Beaufort County Records in the BDC and on the Web

Note:  I added more detailed information regarding our holdings of the County Council Minutes in late January 2022 due to a customer reference inquiry. As frequent readers of Connections have learned, customers often fuel what I write about in this blog. Please refer to the Connections post of 30 January 2022 for details. - Grace Cordial

This is the fourth installment of a series about accessing government records in the BDC Research Room and major portals to government records posted to the Internet. As a reminder, the working definition I am using for "government records" is borrowed from the Canadians: "Government records are defined as recorded information in any form, created or received in the conduct of government business and kept as evidence of activities and transactions." Today's topic is Beaufort County (SC) government records. Next week's topic concludes this series with a discussion of  municipal records for the City of Beaufort, the Town of Port Royal, the Town of Bluffton, and the Town of Hilton Head Island. - Grace Cordial

 It often sometimes comes as a surprise to researchers that Beaufort County has not always been “Beaufort County.” One needs to know how government functions were administered in the past and under what names that administration occurred to adequately discover and access relevant county records. So, how did Beaufort County become Beaufort County? Here's a summary of a rather long history:

The English competed with the Spaniards and French for possession of North America. In 1663 King Charles II of Great Britain rewarded eight of his staunchest supporters with land in North America occupied by Native Americans and a few peripatetic Europeans, that is, all the land between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans south of Virginia (present-day 36 degrees north latitude) to north of the Spanish settlements in Florida (approximately 31 degrees north latitude). 

SCDAH http://www.archivesindex.sc.gov/guide/CountyRecords/propco.htm

The English set up three counties in 1665 in what later becomes South Carolina: Craven; Berkeley; and Colleton, each one named for a Lords Proprietor. 20 years later, in 1685, Granville County is drawn in the wilderness. Granville County is named for another Lords Proprietor, John Carteret, the Earl of Granville. 

As in England, the parish system is set up to administer many facets of government in the American colony. In the beginning, there was only one Granville County parish: St. Helena's parish founded in 1712. As more settlers arrive and churches are built in other parts of district, the original St. Helena's Parish was subdivided into three additional parishes: Prince William's Parish (1745), St. Peter's Parish (1747) and St. Luke's Parish (1767).

SCDAH http://www.archivesindex.sc.gov/guide/CountyRecords/parishes.htm

But the designations of other political and administrative divisions have applied at different periods of time during the past. In addition to the names you may have heard such as St. Helena Parish, St. Luke's Parish, and (now) Granville County, parts of the district were called Hilton County, Shrewsbury County, Lincoln County [and not for Abraham Lincoln either], etc. at various times. When you are doing historical or genealogical research, you must become acquainted with the periods when other administrative names may apply.

Due to population increases and settler disgruntlement, in 1769 the Crown decided to set up courts in 7 regions around the colony. Previous to this year, all courts were held in Charleston, then the capitol city of the colony. This is why the County seal says "1769" on it, though technically it was not a county as yet.  From 1769 to 1868, Beaufort District was a judicial district covering approximately 1920 square miles. 

SCDAH http://www.archivesindex.sc.gov/guide/CountyRecords/1769.htm

Many Beaufort County-related probate records were destroyed when the records of the Beaufort District Courthouse in Gillisonville were destroyed in the waning days of the Civil War, so many in fact that Beaufort County is considered a "burned county" by the State Archives.  However, some residents of Beaufort District may have filed wills or abstracts of their wills in other jurisdictions.   After the Civil War, the 1868 South Carolina State Constitution declared that "Judicial Districts shall hereafter be designated as Counties."  As a practical rule-of-thumb, use 1868 as the starting date for most Beaufort County records.

SCDAH http://www.archivesindex.sc.gov/guide/CountyRecords/1868.html 

From time to time, new counties were created in South Carolina. In 1878, Beaufort County was split into Beaufort County and Hampton County.

BDC Map

In 1912, both Beaufort County and Hampton County gave up territory to carve Jasper County within their midst. The most recent adjustment to Beaufort County's boundaries occurred in 1951 when Hardeeville and the Levy-Limehouse areas east of the Charleston & Savannah Railroad track voted to join Jasper County. 

(For more, watch the Beaufort County History Moments Boundaries video segment about how our county boundaries have shifted through time or consult the Atlas of Historical CountyBoundaries, a web-based project of the William M. Scholl Center for American History and Culture at The Newberry Library in Chicago.)

Now that you have some background about the administrative history of Beaufort County, who is responsible for keeping track of County records? First let's discuss State Law:

A primary function of the South Carolina Department of Archives and History is to work in partnership with state agency and local government officials in the proper management of their records, and to identify and preserve for public access those of historical/archival value.

The statutory basis for the Archives’ records management program is contained in the Public Records Act (Code of Laws of South Carolina 1976, as amended, Sections 30-1-10 through 30-1-170).

In carrying out this function, the Archives’ staff provides advisory services on all major aspects of records management, including microfilm and digital and computer media as well as traditional paper filing systems and records for counties and municipalities.

Beaufort County's organizational chart from April 2018 indicates the units for which the records retention schedules may apply.

Beaufort County Government http://www.bcgov.net/about/documents/Organization-Chart-2018.pdf

Active records are maintained within the various units of county government and those records on the retention schedules may be picked up from time to time as state statutes require by the Beaufort County's Records Management department. According to its web pages, the Beaufort County Records Management department's primary functions is to: 1. Work in partnership with county departments in the proper management of their inactive and historical records as required by the Public Records Act. (Code of Laws of South Carolina 1976, as amended, section 30-1-10 through 30-1-170.). The Records Management department also takes care of Freedom of Information Act requests in addition to daily pickup  and delivery of interoffice correspondence and U.S. mail.

