xt7ftt4fqx5s https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7ftt4fqx5s/data/mets.xml Jasper County, South Carolina South Carolina Historical Records Survey 1938 Prepared by the Historical Records Survey, Division of Women's and Professional Projects, Works Progress Administration; Other contributors include: United States Works Progress Administration Division of Women's and Professional Projects; 72 pages: illustrations and maps, 28 cm; Includes bibliographical references and indexes; Mimeographed; UK holds archival copy for ASERL Collaborative Federal Depository Program libraries; Call number Y 3.W 89/2:43/So8c/no.27 books English Columbia, South 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 27 Jasper County (Ridgeland) text Inventory of the County Archives of South Carolina, Number 27 Jasper County (Ridgeland) 1938 1938 2015 true xt7ftt4fqx5s section xt7ftt4fqx5s   I'.éj€i;j  '@" W *"'@

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 A
INVENTORY OF THE COUNTY ARCHIVES
· OF SOUTH CAROLINA
Prepared by
- The Historical Records Survey
Division of Women's and Professional Projects
Works Progress Administration
No. 27. JASPER COUNTY (RIDGELAND)
>|<>i<*='r<*#.==i<>i<*
Columbia, S, C,
The Historical Records Survey
October 1958

 A . ii
I
The Historical Records Survey x
Luther H, Evans, National Director
Anne K. Gregorie, State Director  
{ Division of Women's and Professional Projects {
4 -
Ellen S. Woodward, Assistant Administrator h
Margaret D. Davies, State Director .
 
WORKS PROGRESS ADMINISTRATION  
Q
I i
Harry L. Hopkins, Administrator é
Lawrence M. Pinokney, State Administrator {

 ‘ FOREWORD
The Inventory of County Archives of South Carolina is one of a number
` of bibliographies o? HiSEOFlO&I materiaIs prepared throughout the United
~ States by workers on the Historical Records Survey of the Works Progress
Administration. The publication herewith presented, an inventory of the
archives of Jasper County, is number 27 of the South Carolina series.
_, The Historical Records Survey was undertaken in the winter of 1955-
56 for the purpose of providing useful employment to needy unemployed his-
torians, lawyers, teachers, and research and clerical workers, In carrying
, out this objective, the project was organized to compile inventories of
historical materials, particularly the unpublished government documents
and records which are basic in the administration of local government, and
which provide invaluable data for students of political, economic, and so-
cial history. The archival guide herewith presented is intended to meet
the requirements of day·to-day administration by the officials of the coun-
ty, and also the needs of lawyers, business men and other citizens who re-
quire 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 re-
search in unprinted sources in the same way he uses the library card catalog
for printed sources.
The inventories produced by the Historical Records Survey attempt to
do more than give merely a list of records · they attempt further to sketch
in the historical background of the county or other u it of government, and
to describe precisely and in detail the organization and functions of the
government agencies whose records they list, The cgu ty, town, and other
local inventories for the entire country will, when completed, constitute
p an encyclopedia of local government as well as a bibliography of local ar-
chives.
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 Divison of Women's and Pro-
fessional Projects, of which Mrs, Ellen S, Woodward, Assistant Administrator,
is in charge.
HARRY L, HOPKINS
Administrator

