Dorchester County, South Carolina Genealogy

Guide to Dorchester 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 its first settlement area, which was established by Congregationalists in 1696. These settlers applied the name "Dorchester" after their last residence in Dorchester, Massachusetts. The County is located in the southcentral area of the state.

County Courthouse
Dorchester County Courthouse 5200 E. Jim Bilton Blvd St. George, SC 29477 Phone: 843-563-0160 Dorchester County Website

County Pronunciation .

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Cemeteries

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

Census Records

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

Church Records
Church of England See also St. George Dorchester Parish

List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places

Court Records
Online Court Indexes and Records
 * Dates Vary Dorchester County, Eighth Judicial Circuit Court Public Index – index; courts include Circuit Court, Summary Court and Masters-in-Equity, records added periodically

Ethnic, Political, and Religious Groups
African Americans United States African Americans South Carolina African Americans Known plantations South Carolina Plantations:
 * Archdale Hall - North Charleston
 * Bakers
 * Blake's Cypress
 * Branford's
 * Burton
 * Cedar Grove
 * Clear Spring
 * Corn Hill
 * Cow Savanna
 * Deerfield
 * Dorchester
 * Jack Savanna
 * Joseph Izard
 * Koger - Grover
 * Langleys
 * Middleton Place
 * Mount Boone
 * Newington - Summerville
 * Oak Forest
 * Oak Grove
 * Oaks
 * Oatland
 * Percival - also called The Ponds, Weston Hall
 * Perry
 * Pinckney Plains
 * Pine Hill
 * Pinehurst Tea - Summerville
 * The Ponds
 * Rose Hill
 * Sanders
 * Spell
 * Spring Farm - Summerville
 * Sumner
 * Tipseeboo
 * Tranquil Hill
 * Tugudoo
 * Wampee
 * Weston Hall
 * Windsor Hill

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

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
Dorchester County is named for its oldest town, Dorchester. In 1696, Congregationalists from Dorchester, Massachusetts settled the area and named the town after their home. The town of Dorchester was abandoned by 1788 but by then the name has been attached to the Parish of St. George Dorchester. Learn more about the history of Dorchester County from the South Carolina State Library or from Carolana.com.


 * Smith, Henry A.M. "The Town of Dorchester, in South Carolina: A Sketch of Its History," The South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, Vol. 6, No. 2 (Apr., 1905), pp. 62-95. Digital version at JSTOR ($).

Maps and Gazetteers

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

Migration
Early migration routes to and from Dorchester County for European settlers included:
 * Fort Moore-Charleston Trail about 1716
 * Camden-Charleston Path 1732
 * Old South Carolina State Road 1747
 * Charleston-Ft. Charlotte Trail about 1765

Military Records
Revolutionary War
 * "Dorchester Its Mystery Fort," Americana, April 1933, Volume 27, Issue 2. American Historical Magazine Somerville, NJ. Book. 973 B2a.

Civil War
 * 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. Civil War service men from Dorchester County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are companies that were formed in Dorchester County or from many of its men.
 * - 5th Regiment, South Carolina Reserves (90 days 1862-63), Company I

Newspapers

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

Historic The Library of Congress has identified the following historic newspapers for Dorchester 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.
 * Dorchester County Record (St. George, S.C.) 1927-1934.
 * Dorchester Eagle-Record (St. George, S.C.) 1934-current.
 * The Dorchester Eagle (St. George, S.C.) 1899-1934.
 * The Summerville Advertiser (Summerville, S.C.) 1909-1924.
 * The Summerville Forester (Summerville, S.C.) 1927-1928.
 * The Summerville Herald (Summerville, S.C.) 1884-1886.
 * The Summerville Journal (Summerville, S.C.) 1972-1977.
 * The Summerville News (Summerville, S.C.) 1888-1909.
 * The Summerville Scene (Summerville, S.C.) 1946-1977.
 * Summerville Journal-Scene (Summerville, S.C.) 1977-current.

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

Probate Records
Online Probate Indexes and Records
 * Dorchester County, South Carolina estate records, ca. 1896-1950. Microreproduction of originial manuscripts at the South Carolina Dept. of Archives and History, Columbia, South Carolina.
 * Abstracts of wills of Charleston District, South Carolina and other will recorded in the districts, 1783-1800. Compiled by Caroline T. Moore.
 * 1670-1980 South Carolina Wills and Probate Records 1670-1980 at Ancestry.com — index & 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
 * 1950s-Current South Carolina Probate Index, Dorchester County at SouthCarolinaProbate.net - index; records added periodically

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
 * 1936-2007 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index

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

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
Marriages - Indexes and Records
 * 1911-1957 Dorchester County, South Carolina Marriage Registers, ca. 1911-1957 - records
 * 1918-1950 Dorchester County, South Carolina Marriage Licenses, ca. 1918-1950 - records
 * 1930s-Current South Carolina Marriage Index, Dorchester County at SouthCarolinaProbate.net - index; records added periodically
 * There are several online marriage indexes containing miscellaneous marriage records found in some 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.

FamilySearch Centers

 * Charleston South Carolina FamilySearch Center
 * Moncks Corner South Carolina FamilySearch Center


 * International African American Museum - an affiliate library

Libraries
The Dorchester County Library provides services through two libraries and a bookmobile. Its catalog os powered by SClends which searches the libraries of multiple counties. Jennie Johnston McMahan Library, St.George Address: 506 North Parler Avenue St. George, SC 29477 Telephone: (843) 832-0159 Fax: (843) 563-7823 Hours: Mon-Thursday 9:30am - 8:00pm, Friday 9:30am - 4:30pm, Saturday 9:30am - 5:00pm, Sunday 1:00pm - 5:00pm George H. Seago, Jr. Library, Summerville Address: 76 Old Trolley Road Summerville, SC 29485 Telephone: (843) 871-5075 Fax: (843) 875-4811 Hours: Mon-Thu 10:00am - 8:30pm, Friday 10:00am - 6:00pm, Saturday 9:30am - 5:00pm, Sunday 1:00pm - 5:00pm

Societies

 * Upper Dorchester County Historical Society 101 Ridge Street St. George, SC 29477 Phone Number E-mail: [mailto:emailofsociety emailofsociety] Website Facebook

Websites

 * Dorchester County, SCGenWeb
 * Dorchester County, South Carolina Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * – 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: Dorchester County, available online, courtesy: South Carolina Department of Archives and History.