As of 21 July 2018, the Beaufort County Records Management department provides oversight of 1917 record series created by County government units based on state retention schedules for the various entitites of government. Records management is primarily concerned protecting the most important records until they are eligible for transfer into the State Archives.

Yet there is another level of County government accountability: open government or "government in the sunshine" in order that citizens can feel empowered to participate in and understand government activities, goals, and operations at all levels. With this in mind, the Beaufort County Government website includes access to a lot of current and some important documents of the past; videos of government meetings courtesy of the County Channel; County Council Minutes; and local County ordinances.  (Caution: The Beaufort County SC website is quite large so it may take you awhile to get the hang of how it's organized and categorized. I think that the tab "I want to ... " is the most useful overview of County services. Please explore.)

You can get an idea of the online content on the Beaufort County website by searching "Archives" to discover links to all the online departmental archives. For example, behind the Airports Archives landing page are documents relating to grants, reports, studies and agreements, and work authorizations for the Lady's Island and Hilton Head Island County airports. 

Beaufort County government website, http://www.bcgov.net/archives/county-government/airports/

Our customers tend to be most interested in Probate Court records and Land related records.

One can search Beaufort County Probate Court records for Estate, Guardianship, and Marriage records but the digital images of the documents are not posted. The dates covered seem to vary by the type of record. I saw some estates from the 1920s indexed but the earliest marriage record indexed online for Beaufort County seemed to be from the 1960s. (I wish that the Probate Court Search screen would indicate the scope of the each county's probate court records particularly since one cannot limit by year.)  If you need help search Beaufort County Probate Court records, you should ask for assistance from the Beaufort County Probate Court staff.

Similarly, one can search some of the records maintained by the Register of Deeds but there is no scope statement regarding what years are covered by the index. The indexes appear rather complex so if you have questions you should address those questions to Register of Deeds staff.

Beaufort County Government Records in the Beaufort District Collection

While the Library system has no legal obligation to share and preserve County records, we try to preserve some county records when those records are in formats that we are able to take proper care of and are the types of records that support genealogical and historical research into the people, places, and events of Beaufort District. With this goal in mind, we collect and provide access to some published and microfilmed county records here in the Research Room.

Some of the Beaufort County government records held in the Research Room are listed in the SCLENDS catalog. For example, all our Beaufort County government records preserved on microfilm are listed in the SCLENDS catalog including:

Council Minutes, 1888-2001
Council Resolutions and Proclamations, 1974-2000
Council Ordinances, 1970-2000
Register of Physicians & Surgeons, 1882-1992
Equity Decree Book, 1867-1876
Confederate Veterans Enrollment, 1919-1921
Voter Registration Book and List, 1957-1962
Calendar File Book (Common Pleas), 1974-1977
Bonds of Public Officials, 1984-2002
Register of County Offices, 1866-2002
Coroner’s Inquisition Books, 1888-1898, 1932-1951

We also have selected record series from the Beaufort County School District about accounts payable and construction expenses over specific ranges of time:

Superintendent Ledgers, 1911-1928; 1933-1934; 1935-1950
Superintendent Ledgers, Check and Payroll Registers, 1950-1953, 1953-1954
Unidentifiable Correspondence & County Audit Correspondence, 1895-1897
Teacher Certificate Register, 1897-1945
School Taxes, Cash Ledger, Claims Audited, 1890-1936
School Census, 1919-1920; Statistics
Salaries, 1943-1944
Cash Books, 1934-1954
Construction Funds, 1953-1961
Expenditures, 1937-1959
Payroll Form – Retirement, 1945-1946
Receipts, 1964-1970
State Revenue, 1957-1967

Please note:  Although it would be ever so much fun to see Great Grandpa's report card, none of the School District records that we have include any information about individual students and very limited information about teachers. None of the records are indexed so one must just read page by page in hopes of discovering the information one seeks.

There was a period from approximately 2007 - 2012 when Beaufort County Broadcast Services recorded a large number of County government meetings and created DVDs to be checked out through the branch libraries. The ones we have are listed in the SCLENDS catalog. The catalog points you to such riveting meetings as those of the Beaufort County Joint Finance, Public Facilities & Public Safety Committee, July 19, 2010 - August 4, 2010 and Stormwater Utility Management Meetings, 2008 - 2012 among others. Or come view special presentations such as the Grand Ceremony honoring the 150th Anniversary of the Hunting Island Lighthouse recorded live on 18 October 2009 and the Dedication Ceremony of the Harriet Tubman Bridge (2008) (for which the Library still has copies to check out from the branch libraries).  

Over time, most of the County DVDs have been removed from circulation though the BDC Research Room has kept one copy of each of the DVDs for permanent retention. Some can also be streamed live through the County Channel's Beaufort County Streaming Media Archive.

We also have some published print materials authored by Beaufort County governmental entities. A search in the SCLENDS catalog using "Beaufort County" as the author results in more than 100 hits within the Beaufort County Library system. For example, the BDC purchases the yearly Beaufort County Calendar; we have a copy of Vigilant Guard: 21-23 April 2008: A Disaster Response Exercise scrapbook; and even a document from the school children entitled Beaufort Flashbacks in which 5th and 6th graders interviewed senior citizens about what life was like in the earlier years of the 20th century. 

Because of remodeling in Beaufort Branch last year, the BDC received plenty of GoDocs yet to review, some of which are County documents. Amanda has created a spreadsheet of what came upstairs to the BDC to be evaluated for permanent retention or discard so there will be additional County documents likely to be cataloged. We hope to have that backlog cleared by the end of this year.