 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. Under
the national leadership of Dr. Luther H. Evans, formerly of Princeton, the
y Survey has inventoried state, county, city, church, and, to a limited extent,
V private records. At present, it is preparing for publication in a condensed
form, descriptive 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
backgrou d and a description of the present government and records system.
All records are organized under the office of origin, which is carefully
described as to history, functions, and required records. Each type of rec-
ord is given a numbered entry showing the comprehensive dates for which it
is extant, the quantity, an interpretation of contents, and details as to
nature of recording, indexing and location. State, municipal, church, and
other records will be described in separate publications.
The Historical Records Survey was begun in South Carolina on March l,
1936. From the beginning it has had the active aid and cooperation of the
University of South Carolina, through Professor Robert L. Meriwether, head
of the department of history. His private library and scholarly counsel
have been invaluable assets of the Survey; Acknowledgments for administra-
tive support and cooperation are gratefully accorded to the officials of the
- South Carolina Works Progress Administration.
The survey of Jasper County records was begun on September 8, 1936, by
Mrs, Rose M. Tobin of Allendale, and was completed on October 21, The legal
and historical research and the preparation of introductory material are the
work of the state office under plans worked out in the national office. The
condensed inventory was checked from the records October 12-19, 1937, by
Miss Vivian Barnette of thc state office staff.
The forty~six separate units of the Inventory of County Archives of
South Carolina will be issued in mimeographed form for free distribution to
state and local public officials and to a selected group of public and insti-
tutional libraries. Requests for information should be addressed to the state
n director, University of South Carolina, Columbia.
Q_____~__` "\,_  
October 21, 1937 Anne K. Gregorie
State Director
Historical Records Survey

   ·l· Q
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A. Jasper Cou ty and its Records System Page
1. Historical Sketch .... . ...“........................ ..... ..... 4
2. Governmental Organization and Records System,. .... . ....... .. 5
5. Housing, Care and Accessibility of the Records ....... ....... lO
4. List of Abbreviations, Symbols and Explanatory Notes........ ll
B. County Offices and Their Records
I. Legislative Delegation. ............. . .... ................... 14
II. Supervisor and Board of Com issioners....... ............... . I5
. Minutes . Claims and Warrants. Bookkeeping Records.
III. Clerk of Court as Register of Mesne Conveyance. ........... .. 17
Real Property: Deeds and Plats, Mortgages. Personal
Property. Statutory Liens. Surety Bonds. Miscellaneous,
Ivl     Courtllttllll00I¤O•||IIl|Il!•IItl•I¤Il••¤|¤•i••¤I||  
E County Officers. Business Registration. Licenses.
* Receipts. Motor Registration. Military Records.
` Alcoholic Liquor Records. Voters and Elections.
Bonds. Vital Statistics. Miscellaneous.
V. Circuit Court of General Sessions........................... 26
Sessions Cases, Dockets, Minutes. Records of Clemency
and Criminal Statistics, Reports. Jurors and Court
_ Costs, Forfeitures.
VI. Circuit Solicitor. ....... .... .... ... ....... ........... ..... . SO
VUQ GmndJmy. .................................... . ............ 31
1 VIII. Board of Jury Com issioners .... ... .............. . ......... .. 51
IX. Circuit Court of Common Pleas ................. . ............. 52
» Judgments. Calendars. Legal Notices. Minutes. °
X. Referee ...... . .............................................. 35
XI. Judge of Probate ................................ . ........... 55
Transmission of Property: Papers of Record and
Indexes, Transcripts. Court Procedure. Commitments.
· Marriage, Pensions. Liquor Permits.

 I Table of Contents — 2 - _ *
XII. Magistrates. ........ .. ..........°....................... .. 59
XIII. Sheriff. ........... .... ................................ ... 40
XIV. Coroner ........... .... ..¤.. . ........... ....... ........ .... 42
XV. Audit0r.. ...... . ¤.... . ..... . .... .... ......... ...... ....... 45
XVI. Board of Equalization. .......... . ...... . .... . .... . ........ 44
XVII. Treasurer ........................... .... ................. . 45 Q
Tax Collections. Accou ts,
XVIII. Forfeited Land Com ission. ............. . .... .. ..... . ..... . 47
XIX. Sinking Fu d Commission. .............. . .... ............... 47
XX. Superintendent of Education ............................... 48
Ledger. Reports. Claims. Teachers' A
Certificates. Bonds.
XXI. School Board Authority. ...... . ..... . .... . ........ . ........ 50
XXII. Board of Registration ................................. .... 51
XXIII. Com issioners of Election ......... . ....................... 51
XXIV. Dispensary Board (defunct).. ............ r ......... . ....... 52
XXV. Board of Honor (inactive) ......... .. ..... . .,.............. 55
XXVI.. Service Officer ................ .. ......................... 55
XXVII. Health Unit .......... . ...... ... ....... ..,........ ......... 55
XXVIII. Farm and Home Extension Service. .......... . ..... .. ........ 55
XXIX. County Board of Public Welfare.. ............... ... ..... ... 56
XXX. Hospitalization and Charity Commission ......... . ......... . 57
Index
Chronological .... . ............ . ....... . ........ . ........ 58
Alphabetical,. ..... . ........... . ........................ Gl
Illustrations
Jasper County Courthouse ......................... frontispioco
Map of Parishes of South Carolina, 1770. ......... follomin§‘ 5

