Eerie Research in the BDC

Though I first wrote this post a decade ago - and the reference question I received that is revisited below came in a decade before that - it remains one of my favorite reference questions of my career. 

For the record: There are no weird questions, only intriguing ones. Text in orange was added in 2022; text in purple was added during the latest update: 19 September 2023. - Grace Cordial  

I received a long distance telephone call from a woman in Ohio one afternoon circa 2002.  (Where else could it be?  Ohio is the state of last residence for a high percentage of new coastal SC residents.)  The customer explained, rather sheepishly, that she felt "bad vibes" at certain spots on the Jasper County property she had recently purchased.  The "bad vibes" scared her enough to consult a medium when she returned to Ohio.  At her reading, the medium counseled her to "Call Beaufort County Library, your answer is there."

Needless to say, her question and the involvement of a medium presented a rather intriguing aspect to my day. Taking the open-minded position that some folks believe that "bad vibes" can arise from "bad events" or "unfinished business of souls departed," I wondered aloud about whether or not there had been any known unpleasantness on the property.

·         Had the location been a battlefield in the past? Not that the researcher or I was aware of.

·         Were there any known murders or fires at that location? Not that the researcher nor I were aware of.

·         Were there any records of structures on the site in the past -- structures in which unhappy events or mistreatment of others may have occurred? Perhaps there were, because the property was known to be a working plantation with slaves in the past. 

In most places, a question like this one involves county offices in charge of land and tax records at the County courthouse. However, the Beaufort District's courthouse then located in Gillisonville burned down in 1865 as the Union troops moved to capture Columbia. This means that many of the pre-1865 records for Beaufort District and its subsequent counties, Beaufort, Hampton, and Jasper, including records of land transactions, wills, court cases, property taxes, etc. -- all activities and functions that arise within a courthouse -- were destroyed.

Did we have any other ways to find out prior uses of a particular piece of land? And if we had some materials that might help her, would she be coming to our area to do her own research? The answer to both questions was "Yes." 

She made an appointment to come to the BDC during her next trip to South Carolina.

Precisely because Beaufort District is a "burned county," the BDC purchases South Carolina Department of Archives and History microfilm series to help compensate for the loss of pre-1870 Beaufort County courthouse records when we can. Using the SCDAH online records index to search on the original owner of record and his properties here in our area, we got a number of hits. Then we pulled several reels of microfilm in hopes that we'd learn more. My greatest hope was that we'd learn something about structures that once were on her property, such as houses, out-buildings, and slave quarters.

I loaded the first reel of microfilm -- going with my gut about which one might be best. I chose a reel of the S213190 Charleston series of State Plats that was digitized in 2021. The Charleston series starts slightly before the S213192 Columbia series of State Plats also digitized in 2021. Furthermore, the Charleston series may include a greater number of lowcountry plantations by virtue of its closer geographic location to Beaufort and Jasper.

The very first reel of S213190 Charleston series of State Plats microfilm we pulled, on the very first try, we hit the mother lode! The property had a plat; the plat included key structures; the structures included the layout of the slave quarters. The location of the strongest "bad vibes" she felt turned out to be the precise location of the slave houses row on her property.

 

(Image is from the BCL's Donner Collection:  https://lcdl.library.cofc.edu/lcdl/catalog/lcdl:2057)

She believed that she had her answer. She did the “researcher’s happy dance” right there by the microfilm reader/printers.  

Her medium was correct! She did find her answer in the Beaufort County Library after all. A little historical research gave the customer the answer she was seeking.

Maybe your answer is here too. 

Check out the post (2021) about property research in our Research Room by Cassandra Knoppel to get you started on the path to learning more about your little piece of Beaufort County heaven.  

Contact us to make the necessary arrangements to visit the Beaufort District Collection's Research Room: 843-255-6468 or bdc@bcgov.net. 

"Doing What You Can, With What You Have, Where You Are:" Coping with Circumstances in the Research Room, Part Three

So let's say that you understand the BDC's adjustment in service delivery and that you have thoroughly explored all the BDC's content on the Library's website - and you haven't found what you hoped to find, that you cannot find the answers to the local history questions you have. Now it's time for you to contact the Library system's other reference librarians. The funny thing is: Reference librarians today do precisely what we have done since 1876 - though some of our tools have changed in the interim. 

