Darlington County, South Carolina
History, Records, Facts and Genealogy

The origin of the name of this county is uncertain, but it may have been named for Darlington, England. The county was formed in 1785, with the county seat at Darlington, and until 1800 it was a part of the Cheraws District. Parts of Darlington County were removed to form Florence County in 1888 and Lee County in 1902.

This area was settled in the mid-eighteenth century by Welsh, Scotch-Irish, and English farmers, who grew cotton primarily. In more recent years the county has been best known for the stock car races which take place at the Darlington Raceway. David Rogerson Williams (1776-1830), governor and scientific experimenter, was a native of Darlington; he is remembered for introducing the mule to Southern agriculture. Other prominent Darlington residents were industrialists James Lide Coker (1837-1918) and David R. Coker (1870-1938) and novelists Annie Greene Nelson (1902-1993) and Elizabeth Boatwright Coker (1909-1993). (Source: South Carolina State Library). See Extended History for a more Detailed History

For information on early counties and districts, consult The Formation of Counties in South Carolina. The Official County Website is located at http://www.darcosc.com/ .

Search Historical Newspapers from South Carolina (1783 - 1975 ) - Quickly find names and keywords in over 450 million articles, obituaries, marriage notices, birth announcements and other items published in over 2,800 historical U.S. newspapers. New content added monthly!
Family History Library - The largest collection of free family history, family tree and genealogy records in the world.
Stories, Memories & Histories - Stories and histories compiled by others researching a person or area can be an amazing source of information about your ancestors. Not only do they generally contain dates and places of vital events like birth, marriage, and death, but they often relate stories and memories that help you really get to know the character of your ancestors.
Search South Carolina Historical Records - Databases include Court, Land, Wills & Financial Records; Birth, Marriage & Death Records; Voter Lists & Census Records; Immigration & Emigration Records; Obituary Records; Military Records; Family Tree Records; Pictures; Stories, Memories & Histories; Directories & Member Lists and much more....
Darlington County, South Carolina History Books at Amazon.com.

Darlington County Court, Probate and Tax Records

Darlington County Birth, Marriage, Divorce and Death Records

Darlington County Census Records

Darlington County Maps & Atlases

Darlington County Military Records

Darlington County Genealogical Addresses

Darlington County Church & Cemeteries

Family Trees & Genealogy Tidbits

The use of published genealogies, electronic files containing genealogical lineage, and other compiled sources can be of tremendous value to a researcher.

When view family trees online or not, be sure to only take the info at face value and always follow up with your own sources or verify the ones they provide. Below is a list of online resources for Darlington County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information . Email us with websites containing Darlington County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:

Search for Local South Carolina Researchers or Earn Money by becoming a Local South Carolina Researcher!
Darlington County, South Carolina Family Books at Amazon.com
Search 60 Years Of Everton Data: For the first time ever you can get access to more than 150,000 pedigree files and family group sheets from Evertons. Learn More
Search the Family Tree DNA Project- Use DNA testing to break through your genealogical barriers!
Sites on USGenweb: [ Darlington County ] [ South Carolina ] [ Main Page ]
[GenForum Message Boards] [Rootsweb Message Boards]
Genealogy Encyclopedia: General Abbreviations, Early Illnesses, Nickname Meanings, Worldwide Epidemics, Early Occupations, Common Terms, Censuses Explained, Free Genealogical Forms
Nichols and Related Families of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virgina.
The South Carolina Family Group Sheet Project
Family Trees - Ancestry has thousands of family trees shared by other members. They can help you identify how ancestors are related and give you clues about birth, marriage, and death information. Family trees are an excellent resource for filling in gaps in your research or even to simply know where to begin.
Pictures - One of the more exciting discoveries in doing family history research is finding a photograph of your ancestors or their residence. Finding historic postcard photos and drawings of towns and important events throughout history can also give you a visual look into your ancestors lives.
Reference Materials & Finding Aids - Reference materials, including dictionaries, encyclopedias, and other how-to books, can be tremendously helpful in finding and interpreting historical documents. Many of these books can help you learn where to look for more information and how to use what you've already found to uncover more clues.

Extended History

For nearly sixty, years after the first settlements at Charles Town, the area which is now Darlington County was a heavily timbered pine forestland, inhabited only by a few small Indian tribes, of whom the Cheraws were the most dominate.

Until the early 1730's, no white man had attempted to establish a home this far into the backcountry along the upper Pee Dee; one of the first of whom we have any record was one Murfee, who cleared a plantation on the Pee Dee River somewhere in the vicinity of what is known today as Pocket landing. He was soon joined by an influx of Welshmen from Pennsylvania and Delaware.

