Vital Records:
South Carolina did not require birth certificates until 1 January
1915
Vital Records Marlboro County Health Dept
Parsonage Street Extension Bennettsville, SC 29512
If the county does not hold the record you seek, you can write to: Bureau of Vital Statistics, Department of Health and Environmental
Control (DHEC), J. Marion Sims Building, 2600 Bull Street, Columbia, S.C. 29201, (803) 734-4830. Direct mail queries to DHEC.
Federal records:
Federal Census. Population
Schedules. South Carolina, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920,
1930. Indexed. The census schedules list the age of the individual,
enabling the researcher to estimate an approximate year of birth. The
1900 schedule includes the month and year of birth.
County records:
Marlboro County Probate Judge P.O. Box 455 Bennettsville, S.C. 29512 Tel: (843) 479-5610 The Probate Judge holds the marriage and probate records.
Marlboro County Magistrate 211 N. Marlboro Street Bennettsville, S.C. 29512 Tel: (843) 479-5620
Marlboro County Circuit Judge P.O. Box 1114 Bennettsville, S.C. 29512 Tel: (843) 479-5617
The state required marriage licenses beginning 1 July 1911. The
probate judge 's office in the county courthouse holds licenses issued
before 1950. Both the Bureau of Vital Statistics and the county
courthouse have copies of licenses issued after 1 July 1950.
More information on scattered sources for marriages and a general
history of record keeping on the subject can be found in Ruth S. Green
and Charles H. Lesser, "South Carolina Marriage Records", South
Carolina Historical Magazine 79 (April 1978): 155-62, call number: F
266.S58.
Brent H. Holcomb has abstracted and published marriages listed in the
Journal of the Court of Ordinary, 21 December 1764-29 August 1771, and
many of the marriages recorded in the Miscellaneous Record series of the
Secretary of State. See South Carolina Marriages, 3 vols
(1688-1820), (Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1980), call
number: F 268.H64.
Related marriage records may be found in renunciations of dower and
marriage settlements. Records of marriages may be found in county deed
of conveyance books and estate record books; records of these marriages,
however, are usually un-indexed.
Although divorce before 1868 was not legal, a legislative act or the
district courts of equity could grant divorce or separate maintenance
but did so only rarely. From 1868 to 1878, when a legislative statute
again outlawed it, divorce could be obtained in the courts of common
pleas. Divorce was legalized in 1950, and the office of the clerk of
court in the county where the divorce was granted holds those records.
Since July 1962, duplicate divorce records have been filed with DHEC.
Death certificates were required beginning 1 January 1915 and are
restricted from the public for fifty years. The Archives has the
certificates from 1915 to the year before the fifty year restriction.
DHEC holds certificates after the fifty year restriction.
LINKS:
South Carolina Death Indexes 1915-1952 An index to South Carolina death certificates is online at the DHEC web site! The data from 1915 through 1949 requires the DjVu plugin to view, and since each
index page is an image file in the DjVu format, browsing these years is a bit
slow for dial-up connections. The indexes for 1950-1952 are in "web page" format -- much
quicker to view.
NOTE: --The DjVu plugin can be downloaded from the site and takes very little time
to download and install. --These are INDEX pages, NOT the actual death certificates, but you will find name,
date of death, age at death, and county of death.
Social Security Death Index
Federal Census. Mortality Schedules. South Carolina,
1850,
1860, 1870, 1880. Indexes, 1850,
1860. These census schedules list those persons who died during the
twelve months preceding 1 June of the census year. The census, arranged
by county, lists the name of the decedent, age, sex, race, marital
status, birth place, occupation, cause of death, and month of death.
Additional death records may be found in individual county estate
papers, will books, and estate record books; usually, however, these
records give only an approximate date of death.
Parish registers from churches can provide information on birth and
death dates, and marriages. Parish registers of a few early South
Carolina churches are extant and some have been published. Published
histories of churches occasionally include lists of births, marriages,
or deaths.
Records of Baptist Churches are available at Baptist Historical
Collection, Furman University Library, Furman University, Greenville,
S.C. 29613, and records of the Presbyterian and Reformed Churches are
available at the Historical Foundation of the Presbyterian and Reformed
Churches, P.O. Box 849, Montreat, N.C. 28757, (704) 669-7061. For lists
of holdings, please consult Furman University Library, Baptist
Historical Collection: Church Records on Microfilm (Greenville, S.C.:
Furman University Library, [1992]), call number CD 3509.F8 or Historical
Foundation of the Presbyterian and Reformed Churches, South Carolina
Records (Montreat, N.C.: Historical Foundation of the Presbyterian and
Reformed Churches, [1992] ), call number CD 3509.H5. For listings of
other sources for South Carolina church records please consult the
following articles:
Childs,
Margarita and Leland, Isabella G. "South
Carolina Episcopal Church Records." South
Carolina Historical Magazine 84 (October 1983): 250-63.
Clayton, J. Glen. "South Carolina Baptist
Records." South Carolina Historical Magazine 85
(October 1984): 319-27.
Cote, Richard N. "South Carolina Presbyterian Records." South Carolina Historical Magazine 85 (April 1984): 145-52.
Holcomb, Brent H. St. David's Parish, SC Minutes of The Vestry 1768- 1832,
Parish Register 1819-1924.Southern Hist. Press, 1979.
Marlboro County-Pee Dee Association. Salem Baptist Church,
1797-1930.microfilm.
Newspapers Records
Early Marlboro County Newspaper Records
Warren, Mary Bondurant. South Carolina Newspapers 1760
Thomas, J.A.W.
History of Marlboro County, SC Order from: Marlborough Historical Society
123 South Marlboro Street Bennettsville, SC 29512-4031
Tel: (843) 479-5624
Drake, Elizabeth C.
Cemetery Records of Marlboro County, South Carolina,
Second Edition 1984 Order from: Marlborough Historical Society 123 South Marlboro Street
Bennettsville, SC 29512-4031 Tel: (843) 479-5624
FHC film 0855218
Wills, marriage, birth, death notices, and several Marlboro family Bible citations
Holcomb, Brent H.
Marriage and Death Notices from Columbia, SC Newspapers 1792-
1839. Southern Historical Press.
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