Glossary of South Carolina Research Terms
District, parish, mesne conveyance, equity, and other terms you’ll meet in the records.
- District
- Historic judicial jurisdiction in SC; not always identical to modern county boundaries.
- Parish
- Colonial/ecclesiastical geography (especially Lowcountry Anglican) used in early records.
- Mesne conveyance / RMC / ROD
- Offices and record series for land transfers (deeds).
- Equity
- Court handling trusts, partitions, and many family property disputes beyond simple probate.
- Plat
- Survey drawing describing land boundaries; critical with metes and bounds.
- Dower
- Widow’s interest in land; releases often prove a wife’s given name and survival.
- FAN club
- Friends, Associates, Neighbors—research method using people around your ancestor.
- Burned county
- Informal term for jurisdictions with major courthouse record loss; requires substitute sources.
Common questions
How does this guide connect to county pages?
Use the method here, then open the relevant county hub for formation facts, record matrix, newspapers, cemeteries, and signature topics.
Where are editorial standards documented?
See How we work for citations, updates, and corrections: https://www.southcarolinagenealogy.org/how-we-work