Research Center - People Entries in black text are physical resources found in our Research Library. Hyperlinks (blue/underline) are online resources, some of which are only available to members. Online PDF resources are generally searchable by hitting "CTRL-F" and entering the term you would like to search for.
Birth/Baptismal Records
Family History Files
Research records relating to specific families. There are 1,135 folders of individual family names contained in 19 file drawers. View List of Family File Names
Marriage Records:
St. Mary's County marriage records began in 1794 and are available and are extant to date.
Death Records
Deaths occurring in Maryland counties were not officially registered before 1898. As with births, extant church records and other sources must be used. Deaths from all known sources up to 1900 are included in the book cited under Marriage Records, above.
Probate Records
Probate records include wills, estate inventories, accounts and other documents. From 1634 to 1777, records were kept at the provincial (colonial) level and at the county level. After 1777, records were kept at the county level. The Maryland State Archives Probate Guide is a helpful aid.
Obituaries
A thru G Abell - Anderson Andes - Barber Babb - Beaven Beaver - Bevins Bibeault - Boothe Borchert - Briscoe Britt - Buchanan Buchanan - Burroughs Bursey - Byrum Cabbage - Carter Cartwright - Churchill Ciango - Combs Comeau - Coyne Crabites - Czzowitz Dabler - Dean Dean - Dixon Dick - Donovan Dooley - Duke Duke - Dzurko Eagan - Ezzell Faber - Fenwick Fenzau - Forquer Forrest - Garner Garnett - Gleason Glenn - Gowin Grabis - Greene Greenfield - Gwisk
H thru P Haa - Harris Harrison - Hayden Hayducko - Hewlett Helber - Hewlett Hibble - Hlousek Hoang - Hopps Hor - Hynson Iagnemmo - Ivancik Jackson - Johnson Johnston - Justics Jones - Jones Kabb - Knorr Knot - Kyte LaBille - Layne Lea - Lokey Lomax - Lytle Macaboy - Matthews Mattingly - Mattingly Mattison - McWilliams Mead - Mitten Moats - Myers Nadeau - Nutwell Oatley - Ozoroski Packel - Phillips Philpot - Powers Prater - Pyles
Q thru Z Quade - Quirk Rabasko - Rehder Rehm - Rizas Roa - Russell Russell - Schumann Schwab - Shuebrooks Shuffle - Smola Smott - Stauffer St. Clair - Stowell Strian - Swanson Swarey - Szydlowski Taft - Thoman Thomas - Thomason Thompson - Thompson Thornberry - Tyree Trejo - Wallace Wallace - Ward Wardell - Wible Wicker - Witherspoon Wojnar - Wood Woodall - Ethel Young - Znotinas
Wills
The first step in finding a will is to locate the deceased’s name in the St. Mary’s County Will Index (below). It will show the date of will’s recording, and the liber (book) and folio (page) where that will can be found. Will books were named by the initials of the Register of Wills. Shown is a list of the St. Mary’s County Will Books.
After finding the liber and folio, you will need to locate a copy of that liber (book). They can be found at the St. Mary’s County Courthouse, or on microfilm at the Maryland State Archives (visit the MSA Probate Guide Page below) or in our Research Library. Wills prior to 1778 are online at the Maryland State Archives. A few Will Books are available online in PDF below.
Inventories
Inventories are lists of the personal property in a deceased person’s estate. They provide invaluable insight into the lifestyle and standard of living. Besides listing tangible personal property, they also listed slaves, often including names and ages. Inventories from 1795-1859 are available on the Research Library computer in PDF [huge – 3.56 GB]
Guardianships
Guardianships were established when a parent died leaving minor children. A guardian would be appointed to take legal custody of the children. An account would be established from the deceased person's estate for the benefit of the minor children. Guardianship records are useful for genealogy in establishing parent/child relationships. They also provide the identity of the guardian which may be a surviving spouse, a relative, a friend or a neighbor. They may also establish a date of death for an individual who cannot be located elsewhere.
Cemetery Records
Graven in Stone and Buried under the Shield: A Guide to Gravestones of Maryland’s Civil War Veterans
African-American Records
Slavery was an accepted practice in Maryland from it's inception until the adoption of a new State Constitution on November 1, 1864
Census Records
Federal census records exist for St. Mary's county for the years listed below. Census Enumeration District Maps SMCHS publication identifying election district areas by census year.
Churches and Parishes