Maryland Public Records
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To Search Public and Vital Records -
Vital records are records of life events important enough that
some level of government acquires, organizes, and preserves
them. While the term "vital records" is often applied
to a wide variety of life events... Read
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Maryland Vital Records
Vital records for Maryland are found at two different repositories.
Statewide births, 1898–1950, including those for Baltimore, 1875–1941;
statewide death records, 1898–1982 (indexes 1898–1968),
with Baltimore deaths for 1875–1982 (indexes 1875–1971);
and county civil marriage records from 1914–1950 (indexes 1914–1930)
are located at the Maryland Hall of Records (State Archives):
Maryland State Archives
Hall of Records Building
350 Rowe Blvd.
Annapolis, MD 21401
Tel: 800-235-4045 (MD toll free)
or 410-974-3914
Fax: 410-974-3895
Email: archives@mdarchives.state.md.us
http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us
Maryland births from April 1898, with City of Baltimore
births from January 1875; Maryland deaths occurring less than twenty
years ago; and Maryland marriages from June 1951 are also available
from the Division of Vital Records. Earlier marriages, usually from
the 1770s to 1919, are either with the clerk of the circuit court
where the license was issued or at the Maryland State Archives.
Some records are at both locations.
State of Maryland Department of Health & Mental Hygiene
Division of Vital Records
Metro Executive Building
4201 Patterson Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21215-0020
Tel: 410-225-5988
800-832-3277
http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/msa/mdmanual/ 16dhmh/html/16agen.html#vr
Maryland Land Records
Prior to 1683, land was granted to those who transported settlers
to the colony. The names of such immigrants found in the land patents,
1633–80, are listed in Gust Skordas, ed., The Early Settlers
of Maryland (1968; reprint; Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co.,
1986). Land patents, with indexes, from 1634 are at the Maryland
Hall of Records in Annapolis, as are quit rents, rent rolls (1639–1776,
incomplete), certificates of survey (1705 to date), and warrants
and assignments (1634–1842). A separate index covers private
and proprietary manors as found in the patent records. See Elizabeth
Hartsook and Gust Skordas, Land Office and Prerogative Court Records
of Colonial Maryland (1946; reprint; Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing
Co., 1968, 1989).
Deeds, mortgages, and bills of sale were recorded
in the county circuit court, where standard indexes are also available.
Mortgages were often recorded separately in later years. Films of
all county land records are available at the Maryland Hall of Records,
which also has the original record books and indexes of many counties.
Many microfilm copies are also available at the FHL. Early deeds
could be recorded in both county courts and provincial and general
courts. Indexes to the latter for 1658–1815, by name of person
or tract, are available at the Hall of Records.
Background information can be found in Clarence P.
Gould, The Land System in Maryland, 1720–1765 (Baltimore: Johns
Hopkins Press, 1913), and Paul H. Giddens, "Land Policies and
Administration in Colonial Maryland, 1753–1769," Maryland
Historical Magazine 28 (1933): 142–71.
Maryland Court Records
Court records include probate records (which include wills), guardianship,
naturalization, and a wide variety of other sources, ranging from
criminal trials to simple road orders. All contain information about
individuals within the area. It should be remembered that there
are different levels of jurisdiction for courts in the United States,
all of which should be considered for research under various circumstances.
Court of Common Pleas, Orphan's Court, Probate Court, District Court,
Superior Court, Supreme Court, and other titles are among those
encountered. To study more about court records in general, see "Research
in Court Records," by Arlene H. Eakle, in: Loretto DennisSzucs
and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking, eds., The Source: A Guidebook of
American Genealogy, rev. ed. (Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1997).
Maryland Military Records
The Maryland Hall of Records has an incomplete index to colonial
muster and payroll records for the period 1732 to 1772, as well
as various records and indexes for the later wars and military units.
Muster rolls and payrolls of colonial Maryland militia are included
in Murtie June Clark's Colonial Soldiers of the South, 1732–1774
(Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1983). The National Archives-Mid-Atlantic
Region has microfilms of the Revolutionary War military service
(with index) and pension records (arranged alphabetically), the
index to War of 1812 and Spanish American War service records, and
name indexes to Union and Confederate soldiers in the Civil War.
