xt7bk35mcr5b https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7bk35mcr5b/data/mets.xml Anderson, South Carolina South Carolina Historical Records Survey 1939 Prepared by the Historical Records Survey, Division of Professional and Service Projects, Work Projects Administration; Other contributors include: United States Work Projects Administration Division of Professional and Service Projects; 168 pages: illustrations, maps, charts, plans, 27 cm; Includes bibliographical references and index; UK holds archival copy for ASERL Collaborative Federal Depository Program libraries; Call number FW 4.14:So8c/no.4 books English Columbia, Sout Carolina: Historical Records Survey This digital resource may be freely searched and displayed in accordance with U. S. copyright laws. South Carolina Works Progress Administration Publications Inventory of the County Archives of South Carolina, Number 4 Anderson County (Anderson) text Inventory of the County Archives of South Carolina, Number 4 Anderson County (Anderson) 1939 1939 2015 true xt7bk35mcr5b section xt7bk35mcr5b   €££j“;K ;;+  ll@Ill| @WM]@Y@@@ @  
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FIRST ANDERSON COURTIIOUSE

 INVELETORY OF THE COWITY ARCHIWS
OF SOUTH CAROLINA
Prepared by Q
The Historical Records Survey
Division of Professional and Service Projects
Work Projects Adminisbrofcion
No. 4. ANDERSON COIHGTY (MJDISRSOIT)
&
>•<>i<>t=2<1•<=¥>!=#.<*
Columbia, S. C.
· The Historical Records Survey
August 1939
if

 1* '  
The Histories]. Records Survey ,
  Luther H. Evans, Director
§   Den Lucy, Hcg,ion:.=.l Supervisor
  Anne K. Gregorie, State Director
I
Division of Professional and Service Projects
Florence Kerr, Assistant Commissioner _
Blanche ki, Ralston Chief Yievgiozzsl Suoervisor
3   1.
; Mau·r·z1re‘t D. Davies State Director _
l ».> J
WORK PROJ ECTS AD]!Hl‘EISTRATIOU
F. C. Harrington, Conmiissioner
Malcolm J. Miller, Regioncal Director C
Lawnrence M. Pinclmey, State mkuinistrator
 ‘

 l .
FORJWORD
The Inventory of County Archives of South Carolina is one of a number
of bibliographies of historical materials prepared thrbughoum the United
States by workers on the historical Records Survey of the work Projects
V Administration. The publication herewith presented, an inventory of the
archives of Anderson County, is number 4 of the South Carolina series.
The Historical Records Survey was u dertakcn in the winter of 1955-56
for the purpose of providing useful employment to needy unenmloyed histori-
ans, lawyers, teachers, and research and clerical workers. In carrying out
this objective, the project was organized to compile inventories of histori-
cal materials, particularly the unpublished government documents and records
which are basic in the administration of local government, and which pro-
vide invaluable data for students of political, economic, and social
history. The archival guide herewith presented is intended to meat the re- ·
quirements of day-to-day administration by the officials of the county, and I
also the needs of lawyers, business men and other citizens who require
facts from the public records for the proper conduct of their affairs. The
volume is so designed that it can be used by the historian in his research
in unprinted sources in the same way he used the library card catalog for
printed sources.
The inventories produced by the Historical Records Survey attempt to
r do more than give merely a list of records - they attempt further to sketch
in the historical background of the county or other unit of govcrnm nt,
» and to describe precisely and in detail the organization and functions of
the government agencies whose records they list. The county, town, and
other local inventories for the entire country will, when completed, consti-
tute an encyclopedia of local government as well as a bibliography of local
archives.
The successful conclusion of the work of the Historical Records Survey,
even in a single county, would not be possible without the support of pub-
lic officials, historical and legal specialists, and many other groups in
the community. Their cooperation is gratefully acknowledged.
The survey was organized and has been directed by Luther H. Evans, and
` operates as a nation-wide project in the Division of Professional and
Service Projects, of which Lbs. Florence Kerr, Assistant Conmnssioncr, is
in charge.