 Table of Contents - 5 U é
Page
A Map of Circuit Court Districts, 1769 .......... . following 4
C Map of Circuit Court Districts and Counties 1785.£211gEing 5 V
Chart of Jasper County Government., ......... . ....... .. .... 9
Map of Jasper County ... ...... .... .... . .... ..... follomdng 15
Map of Cou ties 1958, showing year of origin. ..... ....... Egg

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‘ (First entry, p. 16)
1. HISTORICAL SKETCH `
Barred from the seacoast by Beaufort County, Jasper is nevertheless
one of the tidewater counties of the South Carolina black belt, whose ‘
historical background is the plantation regime of indigo, rice and cotton.
The area was originally included in the claims of Spanish Florida,
and was visited by Pardo in 1566 (D. D. Wallace, History of South Carolina,
N. Y., 1934,4 vols. I, 50). It was held by the Yamasee Indians until their
defeat by the Carolinians in the Yamasee War, which opened in 1715 with a
massacre of the whites at the Indian village of Pocotaligo near the north-
ern boundary of the modern county. The lords proprietors of Carolina had
then already named the section Granville Cou ty, which remained a mere ·
geographical expression until it was restricted in 1785 to a coastal sub-
division of Beaufort District (Stat. IV, 665-64).
Under the township plan of settlement of the early royal government of
the province, a colony of Swiss led by John Peter Purry in 1732, laid out
on the Savannah River near the Great Yamasee Bluff, the town and township
of Purrysburgh. There the Switzers attempted the culture of olives, wine
and silk, and for a time prior to the Revolution actually exported several
hundred pounds of raw silk each year (R. L. Meriwether, Expansion of South
Carolina 1729-1765, MS). Although abandoned because of malaria, this settle-
ment made a permanent contribution to the population.
Early in_l747 Purrysburgh Township became a part of St. Peter's Parish,
and the chapel and the dwelling at the village of Purrysburgh, wherein the
Rev. Mr. Chiffelle had "preaohed and dwelt for some years past", were de-
clared to be the church and parsonage of St. Peter‘s Parish (Stat. III, 569).
Twenty years later, the portion of St. He1ena's Parish known as the Euhaws,
or the Indian Lands, was cut off to become St. Luke's Parish (Stat. IV, 266),
but the parish church was not built u til after the Revolution. These par-
ishes as election districts were represented in the general assembly until
the constitution of 1865 made the judicial districts election units (art. I,
5 I
When the circuit court act of 1769 divided the state into seven dis-
tricts, what is new Jasper Cou ty became a part of Beaufort District (J. F.
Grimke, Public Laws..,, Phila., 1792, p. 269). After the Revolution, under
the county court act of 1785, it comprised portions of Hilton and Lincoln
Counties of Beaufort District (Stat, IV, 665-64). Coosawhatchie and Gillison-
ville, two ante-bellum seats of government of old Beaufort District, are
new villages of Jasper County. After the Civil War, the northern part of
what is new Jasper County was included in Hampton Cou ty, which was out off
from Beaufort in 1876 (Stat. XNI, 575).
Jasper County was formed in 1912 from portions of Beaufort and Hampton
Counties (Stat. XXVII, 827), and was named for William Jasper, an heroic
sergeant who rescued the South Carolina flag in the battle of Fort Moultrie
in 1776. The commissioners named to provide the public buildings and to
have the boundaries surveyed were C. E. Perry, John M, Langford, J. H.
For abbreviations and explanatory notes see pages ll-15

