South Carolina Obituaries

South Carolina newspapers date to 1732, and the University of South Carolina’s Historical Newspapers of South Carolina site offers free full-text search of papers published since statehood.

Recent South Carolina obituaries (2000 to today)

Most obituaries published since about 2000 are online. Daily papers post paid death notices and family-written obituaries in an Obituaries section, usually hosted by Legacy.com, and keep them online with a guest book. The largest daily papers in South Carolina are:

• The State (Columbia)
• Post and Courier (Charleston)
• Greenville News
• Herald-Journal (Spartanburg)
• Sun News (Myrtle Beach)
• The Herald (Rock Hill)

Legacy.com’s South Carolina page searches the obituaries of most of these papers and many smaller ones at once. Funeral homes also post obituaries on their own websites, often before the newspaper does and sometimes instead of it: search the person’s name with the town and “obituary” or “funeral home.” For obituaries no longer online, ask your public or state library: many offer NewsBank or ProQuest databases with the full text of recent newspapers, free with a library card.

South Carolina obituaries in historic newspapers

The South-Carolina Gazette, begun in Charleston in 1732, was one of the earliest newspapers in the South. Charleston papers printed death notices for the city and the Lowcountry plantations, and during yellow fever and other epidemics they ran lists of the dead.

In the 1800s, papers like the Edgefield Advertiser, the Camden Chronicle and the Yorkville Enquirer reported deaths in the upcountry. Formerly enslaved people rarely appear in antebellum notices, but after the Civil War Black-owned papers and church papers began recording their deaths, and later papers often noted how long a family had lived on a particular plantation or farm.

The South Carolina Digital Newspaper Program ran from 2009 to 2015 and digitized more than 100 titles. Its successor site at the University of South Carolina continues to add papers, and the South Carolina Department of Archives and History holds state death records.

Where to find older South Carolina obituaries

Digitized South Carolina newspapers

• Historical Newspapers of South Carolina — Free full-text searchable South Carolina newspapers from statehood onward.

Obituary and death indexes

• South Carolina Death Records, 1915–1965 (FamilySearch) — Free index and images of South Carolina death certificates.

Archives and libraries

• South Carolina Department of Archives and History — State records, including death certificates, and research help in Columbia.
• Digital Collections, University of South Carolina — Other digitized South Carolina collections that can support an obituary search.
• South Carolina Newspapers, FamilySearch Research Wiki — Volunteer-maintained guide to South Carolina newspaper archives, indexes and microfilm, with local links.

Also search the nationwide archives: Chronicling America, FamilySearch, Find a Grave, Newspapers.com. See all nationwide obituary resources.

South Carolina death records

South Carolina has registered deaths statewide since 1915. Certified copies go to family and others with an interest; death certificates over 50 years old are at the South Carolina Department of Archives and History, and 1915–1965 records are indexed free on FamilySearch.

• South Carolina Vital Records — the office that issues South Carolina death certificates, with ordering instructions and fees.
• Where to Write for Vital Records: South Carolina — the CDC’s summary of where to order, current fees and which years the office holds.
• South Carolina Vital Records, FamilySearch Research Wiki — free death indexes and certificate collections, with the years each covers.

Tips for finding an obituary in South Carolina

• Remember 1915. Statewide death registration began in 1915; Charleston kept city records earlier.
• Use the Archives for older certificates. SCDAH has South Carolina death certificates over 50 years old.
• Search the free SC newspaper archive. Historical Newspapers of South Carolina is fully text searchable.
• Look beyond the word “obituary.” Older papers reported deaths under headings like “Died,” “Deaths,” local news and personals columns, funeral notices and cards of thanks, and often listed married women under the husband’s name (“Mrs. John Smith”). See death notices vs. obituaries.

Common questions