F. C. Harrington
Commissioner
4

 PREFACE
The Historical Records Survey began on a nation-wide scale as part of `
the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration, and
became in October 1936 an independent part of Federal Project No. l. Undo:
the national leadership of Dr. Luther H. Evans, the Survey has inventoried
state, county, city, church, and, to a limited extent, private records.
At present, it is preparing for publication in a condensed form, descrip-
tive lists of public records of the local units of government. In each
state the counties are numbered in alphabetical order, and treated as
separate units, each with an introductory section giving the historical
background and a description of the present government and records system.
All records are referred to the office of origin, which is carefully de-
scribed as to history, functions, and required records. Each type of
record is given a numbered entry showing the comprehensive dates for which
_ it is extant, the quantity, an interpretation of contents, and details as
S to nature of recording, indexing and location. State, municipal, church, ?
and other records will be described in separate publications.
In South Carolina the Historical Records Survey was begun on March 1,
1936. Through Professor R. L. Meriwether, head of the department of
history, it has enjoyed the active aid of the University of South Carolina,
which, as co-sponsor of the project, is contributing the offices of state
headquarters. Acknowledgments are also due the officials of the Work
Projects Administration in South Carolina and in particular, to Mrs.
Margaret D. Davies, director of the Division of Professional and Service
Projects, who has at all times given every possible cooperation in the
administration of the project.
The survey of Anderson County records was begun on Mnrch 28, 1936,
by Annie Aiken of Anderson, who was released December 1, 1936. During
September 15-20, 1936, Marvin M. Smith of l lhalla, field supervisor,
made a new survey. In October 1937, the draft inventory was prepared
by Josephine Copeland, research assistant in the state office. In 1938
this was revised by Miss Copeland, with the field assistance of Fred A.
Wood of Anderson, who made a thorough rcchcck from the records. ll-
lustrations are the work of Paul Jordan. Stencils were out by Florence
Worthy and Audrey Cox. The mimeographing is the work of W. M. Boylston.
· The forty-six separate units of the Inventory of County ArEhiy£s_o£
9 South Carolina will be issued in mimcographcd form for ree distribution
to state and local public officials and to a selected group of public and 1
` institutional libraries. Requests for information should bo addressed to
the state director, University of South Carolina, Colu bia.
QW \/yy}   ’ gf)   `
August 31, 1939 Anno K. Gregorio
State Director
Historical Records Survey
M

 - ]_ ..
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A A. Andersen County and its Records System Page
V lj   Slzetchlb••ll¤•llltvlllilliltlOIOIUOIOOIIIIOIUIIIOOIOI 5
2. Governmental Organization and Records System ............ ........ 7
” Origin and Status of the County. Development of County ·
Government. Administration. Judiciary. Finance. Elections.
Schools. Public Health. Welfare and Conservation Agencies.
Boards and Commissions. Defunct Offices. Record Keeping. V
5. Housing, Care, and Accessibility of the Records, .,.... ,., ,.,,, ,, 15
4. Abbreviations, Symbols, and Explanatory Netes..... ....... ....... l9
B. County Offices and Their Records
I. Legislative Delegatien... .................................. . .... 22
II. Board of County Commissioners ..................... . ............ . 25
Minutes and Reports. Claims and Warrants. Supplies and
Estimates. Convicts and Paupers. Roads and Bridges.
Miscellaneous. County Highway Commission. M
III. Pendleton County Court (defu ct) .............................. .. 52
IV. Clerk of Court as Register of Mesne Conveyance. ........... . ..... BQ A
Deeds and Contracts: Conveyances; Mortgages Personal
Property; Labor Contracts. Statutory Liens. Attachments of
Real Estate. Business Registrations. Surety Bonds. Mis-
cellaneous.