In all effort to induce settlers to come to this area of South Carolina, the Colonial Government in 1736 and again in 1737, set aside two immense grants of land extending for miles along both sides of the Pee Dee River, for the exclusive use of the Welsh Baptist in Delaware who were contemplating removal to this Province. The entire length of Darlington County bounding on Pee Dee River lies within the limits of these two old Royal Grants.

The Welshmen came and started the nucleus of a new civilization in the wilderness, developing new institutions of their own, with little further aid or guidance from the Royal Government. At first, they congregated in the bend of the river opposite the present Town of Society Hill, in what is now Marlboro County, where they had founded the Baptist Church of Christ lit the Welsh Neck in 1738. The surnames of those constituting this church were James, Devonald, Evans, Harry, Wilds and Jones.

From this bend in the river - called the Welsh Neck, the Welshmen cleared new lands up and down both sides of the river, first cultivating flax and hemp, later Indigo, and raising cattle. Cheraw Bacon was a popular item in the Charles Town markets of Colonial days. During the several decades immediately prior to the Revolution, the original Welsh domain was peacefully invaded by English, Scotch-Irish, French Huguenot and German Palatine settlers from other regions. From the inevitable intermarriages that followed, the strict Welsh Baptist identity was eventually lost.

Darlington County, however, continued to be a stronghold of the Baptist denomination well into the nineteenth century. There were no churches of any other faith in the area until about 1789, when Methodist missionaries began to traverse the region seeking converts; their first foothold was in the present I Lydia neighborhood, where one of the oldest Methodist churches in South Carolina was founded - Wesley Chapel or the "Gully Church".

The first and only Presbyterian Church in the District for years was the Darlington Church, founded in 1827 by the Scotch. Irish settlers from Marion and Williamsburg District; the Episcopalians of Darlington District were only able to support one church - Trinity Church, Society Hill, founded 1833, for a quarter century until the second Episcopal Church was organized in 1859 near Mars Bluff.

Other than several "Hard Shell" Baptist churches, weak and widely separated, no other denominations were represented in Darlington District until after the War Between the States.

The first village in the entire area and for many, many years, the only village within what is now Darlington County, sprang up on a bluff on the west aide of Pee Dee River, across from the original settlements and church in the Welsh Neck. By 1760, this important trading post and boat landing had come to be known as Long Bluff. It was chosen as the site for the Court House after Cheraws District was created in 1768. In this Court House, in 1774, a Petit Jury Presentment of grievances against the British Crown is among the earliest and boldest declarations of rights in the thirteen colonies. Long Bluff continued to be the seat of justice and commerce throughout the tragic days of the American Revolution.

Although the war inflicted severe casualties in lives and property, recovery was not unduly protracted, probably due to the natural increase in population plus the influx of many new settlers from North Carolina.

In 1777, a group of prosperous planters of the area formed the St. David's Society to promote the cause of education; little was done during the war, but with the return of peace, a schoolhouse - St. David's Academy - was erected on the first hill beyond the river, about 1 mile from the village of Long Bluff; a few years later, the Welsh Neck Baptist Church removed from the east side of the river to a lot on the hill, adjacent to the Academy. A new community began to grow up around the Academy and Church, and was named Greeneville in honor of Gen. Greene of the Revolution. The old village of Long Bluff was eventually abandoned in favor of the new village on the hill, which soon changed its name to Society Hill obviously in honor of the Academy of St. David's Society which dominated the hill. Society Hill, with its old, respected and influential Baptist Church; its Academy boasting tutors of the highest caliber; and its Library Society soon became the unchallenged cultural center of the Pee Dee Region, a title it held for generations.

In 1785, Darlington County was one of three counties created out of old Cheraws District; after some controversy, the site of the Court House of the new county was located on the plantation of John King, Sr. on Swift Creek, about the geographical center of the area. The Court House was built a short distance south of the King residence at the intersection of two roads. Lots were laid off surrounding the Court House by Josiah Cantey, Deputy Surveyor, but his plat has never been found. The village thus created was first known as Darlington Court House.

By 1820, other villages had sprung up throughout the district: Mechanicsville, near the river, about 10 miles below Society Hill on the road to Georgetown; Springville, more a summer resort than a village, but boasting an academy and a post office; and Kelley Town, not far from Black Creek in the Northwestern portion of the district.

Hartsville came into being as a village around Capt. Thomas E. Hart's Store and post office in the early 1840's; Lamar (then known as Mims' Cross Roads) grew around a crossroads store and post office on the Capt. George Mims' Plantation in the early 1850's. About the same time, Leavensworth came into being as a village, centering around John F. Wilson's store and grist mill, at an intersection near the center of his immense plantation, originally owned by Dr. Nathan Leavensworth. There was also a school; a U.S. Post Office; and a resident physician, Dr. John J. Wilson. In the late 1850's Dovesville (then Dove's Depot) grew around a C&D Railroad Depot built on the plantation of Daniel Dove soon after the tracks were laid across his land.

