Dillon County, South Carolina Genealogy

Guide to  ancestry, family history and genealogy court records, deeds, maps, immigration, maps, military records, newspapers, obituaries, plantations, probate records, slaves, local archives, libraries, museums, churches, cemeteries, and Civil War records.

County Courthouse
Dillon County Courthouse 301 West Main Street Dillon, SC 29536

Dillon County Clerk of Courts 301 W. Main St. P.O. Drawer 1220 Dillon, SC 29536 Phone:843-774-1425 Court and land records

Dillon County Probate Judge 401 W. Main St. P.O. Box 189 Dillon, SC 29536 Phone:843-774-1423 Probate and marriage records

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

History
Dillon county was named for James W. Dillon, a local prominent resident from Ireland who was instrumental in bringing the railroad to the county. Learn more about the history of Dillon County from the South Carolina State Library or from Carolana.com.

Parent County/Boundary Changes

 * 1910 - Dillon created from Marion County.

For more information as well as maps of Dillon County through time, see the South Carolina State Archives or For animated maps illustrating South Carolina county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation South Carolina County Boundary Maps" (1682-1987) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

County Seat
The county seat of Dillon County is Dillon.

County Pronunciation
.

Record Loss
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Places/Localities
The preceding list of places includes incorporated cities and towns, unincorporated towns and communities, and place names that may have been used in family histories. Some have well-organized records and even have web sites. Some are simply social communities with no official records, but which may be referenced in small-town newspapers. The list is provided to help researchers identify localities within the county. As records or histories of these localities are identified, a page will be added for each of these place names.

Research Guides

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

African Americans
United States African Americans South Carolina African Americans

Known plantations South Carolina Plantations:


 * Coursar
 * Ford

Cemeteries

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

Census
1790, 1800, 1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 federal population schedules of Dillon 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.

Episcopal Church
Before 1785, residents of what is now Dillon County were served by these colonial parishes.


 * Prince Frederick Parish 1734
 * St. David's Parish 1768

DNA
DNA has been collected from men claiming descent from the following Dillon County residents. FamilySearch has not independently verified the lineages of those tested.

Genealogy
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 Dillon, South Carolina at World Connect, results in more than 2,000 entries.

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

Message Boards


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

Bibliography


 * Bethea - Cooper, John P.Sketches of John Purley Cooper and Wife Ethel Mae Bethea: With Notes on Their Ancestry, Descendants, Some Kindred and Random Collections. Ruxton, Md.: J.P. Cooper, 1989.
 * Campbell - Campbell, Rachel M. and Charles Campbell McCall. Campbell and McCall Family History. Baltimore, Md.: Gateway Press, n.d..
 * Carmichael - Carmichael, Roderick L. The Scottish Highlander Carmichaels of the Carolinas. Richmond, Va.: Whittet and Shepperson, 1935.
 * Carmichael - Harrell, Elizabeth Jean. The Carmichaels: Archibald Carmichael (c. 1749-1830s) of Scotland and the Carolinas and His Descendants Who Migrated to Hinds County, Mississippi. Los Altos, Calif.: E.J. Harrell, 1989..
 * Carmichael - Steele, Anita Martin and Lorena Martin Spillers. Martin and Carmichael Descendants in Georgia 1811-1994. Baltimore, Md.: Gateway Press, 1994..
 * Lewis - Lewis, J.D. My Neck of the Woods: The Lewis Families of Southeastern North Carolina and Northeastern South Carolina. Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2002. book 929.273 L585Ljd, CD-ROM no. 1036
 * Moody - Moody, Mary C. The Moodys and Related Families. Arlington, Texas: M.C. Moody, 1979..

Land
Because of South Carolina’s history as an agricultural state many residents owned land. For more information about types of land records see South Carolina Land and Property.

Tracing records through South Carolina county and district changes can be difficult. In general, for earliest records begin by searching the Charleston District, then your ancestor’s residential district, then neighboring districts, then the residential county, then neighboring counties. Not all districts and counties kept records. The following chart show where you may best expect to find land records for Dillon County:

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

 * Stokes, Durward T. The History of Dillon County, South Carolina (Columbia, South Carolina : University of South Carolina Press, c1978), 523 pages. Comprehensive History of Dillon County. Book found at and Other Libraries.

War of 1812

 * "Capt. Bethea's co.," Pee Dee Queue, May 1999, Volume 23, Issue 3. Pee Dee Chapter, South Carolina Genealogical Society : Marion, SC.

Civil War
Online Records
 * 1861-1865 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 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. Dillon County did not exist during the Civil War. It was created 1910 from Marion County. During the Civil War, men from the area of Dillon County mostly would have served in various regiments recruited in Marion County. Counties were called districts during the Civil War.

Other Resources
 * Stokes, Durward T. The History of Dillon County, South Carolina (Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press, c1978), 523 pages. Comprehensive History of Dillon County. Civil War pages 88-111. Book found at and Other Libraries.

Newspapers
Historic

The Library of Congress has identified the following historic newspapers for Dillon 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.


 * Latta Observer (Latta, S.C.) 1910-1983.
 * The Dillon Herald (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-current.