Reference librarians: 

1. Teach people how to use the library and its resources

2. Answer questions for specific information

3. Recommend good vetted sources and reading materials

4. Promote the library within the community. 

While I am on FMLA and the BDC has no staff per se, the oft-unheralded BCL Reference librarians should be able to assist you with basic and fundamental questions about family history and local history. Each physical library building has at least one ALA degreed librarian on staff. Be sure to ask for one since not everyone who works in a library is a ALA degreed librarian.

Beaufort Branch 843-255-6458

Bluffton Branch 843-255-6503

Hilton Head Island Branch 843-255-6525

Lobeco Branch 843-255-6482

St. Helena Branch 843-255-6487  

Honestly, they won't be able to provide the level of service and institutional knowledge that my two advanced library science degrees, additional graduate level study in African American and American history, my certified archivist credential and 23 year tenure on staff here brings to in-person Research Room customers, but they can help you more than you might expect. But they can't help, if you don't ask. So ask. 

Image: Reference by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Pix4free.  https://pix4free.org/photo/1651/reference.html 

Restriction of some BDC Related Services in June and July

As frequent readers know, the Beaufort District Collection has a quite small staff for the number of hours we keep the Research Room open each week and for our other usual and customary operations. While our staff is temporarily reduced due to health issues, we are having to make some adjustments.

• The BDC is suspending local history and genealogy related program coordination until August 2019. We hope to see you at our programs later this summer.
• In the meantime, be sure to check out all the other types of programs, workshops, and events that the other parts of the Beaufort County Library are hosting!
• All reproduction permission applications will be on hiatus for the duration.  
• All BDC social media will be on hiatus for the duration. 
• Continue to send your questions to bdc@bcgov.net or call 843-255-6468 for assistance during regular office hours. Sam and Kristi will do their best to answer your questions thoroughly and fully.

Please note - and this is important: Although every attempt will be made to keep the Research Room open its usual and customary hours during June and July 2019, that is, Monday - Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM, it may not be possible each and every work day. I am certain that Sam, Kristi, and Library Administration will do its utmost to minimize any closures during this period.

In the meantime, you may want to check out the offerings of our sister organizations listed here. Some may involve a fee; some may not. Some have exhibits on a regular basis which is a type of public outreach that one can do at one's own pace and on one's own preferred schedule.

• Beaufort County Historical Society
• Beaufort History Museum
• Bluffton Historical Preservation Society
• Coastal Discovery Museum
• Daufuskie Island Historical Foundation
• Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission
• Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition 
• Gullah Museum of Hilton Head Island 
• Heritage Library Foundation
• Hilton Head Chapter, Archaeological Society of South Carolina
• Historic Beaufort Foundation
• Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park
• Historic Port Royal Foundation
• Institute for the Study of the Reconstruction Era 
• Penn Center 
• Port Royal Sound Maritime Center 
• Reconstruction Era National Historical Park
• Santa Elena History Center
• University of South Carolina Beaufort

There are probably others as well so please do not accept this list as the be-all, end-all one of historically minded organizations within Beaufort County.

Of course, we encourage all of you to participate in the Library's Summer Reading Program throughout June and July. The Library has completely revamped the program to simplify the process, include all ages, and now there are some really fabulous grand prizes to win.

 
And it's soooooo easy! Read text - any text - for 20 minutes per day for 36 of the 60 days in the program -- and you'll be eligible to enter the grand prize drawings. Two of the Grand Prize drawings even have a local history theme!

• Like foreign movies? Put on the subtitles and read 20 or minutes and you can check off a box. 
• Text with your grandchildren? Read 20 minutes worth of messages and you can check off a box. 
• Making a new recipe? Read the directions over 20 minutes and you can check off a box. 
• Read to your elderly mother for 20 minutes, check off a box. 
• Read to your pet for 20 minutes, check off a box. 
• Read a bestseller on Hoopla as an e-book for 20 minutes, check off a box. 

I'm sure that you get the drift. Details are available online or ask at your favorite Beaufort County Branch Library. Check out my Connections post immediately preceding this one for a host of local history related recommendations! And Sam and Kristi will be on hand to offer even more suggestions should you ask in our Research Room.

Looking ahead: All units of the Library system will be closed on Independence Day, July 4th.

Eerie Research in the BDC

In honor of All Hallows Eve 2022, I decided to update this post originally uploaded in 2012.  Though I first wrote this post a decade ago - and the reference question I received that is revisited below came in a decade before that - it remains one of my favorite reference questions of my career. For the record: There are no weird questions, only intriguing ones. Latest update: 20 October 2022 - Grace Cordial

I received a long distance telephone call from a woman in Ohio one afternoon circa 2002.  (Where else could it be?  Ohio is the state of last residence for a high percentage of new coastal SC residents.)  The customer explained, rather sheepishly, that she felt "bad vibes" at certain spots on the Jasper County property she had recently purchased.  The "bad vibes" scared her enough to consult a medium when she returned to Ohio.  At her reading, the medium counseled her to "Call Beaufort County Library, your answer is there."

