In 1768, South Carolina eliminated all of the original counties and established seven new "overarching Districts," with judicial seats in each district. The Act creating these new districts was nullified by the British Parliament, but the re-introduction of the Act in 1769 was approved. From 1769 to 1785, these districts remained intact, however, the district seats did change some during that time-frame. After the American Revolution in 1785, South Carolina re-established the concept of counties and thirty-four (34) "new" counties were defined and established. Each of these new counties were "subsets" of, and subordinate to, the "overarching Districts" that had been in existence since 1769. Some of the newly-defined counties were abolished between 1785 and 1800, whereas other newly-defined counties were created during that period.

In 1785, three newly-defined "counties" were created wholly within the existing Cheraws District - Chesterfield, Darlington, and Marlboro - but, the overarching Cheraws District remained intact. At this time, the District Seat was relocated from the town of Long Bluff to Cheraw.

In 1800, South Carolina abolished all "overarching Districts" and essentially went with the county concept from that year forward. However, in 1800, all counties were now called "districts" and would continue being called districts until after the U.S. Civil War. In 1868, South Carolina reverted back to the term "county" and this term has been used continuously since then.

The first United States Census was taken in 1790 and each of the original seven "overarching Districts" were enumerated within that census. By the 1800 U.S. Census, all of the original seven "overarching Districts" had been abolished and new counties (called districts at that time) were enumerated separately in that census.

1730s: The first white settlers come to the Cheraw area. The Welsh Baptist land grant in 1737 had the effect of forcing settlers already in the region to move further up the river. The earliest of these included English settlers, the Ellerbes and Youngs. The first slaves came with some of these early settlers.

1730s: Almost all of the Cheraw Indians left the region and joined forces with the Catawbas. A Smallpox epidemic in 1738 decimates these tribes. Some of the Cheraws will remain with the Catawbas, others will go to live in the Lumber River region of North Carolina.

1740s: Thomas Ellerbe opens a water mill near Cheraw. In 1743, James Gillespie moves further up river to Cheraw, and engages in shipping and planting.

1750s: Gillespie and famed Patriot Christopher Gadsden conduct a shipping business on the Pee Dee River between Cheraw and Charles Town. Gadsden has a store near the present-day Country Club.

1760s: A Planters Society is formed. A French Huguenot, Claudius Pegues, comes to the area and settles on the east side of the river near the North Carolina line. Eli and Joseph Kershaw conduct a mercantile business under the name of Eli Kershaw and Company. The Kershaws lay out the original town. Eli Kershaw also owns at least one house (it is painted yellow) in Cheraw and a plantation. Their boundary markers will still be in place in the year 2000.

1760s: Increasing violence from lawless gangs of "robbers and banditti" leads to great frustration. There are no means to bring criminals to justice short of Charles Town. Prominent men, who come to be known as Regulators, take the law into their own hands.

1768: St. David' Parish is established. The Anglican Church is the state church in South Carolina, and the establishment of a parish gives the citizens the right to vote near home, to tax for the poor and sick, bind out orphans, and oversee the roads. A church building is to be erected in Cheraw, probably because it is something of an Anglican stronghold.

1768: The Circuit Court Act establishes the Cheraws Judicial District. The Act creating these new districts was nullified by the British Parliament, but the re-introduction of the Act in 1769 was approved. There is a great fight over whether the court house will be erected at Cheraw Hill or at Long Bluff (now Society Hill). The commissioners state that "Cheraw Hill is at present, and has been for many years past the most public and the greatest place of trade upon Pedee River." The term "Cheraw Hill" distinguished the town from the district.

1772: St. David's Church is almost complete and is in use - the last Anglican Church built by the English in South Carolina.

1774: The Kershaws were angered when the court house was erected at Long Bluff. They put some of their holdings up for auction. Tensions continue to increase between the backcountry, the coastal establishment, and the British Crown.

1775: The name Chatham appears for the first time in the Vestry Records of St. David's Church. The names Cheraw, Cheraw Hill, and Chatham will be used interchangeably for the town until 1820. The term was to honor William Pitt, the Earl of Chatham, who was the great English defender of American liberties.

May 1776: The Cheraws District Grand Jury writes a declaration of independence from England.

July 4, 1776: The American Declaration of Independence is signed in Philadelphia. War becomes inevitable.

1776-1780: Charlestown falls to the British. Many in this area just wish to be left alone, and the war is slow in coming to the region. A number of men are enlisted with the Patriots, especially Francis Marion's brigade, but a number are Loyalists. Much of the war is now being fought in the north. The British establish a line of garrisons at Georgetown, Cheraw, Camden, Ninety-Six, and Augusta.

1780: The war comes to Cheraw with a vengeance. It is a true civil war, sometimes brother against brother. British Major James Wemyss come to Cheraw in May and September, burning and plundering. Major Archibald McArthur and the 71st Regiment use St. David's Church as quarters and a hospital during the summer. They build barracks near the church. A number of soldiers become ill with a fever (probably malaria). Three officers are buried in the churchyard. The enlisted men are buried in a common grave. Patriot Major General Horatio Gates passed nearby on his way to his defeat in the battle of Camden on August 16th.

Fall 1780: Brigadier General (Pro Tempore) Henry William Harrington (NC) moves in with his North Carolina Militia troops. SC Governor John Rutledge moves the government to Cheraw. He will be in and out of Cheraw for the next six months, but mostly in Hillsborough, NC.

Jan. 1781: Major General Nathanael Greene makes a camp of repose just across the river. Major General Greene is now in charge of the Continental Army Troops in the South. This hard winter camp is the southern "Valley Forge." He receives news of the great victory at Cowpens with much rejoicing. His army will now move toward Guilford Court House, and the Patriots will soon have a great victory at Yorktown in Virginia.

1783: The Treaty of Paris finally officially ends the Revolutionary War. Freedom has come with great price to Cheraw. A number of men are dead or maimed, houses have been burned, crops and live stock have been destroyed. There is no longer a British bounty on indigo, which had been the main money crop in the Cheraws. The economy stagnates for a decade.

1785: The Anglican church is disestablished. St. David's Parish is divided into Chesterfield, Darlington, and Marlboro Counties.