It appears that these records do exist -- although copies are not available from the state health department (DHEC) in Columbia or from the Trident Health District vital-records office in North Charleston. DHEC and Trident have no records prior to 1915. Charleston was one of the earliest cities to require death certificates, although enforcement of the requirement was somewhat spotty. I have death records from Charleston dating as far back as the 1850s. As I wrote in my original message, the Family History Library has microfilmed copies of Charleston death records through 1886. This does not mean, however, that death certificates were not issued between 1887 and 1915, when the state assumed the recordkeeping responsibility. I knew the records existed somewhere, because I have copies of Charleston death certificates issued in 1908 and 1911. (I obtained the copies from a relative who cannot remember where she got them.) The mystery for me was: What happened to the records for the period of 1887 through 1914? Surely, the records were not destroyed. A few knowledgeable members of this list answered that question for me. The South Carolina Room of the Charleston County Public Library has microfilmed copies of Charleston death records through 1914, though, according to the library, there are some gaps. The microfilmed records are in chronological order, but the library has a card file index that was created with the assistance of the WPA. (We should all say a little prayer for President Roosevelt and the WPA [not to mention the LDS Church], which was responsible for a number of indexing and record-preservation projects beneficial to family historians.) Billie asked about the FHL death records through 1886. Go to www.familysearch.org, click on Library, then Family History Library Catalog, then Place Search. Type Charleston in the box. From the long list of places named Charleston, click on "South Carolina, Charleston, Charleston" (not "South Carolina, Charleston") then Vital Records. Scroll down the list and click on "Death records, 1821-1886 Charleston (South Carolina). Board of Health." The image quality of the FHL-filmed death records is pretty good (unlike the FHL-filmed Charleston birth records, whose quality is terrible). Mark Lomax Pasadena, CA ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lee and Billie Jones" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, September 18, 2004 1:09 PM Subject: [SC] Re: Charleston Death Certificates -- 1887-1915 | Mark, | | The simple answer is that you can't get death cert. prior to 1915. | | They were not required, and therefore are not available. The death records for | those periods of time can only be found in newspaper obituaries, church | minutes, probate records, equity records, possibly guardianship records, and | other court records of the area. There are books out that that folks have | posted this type of information from their research of old court records. | | The records from 1915 - 1953 are now available on microfilm, as SC has a | privacy rule of 52 years. I know of two locations that has these microfilmed | records..... The SC State Archives in Columbia, and the Camden Archives & | Musuem. However the Camden Archives has not gotten the 1953 records, just thru | 1952. | | I sure would be interested in you reference to death records prior to 1886 that | you said are available thru LDS films, as I live in SC and have never heard | about these available records. | | Good luck, | | Billie Jones | Camden, SC | [email protected] |

Hi -- hate to be so dumb -- but how did you "see" the records?? I have not been able to see anything. Have all the call numbers -- but what do I do with them now -- must I go to a LDS Center?? kinta -----Original Message----- From: Mark Lomax [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Saturday, September 18, 2004 11:39 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [SC] Re: Charleston Death Certificates -- 1887-1915 It appears that these records do exist -- although copies are not available from the state health department (DHEC) in Columbia or from the Trident Health District vital-records office in North Charleston. DHEC and Trident have no records prior to 1915. Charleston was one of the earliest cities to require death certificates, although enforcement of the requirement was somewhat spotty. I have death records from Charleston dating as far back as the 1850s. As I wrote in my original message, the Family History Library has microfilmed copies of Charleston death records through 1886. This does not mean, however, that death certificates were not issued between 1887 and 1915, when the state assumed the recordkeeping responsibility. I knew the records existed somewhere, because I have copies of Charleston death certificates issued in 1908 and 1911. (I obtained the copies from a relative who cannot remember where she got them.) The mystery for me was: What happened to the records for the period of 1887 through 1914? Surely, the records were not destroyed. A few knowledgeable members of this list answered that question for me. The South Carolina Room of the Charleston County Public Library has microfilmed copies of Charleston death records through 1914, though, according to the library, there are some gaps. The microfilmed records are in chronological order, but the library has a card file index that was created with the assistance of the WPA. (We should all say a little prayer for President Roosevelt and the WPA [not to mention the LDS Church], which was responsible for a number of indexing and record-preservation projects beneficial to family historians.) Billie asked about the FHL death records through 1886. Go to www.familysearch.org, click on Library, then Family History Library Catalog, then Place Search. Type Charleston in the box. From the long list of places named Charleston, click on "South Carolina, Charleston, Charleston" (not "South Carolina, Charleston") then Vital Records. Scroll down the list and click on "Death records, 1821-1886 Charleston (South Carolina). Board of Health." The image quality of the FHL-filmed death records is pretty good (unlike the FHL-filmed Charleston birth records, whose quality is terrible). Mark Lomax Pasadena, CA