Current


 * The Dillon Herald (Dillon, S.C.) Online edition.

Obituaries

 * Dillon County and Dillon, SC Obituaries from newspapers
 * An index references Early Obituaries from The Dillon Herald, notebook volumes available in the Dillon County Library. The notebooks primarily cover obituaries found in The Dillon Herald from 1904 through 1939. Each obituary is a complete transcription of the article taken from microfilm copies of the newspaper. Site gives instructions for obtaining a complete copy of the obituary.

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:


 * Pee Dee Queue

Probate
Probate is the “court procedure by which a will is proved to be valid or invalid” and encompasses “all matters and proceedings pertaining to the administration of estates, guardianships, etc.” Various types of records are created throughout the probate process. These may include, wills, bonds, petitions, accounts, inventories, administrations, orders, decrees, and distributions. For further information see probate records in South Carolina.

Online Probate Records
 * 1670-1980 - South Carolina Wills and Probate Records 1670-1980 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1671-1977 - at FamilySearch — images
 * 1732-1964 - at FamilySearch — images
 * 1782-1866 - South Carolina, Will Transcripts 1782-1866 at findmypast — $, index

Taxation
Tax-related records are kept by the offices of the county Assessor, Auditor, Sheriff, and Treasurer. Taxes were levied on real and personal property and can help establish ages, residences, relationships, and the year an individual died or left the area. They can be used as substitutes for missing or destroyed land and census records.


 * South Carolina Department of Archives and History tax lists for Dillon County.

Published abstracts 


 * 1811, 1814, 1824 - Holcomb, Brent H. and Silas Emmett Lucas. Some South Carolina County Records... 2 vols. Easley, S.C.: Southern Historical Press, 1976-1989. Includes 1811, 1814, and 1824 tax lists for Marion District.

Vital Records
Birth, marriage, and death records were not recorded by South Carolina until the 1900s, thus leaving a lack of vital records. Substitute records, when available, are used to obtain this information. These substitute records including newspapers, court records have been added to this section, when applicable.

Birth
State-wide birth registration began in 1915. For a copy of a birth from 1915 or later, contact the South Carolina Department of Health. The Dillon County Health Department also has copies but they provide only an abbreviated form with limited information. For more information, see the South Carolina Vital Records page.


 * 1766-1900 - at FamilySearch — images

Marriage
In South Carolina, marriage licenses were not required by local governments until 1 July 1911. However, in the 1700s, the Church of England parish churches were required to record all marriages - even if the couple were not members of the denomination. Not all churches recorded these marriages and some have not survived. See South Carolina Vital Records for more information.

The Dillon County probate court holds marriage licenses issued from 1 July 1911 to the present. Statewide registration of marriages began in July 1950 and the South Carolina Division of Vital Records has copies of licenses issued after 1 July 1950 through November 2009.

Newspapers are used as a substitute to locate marriage information. See South Carolina Newspapers.

Marriages and Marriage Substitutes - Indexes and Records


 * 1895-1954 - Dillon County, South Carolina Proofs of Marriage, ca. 1895-1954; Marriage Licenses and Marriage Registers, ca. 1911-1950 - records
 * 1903-1929 - Early Marriage Extracts from The Dillon Herald at the Dillon County Library - index
 * Dillon County Marriage Database
 * Extracts from Dillon County Newspapers
 * 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
State-wide death registration began in 1915. For a copy of the death certificates from 1915 or later, contact the South Carolina Department of Health. The Dillon County Health Department only has copies for deaths occurring in the last 5 years. For more information, see the South Carolina Vital Records page.

Deaths - Indexes and Records
 * 1915-1965 - at FamilySearch — index and 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.

Libraries
The Dillon County Library System has three libraries and a bookmibile. The Dillon Library is the main branch.

Dillon County Library - Headquarters Addeess: 600 East Main Street Dillon, South Carolina 29536 Telephone: 843-774-0330 Fax: (843) 774-0733 Hours: Monday to Tuesday 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Wednesday to Friday 9:00a.m to 6:00 p.m., Saturday 9:pp a.m to 1:00 p.m

Lake View Library Branch Address: 207 South Main Street, P.O. Box 704 Lake View, South Carolina 29563 Telephone: 843-759-2692 Hours: Monday to Friday 10:00 a.m to 6:00 p.m., Saturday 10:00 a.m - 1:00 p.m.

Latta Library Branch Address: 101 North Marion Street Latta, South Carolina 29565 Telephone: 8-3-752-5389 Fax: (843) 752-7457 Hours: Monday to Friday 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Museums

 * Dillon County Museum The Museum offers a turn of the twentieth century glimpse of life in Dillon County. Documents, photographs, and other memorabilia trace the history of the area.

Societies - Genealogical, Historical, Lineage
Pee Dee Chapter SCGS Old Marion District P.O. Box 1428 Marion SC 29571-1428 Old Marion District includes Marion, Florence and Dillon Counties.

Family History Centers

 * Family History Centers in South Carolina

Websites

 * Dillon County, SC History, Records, Facts and Genealogy (Genealogy Inc)
 * Dillon County, SCGenWeb
 * Dillon County, South Carolina Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Helen's Little Corner
 * Helen's Little Corner