Chester County, South Carolina Genealogy

United States  South Carolina  Chester County

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

County Courthouse
Chester County Courthouse 140 Main Street Chester, SC 29706 Phone: 803-385-2605

Chester County Probate Court 1476 J.A. Cochran Bypass P.O. Box 580 Chester, SC 29706 Phone: 803-385-2604 Marriage and probate records

Clerk of Court 140 Main Street P.O. Box 580 Chester, SC 29706 Phone: 803-385-2605 Deeds and court records

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

History
The county was named after the town of Chester, Pennsylvania.

Parent County
1798--Chester County was created in 1798 from Camden District. County seat: Chester 

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

 * Fairfield
 * Lancaster
 * Union
 * York

Research Guides

 * South Carolina Archives Summary Guide: Chester 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 Chester County.]
 * Berry, Faye. 1820 Census, Chester District, South Carolina. 1985. 975.747 X2b 1820 [Includes 14 "Free Persons of Colour."]

Cemeteries

 * Crowder, Loiuse Kelly. Tombstone Records of Chester County, South Carolina and Vicinity. Compiled from Old Family and Abandoned Church Graveyards. Chester, S.C.: Crowder, 1970. Reviewed in The South Carolina Historical Magazine, Vol. 73, No. 2 (Apr., 1972), pp. 105-106. Digital version of review at JSTOR ($).

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

1820


 * Berry, Faye. 1820 Census, Chester District, South Carolina. 1985. 975.747 X2b 1820

1820 Manufactures

The original manufactures schedules for South Carolina are kept at the NARA, Washington, D.C. FHL copies: 1024517 - 1024518.

Published abstract:


 * National Archives. Indexes to Manufactures Census of 1820. 1920; reprint, Knightstown, Ind.: Bookmark, 1977. 973 X2m 1820; digital version at Lineages. [Includes this county.]

1840 Revolutionary War Pensioners


 * A Census of Pensioners for Revolutionary or Military Services: With their Names, Ages, and Places of Residence, as Returned by the Marshalls of the Several Judicial Districts, Under the Act for Taking the Sixth Census. Washington, D.C.: Blair and Rives, 1841. 973 X2pc 1840;  2321; digital versions at U.S. Census Bureau and Google Books et. al. [See South Carolina, Chester District on page 144.]

1850


 * Myer, Lois C. Chester County, South Carolina Census 1850, 1870 and 1880. 599050 Item 1

1870


 * Myer, Lois C. Chester County, South Carolina Census 1850, 1870 and 1880. 599050 Item 1

1880


 * Myer, Lois C. Chester County, South Carolina Census 1850, 1870 and 1880. 599050 Item 1

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 Chester, South Carolina at World Connect, results in more than 30,000 entries.

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

Several Chester County families are discussed in the following collections:


 * Hartness, George Bowman. By Ship, Wagon, and Foot to York County, S.C. Columbia, S.C.: G.B. Hartness, 1966. ["A compilation of historical information on the following families who were among the earliest white settlers of York, Chester, Winnsboro, and Kershaw Counties, South Carolina: Hartness, Ash, Burris, Bowen, Whitley, Mitchell, Carson, Thomas, Neil, Irvin, Chesnut, Curley, Sutton, McClain, Waggoner, Eakins, Johnsey, and including a chapter on the Hartness family who settled in New York State."]
 * Myer, Lois C. Descendants of Dr. Alexander Rosborough and Mary Hemphill in Chester Co., South Carolina: Descendants of James Strong and Elizabeth of Chester Co. South Carolina; Descendants of James Brice and Jane Wilson of Antrim Co. Ireland and Fairfield Co., South Carolina; Descendants of Andrew Hemphill and Isabelle McKeown of Chester Co., South Carolina; Descendants of William Maffatt and Barbara Chesnut of Chester Co. South Carolina; Descendants of James Knox and Elizabeth Craig of Tennessee; Descendants of William Gaston and Miss Lemon of Clough Water, Ireland and Chester Co., South Carolina; More Roseborough and Gaston Family Records. Typescript. Microfilmed 1969.

Message Boards


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

Bibliography


 * [Crawford] Veach, Mary Frances Thomas. Sorting the Waxhaw Crawfords a Compendium of Research on the Crawfords &amp; Related Families Starting Out in the Counties of York, Chester, &amp; Lancaster, South Carolina Before the Revolution. Elverta, Calif.: M. Veach, 1993. ; digital version at Family History Archives.
 * [Cureton] Perry, Max. Descendants of the Cureton Families of York and Chester Counties of South Carolina: Including Genealogical Briefs of the Stewart, Webb and Heath Families. Midland, Texas: M. Perry, 2001.
 * [Edwards] Stevens, Robert J. and William Henry Edwards. Captain Bill: The Records and Writings of Captain William Henry Edwards (and Others), Company A, 17th Regiment, South Carolina Volunteers, Confederate States of America, a History and Genealogy of Chester County, S.C. in Five Volumes. 5 vols. Richburg, S.C.: Chester District Genealogical Society, 1985.
 * [Faris] Faris, David. The Faris Family of Washington County, Indiana: A Genealogy of the Descendants of William Farrie; Born in County Antrim, Ireland about the Year 1745; Settled on Rocky Creek, Chester County, South Carolina in 1772; Died as William Faries on Turkey Creek, York County, South Carolina in 1805: Including the Principal Families of Baird, Devinney, Ervin, Faries, Faris, Finley, Loudon, McIntyre, Martin, Steuart, Taggart, Tippin &amp; Woods. Philadelphia, Pa.: D. Faris, 1984.
 * [Graham] Kell, Katherine Tolle and Philip James Graham. David Graham of Chester County, South Carolina and His Descendants, 1772-1989. Birmingham, Mich.: K.T. Kell, 1990.
 * [Lynn] Lynn, E. Elizabeth. Descendants of John (Linn) Lynn, County Antrim, Ireland and Chester County, South Carolina, 1738-1830. Montreat, N.C.: E.E. Lynn, 1983.
 * [McGriff] Hill, Joseph Edward. Colonel Patrick McGriff of Chester County, South Carolina, and Montgomery County, Georgia: His Children and Grandchildren and Some Others Named McGriff. Leesburg, Fla.: J.E. Hill, 1973.
 * [Patton] White, William Boyce. Genealogy of Two Early Patton Families of York, Chester, and Lancaster Counties, South Carolina. Roanoke, Va.: W.B. White, 1996.
 * [Peden] Myer, Lois C. Descendants of John Peden and Peggy McDill of Ireland and Chester Co., South Carolina: Also Lines of James Peden, Morton, and Morrow; Descendants of Samuel Martin and Jane Hightower through Robert Martin and His Wives, Rebecca and Mary. Typescript. Microfilmed 1969. Item 1
 * [Plaxco] Mendenhall, Samuel Brooks and William Boyce White. Plaxco-Robinson Being an Account of Two of the Ancient Presbyterian Families of Upper South Carolina (Particularly Situated in York and Chester Counties). Richmond, Va.: Whittet &amp; Shepperson, 1958.
 * [Robinson] Mendenhall, Samuel Brooks and William Boyce White. Plaxco-Robinson Being an Account of Two of the Ancient Presbyterian Families of Upper South Carolina (Particularly Situated in York and Chester Counties). Richmond, Va.: Whittet &amp; Shepperson, 1958.

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.

Probate
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.

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


 * Chester County Probate Records Vol. A: 1785-1799

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