Needless to say, her question and the involvement of a medium presented a rather intriguing aspect to my day. Taking the open-minded position that some folks believe that "bad vibes" can arise from "bad events" or "unfinished business of souls departed," I wondered aloud about whether or not there had been any known unpleasantness on the property.

·         Had the location been a battlefield in the past? Not that the researcher or I was aware of.

·         Were there any known murders or fires at that location? Not that the researcher nor I were aware of.

·         Were there any records of structures on the site in the past -- structures in which unhappy events or mistreatment of others may have occurred? Perhaps there were, because the property was known to be a working plantation with slaves in the past. 

In most places, a question like this one involves county offices in charge of land and tax records at the County courthouse. However, the Beaufort District's courthouse then located in Gillisonville burned down in 1865 as the Union troops moved to capture Columbia. This means that many of the pre-1865 records for Beaufort District and its subsequent counties, Beaufort, Hampton, and Jasper, including records of land transactions, wills, court cases, property taxes, etc. -- all activities and functions that arise within a courthouse -- were destroyed.

Did we have any other ways to find out prior uses of a particular piece of land? And if we had some materials that might help her, would she be coming to our area to do her own research? The answer to both questions was "Yes." 

She made an appointment to come to the BDC during her next trip to South Carolina.

Precisely because Beaufort District is a "burned county," the BDC purchases South Carolina Department of Archives and History microfilm series to help compensate for the loss of pre-1870 Beaufort County courthouse records when we can. Using the SCDAH online records index to search on the original owner of record and his properties here in our area, we got a number of hits. Then we pulled several reels of microfilm in hopes that we'd learn more. My greatest hope was that we'd learn something about structures that once were on her property, such as houses, out-buildings, and slave quarters.

I loaded the first reel of microfilm -- going with my gut about which one might be best. I chose a reel of the S213190 Charleston series of State Plats that was digitized between 2002 and now. The Charleston series starts slightly before the S213192 Columbia series of State Plats ditto. Furthermore, the Charleston series may include a greater number of lowcountry plantations by virtue of its closer geographic location to Beaufort and Jasper.

The very first reel of S213190 Charleston series of State Plats microfilm we pulled, on the very first try, we hit the mother lode! The property had a plat; the plat included key structures; the structures included the layout of the slave quarters. The location of the strongest "bad vibes" she felt turned out to be the precise location of the slave houses row on her property. She believed that she had her answer. She did the “researcher’s happy dance” right there by the microfilm reader/printers.  

Her medium was correct! She did find her answer in the Beaufort County Library after all. A little historical research gave the customer the answer she was seeking.

Do you have questions about the macabre or spectral? Contact us to make the necessary arrangements to visit the Beaufort District Collection's Research Room: 843-255-6468 or bdc@bcgov.net. 

Note the image to the above right is not the plat for the property she purchased. I do not want anyone to deduce whom my customer way back in 2002 happened to be. It's a question of library ethics.  

Repurposing Library Cards

When I was interviewed for this job in 1999, the one library related task that I admitted to not enjoying was the filing of catalog cards.

Q:  Guess where a couple of those old card catalog file cabinets are now?


Although the first library catalog cards were repurposed playing cards, we repurpose old library catalog cards into obituary cards in the BDC.  The names on the cards are listed in our Online Obituary Index.  (The VIEW button shows you the image of the database entry form for an obituary - not the actual obituary). 

The obituary index is a docent project that pre-dates my tenure.  Docents who have labored on the obituary index are: Virginia Adams (deceased), Jan Johnson, Merle Hoagland, and now Laura Lewis.  People keep dying.  As long as the local newspapers keep posting obituaries for us to capture, we will continue this project.  

Customers from all over the world visit our Research Room to read and photocopy the published obituaries at 10 cents per page.

Genealogists from all over the world request photocopies of the published obituaries at a fee set by our Library Board of Trustees.

Why not drop by the Research Room and peruse the obituary cards for your ancestors or for other of Beaufort County's previous residents?  Just remember that the Research Room is closing each workday until Aug. 14th for lunch, Noon to 1 pm.