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_ i Governmental Organization and Records System (First entry, p. 16) V
A Woods, J. P. Wise and Rodger Pinckney (ibid.929). The natural boundaries
include the Savannah, Coosawhatchie, Tulifinny, Pocotaligo, and Broad Rivers;
Cole's, Hazzard's Back, and Eutaw Creeks; and Manigau1t's Neck (ibid. p. 828).
The bou dary with Hampton was marked in 1914 (Stat, XXVIII, 626), and slight- ¤
ly altered in 1916 (Stat. XXIX, 754-56).
At a special election held on April 12, 1912 the first temporary county
officers were elected, with the proviso that all elective offices should be
regularly filled at the general election in the fall (Stat. XXVII, 851).
The first officials were H. H. Porter, sheriff; W, J. Ellis, clerk of court;
W. H. Woods, supervisor; C. K. Smith, W} D. Floyd, commissioners; R. M,
Jefferies, superintendent of education; C. M. Jaudon and T. W, Malphrus,
members of the county board of education; W. J. Nettlos, coroner; W. A. .
Sauls, judge of probate; J. S. Berg, treasurer; W. A. Vaigncur, auditor.
The first court opened at Ridgeland on September 20, 1912, in a temporary
courtroom above Perry’s store, Judge George E. Prince, presiding. The first
and PTOSOHN Courthouse wasezrected in 1915, on a well located lot now at-
tractively planted with shrubbery.
Jasper County has an area of 596 square miles and a population of
about 10,000 persons, engaged mainly in agriculture and forest industries.
Ridgeland, the county seat and largest town, is named for its location on a
sand ridge. It has about 500 inhabitants, and was incorporated in 1900.
2. GOVERNM NTAL ORGANIZATION AND RECORDS SYSTEM
The cou ty in South Carolina is an agency of the state, created for
administrative, judicial and political purposes. Although provided for in
the second royal charter of 1665 (Stat. I, 55) and in the fundamental con-
stitutions of 1669 (art. 5; Stat. IT—Z5), counties were not created until
1682, and functioned only to a limited degree. The constitution of 1778,
under which Hilton and Lincoln Counties were formed in 1785 (Stat. IV, 665-
64),and the constitution of 1790, which remained in effect until 1861, con-
tained no provisions for the formation of units of local government. The
constitution of 1868 standardized the county as both a judicial and election
district, stated the legislature's power to organize new counties by changing
the boundaries of old ones, and limited the area of both old and new counties
to not less than 625 square miles (art. ll, 5). In the same year by statute
~the county became a legal entity for specified purposes (Stat. XIV, 152).
The present constitution of 1895, under which Jasper County was formed,
imade clear the principle that counties are creations of the state legisla-
ture and subject to its alteration, provided that all questions relating to
their formation, names, county seats, and boundaries, 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 creation of a new county,
ygiving the boundaries and complying with the requirements, the governor orders
an election to decide whether or not the new county shall be formed, what
shall be its name, and what its county seat. If two-thirds of the registered
For abbreviations and explanatory notes see pages 11-15

