Online South Carolina Death Indexes, Records & Obituaries

Online South Carolina Death Indexes

South Carolina Death Certificates and Index 1915-1955 (requires payment - part of an Ancestry subscription) includes: digitized statewide death certificates, 1915-1955; Charleston City death records, 1821-1914; Spartanburg City death records, 1895-1897 & 1903-1914; and Union City death records, 1900 & 1913-1914

South Carolina Death Index 1915-1955 from FamilySearch Labs (includes digitized images of the death records from 1915-1943) this is currently being tested so there may be errors, missing data or occasional downtime

South Carolina Death Index 1915-1959 (free) requires special Windows only viewer for 1915-1949 (provided); 1950-1959 searchable online without the viewer

South Carolina Newspapers Obituaries Archive (recent) (individual obituaries can be obtained online for a fee) includes: Anderson Independent-Mail (1/15/1998-Current); Bluffton Today (7/1/1999-Current); Charleston Post and Courier (12/6/1994-Current); Columbia State (12/15/1987-Current); Greenville News (1/2/1999-Current); Myrtle Beach Sun News (5/1/1996-Current); Rock Hill Herald (5/1/2004-Current); Spartanburg Herald-Journal (1/1/2004-Current); and 12 more South Carolina newspapers

South Carolina Department of Archives & History Database Search includes Will Transcripts, 1782 - circa 1855

Beaufort County Obituary Index, 1862-May 15, 1984; November 2007-recent
Charleston County...
- Charleston County: Post and Courier Index includes obituaries (select "Post and Courier Index" from the pull down menu)
- Charleston County Probate Court - Estate/Will and Conservatorship/Guardianship Records Search
- Index to Wills of Charleston County, South Carolina, 1671-1868 scanned searchable book (requires payment - part of an Ancestry subscription)
Chesterfield County: Cheraw Chronicle & Chesterfield Advertiser Obituary Archive 2003-recent (not complete)
Colleton County: The Press and Standard Newspaper Index 1873-present Walterboro, SC
Dillon County: Extracts of Obituaries from the Dillon Herald 1940-recent (also some pre-1940 obituaries are indexed there)
Edgefield County Will Book Index 1836-1853
Florence County Library Obituary Index - assorted years
Greenville County...
- Greenville News Obituary Index 1916-1993 and 1994-present from the Greenville County Library
- Greenville News Obituaries 2001-present
- Greenville County Historical Records Search includes some older probate and estate records
Greenwood County Library Obituary Index for Greenwood, SC Newspapers work in progress
Horry County Historical Society Records includes indexes for death records, wills, obituaries, cemeteries & more
Kershaw County: Camden Archives and Museum Obituary Index and Wills Index
Lexington County Probate Court Indexes includes Estate indexes 1865-1994, plus some marriage indexes (PDF files)
Richland County Library Obituary Index - Columbia, SC Newspapers ongoing project
Spartanburg County Death Registers & Obituaries (roughly 1849-present; some years missing)
Union County: Index of Probate Records 1782-1865

1870 Census Mortality Schedule for Upstate South Carolina lists people who died in the year prior to the census being taken (June 1, 1869 - May 31, 1870) includes Chester, Newberry, Oconee, Pickens, Spartanburg, Union and York Counties
Also see... Census Mortality Schedules 1850-1880

Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina - Cemetery Burials
Southern Christian Advocate and South Carolina United Methodist Advocate Obituaries Index from the Wofford College Sandor Teszler Library

Ordering South Carolina Vital Records

Order South Carolina Vital Records by Mail (fees and restrictions apply)

Also Helpful...

South Carolina Genealogy Databases at Ancestry (requires payment)
includes census, military & vital records, plus newspapers & city directories

Online South Carolina Death Records & Indexes

A Genealogy Records Guide