Lists of Revolutionary War muster rolls were published in vol. 18
of Archives of Maryland (1900; reprint; Baltimore: Genealogical
Publishing Co., 1972).
Helpful collections and references that have been
published are Raymond B. Clark, Jr. Maryland Revolutionary Records:
How To Find Them & Interpret Them (St. Michaels, Md.: the author,
1976); S. Eugene Clements and F. Edward Wright, Maryland Militia
in the Revolutionary War (Westminster, Md.: Family Line Publications,
1987); and Harry Wright Newman, comp., Maryland Revolutionary Records:
Data Obtained from 3,050 Pension Claims and Bounty Land Applications
(1938; reprint; Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1987); F.
Edward Wright, Maryland Militia, War of 1812, 7 vols. to date (Silver
Spring, Md.: Family Line Publications, 1979–present); Allison
Wilmer, et al., History and Roster of Maryland Volunteers, War of
1861–5, 2 vols. (1898; reprint; Westminster, Md.: Family Line
Publications, n.d.); William W. Goldsborough, The Maryland Line
in the Confederate Army 1861–1865, 2nd ed. (1900; reprint with
index; Port Washington, N.Y.: Kennikat Press, 1972); and Daniel
P. Hartzler, Marylanders in the Confederacy (Silver Spring, Md.:
Family Line Publications, 1986).
World War I participants are found in a list compiled
by the Maryland War Records Commission (Baltimore, 1933). The War
Records Division of the Maryland Historical Society compiled five
volumes of Maryland in World War II, Register of Service Personnel
(1965). For further reference also see: James C. Neagles, U.S. Military
Records: A Guide to Federal and State Sources (Salt Lake City: Ancestry,
1994).
Additional Sources
Scharf, J. Thomas. History of Maryland, 3 vols. 1879. Reprint with
new index. Hatboro, Pa.: Tradition Press, 1967.
Kaminkow, Marion. Maryland A to Z: A Topographical
Dictionary. Baltimore: Magna Carta Book Co., 1985.
Meyer, Mary Keysor. Genealogical Research in Maryland:
A Guide. 3rd ed. Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society, 1983.
A series of individual guides to microfilmed county
and Baltimore City records, A Guide to the Maryland State Archives
Holdings, is handy for obtaining microfilm through interlibrary
loan. The individual guides are available for five dollars each
from the Maryland Hall of Records.
Maryland Vital Records:
Event: Birth or death
Cost of copy: $6.00
Address:
Division of Vital Records
Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
6550 Reistertown Avenue
P.O. Box 68760
Baltimore, MD 21215-0020
Remarks: State office has had records since August
1898. Records for city of Baltimore are available from January 1875.
Fee for Commemorative Birth Certificates is $25.00.
Will not do research for genealogical studies. Must
apply to State of Maryland Archives, 350 Rowe Blvd., Annapolis,
MD 21401, (410) 974-3914.
Check or money order should be made payable to Division
of Vital Records. Personal checks are accepted. To verify current
fees, the telephone number is (410) 764-3038. This will be a recorded
message.
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Event: Marriage (State)
Cost of copy: $6.00
Address:
Division of Vital Records
Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
6550 Reistertown Avenue
P.O. Box 68760
Baltimore, MD 21215-0020
Remarks: Records since June 1951.
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Event: Marriage (county)
Cost of copy: Varies
Address: See remarks
Remarks: Clerk of Circuit Court in county where license
was issued or Clerk of Court of Common Pleas of Baltimore City (for
licenses issued in city of Baltimore).
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Event: Divorce (State)
Verification only
Cost of copy: No fee
Address:
Division of Vital Records
Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
6550 Reistertown Avenue
P.O. Box 68760
Baltimore, MD 21215-0020
Remarks: Records since January 1961. Certified copies
are not available from State office. Some items may be verified.
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Event: Divorce (county)
Cost of copy: Varies
Address: See remarks
Remarks: Clerk of Circuit Court in county where divorce
was granted.
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