Berkeley County, South Carolina

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Berkeley County, South Carolina

Leader of this Project is Paula J

Coordinator is Mary Richardson

History/Timeline

Berkeley county Seal.

Berkeley County was named for Lord Proprieters of South Carolina Lord John Berkeley and Sir William Berkeley and has been created 3 different times in slightly differing areas, abolished, then recreated.^[1]

1682 Berkeley County was established. It was named after John and William Berkeley, co-owners of the Province of Carolina. The Lords Proprietors decided to create 2 new counties south of Craven. One was Berkeley. This was located between the Awendaw Creek and the mouth of the Stono River in what we know today as Charleston County. ^[2]

1682 Formed as an original Proprietary county in 1682. Formal business was done in Charles Town. Counties were used to locate property. ^[1] At the time, all formal business was conducted in Charles Town and the counties were used to locate property.

1682-1769 4 South Carolina counties - Craven, Berkeley, Colleton, and Carteret/Granville - were never surveyed or properly laid out; all had ambiguous geographical delineation and no county seat or knowledge of their entity. Some boundaries, by rivers, but the Western boundary was not defined.^[3]

1685 - Berkeley 1682-1768 exchanged with Colleton County and gained from Craven County.^[4]

1706 - Parishes created within the borders of Berkeley 1682-1768 County included St. Johns, St. Thomas and St. Denis, Christ Church, St. Philips, St. James Goose Creek, and St. Andrews.^[1]

1711 Beggins church has been burned 3 times since it was first constructed about 1711, of the parish of St. Johns, Berkeley. ^[5]

1733 - County boundaries extended inland. ^[1]

1765 - St. Matthew's Parish created within Berkeley 1682-1768 County.^[1]

1769 The original Berkeley County was abolished after the District Court Act was passed. Berkeley became part of Charleston District.^[1]

Note if were to attempt to determine which of the current South Carolina counties are actually situated within the last incarnation of the original Berkeley County prior to its elimination in 1769, a guess would be Dorchester, Charleston, Berkeley, and a portion of Orangeburg. One has to remember that the original Berkeley County was never envisioned to extend that far into the backcountry.^[6]

1768, South Carolina eliminated all counties, including Berkeley County and established 7 new Districts with judicial seats in each district. ^[7]

1769 - Berkeley County became part of the Charleston District. With the creation of the first "overarching Districts" in 1769, the original Berkeley County was abolished.^[8]

American Revolution Skirmishes in Berkeley County area^[9]

April 14, 1780 - Moncks Corner

July 17, 1781 - Wadboo Bridge

April 20, 1780 - Wando River

July 17, 1781 - Shubrick's Plantation

May 5, 1780 - Ball's Plantation

August 16, 1781 - Santee River

May 6, 1780 - Lenud's Ferry

Aug 24, 1781 - Well's Plantation

May 6, 1780 - Moncks Corner

August 31, 1781 - Cypress Swamp

January 30, 1781 - Wantoot Plantation

Sept 10, 1781 - Near Moncks Corner

January 31, 1781 - Moncks Corner

October 16, 1781 - Moncks Corner

Jan 31, 1781 - Wadboo Bridge

Nov 27, 1781 - Fair Lawn Plantation

Feb 5, 1781 - Wando Landing

Jan 3, 1782 - Videau's Bridge

July 1781 - Washington's Raid

Feb 19, 1782 - Strawberry Ferry #2

July 15, 1781 - Goose Creek Bridge

Feb 24, 1782 - Wambaw Bridge

July 15, 1781 - St. James Goose Creek Church

February 25, 1782 - Tidyman's Plantation

July 16, 1781 - Biggin Creek Bridge

Aug 29, 1782 - Caper's Scout

July 16, 1781 - Strawberry Ferry

Aug 29, 1782 - Wadboo Swamp

July 17, 1781 - Quinby's Bridge

Slavery Slavery on the Move

1781 The Beggins Church ruins are from the church built. The British troops used the church in the American Revolution to store stuff as a depot. When the British retreated, the church and stores were burned in 1781. It was rebuilt. ^[10]

1785 - "County Court Act" created 33 new counties, giving rise of the 2nd incarnation of Berkeley with very new boundaries and little interest from the settlers.^[3]

1785 A 2nd version of Berkeley County was created within Charleston District with the passage of the 1785 County Court Act. (1785-1791) This was not functional. By 1791 Berkeley was abolished ^[1]

1798- Berkeley was abolished. ^[1]

1791-- Berkeley County was abolished (again) and sure enough, there was a second incarnation of Berkeley County with totally new boundaries and very little interest from the locals about its creation. It was abolished (again) in 1791.^[11]

1800's This 3rd Berkeley County created from the relatively-new (since 1800) Charleston County has been in existence ever since.^[3]

1862-65 Civil War -

Beggin church ruins

1882 - after Civil War and Reconstruction, white Democrats regained the democratic control of the state government and formed this into a county. Its county seat was Mount Pleasant. Modern day Berkeley County (post 1882) should not be confused with he 2 previously extinct counties named this same name.^[3]It was part of the Low Country Culture.