You can read the Library History Buff blog entry about "First Library Cards were playing cards" here.

Technical Glitches in the BDC

Dear All,

It is with deep sadness that I must share that my e-mail system has imploded. Your request for assistance may have been decimated by that system failure.

• If you have sent anything electronic to my account gracec@bcgov.net on or before November 30th, that request for assistance or information has vanished into cyberspace. Please e-mail that request to my assistant at cseabrook@bcgov.net. Her account appears to be working properly. We want to assist you if our resources can help.
  

• If I have agreed to any presentations from your organization at some point between now and June 30, 2012, please confirm the date and time. My Outlook Calendar was erased in the implosion. I'd contact you except for the fact that the implosion also wiped out my address book of professional contacts as well.

• The staff of the BDC never intentionally ignores requests for our assistance. If you don't hear from us within 5 days of your re-submitted requests, please follow up by calling Charmaine at 843-255-6468.
  

Our IT department has been notified of the problems I've identified which follow suit in the wake of the unfortunate event of e-mail account deletion. As yet, I have no timeline for repair or restoration.

Drat! The BDC Research Room Is Closed -- Coping Strategy #2

Coping Strategy #2: Contact one of our fine BCL reference librarians for help with your local history, culture, environment or genealogical question.


Reference librarians do now precisely what we have done since 1876.

Reference librarians:

1. Teach people how to use the library and its resources
2. Answer queries for specific information
3. Recommend good sources and reading material
4. Promote the library within the community

Only some of the tools have changed. (See this former Connections entry for a deeper discussion about the differences in tools of reference services. Click here for the original blog article by David Tyckoson.)

During the BDC Research Room shutdown for relocation and upgrading to national standards, some of our usual services are suspended. (Read about the specifics of the suspended services on the BDC Services web page.) Some of our usual services are being handled by my Reference Librarian colleagues here at Beaufort County Library system.

The oft-unheralded BCL Reference Librarians are pitching in to provide some of our usual BDC customer services while we concentrate on being good stewards during the relocation:

1. Reference librarians always stand ready to teach people how to use the library and its resources -- even when a part of the library is shutdown for relocation. Contact them at any of our branch locations.

2. Reference librarians always do their best to answer queries for specific information -- even those usually answered by BDC staff. During the shutdown, the branch Reference Librarians will help you find answers in materials, subscription databases or on the web. Please note: They won't have access to the materials inside the BDC Research Room. They cannot come and look up something for you here.

3. Reference librarians know all sorts of ways and means of recommending good sources and reading material. They can also suggest good reading materials about Beaufort's local history, culture, and environment as well as providing some assistance with genealogical sources. Please give them the opportunity to show you their skills.

4. Reference librarians always promote the library within the community. Isn't this what I'm doing by writing about other sources of library information and how other staff of the Library can assist you even while the BDC Research Room is closed July 19th - September 29th?

Wondering who your local branch library Reference Librarians might be?
At Beaufort Branch: Reference Manager Fran Hays (who's also doubling as acting Beaufort Branch Manager), Amanda Brewer, and Laura Hayden.
At Bluffton Branch: Reference Manager Francesca Denton, Traci Cox, and Staci Inman.
At Hilton Head Island Branch: Reference Manager Halle Eisenman (who's also doubling as the system webmaster), Bratton DeLoach, and Priscilla Pomazal.
At Lobeco Branch: Branch Manager, Gina Molter and Children's Manager, Melinda Vest perform the bulk of the reference duties.
At St. Helena Branch: Maria Benac, new Branch Manager (who's phasing out being the Beaufort Branch Children's Manager) does most of the adult reference duties.

Also seen serving at the Adult Reference desks throughout the BCL system are: Dennis Adams, Information Services Coordinator and Wendy Allen, Youth Services Coordinator; branch managers, Ann Rosen and Mary Jo Berkes; and the children's service managers, Jean Morgan and Scott Strawn.

Please give our always hard-working Reference Librarians the chance to show you just how good they are at their jobs while the BDC staff is working extra hard to make the relocation of the materials in the Research Room a resounding success. I think that you'll be surprised by the competency, friendliness, and uniqueness of each Reference librarian employed by Beaufort County Library.

"What is the Role of a Reference Librarian?"

In our profession, there is considerable talk about what it is that Reference Librarians do and the role we play doing what it is that we do for our communities. At a recent Booklist webinar, this question was posed:
"What is the Role of a Reference Librarian?"

