Lewisburg County, South Carolina




Lewisburg County, South Carolina

A History of Lewisburg County, South Carolina

Lewisburg County was created within the Orangeburg District in 1785 and abolished in 1791.

In 1768, Amelia and Orangeburgh Townships were formed into St. Matthews Parish. These religious-political divisions evolved into larger judicial districts which included Saxe-Gotha and helped preserve records and govern the growing population before the American Revolution. Soon after Independence, and the new American concept of separation of church and state, the overarching Orangeburg District was divided into four counties - Lexington, Lewisburg, Orange, and Winton - with the area of Amelia Township being called Lewisburg County. After the U.S Civil War, a new state constitution abolished the parishes, including St. Matthews Parish, and the newly-incorporated town of Lewisville took the name of the first parish of the old area - St. Matthews.

In order to obtain more efficient local home rule, the people of old Amelia Township, some direct descendants of George Sterling, put up a strenuous and bitterly contested fight to form a separate county unto themselves. In 1908, they successfully seceded from parts of the ancient Orangeburg and Saxe-Gotha Townships to create a new county named after South Carolina statesman and former Vice-President John C. Calhoun - Calhoun County. Present-day Calhoun County encompasses much of the original Lewisburg County as established in 1785.

Lewisburg County was formed in 1785 but after 1791 was united with Orangeburg County and all records were in Orangeburg. Union General William Tecumseh Sherman burned the records in 1865.