1882 - Present day Berkeley County (with boundaries similar to the original Berkeley County) was formed again. ^[1]

1893 - Charleston gained from Berkeley County.^[1]

1896 - County seat became Moncks Corner.^[12]

1897 - Dorchester created from Berkeley and Colleton Counties.^[1]

1921 - Charleston gained from Berkeley and Dorchester Counties.^[1]

Jan 9 1962 Berkeley lost land to the creation of Orangeburg, SC (S.C. Code Ann. 1962, vol. 3, title 14, ch. 2, sec. 14, no. 58/pp. 198-199)

https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Berkeley_County,_South_Carolina_Genealogy

Moncks Corner, 1904

Government Offices

The Old Berkeley County Courthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971

Old Berkeley county courthouse

1884 "Old Berkley Co. courthouse, Mount Pleasant

This courthouse is actually located in Mount Pleasant, Charleston, Co., SC. The courthouse was the official courthouse in the years,1884 to 1898 is also called Old Courthouse. It was built in 1884, a 2-story, rectangular, stucco over brick building of Late Victorian style. It features large matching double stairways leading to the main entrance on the second floor. Baptists, Lutherans and now the G. McGrath Darby Building have used the building after 1898 until 1968. ^[13]

current courthouse.

Geography

Size- 1,229 square miles (3,180 km2), of which 1,099 square miles (2,850 km2) is land and 130 square miles (340 km2) (11%) is water.

Berkeley County location on a map is north of Charleston County, SC.

Adjacent counties

• Georgetown County - northeast

Berkeley co. map.

• Williamsburg County - northwest
• Charleston County - south
• Dorchester County - west
• Orangeburg County - southwest

Protected areas

• Francis Marion National Forest

Demographics

In 2000, there were 142,651 people living in the county with a population density of 130 people/sq. mi. The racial makeup of the county was 68.00% White, 26.63% Black or African American, 0.52% Native American, 1.87% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 1.20% from other races, and 1.70% from two or more races. 2.76% of the population were Hispanic. 16.4% were of American, 10.0% German, 8.4% Irish and 7.7% English ancestry. The median income for a household in the county was $39,908, and the median income for a family was $44,242. Males had a median income of $31,583 versus $22,420 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,879. About 9.70% of families and 11.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.60% of those under age 18 and 12.90% of those age 65 or over. In 2010 the Population density was 161.8 people/sq.mi. ^[14]

Law Enforcement:
Berkeley county is protected by the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office which is headquartered in Moncks Corner, the Sheriff's Office is divided into many divisions. Records Office is located in the Sheriff's Office and will provide copies of incident reports when requested in person.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley_County,_South_Carolina

Uniformed Patrol Division is 4 squads of deputies who alternately parol the entire county in twelve-hour shifts. They respond to all calls dispatched by 911 operators.

Criminal Investigations Division is a division of highly trained detectives who investigate both violent and property crimes. Normal office hours are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., M-F however, the designated detective on duty is available to respond in the evening and on weekends.

Narcotics Division investigates drug activity receiving information 24 hours a day. It has a dedicated tip line available to receive anonymous tips.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley_County,_South_Carolina

Special Response Team (SRT) consists of highly trained deputies for crisis situations such as manhunts, armed robberies, hostage situations. They are activated by the Command Staff when the need arises. The team members are trained in special weapons use and in hostage negotiations.

Each patrol squad has a canine officer and trained canine, which are available to search for evidence, contraband, guns, or missing persons. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley_County,_South_Carolina

Churches:

St. Andrew's Parish since 1706

St. James Goose Creek Parish since 1706

St. John's Berkeley Parish since 1706

St. Thomas and St. Denis Parish since 1706

Towns/Communities

• Bonneau
• Jamestown

• Moncks Corner (county seat)
• St. Stephen
• Summerville (partly in Dorchester County and Charleston County)

County Resources

• Cypress Gardens

• Mepkin Abbey

Mepkin Abbey Entrance

• Holiday Festival of Lights. James Island
• Berkeley County Museum and Heritage Center

Census

1890 --- 55,428 —

1900 --- 30,454 −45.1%

1910 --- 23,487 −22.9%

1920 --- 22,558 −4.0%

1930 --- 22,236 −1.4%

1940 --- 27,128 22.0%

1950 --- 30,251 11.5%

1960 --- 38,196 26.3%

1970 --- 56,199 47.1%

1980 --- 94,727 68.6%

1990 --- 128,776 35.9%

2000 --- 142,651 10.8%

2010 --- 177,843 24.7%

Est. 2016 --- 210,898

Notables

Cemeteries

• James Island Presbyterian Church Cemetery
• Saint James Goose Creek Cemetery
• Saint James United Methodist Church Cemetery
• Berkeley Memorial Gardens
• Trinity Cemetery
• Ballsdom Plantation

• FamilySearch cemeteries
• FindaGrave Cemeteries, Berkeley

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11} https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Berkeley_County,_South_Carolina_Genealogy
2. ↑ http://www.carolana.com/SC/Counties/berkeley_county_original.html
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3}
4. ↑
5. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biggin_Church_Ruins
6. ↑ http://www.carolana.com/SC/Counties/berkeley_county_original.html
7. ↑ http://www.carolana.com/SC/Counties/berkeley_county_original.html
8. ↑ http://www.carolana.com/SC/Counties/berkeley_county_original.html
9. ↑ http://www.carolana.com/SC/Revolution/sc_revolution_engagements_berkeley_county.html
10. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biggin_Church_Ruins
11. ↑ http://www.carolana.com/SC/Counties/berkeley_county_original.html
12. ↑ http://www.carolana.com/SC/Counties/berkeley_county_original.html
13. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Berkeley_County_Courthouse_(South_Carolina)
14. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley_County,_South_Carolina