederick Parish records since 1734
 * St. Stephen's Parish records since 1754
 * St. Mark's Parish records since 1757
 * All Saints Parish records since 1767
 * St. David's Parish records since 1768
 * papers filed in the District Seat at Georgetown, South Carolina
 * papers filed in the early capital at Charleston, South Carolina

Boundary Changes
"Rotating Formation South Carolina County Boundary Maps" (1682-1987) may be viewed for free at the My South Carolina Genealogy website. The maps rely on AniMap 3.0 software.

1790

 * 1790 Census, Georgetown District (pdf; Lulu.com)
 * 1790 Census Index, Georgetown District (SK Publications)

1800

 * 1800 Census, Georgetown District (U.S. GenWeb Archives)

Court

 * Draine, Tony, and Edd Bannister. Georgetown District, S.C. 1783 Jury List. Columbia, SC?: Draban Publications?, 1991?. WorldCat

Local Histories

 * Withers, Francis. Francis Withers Account Book 1833-1840, Georgetown District, South Carolina. Frederick, MD: University Publications, 1990. WorldCat

Maps

 * Georgetown District (Historic Map Works)
 * Georgetown District Civil War Map (American Memory at the Library of Congress)
 * Georgetown District, South Carolina (David Rumsey Map Collection)
 * Georgetown District, South Carolina (history-map.com)

Websites

 * Georgetown District of South Carolina (Family Tree DNA group)
 * Georgetown District, South Carolina (includes history) (Carolana.com)