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Qevernmental Organization and Records System (First entry, p. 16) -
voters cast their ballots for the new county, the legislature establishes it
at the next session. A new county must contain not less than 1/l24 of the
population of the state, and at least $1,500,000 in taxable property. The
parent county may not be reduced to less than 500 square miles or $2,000,000
taxable property, or 15,000 inhabitants, It may not be cut within eight
miles of its courthouse buildin , and boundaries must avoid passing through
van incorporated city or town. %Art. VII, l-14.) In shape, neither the new
county nor its parent may be more than four times as long as the least cen-
tral width (Code 5028). The general assembly may provide for the consoli-
dating of two or more counties, for the organizing of other townships than
those already established, and for changing their boundaries. It can group
the various counties into judicial circuits and congressional districts, and
establish or alter the voting precincts. Each county constitutes one elec- I
tion district and is a body politic and corporate. (Const. 1895, art. VII,
9, 10, 15.)
County government has developed from state government, which in South
Carolina is centralized in the state legislature.
s Under English beginnings, local government existed in the justices of
the peace, who settled "mean causes"; in the militia, which provided local
defense; in the patrol system, which kept the slave population in order;
and in the established church, whose parishes along the coast were admin-
istrative units for elections, road work, free schools, and care of the
poor. In 1769 the state was divided into seven circuit court districts,
which might be regarded as the beginning of modern county government, be-
cause a clerk of court and a sheriff functioned in each district outside of
Charleston. Immediately after the Revolution counties were laid out and in
1785 administrative and judicial duties were delegated to the county courts
in each district. These courts consisted of seven justices of the peace
who sat together at stated periods as a court, At the first meeting these
justices elected a county sheriff, a coroner, a clerk of court, and a coun-
ty attorney. The court supervised the building of the courthouse, levied
taxes, licensed taverns, authorized road work, cared for the poor, and kept
records of deeds, contracts, and court business. In 1787 it assumed the
duties of the court of ordinary. In 1788 it elected a county treasurer,
who remitted taxes and fines to the state treasury. Modified by the consti-
tution of 1790, this system carried on local government until abolished in
1799.
_ Local administration was the  resumed by the general assembly, which
appointed commissioners as need arose, to build the district courthouses,
to care for the poor, to work on roads, and to clear the streams.
In 1811, school commissioners were appointed for each circuit court
district to administer the state appropriations for free schools. Judicial
functions were carried on by circuit law courts and courts of equity, by the
(courts of ordinary and the local magistrates. The local officials were the
sheriff, the coroner, the clerk of court, the commissioner of locations, the
ordinary, and the com issioner in equity, all of whom were state officers
For abbreviations and explanatory notes see pages ll-15

 ӤGovernmenta1 Organization and Records System (First entry, p. 16)
gpaid by a fee system and elected by the general assembly until, during the
iifirst quarter of the century, it delegated this duty to the local electorate.
1The constitution of 1868 set up a board of cou ty commissioners as the ex- _
ecutive for local administration. By statute a county treasurer, auditor, °
and school commissioner were added for financial administration. A plan for
townships as units of government was also enacted (Stat. XIV, 145), but this
V was repealed in 1870 (ibid., 515).
This system of cou ty government did not develop along the lines in-
4 tended because in 1889 the county board of com issioners lost constitution-
Ial status by an amendment, and the way was opened for wide variations in
fthe county executive. Road building, purchases of supplies, and relief of
the poor, were important functions of the county board; but its chief func-
tion was the supervision of expenditures of county funds collected by the
county treasurer upon assessments by the county auditor. These three of-
fices, together with the county school cem issioner (because of his paral-
lel position in the administration of school funds) formed the administra-
` `tive group in county government. Judicial functions remained in the state
circuit courts of general sessions and of common pleas, which last assumed
(equity jurisdiction; in the probate court, which replaced the court of ordi-
Jnary; and in the trial justices, who performed the duties of magistrates.
· The constitution of 1895, under which the state new functions, made
no change in administrative county government and did not restore the
board of county commissioners to constitutional status. State and county
government are so closely interwoven that what is called county government
is in fact the extension of a highly centralized state government to forty-
six localities, where the details are in the hands of the county members
_ of the state legislature, commonly called the legislative delegation. This
group, through legislative power to change the county governing board, and
through control of county supplies, developed as the chief administrative
u it of county government, until in 1958 the constitutional limits of its
powers were defined by the state supreme court (infra. P. 14).
In Jasper County the board of com issioners consists of a full time
supervisor, elected by the people of the cou ty, and four part time commis-
*sioners appointed by the governor, The department of public welfare created
~,in 1957 (Acts, p. 496) will relieve the board of welfare duties. The state
ichi1dren's bureau created in 1924 has assumed responsibility for destitute
children (Stat. XXXIII, 1190; XXXV, 559; XXXVI, 1574). Since 1917 the state
highway department (Stat. XXX, 521) has been taking county roads into the
rstate system. The principal duty remaining to the county board of com is-
sioners is the auditing of claims against the county and the purchasing of
county supplies.
The funds necessary for county expenditures are raised by taxes assess-
‘ed by the county auditor under the direction of the legislative delegation.
~ The constitutional three-mill school tax (Const. 1895, art. XI, 6) and poll
tax and special levies are overshadowed by state funds from taxes under the
jurisdiction of the state tax commission. Since the creation of this powerful
For abbreviations and explanatory notes see pages 11-15

