South Carolina Wills 1670-1853 Warren Heritage Papers 1992 1st Ed Genealogy HC
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South Carolina Wills 1670-1853 or later
Compiled from CWA, WPA microfilms and original volumes
by Mary Bondurant Warren
Published by Heritage Papers (1992)
Condition:
Excellent++ 1st Edition Hardcover Book! NO MARKS! The binding is tight and all 228 pages within are bright white with NO WRITING, UNDERLINING, HIGH-LIGHTING, RIPS, TEARS, BENDS OR FOLDS with the exception of a small handwritten note on the inside front cover. The covers are perfect, as can be seen in my photos. You will be happy with this one! Always handled and packaged with care! Buy with confidence from a seller who takes the time to show you the details and not use just stock photos. Please check out all my pictures and email with any questions! Thanks for looking!
About the Book:
South Carolina Wills 1670–1853 stands as one of the most comprehensive and carefully corrected indexes of probate records ever compiled for the Palmetto State — an indispensable reference for anyone tracing colonial and antebellum Southern ancestry. Compiled by respected genealogical publisher Mary Bondurant Warren and issued by Heritage Papers in 1992, this landmark volume brings together more than 22,000 entries drawn from Charleston and county wills spanning nearly two centuries of South Carolina history.
The foundation of this work rests on the Civil Works Administration and Works Progress Administration typescript transcriptions housed at the South Carolina Department of Archives and History — records that, while invaluable, were never without error. Warren's great contribution was not merely to consolidate these records, but to systematically identify and correct their shortcomings. Transcribers unfamiliar with the archaic "long s" of 17th and 18th century handwriting routinely rendered it as an "f" — a subtle but consequential error that has misdirected researchers for generations. French surnames with articles such as de, le, l', d', and des were inconsistently transcribed and indexed throughout the originals, creating further confusion that Warren carefully untangles here.
Beyond correction, this volume adds several hundred wills entirely absent from earlier indexes — including previously unrecorded Winton County wills, 45 omitted Laurens County wills from two mid-1830s volumes, the landmark "Calhoun Journal" of the 96 District, select Abbeville County probate packets, and the remainder of Union County's Will Book C. The result is an alphabetical index of singular depth and reliability, covering testate deaths from 1670 through the 1850s.
For genealogists, family historians, LDS researchers, and Southern history enthusiasts, this volume is not merely useful — it is genuinely difficult to replace. Copies in this condition are increasingly scarce on the secondary market.
About author, Mary Bondurant Warren:
Mary Bondurant Warren was one of the most prolific and respected figures in Southern genealogical publishing during the latter half of the twentieth century. Through her imprint Heritage Papers, based in Danielsville, Georgia, Warren produced dozens of meticulously compiled reference works focusing on Georgia, South Carolina, and the broader colonial South — resources that remain standard references in genealogical libraries, archives, and research collections across the country.
Warren's approach was distinguished by her commitment to accuracy, source transparency, and practical usability. Rather than simply reprinting existing records, she consistently identified errors, supplied missing data, and expanded upon earlier indexes — as demonstrated throughout this volume's corrections to the CWA and WPA transcriptions.
Her works are regularly cited in DAR applications, academic genealogical studies, and professional research reports. Heritage Papers titles have become increasingly difficult to locate in fine condition, making surviving copies of her publications genuinely collectible among serious researchers and institutional libraries alike.
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