Over the past few decades, thanks to volunteers, librarians, and archivists (as well as the largest of them all – FamilySearch), a great number of indexes to death collections have been provided for free online. These searchable indexes provide specific death information, and sometimes scanned images of the actual death certificates themselves. These free online collections have hundreds of millions of records in them in total.
There are a great number of online and offline collections that may include death information that are not included in the lists below. For example, newspapers and obituaries have death info, but most times obituary indexes include the date of the obituary but not the date of death. To find out which types of other records may include death information, please see:
The lists below are specific death indexes and record collections that are available for free online for the state of South Carolina.
Note 1: Many of the links listed below take you to a FamilySearch Collection of digital images. In many cases there is a link to the digital collection in the middle of the page, but also near the bottom of the page under Film/Digital Notes is the name of each sub-collection. If there is a camera icon at the right of the name (in the Format column) then the collections’ images are browsable. If there is a camera with a key icon, it is only available at a Family History Center or affiliated library. If there is a film reel icon, then it is only available in microfilm format, not digital. Please also note that I have listed below only BMD databases that are accessible digitally from your computer (or tablet/phone)
Note 2: I have included links to Free Ancestry records and indexes. You do not need a subscription, but do need an Ancestry account. Without a subscription, you can view indexes. If there is an image associated with a record, in most cases you will need a subscription, but the index does include very usable information.
(Updated May 2021; recently added links are in BOLD):
- Abbeville County, Death Indexes
- Aiken County, Death Indexes
- Allendale County, Death Indexes
- Bamberg County, Death Indexes
- Barnwell County Death Records, 1915-1958
- Berkeley County, Death Indexes
- Calhoun County, Death Indexes
- Charles Town Register of St. Philip’s Parish, , 1720-1758
- Charleston County Death Records, 1852-1926
- Charleston County, Death Indexes
- Charleston Death Records, 1821-1886
- Cherokee County, Death Indexes
- Chester County, Death Indexes
- Chesterfield County, Death Indexes
- Clarendon County, Death Indexes
- Colleton County Vital Records
- Colleton County, Death Indexes
- Darlington County Records, 1798-1923
- Dillon County Deaths
- Dillon County, Death Indexes
- Dillon Death Index
- Hampton County, Death Indexes
- Horry County Deaths
- Horry County, Death Indexes
- Jasper County, Death Indexes
- Lancaster County, Death Indexes
- Lee County, Death Indexes
- Lexington County Death Index
- Lexington County, Death Indexes
- McCormick County, Death Indexes
- Miscellaneous BMD Records by County
- Newberry County, Death Index and Miscellaneous Death Notices
- Newberry County, Death Indexes
- Oconee County, Death Indexes
- Online Searchable Death Indexes
- South Carolina Death Indexes 1915-1967
- South Carolina Deaths, 1915-1965
- South Carolina Federal Census Mortality Schedules 1850-1880
- South Carolina Death Certificates 1915-1963
- Spartanburg County Death Certificates
- Spartanburg County Death Index
- Spartanburg County, Death Indexes
- United States Deaths and Burials, 1867-1961
- United States Korean War Battle Deaths, 1950-1957
- United States Social Security Death Index
- United States, World War I American Expeditionary Forces Deaths, 1917-1919
- Wofford College Library Death and Obituary Index, 1837-2008
- York County, Death Indexes
- Yorksville Deaths
Good Luck and Happy Hunting!
For other Free South Carolina Links, click on the category of interest:
Newspapers
Obituaries
BMD Records
Photos
Yearbooks
Directories
Divorce Records
Naturalizations
Church Records
School Records
Coroner Records
Voter Records
Probate and Wills
Immigration
Mortuary Records
Alumni Records
Cemetery Records