 QT`
V; - 8 - ‘
Governmental Organization and Records System (First entry, p. 16) ¤
body in l9l5 (Stat. XXIX, 125) local taxation has diminished in relative
iimportance. State, county and school taxes are collected by the treasurer W
tnd under execution by the sheriff. Disbursements are upon warrants counter-
signed by the supervisor or by the superintendent of education. C
i The school system is a state system financed by the state for eight
months of the year, The teachers are state employees elected by school
district trustees. The superintendent of education, as chairman and clerk
of the county board of education, is the chief school administrator. His
duties are largely fiscal but are also supervisory, and, with the other
two members of the board he arbitrates controversies in the districts. y
Justice is administered by four magistrates; by the judge of probate,
who also has jurisdiction over juvenile offenders; by the resident circuit
judge, elected by the general assembly; and by the visiting circuit judges
who preside at the regular terms of the state circuit courts. Appeals from
the magistrates and probate court may be taken to the circuit courts. In
recent years these circuit courts have decreased in relative importance
through the increased use of the federal district courts. Records of the
spircuit courts are kept by the clerk of court, who also registers deeds and
tmany other records not connected with the courts, The sheriff is the prin-
pipal law enforcing officer, whose powers are legally shared by the coroner,
now a part time official whose major duties at inqucsts may bc performed in
his &b5G¤09 by ¤ m¤gi5tY¤t0. The judge of probate, the clerk of court, the
sheriff, and the coroner are elected by the county electorate at the regular
elections, after being nominated in the party primaryj
~ The scope of administrative county government is being steadily enlarged
through state and federal funds for public health, social security, and con-
gservation of natural resources,
’ Under the bureau of rural sanitation of the state health department, pub-
:1ic health services have been rendered since 1955 by the health district, which
ioriginally comprised Jasper and Beaufort counties. Jasper County now has a
istandard health unit. These services are chiefly concerned with maternal and
{child health, and control of venereal diseases, tuberculosis, hookworm and
hmlaria. Certificates of births and deaths are made by local registrars ap-
Qointed by the bureau of vital statistics of the state board of health. The
gclerk of court is required to file duplicate certificates and to certify the
number to the state department before the registrars may be paid by the coun-
yty treasurer.
S The farm and home extension service "the contact agency between the farm
jpeople, the State Colleges of agriculture and Home Economics and the U. S.
iDGp&rtment of Agriculture," is administered from headquarters at Clemson Col-
jlege, Home demonstration is carried on through Winthrop College. (J, E.
LHunter (ed.), Legislative Manual, Columbia, 1958, p. 258.) `
` The records system of Jasper County is based upon the general plan of
*presorving tho original papers of record in files, and making abstracts or
1For abbreviations and explanatory notes sec pages ll-15
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