Pickens County, South Carolina Genealogy

United States  South Carolina  Pickens County

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

County Courthouse
Pickens County Courthouse 214 E. Main Street Pickens, SC 29671

Clerk of Court 214 E. Main Street Pickens, SC 29671 Phone: 864-898-5857 Court records

Probate Court 222 McDaniel Ave., B-16 Pickens, SC 29671 29671 Phone: 864-898-5903 Probate and marriage records

Register of Deeds 222 McDaniel AVe., B-5 Pickens, SC 29671 Phone: 864-898-5868 Land records

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

History
The county is named after S.C. Congressman Andrew Pickens (1739-1817).

Parent County
1826---Pickens County was created 20 December 1826 from Pendleton District. County seat: Pickens 

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.

Record Loss

 * Lost census: 1890

Neighboring Counties

 * Anderson
 * Greenville
 * Jackson County, North Carolina
 * Oconee
 * Transylvania County, North Carolina

Research Guides

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

African Americans
United States African Americans South Carolina African Americans


 * 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.
 * Sheriff, G. Anne Campbell. 1850 Federal Slave Census of Pickens District, South Carolina Eastern Division (Present-day Pickens County). Central, S.C.: G.A. Sheriff, 1991.
 * Sheriff, G. Anne Campbell. 1860 Federal Slave Census of Pickens District, South Carolina 5th Regiment (Present-day Pickens County). Central, S.C.: G.A. Sheriff, 1989.
 * Sheriff, G. Anne Campbell, Parcho Baker and Forest Acres Elementary School (Easley, S.C.). Black History in Pickens District, South Carolina. 2 vols. Easley, S.C.: Forest Acres Elementary School, 1991-1993.

Cemeteries
Pickens County in S.C. Cemetery Project, courtesy: South Carolina Genealogical Society. Personal name index and list of cemeteries in the county.

Census
1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 federal population schedules of Pickens 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.

See Pickens County, SC census assignments, including links to transcribed files [The USGenWeb Census Project®]

1830

 * Sheriff, G. Anne Campbell and Tom C. Wilkinson. Pickens Distict, S.C. 1830 Census. Central, S.C.: Faith Clayton Family Research Center, 1988. 975.723 X2s 1830

1840

 * Sheriff, G. Anne Campbell. Pickens District, S.C. 1840 Census. Central, S.C.: Faith Clayton Family Research Center, 1986. 975.723 X2s 1840

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 version at Google Books. [See South Carolina, Pickens District on page 143.]

1850

 * Dodson, Robert George. Pickens District South Carolina, Eastern Division 1850 Census. Central, S.C.: South Carolina Genealogical Society. Old Pendleton Chapter, 1995. 975.723 X2d 1850

1860
Census takers uncharacteristically recorded the birth town or county of residents of the Fifth Regiment of the county this census year.

Church
LDS Ward and Branch Records


 * Easley

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.

Genealogy
More than 10 genealogies have been published about Pickens County families. To view a list, visit Pickens County, South Carolina Genealogy.

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.

Revolutionary War

 * "John and Frances Cobb war record, SC," Old Pendleton District Newsletter, September 2007, Volume 21, Issue 7. Old Pendleton District Chapter, South Carolina Genealogical Society : Easley, SC.
 * "Selected final pension vouchers index, 1818-1864," Old Pendleton District Newsletter, March 2006, Volume 20, Issue 3. Old Pendleton District Chapter, South Carolina Genealogical Society : Easley, SC.
 * "Revolutionary patriots and Confederates buried at Old Stone Church," Anderson Record, April 2005, Volume 18, Issue 2. Anderson County Chapter, South Carolina Genealogical Society : Anderson, SC.
 * "Siege of the town of Ninety-Six, 1775," St. Lucie River Whig, Winter 2001, Volume 10, Issue 1. St. Lucie River Chapter : Lucie, FL.
 * "Matthew Mullinax, patriot, d. 1837," Old Pendleton District Newsletter, September 1999, Volume 13, Issue 7. Old Pendleton District Chapter, South Carolina Genealogical Society : Easley, SC.
 * "Old Pickens cemetery, Rev. soldiers burials," Piedmont Historical Society Quarterly, July 1984, Volume 2, Issue 3. Piedmont Historical Society : Spartansburg, SC.

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, Pickens County, p. 188. Identifies War of 1812 veterans living in this county in 1883.]

Civil War

 * Civil War service men from Pickens 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 Pickens County or from many of its men.


 * - 1st Regiment, South Carolina Rifles (Orr's), Company A (also known as Kowee Riflemen), Company C (also known as Mountain Boys), and Company F (also known as Blue Ridge Rifles)
 * - 2nd Regiment, South Carolina Militia


 * Sons of Confederate Veterans, 2nd South Carolina Regiment Pickens Camp 71 web site, has Pickens District regimental histories, war dead, company rosters, and other helps for genealogists.

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.]

Newspapers
Historic


 * Highland Sentinel (Calhoun Anderson Dist. [i.e., Calhoun], S.C.) 1840-1843.
 * Keowee Courier (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current.
 * The Carolina Times (Easley, S.C.) 1924-1925.
 * The Clemson News (Clemson, S.C.) 1941-1941.
 * The Easley Messenger (Easley, S.C.) 1883-1891.
 * The Easley Progress (Easley, S.C.) 1902-1972.
 * The Easley Progress (Easley, Pickens County, S.C.) 1978-current.
 * The Monitor (Liberty, S.C.) 1959-current.
 * The People's Journal (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903.
 * The Pickens Sentinel (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903.
 * The Pickens Sentinel (Pickens, S.C.) 1911-current.
 * The Pickens Sentinel-Journal (Pickens, S.C.) 1903-1911.
 * The Progress (Easley, Pickens County, S.C.) 1972-1978.
 * The Tri-City Sentinel (Central, S.C.) 1980-1980.

Periodicals
Tap into the minds of local experts. Editors of genealogical periodicals publish unique sources that researchers new to their area may not encounter. Periodicals at various levels (county, region, and state) may carry articles useful to research in this area. For this county, see:

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.

Published abstracts

 * [1854] Vedder, Edwin Henry et al. Pickens District 1854 Tax List. n.p.: South Carolina Genealogical Society. Old Pendleton Chapter, 1988.
 * [1854] Sheriff, G. Anne Campbell. 1854 Tax Collection, Pickens District, SC. Central, S.C.: G.A. Sheriff, 2002.

To see how the Civil War financially impacted residents of Pickens County, South Carolina, compare values of real and personal estates on the 1860 Census with 1864-1867 tax records:


 * [1864-1866] Sheriff, G. Anne Campbell. Internal Revenue Assessment List for South Carolina, 1864-1866, Pickens District. Central, S.C.: G.A. Sheriff, 2005.
 * [1865] Internal Revenue Assessment, 1865, Old Pendleton District Newsletter, Vol. 23, No. 3 (Mar. 2009).
 * [1866-1867] Rich, Peggy Burton and Margarette Gibbs Ogle. Pickens District, South Carolina 1866 Tax List, January 1, 1866- January 1, 1867. n.p.: South Carolina Genealogical Society. Old Pendleton Chapter, 1991.

Family History Centers
Family History Centers in South Carolina

Web Sites

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