V. Commissioner of Location (defunct). ..... . .................. ..... 40
VI. Clerk of Court., ................... . ........................... . 4l
County Officers. Professional Registrations. Business
Registrations. Licenses. Fees and Accounts. Motor
Registration. Military Records. Alcoholic Liquor Records.
Voters and Elections. Bond Issues. Surety Bonds. Drainage .
Commission. Vital Statistics. Audit Reports.
VII. Circuit Court of General Sessions ................. . ............. 49 i
Sessions Cases: General; Special Magistrates. Dockets.
Minutes. Clemency. Jurers and Court Costs. Ferfeitures.
VIII. Circuit Solicitor ........................... . ............ ....... 55
IX. Grand Jury ....... . .............................................. 56

 - 3 - - {
’ Table of Contents ‘
Page .
_ X. Beard of Jury Commissioners ...................... . ...... .. 57
, XI. Circuit Court of Common Pleas ........ ........... ...... .... 58 I
I Judgments. Calendars. Initiatory Proceedings and Lis 3
Pendens. Attachments and Injunctions. Minutes. Orders. I
Reports. Naturalization. Processes. Appeals.
‘ XII. Court of Equity (defunct)... .............................. 67
, Papers of Record and Indexes. Initiatory Proceedings.
· Dockets. Minutes and Decrees. Estate Records.
Q V. XIII. Special Referee....... ..... . .............................. 71
It XIV. Judge of Probate .......................................... 73
;_ Transmission of Property: Papers of Record and Indexes,
" Transcripts. Inheritance Tax. Foes and Accounts.
p_ Court Procedure. Lunacy. Marriage. Pensions. Liquor
. Permits. Miscellaneous.
I XV. Magistrates ............. . .................................. 85 I
XVI. Special Magistrates ............... . ................... , .... 86
District Ho. 1; Dockets; Jury Records. District Ro. 2:
Dockets; Jury Records.
XVII. Court of Magistrates and Freeholders (defunct)... ..... ..,,. S8 p
i XVIII. District Court (defunct) .......... . .... . ................. .. 89
XIX. Sheriff... ....... . ......................... ... .... ..... .... 91
Writs and Warrants. Tax Executions. Miscellaneous.
H-Q CO1`O1'1€rO|Il•IIi¤|0••r-UQOOUOOOQOIIOQI•u•••I•¤¤¤•¤.••¤¤0tI•t•|  
XXI. Auditor ............... . ................... . ..... . ....... ... 97
Tax Returns. Duplicates. Abatements. Abstracts.
Indexes. Correspondence and Reports. Miscellaneous.
XXII. Board of Equa1ization,., ......... . .................. . ..... . 105
XXIII. Trcasurer...... ....... . ............ . ...... .... ......... .... 104
V Taxes. Bookkeeping Records. Settlements. Reports. '
Miscellaneous. _
‘ XXIV. Tax Collector ........................................... ... 110 I
XXV. Forfeitod Land Commissien.. ...... . ................. . ..... .. 115 i
XXVI. Superintendent and Board of Education............. ......... 114 D
Minutes. Reports. Financial Records. Correspondence.
Trustees. Teachers. Applications and Contracts. Cen- E
sus. Insurance. Surveys. Miscellaneous. Maps. %

 Table of Contents
Page
  Board of R6§;1S+.7P&`bj.OH•••..••••••.....•......··.••••••••¤  
1 XXVIII. Commissioners of Election .... . .................. . ....... 122 l
XXIX. County Board of Control (defunct) ............. . ........ . 123
XXX. County Board of Public Welfare ....... . .................. 123
XXXI. Board of Honor (inactive).... ....... .... ............. 1... 127
XXXII. Service Officer.... ........................ .. ........... 128
XXXIII. Board of Health and Health Department ................... 129
Reports and Correspondence. Child Health. Sanitary
Inspection and Complaints. Venereal Diseases. Im-
munizations. Miscellaneous.
