Editing Darlington, South Carolina (section)

===Early history===
Darlington's origins date back to the mid-18th century.

Originally a heavily wooded area, the settlement of what is now Darlington County began in earnest after 1736 and 1737 when the [[province of South Carolina]] set aside a vast area of land for the [[Welsh people|Welsh]] Baptists of [[Delaware]]. This Welsh Tract bordered both sides of the [[Pee Dee River]]. For almost thirty years, settlers concentrated on the banks and small tributaries of the Pee Dee River. Beginning in the 1760s, and continuing into the 1770s, other groups slowly made their way into present-day Darlington, and were granted lands on the [[Lynches River]], [[Jeffries Creek]], and a host of other watercourses. These settlers included descendants of French [[Huguenot]]s, Scots-Irish, and the English.

For 30 years following the arrival of the first settlers, local government did not exist for the citizens of the area. All deeds, estate settlements, and other legal matters had to be taken to [[Charleston, South Carolina|Charles Town]] to be recorded. In 1769, by an Act of the Assembly, Cheraw District was established as a Judicial District. A courthouse and jail were built at Long Bluff (near present-day [[Society Hill, South Carolina|Society Hill)]], and were operational by late 1772.

After the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]], in 1785, Cheraw District was divided into three counties, [[Marlboro County, South Carolina|Marlborough]], [[Chesterfield County, South Carolina|Chesterfield]], and [[Darlington County, South Carolina|Darlington]]. Darlington County was bounded by the Pee Dee River), Lynches River, and Cedar Creek. To this day it is unknown why the county was named "Darlington", although it could be named after the [[Darlington|town of the same name]] in [[County Durham]], England.  After 1798 the designation "county" was changed to "district". In 1835, the city of Darlington became the new county seat. In the 1868 South Carolina Constitution, the designation reverted to "county".

[[Florence County, South Carolina|Florence County]] was created out of parts of Darlington and [[Marion County, South Carolina|Marion]] counties in 1888. Darlington County gave up additional territory in 1902 when [[Lee County, South Carolina|Lee County]] was created.<ref>This history was copied out of ''Darlington District, S.C. Cemetery Survey Volume One,'' compiled by members of the Old Darlington District Chapter of the South Carolina Genealogical Society. Copyright 1993.</ref>