Although my responsibilities as the Historical Resources Coordinator for the BCL overlaps into several categories (Reference Librarian/Archivist/Materials Selector/Advocate for Historical Collections and Libraries/Branch Manager/Preservation Officer/Digitization Project Manager/Grant Writer/Local History Programs for Adults Coordinator/and the Library's point person to the Historic Resources Consortium to list but a few), I am fundamentally first, foremost, and proud to be a Reference Librarian.

I am in complete agreement with David Tyckoson that the roles of the Reference Librarian remain the same as they were in 1876:

1. Teach people how to use the library and its resources
2. Answer queries for specific information
3. Recommend good sources and reading material
4. Promote the library within the community

The roles are the same. However, the tools to perform these roles have changed dramatically since 1876 and super dramatically since I entered the field in 1981. (We were just learning how to use a mouse and what hyperlinks were in 1981. Now we have to navigate social media, audio formats, video formats, digital formats merging other formats, etc. in addition to keeping up with the print world making the job tasks far more complicated than when I got my first library degree. Reference librarians have to stay abreast of all sorts of emerging technologies and customer needs.) To read Tyckoson's complete blog entry about the role of a Reference Librarian click here.

In case you are interested in learning more about what it is like to be a Reference Librarian, contact your local branch library Reference Librarians or me. You can also find information about the field of Librarianship at the University of South Carolina's School of Library and Information Science and the American Library Association's "Explore a Career in Libraries" web pages.

Wondering who your local branch library Reference Librarian might be? Here's a shout out to my colleagues -- the unsung Adult, Youth Services, Branch Managers, coordinators, and webmaster, who serve as full-time, part-time, or fill in as Reference Librarians when needed -- within the Beaufort County Library system: Dennis Adams, Wendy Allen, Maria Benac, Mary Jo Berkes, Amanda Brewer, Marlene Coleman, Traci Cox, Bratton DeLoach, Francesca Denton, Halle Eisenman, Laura Hayden, Fran Hays, Staci Inman, Gina Molter, Jean Morgan, Priscilla Pomazal, Ann Rosen, Joe Selleck, Scott Strawn, and Melinda Vest.

Call on us. We are here to assist you.
Beaufort County Library "For [Your] Learning, For [Your] Leisure, For [Your] Life."

National Family Reunion Month: Find Your Family

Last updated: 24 September 2025 - gmc

The Beaufort District Collection wants to celebrate National Family Reunion Month with you! By visiting the BDC you can:

1. Access Ancestry Library Edition from all our Internet computers. (This service is available at all Beaufort County Library branch locations.)
2. Browse our Obituary Index and find ancestors whose deaths were noted in Beaufort County newspapers. (Our Obituary Index is a 24/7/365 service of the Library. Search our current index online now without having to walk into our special collection!)
3. Search the South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine for statewide references to your family history.
4. Peruse our Vertical Files inside the BDC on county cemeteries, churches and synagogues, and families. The list is in the Library's catalog. 
5. Leaf through Beaufort city and county Directories (1961-Present) while you're here doing your Ancestry Library Edition searches, getting our personal assistance, and/or perusing our Vertical Files.

Remember that the Beaufort District Collection's mission is to collect, preserve and make available to the public materials of historical, cultural and environmental importance to the area known as the historic Beaufort District. While a portion of our collection does indeed related to genealogical studies, we are not specifically a genealogical collection.

Are you just getting started with your genealogy quest? These organizations may be able to help you along your journey:

The Heritage Library: A center for the study of history and genealogy
2 Corpus Christi, Suite 100 
Hilton Head Island, SC 29928
(843) 686-6560

South Carolina Department of Archives and History

A Long Distance Relationship That Lasts

...previously on "As The Research Continues"...

SEAN: Don't worry Lucinda! We can always make a trip to Beaufort County to explore their District Collection's holdings. We can really make this work!!!
LUCINDA: Sean, it's hopeless! [crying] Beaufort is too far away! I may never find the information I need!
SEAN: [solemn, walks to the door] Well, Lucinda, I guess this is it. [opens the door and takes a step out] If you decide to make the trip, call me. [walks out without a backward glance]

**cue heartbreaking music**

Don't let long distance research ruin your life!
The Beaufort District Collection can help you!!!

Reference Service Basics

Free Services

• Find out what’s in the collection. Give us a call, send us an email, or surf our website to see if we have the right materials to answer your questions.
• Telephone consultations are always free! Call (843) 255-6468, Monday – Friday, 10:00am – 5:00pm.
• Visit our online catalog via the Beaufort County Library website. It’s open 24/7/365!
• Browse our Online Obituary Index, and Local History Materials. It’s open 24/7/365!