XXXIV. Farm and Home Extension Service ......................... 133 3
XXXV. Courthouse Building Commission .................. . ....... 134
XXXVI. Commission on Rural E1octrificetion... ........... . ...... 134
XIXVII. Broadaway Lake Commission .......... ........... . ..... ... 134
XXXVIII. Airport Commission,. ....... . ............................ 135
XIXIX. Boxing Commission. ...................................... 135
XL. Mi1itia.. ........... . ................................... 136
Palmetto Riflemen Company B, Fourth Regiment. Battery
E, 263rd Coast Artillery.
Bibliography. .............................. .... ......... 141
Index
Chrono1ogical....... .... . ................... .. ........ 145
A1phabetica1... ....................................... 149
Illustrations
I First County Courthouse ..... .... ..... .. .... .. frontispisoc l
I Map of Circuit Court Districts, 1769 ........ . following 6
Map of Counties and Circuit Court Districts, »
· 1791-1799... fohgydng 8
Map of Circuit Court Districts, 1800. ....... . following 10
Emp of Counties, 1868........ ............ .... following 12

 · Table of Contents
Page l
Chart of County Government . . . . . . . . . , .......... flollowing 14 ’
_ Anderson County Courthouse. . . . . ...... . ...... . . following 16 V`
Mop of Anderson County. . ...................... following; 22  
Map of Counties , 1958, showing your of origin. .. . . . . . . . . . end
  `
V]
l 4 -.
2

 _ (First entry, p. 26)
1. HISTORICAL SKETCH
By the terms of the treaty which followed the defeat of the Cherokee ,
Indians in the southern phase of the French and Indian War, the Indian
. boundary in South Carolina was marked in 1766 (D. D, Wallace, History of
South Carolina, 4 vols., Nt Y., 1954, II, 54) along the line which new
forms the southeastern bou dary of Anderson County. Although the Indians
were driven from their hunting grounds early in the Revolution, settlers
were forbidden to take up lands in the evacuated area until after the
state's faithful soldiers had received their military bounty lands. Va-
V grants had already moved into the fertile Indian fields, and in 1778 the
region was attached to Ninety Six District, whose justices of the peace
were given full jurisdiction. (Stat. IV, 411.) Squatters gave little
heed to this law, and in 1784, when commissioners of location were put in
charge of vacant lands, all grants and surveys beyond the Indian bou dary
were declared null and void (Stat. IV, 595). The next year the lands be-
yond the boundary were attached to the newly created Abbeville County of ,
7 Ninety Six District (Stat. IV, 665). l
, The first settlers in what is new Anderson County were probably those
on Broadaway Creek, where Thomas Buford and John Wardlaw are said to have
taken up lands in 1785. In general, the region filled up with Scotch-
Irish who came down from Virginia and Pennsylvania. (L. A. Vandiver,
History and Tiaditions of Anderson County, Atlanta, 1928, p. 191, passim.)
On petition of the settlers, the legislature in 1789 set off this frontier
appendage of Abbeville County into a new county of Ninety Six District
called Pendleton (Stat, VII, 252, 255), named for Henry Pendleton, the
young jurist from Virginia who had fathered the county court act of 1785
(J. Brevard, Digest of Public Statute Law, Charleston, 1814, 5 vols., I,
xvi). The first justices of the peace appointed for Pendleton County were
Andrew Pickens, John Miller, John Wilson, Benjamin Cleveland, William
Halbert, Henry Clark, John Moffat, and Robert Anderson. The first court
met on April 2, 1790, at the home of Cel. Andrew Pickens, with Robert
Andersen, John Wilson, and William Halbert, presiding as the worshipful
" justices. They elected Samuel Lofton as the first sheriff, William Shaw,
_ county attorney, and John Miller, clerk and treasurer. (Minutes county
I court, 1790-95, pp. 5, 5, 7, 9, entry 54.) The justices of Pendleton
' County erected a log courthouse and jail on Tanyard Branch, on lands orig-
inally granted July 2, 1789, to Isaac Lynch, a carpenter. Arou d this
· seat of justice, developed the village of Pendleton, which soon became
quite a center of culture and enterprise. Wealthy families from the mala-
f rial low country ca e for the summers, and remained as permanent residents. _
f John Miller, a printer from London, founded Mil1er's Weekly Messenger, the '
first newspaper in the up country. (Vandiver, Anderson County, p. 196.)