With an ever increasing acreage devoted to the planting of cotton, the overall wealth of the district grew considerably during the first half of the district grew considerably during the first half of the Nineteenth century. As it was throughout the entire South, this cotton economy was vitally dependent upon the labor of the black man-the system of slavery- and the concentration of that class was heavy in Darlington District in the last decade prior to the war. The ratio of population as revealed by the United States Census of 1850 shows that whites were outnumbered by blacks nearly two to one.

In the ante-bellum period, the wealth of the district was, for the most part, concentrated in the eastern half of the area, which was made up of numerous huge plantations, each an independent community within itself. With a few notable exceptions, the western portions of the district contained smaller and less prosperous plantations and farms, and fewer slaves.

With agriculture having dominated the way of life in the district from the first settlements in the 1730's, it is not surprising that the planters of the area as early as 1768 organized a Planters Club about which little is known; again, around the early 1840's another attempt was made to form Planters Society, but likewise no record exists concerning this group. On May 5, 1846, the Darlington District Agricultural Society was formed for the purpose of "promoting the planting interests" and is still active to this day, being the second oldest such group in the state and one of the oldest in the nation. The first officers of the Society were W.E. James, President; Rev. J.M. Timmons, Rev. Robert Campbell, I.D. Wilson and Robert Rogers, Vice Presidents.

There was a successful attempt at industrialization made as early as 1812 by one of Darlington's most colorful figures, Gov. David Rogerson Williams. He established and operated during his lifetime a water-powered cotton mill on Cedar Creek near Society Hill for the manufacture of cotton bagging, oznaburgs, etc. It was first known as Cheraw Union Factory and later as Union Manufacturing Company of South Carolina.

During the War Between the States, Darlington County escaped Sherman's torch, being out of the direct line of the Federal advance. There were no battles fought on her territory, and only several minor skirmishes. However, detachments of the main force did pass through the district by way of Kelley Town and New Market, confiscating supplies and livestock over a wide area. But Pioneer cabins and palatial ante-bellum mansions were left standing.

In 1868, the name Darlington District (in use since 1798) was changed to Darlington County and provisions made for Township system of county Government patterned after that of the New England states. The system was unsuitable for this region and never developed as originally intended.

In 1888, Darlington County, one of the larger counties of the state, lost almost one third of its territory toward the formation of the new County of Florence; again, in 1901, it lost an additional 50 square miles of territory at the formation of the new County of Lee.

From the time of Gov. Williams' cotton factory, there was no further serious attempt at manufacturing of any nature until 1883, when a cotton mill was built in Darlington under the leadership of Major James Lide Coker. Within the following twenty years, Major Coker had also organized at Hartsville the Carolina Fibre Company and the Southern Novelty Company, both factories based on the conversion of southern pine into paper and paper products.

Agriculture has, however, continued to be the mainstay of Darlington County until the present day; cotton was King until dethroned after World War One by Flue-Cured Tobacco, which was introduced to Darlington planters in the late 1880's. Since World War Two, the industrial growth of the county has been very favorable and promises to provide an alternative to the decline in agricultural pursuits which are expected in the next generation.

Darlington County, South Carolina
History, Records, Facts and Genealogy

Darlington County Court, Probate and Tax Records

See Also South Carolina Land Records, Marriage Records, Court, Tax & Probate Records

Darlington County Birth, Marriage, Divorce and Death Records

See Also Vital Records in South Carolina

Darlington County Census Records

See Also Research In Census Records & Statewide Records that exist for South Carolina

Darlington County Maps & Atlases

See Also Research In State Map Collections

Darlington County Military Records

See Also Military Records in South Carolina

Darlington County Genealogical Addresses

See Also Other South Carolina Genealogical Addresses

Darlington County Church & Cemeteries

See Also Church & Cemetery Records in South Carolina

Family Trees & Genealogy Tidbits

Extended History

Darlington County, South Carolina History, Records, Facts and Genealogy

See Also South Carolina Land Records, Marriage Records, Court, Tax & Probate Records

See Also Vital Records in South Carolina

See Also Research In Census Records & Statewide Records that exist for South Carolina

See Also Research In State Map Collections

See Also Military Records in South Carolina

See Also Other South Carolina Genealogical Addresses

See Also Church & Cemetery Records in South Carolina

Darlington County, South Carolina
History, Records, Facts and Genealogy