Fee Based Services
for folks who want us to help them from afar

If you’re asking us to do too much of your work for you, we’ll tell you up front! Please don’t offend us by offering to pay more or ask for “extra special” services. Our services are always of the highest quality, and therefore “extra special” by very definition!

• We answer one question at a time & each question is subject to the minimal fee.
• Fees are incurred as soon as we roll up our sleeves and get to researching.
• You can count on our researching abilities. Rest assured that if an answer exists, we will do our absolute best to find it for you! Remember, however, we can only work for about one hour on your task & sometimes there is no concrete answer to be had.

(For example, if your ancestor was born “outside the sheets in 1865,” we may not have any resources within our collections to document who sired him/her! In fact, SC didn’t even have official birth certificates until 1915!)

• All replies incur the same fees whether they be replies in the affirmative ("yes, we found what you were looking for") or the negative ("with apologies, no records exist.") “No” or “Insufficient documentation to support your contention” is an answer – just not the one that you may have been hoping to get.

Regretfully, staff at the BDC will not do any of the following:

Make up or create records
Take photographs of headstones, historic sites, or historic houses
Visit cemeteries
Wander around the county looking for records
Provide supporting research reports or documentation by fax, e-mail, scanning or over the telephone

Estimated Turn-Around Time Frame

We try to complete our reference services within two weeks of agreeing to tackle your request. Remember, that it takes time to perform the high quality research work that we do. Please note that our first priority is to assist customers who personally visit the BDC. We do not guarantee delivery of the research report or supporting documentation within 14 days. Rest assured, however, that providing quality research with supporting documentation and customer satisfaction is our goal! We request that you please be patient.

Don't Forget:

Since all replies are sent via USPS mail, it is essential that we have your current mailing address. Fees are to be paid by return mail as soon as you receive a formal reply from staff of the Beaufort County Library.

Fees

Fees are based upon residency, the number of questions asked, and the number of necessary photocopies made to sufficiently support the research.

Beaufort County Library Card Holders
$5.00 per question
¢50 per photocopy
Other US Residents
$10.00 per question
¢50 per photocopy
Foreign Nationals
$15.00 per question
¢50 per photocopy

Long Distance Reference Policy
Obituary Request Policy

The Beaufort District Collection is a division of the Beaufort County Library, a department of Beaufort County Government of South Carolina.

Online Obituary Index to the Rescue!

Last edited: 24 September 2025 - gmc

It’s no lie that vital records (birth certificates, death certificates, marriage certificates, etc.) prove to be invaluable to family researchers. But…Did you know that South Carolina did not require marriage licenses until July 1, 1911? Did you know that South Carolina did not require birth or death certificates until January 1, 1915?

The Beaufort District Collection wants to help you bridge the gap! If you happen to have a family member that lived (or, specifically, died) in Beaufort County, South Carolina, you have an awesome resource for tracing your family history at your fingertips! The BDC is expanding your resources with our Online Obituary Index or OOI.

At this time, the OOI consists of citations to most Beaufort County newspapers from 1862 – May 1984 and December 2007 – Present. Regretfully, no records exist before 1862 as the Beaufort County courthouse burned (twice…but that’s another story!) The online index does not include the actual text of the obituary notices. It lists only dates and newspapers in which the notices appear. Microfilmed copies of the newspapers listed can be found at the Beaufort Branch Library and some microfilmed copies can be found at the Hilton Head Island Branch Library. For a complete listing of newspaper holdings, please call your local BCL branch. Are you researching from out of town, state, or country? We also provide a long distance obituary service to suit your needs!

Celebrate National Library Week: April 13th – 19th

“First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April. It is a time to celebrate the contributions of our nation’s libraries and librarians and to promote library use and support.” --ALA.org

Celebrate National Library Week at your local library today! More information is available on the ALA National Library Week fact sheet.

Beaufort County, South Carolina Branches include: Beaufort, Bluffton, Hilton Head Island, Lobeco, and St. Helena. Find out more information about your branch at the Beaufort County Library website.

Check us out!

Branch locations and hours
Beaufort County Library history
How to get a library card
Send a question to a reference librarian
View Beaufort County Library policies
Become a Friend of the LibraryGet a job at the Beaufort County Library

The Beaufort District Collection is a division of the Beaufort County Library, a department of Beaufort County Government of South Carolina.

Links updated and verified by Kristi Marshall on April 9, 2020