L As settlement was very rapid, this portion was cut off from Ninety Six '
¤ District in 1791, and Pendleton County became a subdivision of the new Q
V Washington District (Stat. VII, 262), named in honor of George Washington, ¤
who visited the state that year on his famous southern tour.
j On January 1, 1800, by division into two new circuit court districts
(see map_fo1lowing p. 8), Washington District ceased to exist, and Pendle-
i For abbreviations and explanatory notes see pages 19-21

 - 5 - 8
(First entry, p. 26) Historical Sketch é
ton County became Pendleton District (Stat. VII, 262, 284). Regular ses- Y
sions of the circuit courts were held at`Pendleton village, which now J
A reached its zenith. In 1808 a circulating library was established (Stat. V, f
7 578), which in 1821 was permitted to use its funds for a "female acadeE§W *
and in 1825 was recharterod as the Pendleton Academy (Stat. VIII, 261, 271, Q
_ 521, 545). In 1817 the Pendleton Farmers‘ Society was inebrporated (Stat. E
— viii, 282). . y "“'  
· Pendleton District was subdivided in 1826 into two "counties", Ander· V g
, son and Pickens (Stat. VI, 289), named for the popular Revolutionary 1
· soldiers Col. Robertflnderson and Gen. Andrew Pickens, who had received T
» military grants in the region at the time it was opened for settlement. a
2 Effective in October 1828, these counties became circuit court districts, V
i replacing the defu ct Pendleton District (1827, Stat. VI, 541). The new (
° courthouse which had been contracted for Pendletonmwas abandoned and the ,
y money divided between Pickens and Anderson for their courthouses (Tho ;
*` Pendleton Messenger, Pendleton, S. C., March 8, 1826; Stat. VI, 290TT _ ;
I Since the~village bf Pendleton fell within the limits Ef—Knderson Dis- Y
trict, the records of Pendleton were delivered to Anderson in 1827 to be
g continued by the incumbent officials, who also were transferred (Stat. VI, Q
2eo, sez). 8 “"""“
The commissioners named to select the site for the new Anderson Dis-
trict courthouse were James Harrison, Robert B. Norris, Matthew Gambrell,
John C. Griffin, and William Sherard. They bought 150 acres, centrally
located, and had streets laid off around a square (Vandiver, Anderson "
County, pp. 10, ll). Upon this square a brick courthouse was E¥eetbE' i
(Phndlbton Messenger, February 22, 1827) by Robert Wilson, a brick mason
Q of-Greenvi1le,—oE`sbbcontractor from Benjamin Denham (Vandivcr, Anderson .
County, p. 11). The building was described by contemporaries as BE1hg`"
lqifndsome, elegant, and commodious"_(Pendleton Messenger, March 12, May 24,
1828). This nucleus of a town was   The money from
the sale of town lots was allocated to the expenses of running the dis-
trict boundaries, buying the town site, and building the courthouse (1826,
A Stat. VI, 290). The first county officers were J. T. Lewis, clerk of
court; George E. W. Foster, sheriff; John Harris, ordinary (Vandiver, P
Anderson County, pp. 12, 15), Joseph Shanklin, com issioner in equity, “
James Douthit, tax collector (Pendleton Messenger, 1826-28, passim). The
time c¤~.u·#¤ was mia on the u1Tr2i‘iuBEi?1EIg?  o`e`t°568r 1828, Judge _J-o-hn 8.
