Counties
By:
This section provides short demographic histories of each of the counties that make up CSI:D’s South Carolina sample together with ancillary county-level data. There are currently 2,826 cases from ten counties in the South Carolina inquest database: Anderson (152 cases), Chesterfield (528 cases), Edgefield (515 cases), Fairfield (292 cases), Greenville (141 cases), Horry (42 cases), Kershaw (262 cases), Laurens (352 cases), Spartanburg (326 cases), and Union (216 cases). We began with these counties for the simple reason that more records survived for them, especially during the Civil War Era.
CSI:D will continue to add relevant records to the database until we have datafied all extent inquisition cases for nineteenth-century South Carolina. The table below provides an overview of known inquest holdings. Inquisition Books and General Sessions records are generally duplicative where they are coterminous.
Extant Historic Inquests for Nineteenth Century South Carolina
| County | Record Type | Start Date | End Date | 19c. Cases? | Record Location | Record Extent | Current Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abbeville | Inquisition Book | 1840 | 1849 | Yes | SCDAH | 0.16 cubic feet | UNDONE |
| Aiken | General Sessions | 1873 | 1947 | Yes | SCDAH | 2.33 cubic feet | UNDONE |
| Aiken | Inquisition Book | 1901 | 1933 | No | SCDAH | 5.00 volumes | UNDONE |
| Anderson | General Sessions | 1830 | 1953 | Yes | SCDAH | 3.32 cubic feet (2.00 microfilm reels) | DONE |
| Anderson | Inquisition Book | 1901 | 1920 | No | SCDAH | 3.00 volumes, bulk 1901-1912 | UNDONE |
| Barnwell | Inquisition Book | 1892 | 1956 | Yes | SCDAH | This is an index only. | UNDONE |
| Berkeley | Inquisition Book | 1883 | 1927 | Yes | SCDAH | 4.00 volumes | UNDONE |
| Berkeley | General Sessions | 1924 | 1939 | No | SCDAH | 0.00 cubic feet | UNDONE |
| Camden District | General Sessions | 1784 | 1799 | No | SCDAH | 0.33 cubic feet | UNDONE |
| Charleston | Inquisition Book | 1878 | 1912 | Yes | SCDAH | 10.00 volumes | UNDONE |
| Charleston | Testimonies in inquisitions | 1887 | 1897 | Yes | SCDAH | 0.00 volumes | UNDONE |
| Charleston | General Sessions | 1893 | 1926 | Yes | SCDAH | 0.16 cubic feet | UNDONE |
| Charleston | Inquest on Thomas Pinckney, Jr. | 1899 | 1899 | Yes | SCDAH | 1.00 volumes | IN PROCESS |
| Cherokee | Inquisition Book | 1897 | 1949 | Yes | SCDAH | 8.00 volumes | UNDONE |
| Chesterfield | General Sessions | 1866 | 1950 | Yes | SCDAH | 1.00 cubic feet (4.00 microfilm reels) | DONE |
| Chesterfield | Inquisition Book | 1869 | 1953 | Yes | SCDAH | 2.00 volumes | UNDONE |
| Clarendon | General Sessions | 1866 | 1953 | Yes | SCDAH | 1.33 cubic feet | UNDONE |
| Clarendon | Inquisition Book | 1877 | 1941 | Yes | SCDAH | 1.00 volumes (1.00 microfilm reels) | UNDONE |
| Dillon | Inquisition Book | 1910 | 1952 | No | SCDAH | 2.00 volumes | UNDONE |
| Edgefield | Inquisition Book | 1844 | 1902 | Yes | SCDAH | 4.00 volumes (2.00 microfilm reels) | DONE |
| Fairfield | General Sessions | 1808 | 1908 | Yes | SCDAH | 1.00 cubic feet | DONE |
| Florence | Inquisition Book | 1889 | 1928 | Yes | SCDAH | 3.00 volumes (1.00 microfilm reels) | UNDONE |
| Georgetown | General Sessioins | 1873 | 1915 | Yes | SCDAH | 0.00 cubic feet | UNDONE |
| Greenville | General Sessions | 1849 | 1941 | Yes | SCDAH | 2.97 cubic feet (2.00 microfilm reels) | DONE |
| Horry | Inquisition Book | 1849 | 1874 | Yes | SCDAH | 1.00 volumes | DONE |
| Jasper | Inquisition Book | 1912 | 1929 | No | SCDAH | 1.00 microfilm reels | UNDONE |
| Kershaw | General Sessions | 1803 | 1911 | Yes | SCDAH | 1.00 cubic feet (2.00 microfilm reels) | DONE |
| Lancaster | Inquisition Book | 1885 | 1928 | Yes | SCDAH | 3.00 volumes | UNDONE |
| Laurens | General Sessions | 1800 | 1901 | Yes | SCDAH | 1.00 cubic feet | DONE |
| Laurens | Inquisition Book | 1872 | 1901 | Yes | SCDAH | 3.00 volumes | UNDONE |
| Lee | Inquisition Book | 1902 | 1954 | No | SCDAH | 3.00 volumes | UNDONE |
| Lee | General Sessions | 1903 | 1959 | No | SCDAH | 1.00 cubic feet | UNDONE |
| Lexington | General Sessions | 1865 | 1935 | Yes | SCDAH | 0.33 cubic feet | UNDONE |
| Lexington | Inquisition Book | 1890 | 1910 | Yes | SCDAH | 1.00 microfilm reels | UNDONE |
| Marlboro | General Sessions | 1800 | 1911 | Yes | SCDAH | 0.66 cubic feet | UNDONE |
| Marlboro | Inquisition Book | 1870 | 1913 | Yes | SCDAH | 4.00 volumes | UNDONE |
| Marlboro | Writ Books of the Coroner | 1870 | 1930 | Yes | SCDAH | 0.00 volumes (1.00 microfilm reels) | UNDONE |
| McCormick | General Sessions | 1917 | 1970 | No | SCDAH | 1.00 cubic feet | UNDONE |
| Newberry | Inquisition Book | 1879 | 1939 | Yes | SCDAH | 5.00 volumes (1.00 microfilm reel) | UNDONE |
| Newberry | General Sessions | 1894 | 1950 | Yes | SCDAH | 0.00 cubic feet | UNDONE |
| Orangeburg | Inquisition Book | 1885 | 1945 | Yes | SCDAH | 4.00 microfilm reels | UNDONE |
| Orangeburg | General Sessions | 1901 | 1957 | No | SCDAH | 1.32 cubic feet | UNDONE |
| Pendleton District | General Sessions | 1793 | 1827 | Yes | SCDAH | 0.33 cubic feet | UNDONE |
| Pickens | General Sessions | 1856 | 1859 | Yes | SCDAH | 0.00 cubic feet | UNDONE |
| Richland | Inquisition Book | 1848 | 1848 | Yes | SCDAH | 0.00 volumes | UNDONE |
| Richland | General Sessions | 1871 | 1890 | Yes | SCDAH | 0.00 cubic feet | UNDONE |
| Spartanburg | General Sessions | 1803 | 1908 | Yes | SCDAH | 1.99 cubic feet (2.00 microfilm reels) | DONE |
| Union | General Sessions | 1806 | 1956 | Yes | SCDAH | 2.64 cubic feet (4.00 microfilm reels) | DONE |
| Union | Inquisition Book | 1872 | 1945 | Yes | SCDAH | 6.00 volumes (bulk 1901-1945) | UNDONE |
| York | Inquisition Book | 1881 | 1896 | Yes | SCDAH | 1.00 microfilm reel (bulk 1881-1885) | UNDONE |
