Research Evolution (Barnwell County Deeds)

Long journeys of discovery, as in journeys by way of physical travel to a geographical location, aren’t as necessary to one’s research as they once were. The mechanisms by which we conduct our genealogical research are currently evolving at an accelerated rate for two reasons: 1) money; and 2) efforts to connect everyone living to everyone not living. Large companies like Ancestry.com have to compete with each other by providing the most records to get the most subscribers.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints provides access to countless records for free at their libraries and online at FamilySearch.org.  The Church has been scanning and uploading genealogical records en masse for quite some time, with a recently publicized goal that the project be completed by 2020. In fact, the main library location in Utah has ceased loaning materials to other branches, anticipating that all of their holdings will soon be accessible online to everyone. Click here to read the update.
In the summer of 2014, I flew from California to South Carolina to spend a few days pouring through deed books and plats and manuscripts. I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything, but now many of those records are online and free.
Barnwell County deeds were recently added to the FamilySearch.org website. Review is a little tedious because index information has not been made searchable by keyword or name. However, one of the book indexes has been scanned. It is the grantor index “Direct Index to Deeds 1779-1884.” The Grantee Index and Cross Index have not been added. Here are some tips to help find what you’re looking for. (Barnwell plats have also been scanned. Stay tuned for a future post with tips for reviewing plats.)
Deed books 1 through DD are available, with the exception of deed books 2 and 3, which were not scanned and/or uploaded. Deed Book 1 is the same book that is referred to as Deed Book 1-A (Winton County), abstracted by Brent Holcombe in SCMAR, Vol. XIV, Winter 1986, No. 1, p.40 and SCMAR, Vol. XIV, Winter 1986, No. 1, p.41.
Click here to access the index and deed books. Select the camera icon next to the index. The table below will help you locate the letter that the last name of the Grantor starts with. (See below for how to find the deed you want quickly.)
Enter the image number in the box located on the upper left corner the screen  and hit “Enter” to go straight to the beginning of the letter you need.
Direct Index to Deeds 1779-1884 (by Grantor)

Once you locate a book and page number on the index, go back to the main list and click the camera icon for the book you need. The table below will help you get to the book you need quickly. If you toggle back and forth between single page view and multi-page view, you can find the page you are looking for more quickly.

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