Richardson presiding (Vandivor, Anderson_QoEnty, p. 12). _
in 1855 tho first courthouse was remodeled at a cost of $2,500.00
(1852, Stat. XII, 144). "The old red bricks were plastered over and paint- Q
ed white, a belfry was added at the western end. Four large columns were “ E
_ V erected on a portico at each end, giving it a decidedly Grecian air. There Q
were two curving flights of ornamental iron stairs at both entrances run- (
ning from the ground to the second story, which was the courtroom. There E
were doors beneath the stairs opening into the first floor which contain- J
od offices. The windows were large and arched. Then the crowning glory é
was added, a bell .... " (Vandivcr, hnderson_Countyy p. 277.) f
For abbreviations and explanatory notes sec pages 19-21 {
2

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 U Governmental Organization and Records System ~ (First entry, p. 26)
· - I Origin and Status of the County
A move for a new courthouse took form in 1885, when the county board
of commissioners was authorized to sell the old building and lot at their
discretion and to invest the proceeds in a suitable lot and a new build- _
ing (Stat. XVIII, 5Cl, 502). Apparently the matter rested u til 1896, when
a one-hill property tax was authorized for a six-year period to finance a
new building {Stat, XXII, 541). In 1897 the matter was referred to the
voters (ibid.fi;.M6l8), and as a result, the quaint but inadequate build-
ing was demolished and the present courthouse was erected on the site of
the old courthouse   Charleston, S. C., September 17).
_ The boundaries of Anderson County today are the same as those of 1826
(Stat. VI, 289). Beginning at the mouth of Cane Creek on Tugaloo River,
the county is bounded on the north and northwest by Oconee and Pickens
Counties; on the northeast and east by Greenville County, from which it
is separated by the Saluda River; on the southeast by Abbeville County;
and on the southwest by the state of Georgia, from which it is separated -
by the Savannah River (Code 2979). ,
Anderson County lies on the piedmont plateau, With an abundance of
hydro-electric power, it has become one of the leading textile centers of
the state and of the south. `The area of the county is 758 square miles,
and the population by the 1950 census was 80,949. Anderson, the county
seat, in the same census showed a population of 14,585. The cou ty has
about 8000 small farms, averaging 44 acres each, operated chiefly by
white owners, so successfully that in 1926 Anderson County ranked agri-
eulturally first, not only in the state but in the southeast. (South
Carolina, A Handbook, by the S. C. Department of Agriculture, Comme?ce
'iH&`i§&1HScE-IEET and ciomsos coiioge, coiumbia, 1927, p. zao.)
2. GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION AND RECORDS SYSTEM
Origin and Status of the County
The first counties in what is new South Carolina were created in ac-
cordance with the royal charter of 1665 (Stat. I, 55), and with the feudal
plans of the Earl of Shaftsbury as worked_eut by John Locke in the funda-
mental constitutions of 1669 (art. 5, Stat. I, 45). In 1682, Berkeley,
Craven, and Colleton Counties were ordered laid out in squares thirty
I miles deep along the coast as units of a complicated local administration
(PR, I, 150, 151). Under the royal government, attempts to revive the V Y
county or precinct as the local.unit of administration were also without ‘
lasting success (Stat) VII, 166; III, 287, 288). ·
After the Revolution thirty-four counties were laid out (1785, Stat. _ Q
IV, 661-66) as statutory subdivisions of the seven circuit court districts,
for the administration of local affairs. The constitution of 1790 made
twenty-seven of these counties election units also (art. I, 5). Although
For abbreviations and explanatory notes soo pages 19-21

 -  V 
- 8 - 3
· (First entry, p. 26) Governmental Organization and Records System -·  
Development of Cou ty Government g
· most of these counties became circuit court districts on January 1, 1800 L
(Stat. VII, 283-85, 289, 290), the constitution of 1865 was the first to
maEE~all judicial districts election districts, and Charleston contained
two, including that of Berkeley (art. I, 3). Z
The constitution of 1868, drafted by midwestern invaders, set up the Q
_ . county as an agency of the state, created for administrative, political, p
and judicial purposes. By this constitution, the county was defined as a I
j judicial and election district, the area of both old and new counties was
limited to not less than 525 square miles, and the power of the logisla- X
