Lancaster County, South Carolina Genealogy

United States  South Carolina  Lancaster County

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

County Courthouse
Lancaster County Courthouse 104 N. Main St. Lancaster, SC 29721

Clerk of Court 3888 Chester Highway Lancaster, SC 29720 Phone: 803-285-1581 Court records

Probate Court 101 North Main St., Room 121 Lancaster, SC 29720 Phone: 803-283-3379 Probate and marriage records

Register of Deeds 101 North Main Street Lancaster, SC 29720 Phone: 803-416-9440 Land records

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

History
The county is named after Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

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

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.

Record Loss

 * The Civil War resulted in some record loss

Neighboring Counties
Chester | Chesterfield | Fairfield | Kershaw | Mecklenburg County, North Carolina | Union County, North Carolina | York

Research Guides

 * South Carolina Archives Summary Guide: Lancaster 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 Lancaster County.]

Census
1800, 1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 federal population schedules of Lancaster 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 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, Lancaster District on page 144.]

Church
The Inventory of (SC) Church Archives 1937-1939 is available for free online, courtesy: South Caroliniana Library. Lancaster County's W.P.A. reports are included.

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 Lancaster, South Carolina at World Connect, produces more than 15,000 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


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

Bibliography


 * [Baskin] Bell, Raymond Martin. Andrew Baskin, Esq., Kershaw  and Lancaster Counties, S.C. and Other Baskin Notes. Typescripts, 1965, Clayton Library, Houston, Texas. Microfilmed 1983.  Items 12-13; digital version at Ancestry ($).
 * [Caston] Floyd, Viola Caston. Caston and Related Families Descendants of Glass Caston of Lancaster County, South Carolina. Lancaster, S.C.: V.C. Floyd, 1972.
 * [Craig] Craig, Eloise. Descendants of John Craig, Esquire and John Robinson, Senior, Scotch- Irish Immigrants to Lancaster County, South Carolina. Lancaster, S.C.: E. Craig, 1988.
 * [Crawford] Veach, Mary Frances Thomas. Sorting the Waxhaw Crawfords a Compendium of Research on the Crawfords &amp; Related Families Starting Out in the Counties of York, Chester, &amp; Lancaster, South Carolina Before the Revolution. Elverta, Calif.: M. Veach, 1993. ; digital version at Family History Archives.
 * [Cureton] Cureton, Thomas Kirk. The Curetons of Lancaster Co., S.C. n.p.: n.p., 1949?. ; digital versions at Ancestry ($) and Family History Archives.
 * [Emmons] Corcoran, E. Emmons. The John Corcoran Family of Charleston, S.C.; the Samuel Barnes Emmons Family of Lancaster, S.C. Asheville, N.C.: E.E. Corcoran, 1983. 1986 Addendum:
 * [Floyd] Floyd, Viola Caston. Floyd - Ervin Family of Lancaster County, South Carolina. Typescript, 1963. Item 2
 * [Harper] Floyd, Viola Caston. Descendants of William Harper Irish Immigrant to Lancaster County, South Carolina. Lancaster, S.C.: The Lancaster Center Press, 1965.
 * [Isom] Bailey, Rex Franklin. Insights of Isoms: John Isom Family, Lancaster District, South Carolina. Fountain Inn, S.C.: R.F. Bailey, 1994.
 * [McCardell] McCardell, William Markham. Descendants of John and Nancy Douglass McCardell Married 2 May 1816, Lancaster, South Carolina. Stamford, Conn.: W.M. McCardell, 2000.
 * [McDow] Corcoran, E. Emmons. The Family of John Cunningham McDow, Sr. of Lancaster, South Carolina. Asheville, N.C.: E.E. Corcoran, 1980. 1990 edition:
 * [Montgomery] Lytle, John Henry. Montgomerys of Lancaster District South Carolina, Mississippi, and Other States. Typescript. Microfilmed 2000. Item 6
 * [Patton] White, William Boyce. Genealogy of Two Early Patton Families of York, Chester, and Lancaster Counties, South Carolina. Roanoke, Va.: W.B. White, 1996.
 * [Pendergrass] Pendergrast, Robert A. Family History, John Pendergrass of Bute County, North Carolina, and Lancaster County, South Carolina. Atlanta, Ga.: R.A. Pendergrast, 1980.
 * [Robinson] Craig, Eloise. Descendants of John Craig, Esquire and John Robinson, Senior, Scotch- Irish Immigrants to Lancaster County, South Carolina. Lancaster, S.C.: E. Craig, 1988.
 * [Terrell] Terrill, Don C. The Terrell Family of Lancaster County, South Carolina. Falls Church, Va.: D.C. Terrill, 198-?.

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.

General

 * "Gay Street Pres. church cem. veteran burials," Catawba-Wateree Messenger, September 2002, Volume 15, Issue 8. Catawba Wateree Genealogical Society : St. Camden, SC.
 * "Veterans buried, Old Presbyterian cemetery," Lancaster County Society of Historical Preservation Newsletter, November 1987. Lancaster County Society of Historical Preservation : Lancaster, SC.

Revolutionary War

 * "Massacre at Waxhaws, 1780," St. Lucie River Whig, Winter 2004, Volume 13, Issue 1. St. Lucie River Chapter : St. Lucie, Florida.
 * "Revolutionary war pensioners, 1841," Carolinas Genealogical Society Bulletin, November 1965, Volume 2, Issue 3. Carolinas Genealogical Society : Monroe, NC. Book 975 B2c.

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