McCormick County, South Carolina Genealogy

United States South Carolina  McCormick County

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

County Courthouse
McCormick County Courthouse Hwy. 28, McCormick, South Carolina

Clerk of Court 133 S. Mine St. McCormick, SC 29835 Phone: 864-852-2195 Court and land records

Probate Court 133 S. Mine St., Rm. 101 McCormick, SC 29835 Phone: 864-852-2630 Probate and marriage records

Hours: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday - Friday

History
The county is named after American inventor Cyrus McCormick (1809-1884).

Parent County
1916--McCormick County was created 19 February 1916 from Greenwood and Abbeville Counties. County seat: McCormick

County Pronunciation

 * 1) Hear it spoken

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

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: McCormick County, available online, courtesy: South Carolina Department of Archives and History.
 * W.P.A. Inventory of the County Archives of South Carolina No. 35, McCormick County. Columbia, S.C.: S.C. Historical Records Survey Project, 1940.

African Americans
United States African Americans South Carolina African Americans


 * Gilchrist, Claude. Tell Them that We Have Gone On: A Survey of African-American Cemeteries of McCormick County, South Carolina. n.p.: C. Gilchrist, 2004.

Cemeteries
There are more than # burial grounds in the county. To view a list, see McCormick County, South Carolina Cemeteries.

Census
1920 and 1930 federal population schedules of McCormick 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.

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
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 McCormick, South Carolina at World Connect, produces more than 900 results.

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


 * Wood, Willie Mae G. Old Families of McCormick County, South Carolina and Dorn Families of Edgefield, Greenwood and McCormick Counties. 2 vols. 1982.

Message Boards


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

Bibliography

Land and Property
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.

Migration
Early migration routes to and from McCormick County for European settlers included:


 * Savannah River pre-historic
 * Occaneechi Path pre-historic
 * Middle Creek Trading Path pre-historic
 * Fall Line Road about 1735
 * Augusta-Savannah Trail in Georgia 1740s
 * Augusta and Cherokee Trail in Georgia 1740s
 * Great Valley Road (south fork) 1740s
 * Charleston-Ft. Charlotte Trail about 1765
 * Fort Charlotte and Cherokee Old Path about 1765-1777

Newspapers
Historic

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


 * McCormick Messenger (McCormick, S.C.) 1902-current.
 * The Advance (McCormick, S.C.) 1885-1886.
 * The McCormick Advance (McCormick, S.C.) 1886-1887.
 * The McCormick News (McCormick, S.C.) 1887-1894.

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 Records
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.

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 McCormick 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.

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 McCormick 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


 * 1777-1852 - Abbeville District, South Carolina Marriages, 1777-1852  WorldCat - McCormick was once in Abbeville District; index
 * 1846-1860 - Marriage and Death Notices from the Abbeville Banner, 1846-1860 by E. Don Herd WorldCat - index
 * 1916-1950 - McCormick County, South Carolina Marriage Licenses,1916-1950 - records
 * 1916-1952 - McCormick County, South Carolina Marriage License Affidavits to Obtain Licenses and the Marriage License, ca. 1916-1952  - index and records
 * 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 McCormick 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 and Death Substitutes - Indexes and Records


 * 1846-1860 - Marriage and Death Notices from the Abbeville Banner, 1846-1860 by E. Don Herd WorldCat - index
 * 1914-1960 - 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.

Societies - Genealogical, Historical, Lineage
Old 96 Chapter SCGS P.O. Box 3468 Greenwood SC 29648-3468 Old 96 Chapter covers Greenwood, Abbeville and part of Edgefield and McCormick Counties.

Family History Centers
Family History Centers in South Carolina

Web Sites

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