it ture was stated to organize new cou ties within this limit by alteration ¤
{ I of boundaries. (Art. II, 5,) In 1868 the county by statute, became a
. body politic and corporate for specified purposes (ggrt. XIV, 152). »
fj The present constitution of 1895 continued the county as an agency of
the state, and made clear the principle that counties as creations of the
· state legislature are subject to its alteration, provided that all ques-
¥ tions relating to their formation, names, county seats, and boundarics,,
* are first submitted to the electorate in the area affected. When one—third
of the qualified electors in any area petition the governor for the cre-
ation of a new county, giving the boundaries and other requirements, the
governor orders an election to decide whether or not the new cou ty shall
be formed, what shall be its name, and what its cou ty seat. If two-thirds
of the registered voters cast their ballots for the new county, the legis-
lature establishes it at the next session. A new county must contain not
loss than 400 square miles, l/124 of the population of the state, and
E $l,500,000.00 in taxable property. The parent county may not be reduced
’ to less than 500 square miles, 15,000 inhabitants, and $2,000,000.00 in
taxable property. It may not be cut within eight miles of its courthouse,
and its boundaries must avoid passing through an incorporated city or town.
(Art. VII, 1-14.) Since 1912, neither the new county nor its parent may
be more than four times as long as the least central width (Stat. XXVII,
841; Code; 5028). ·*_-"
The general assembly may provide for the consolidating of two or more l
counties, and for changing their bou darios. It can group the various _ ~
counties into judicial circuits and congressional districts, and establish
or alter the voting precincts. Each county constitutes one election dis-
trict and is a body politic and corporate. (Const. 1895, art. VII, 9, ·
io, is.) I
I Development of County Government _
· , County government has developed from state government, which in South ` s
Carolina is centralized in the state legislature.
Under English beginnings, local government existed in the justices of j
the peace, who settled "nnane causcs" (1686, Stat. II, 27); in the militia L
which provided local defense (Stat. IX, 625-9l)E—in the patrol system, {
which kept the slave populationmin order (§tat. II, 254, 255); and in the {
For abbreviations and explanatory notes see pages 19-21 l
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 e · - 9 - 7
w Governmental Organization and Records System - ` (First entry, p. 26)
· Development of County Government
established church, whose parishes along the coast were administrative _
units for elections, road work, free schools, and care of the poor (ibid.,
pp. 282-97). The early proprietary counties were intended to meet all _
local needs, but they functioned for a limited time only, chiefly as elec-
tion units, and their names survived merely as geographical expressions,
useful in describing locations of land grants.
The county court act of 1721, approved by the crown following the revo-
lution of 1719 which overthrew the preprietors' rule, provided for local
administration through local justices of the peace sitting as a group
(Stat. VII, l66-76). These county courts also functioned only for a limit-
ed period and then fell into disuse (Stat. III, 287, 288), probably because
poverty—stricken pioneers preferred to settle their differences without
the expense of courts.
_ In 1769 the state was divided into seven circuit court districts,
which are sometimes regarded as the beginning of modern county government, ,
because a clerk of court and a sheriff functioned in each district outside `
of Charleston; but these officers were provincial officers and they were
responsible to the court in Charleston (J. F. Grimke, Public Laws . . . I
Phila., 1790, pp. 268-75). After the Revolution, counties were laid out;
and in 1785 local administrative and judicial duties were delegated to the
county courts set up in these subdivisions of each circuit court district;
Each county court consisted of seven justices of the peace, who sat to-
gether at stated periods as a court which elected the county officers, su-
pervised the building of the courthouse, levied taxes, licensed taverns,
authorized road work, cared for the poor, and kept records of deeds, con-
tracts, and court business (Stat. VII, 211-42). Although rejected in the
low country circuit court districts, whore parishes were already establish-
ed and the vestries were meeting the needs of local administration, these
courts functio