Maryland genealogy records

Births

The Maryland State Archives holds birth records from 1875 to 1924 for Baltimore City and from 1898 to 1924 for the counties, and says all the birth records in its holdings are now online. Start with the indexes: Baltimore City births from 1875 to 1924, and county births from 1898 to 1909 and from 1910 onward. Some later indexes are arranged by Soundex, a code made of the first letter of the surname and three digits, so find the code first.

The Archives cannot provide birth records after 1924 in any format, although it does put some later indexes online. For those births, contact the Maryland Division of Vital Records. For births before official recording began, the Archives has a separate page of tips for hard to find birth records.

Deaths

Death indexes are online for Baltimore City from 1875 and for the counties from 1898, with a gap in the county indexes for 1969 to 1972. Baltimore City death certificates from 1875 to 1925 and county certificates from May 1898 to 1925 can be viewed online. Later certificates, up into the 1980s and beyond, are on the computers in the Archives' search room in Annapolis.

According to the Archives, death records over 100 years old can now be seen online from home, and if you need a legally certified copy you can place an order or visit in person. For a death within the last 10 years, the Archives refers you to the Maryland Division of Vital Records.

Marriages

The Archives holds marriage records from the mid-1600s to 2013. Before 1914 the official record was a single-line ledger entry rather than a full certificate, so early entries give little more than names and a date. County marriage license books for many counties begin in 1777 or soon after and run to 1851, with separate indexes for brides and grooms. Statewide indexes outside Baltimore City cover 1914 to 1930 and 1930 to 1940.

The Archives admits that searching marriages before 1951 can be challenging and offers reference help by email. For marriage certificates after 2013, contact the circuit court of the county or the Division of Vital Records.

Census records

Maryland has two early state lists from the Revolution. The Census of 1776 was taken county by county to help set Revolutionary tax quotas; some counties named only heads of household, while Harford, Prince George's, and Frederick named each person with age, sex, and race. The so-called Census of 1778 was a list of free males over 18, made to find who had not taken the oath of fidelity, and it survives only for some hundreds, the old subdivisions of a county, in a few counties. Both are partly indexed online.

The federal census is mostly complete, with a few gaps: the 1790 schedules for Allegany and Calvert counties and the 1830 schedules for Montgomery, Prince George's, Queen Anne's, St. Mary's, and Somerset counties do not exist. The 1890 population census was destroyed by fire in January 1921, but the special schedules of Union veterans and their widows survive for Maryland. The Archives notes that online census images are clearer than its own security microfilm.

Wills and probate

Maryland probate records include wills, inventories, and accounts, as well as less familiar papers such as renunciations, petitions, and indentures. The Archives' probate guide divides every county at 1777 and 1778: estates from 1777 and earlier have their own pages, with more on a separate pre-1778 page, and county wills, inventories, and indexes from 1778 onward are listed county by county, with many volumes online.

Check when your county was formed. Allegany County, for example, was formed in 1789 from Washington County, so for a will from that area before 1789, look in Washington County's books.

Land records

All land in colonial Maryland came from the Lords Baltimore, the proprietors, so the earliest land records are warrants, certificates of survey, and patents issued by the provincial Land Office. Certificates of survey give the metes and bounds of each tract, and tracts had names, which helps you follow a property through later deeds.

These records can also document immigration. Warrants and patents issued under the headright system name people brought into the colony, and the Archives notes that the patent records document the arrival of nearly 80 percent of the settlers estimated to have entered Maryland before 1684. A patent issued to several children after their father died before it was granted can also prove a family group. County deeds, which name grantor and grantee and sometimes a former residence, are searchable as images through MDLandRec.net.

Military records

The Archives mostly holds records of soldiers raised by the state, either as militia or for federal service. Its holdings are scattered for the colonial era, include muster rolls, pay, and pension records for the Revolution, and continue to National Guard service records from 1898. For soldiers in federal service, there may be additional records at the National Archives.