Oconee County, South Carolina Genealogy

United States  South Carolina  Oconee County

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

County Courthouse
Oconee County Courthouse 415 South Pine Street Walhalla, SC 29691

Clerk of Court P.O. Box 678 Walhalla, SC 29691 Phone: 864-638-4280 Court records

Register of Deeds 415 South Pine Street Walhalla, SC 29691 Phone: 864-638-4285 Land records

Probate Court P.O. Box 471 Walhalla, SC 29691 Phone: 864-638-4275 Probate and marriage records

Hours: 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday - Friday

History
The county is named after the Oconee tribe of Native Americans.

Parent County
1868--Oconee County was created 29 January 1868 from Pickens County. County seat: Walhalla 

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

 * Anderson
 * Franklin County, Georgia
 * Habersham County, Georgia
 * Hart County, Georgia
 * Jackson County, North Carolina
 * Macon County, North Carolina
 * Pickens
 * Rabun County, Georgia
 * Stephens County, Georgia
 * Transylvania County, North Carolina

Research Guides

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

African American

 * Megginson, W.J. Black Soldiers in World War I: Anderson, Pickens and Oconee Counties, South Carolina; with a Discussion of Pensions for Civil War Slave Labor. Seneca, S.C.: Oconee County Historical Society, 1994.

Census
1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 federal population schedules of Oconee 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 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

LDS Ward and Branch Records


 * Seneca

Presbyterian


 * The Old Stone Church, Oconee County, South Carolina. Columbia, S.C.?: Old Stone Church and Cemetery Association with cooperation of the Andrew Pickens and Cateechee Chapters, D.A.R., 1905. Digital version at Ancestry ($).

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 Oconee, South Carolina at World Connect, produces more than 7,500 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


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

Bibliography


 * [Ballenger] Knox, John Ballenger. The Ballenger Family of Oconee County, South Carolina. Seneca, S.C.: Grady Woodfin Ballenger, [1956].
 * [Beck] Koyle, Susan Lewis and Patricia Lewis Cramer. Ancestors and Descendnats of Colonel Samuel Beck and Tabitha Langston. 1997. ; digital version at BYU Family History Archives.
 * [Cain] Malone, James T. and Royleta Clopton Malone. William Cain Sr. and His Descendants 1795-2000: With Allied Lines of Murdock, Gibson, Cole and Others, in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Texas and Oklahoma. Hemet, Calif.: J.T. Malone, 2001.
 * [Davis] Mentzel, Laura W. Davis Families of the Savannah River Valley: Containing a Record of the Descendants of Van and Harmon Davis from 1725-1978, Covering the Counties of Newberry, Anderson, Pickens, Oconee Counties of South Carolina; Habersham, Franklin, Hart, Stephens, Polk, Paulding, Gwinnett Counties of Georgia. Salt Lake City, Utah: Hobby Press, 1978.
 * [Gilmer] Walker, Robert B. Our Family Genealogy. Typescript. Microfilmed 1960. Item 4
 * [Grant] Grant, Bishop Franklin (Mrs.). Grant Family of South Carolina. Typescript. Item 4
 * [Hair] Hair, Thomas Lee. The Long Journey, a Family History, 1687-1991: Embracing an Account of the Arrivals, Movements, and Ultimate Dispersal of the Southern Branches and Descendants of Eleven Allied Families: Adams, Ballenger, Cleveland, Duke, Hair, Harbin, Lewis, Lyles, O'Kelley, Trail, Ward. Spartanburg, S.C.: Reprint Company Publishers, 1992.
 * [Hunter] Hunter, Raymond E. The Hunters and Related Families in the Southeastern United States. Augusta, Ga.: R.E. Hunter, 1990.
 * [Queen] Russell, Jerry Franklin. Red-Redd, Russell, Powell. MSS., 1989. Item 13
 * [Shedd] Campbell, A.G. Those Other Trapps: Including Some Allied Persons. [Alpine, Calif.]: A.G. Campbell, 1992.

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.

French and Indian War

 * "Garrison at Ft. Prince George, 1756, Keowee," Tulsa Annals, January 1973, Volume 8, Issue 1. Tulsa Genealogical Society : Tulsa, OK.

War of 1812

 * List of Pensioners on the Roll, January 1, 1883; Giving the Name of Each Pensioner, the Cause for Why Pensioned, the Post-Office Address, the Rate of Pension Per Month, and the Date of Original Allowance... Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1883. 973 M2Lp v. 5; digital versions at Google Books and Internet Archive. [See Vol. 5, South Carolina, Oconee County, p. 187. Identifies War of 1812 veterans living in this county in 1883.]

Militia

 * Holder, Frederick C.; South Carolina (State) Militia, 2nd Regiment; South Carolina (State) Militia, 5th Regiment; Oconee County Historical Society (Oconee County, South Carolina). The Bailey A. Barton Muster Roll Book of Pickens District, South Carolina [1858]. Seneca, S.C.: Oconee County Historical Society, 1990. Book 975.723 M2b; Film 1697757 item 12. Reviewed in The South Carolina Historical Magazine, Vol. 91, No. 4 (Oct. 1990):280-281. Digital version of review at JSTOR ($). [Covers present Pickens and Oconee counties.]

Native American

 * Seaborn, Margaret Mills. From 1730 through 1776, Cherokee Indian Towns of Oconee County, South Carolina: With Principal Paths. n.p.: n.p., 1974. Map.

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