Dorchester County, Maryland Genealogy

Guide to Dorchester County, Maryland ancestry, family history, and genealogy, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, and military records.

Dorchester County Maryland Courthouse
Clerk Circuit Court has marriage records from 1780. Divorce records from 1821, equity docket record from 1821 and corporation records from 1858.

History



 * The county is believed to have been named after Dorchester, a city in England, or Edward Sackville, 4th Earl of Dorset, a family friend of the Calverts.

Parent County

 * Created 27 May 1668 from Colonial lands.

Boundary Changes

 * 15 June 1773, Caroline County was set off.
 * For animated maps illustrating Maryland county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Maryland County Boundary Maps" (1637-1997) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Record Loss
1852--Fire burned courthouse.
 * There are gaps in the court records. Some were probably lost in the fire of 1852.

City

 * Cambridge

Neighboring Counties


Maryland counties:


 * Calvert
 * Caroline
 * St. Mary's
 * Somerset
 * Talbot
 * Wicomico

Delaware county:


 * Sussex

Cemeteries
Dorchester County cemetery transcriptions in the US Genweb Project and other sources. Dorchester County Cemeteries

Census

 * 1776 Transcription and Index
 * 1778
 * 1790
 * 1800
 * 1810
 * 1820
 * 1830
 * 1840
 * 1850
 * 1850 Slave
 * 1860
 * 1860 Slave
 * 1870
 * 1880
 * 1890
 * 1900
 * 1910
 * 1920
 * 1930

Church

 * 1668-1995 at FamilySearch — index


 * Guide to Maryland Religious Institutions is not intended to be a complete listing of all Religious institutions in Maryland. It was originally based upon the churches recorded by the Federal Works Progress Administration during a records survey conducted from 1935 to 1941. It has been expanded by later acquisitions from religious organizations to the Maryland State Archives. The following records from their collection have been digitized and made available to view for free online:

Church of England
Trinity Church was built by 1690. A chapel of ease served parishioners on Taylor's Island.

See also Dorchester Parish See also Great Choptank Parish

Family Histories
It is anticipated that this bibliography will eventually identify all known family histories published about residents of this county. Use this list to:


 * Locate publications about direct ancestors
 * Find the most updated accounts of an ancestor's family
 * Identify publications, to quote Elizabeth Shown Mills, about an ancestor's "FAN Club" [Friends, Associates, and Neighbors]

General


 * Barnes, Robert W., F. Edward Wright, Vernon L. Skinner and Henry C. Peden. Colonial Families of the Eastern Shore of Maryland. 23 vols. Westminster, Md.: Family Line, 1996-2003; Lewes, Del.: Delmarva Roots and Colonial Roots, 2007. ff. [Dorchester County families appear in Vols. 7, 11, 13-14, 16, and 19.]

Bibliography


 * [Ennalls] "The Ennalls and Waggaman Families of Maryland," The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 2, No. 2 (Oct. 1893):98-105. Digital version at JSTOR - free.
 * [Wright] Wright, Charles W. The Wright Ancestry of Caroline, Dorchester, Somerset and Wicomico Counties Maryland. Baltimore: Baltimore City Printing and Binding Co., 1907. Available at ; ; and Google Books.
 * [Wroughton] Loeser, Rudolf. "Margaret (__) (Wroughton) (Attowell) Grimes and Some Relatives," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 42, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1998):111-118; Vol. 42, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1998):194-204. To locate digital pages use search form at American Ancestors ($); first select Virginia Genealogist, The from the Database list. Then select Volume number..

Immigration
The New Early Settlers of Maryland database is a great place to start searching for immigrants who had arrived in the colony by the 1680s. The database "comprises 34,326 entries from Gust Skordas' Early Settlers of Maryland and Carson Gibb's Supplement to the Early Settlers of Maryland." Available online, courtesy: Maryland State Archives.

Other Dorchester County immigration resources include:


 * Coldham, Peter Wilson. "Intercepted Letters Relating to America 1777-1811," The Genealogist, Vol. 14, No. 2 (Fall 2000):184-200; Vol. 15, No. 1 (Spring 2001):53-74. [Overseas correspondence of a resident of Vianna [Vienna, Dorchester County] with the following surname: Dennis.]
 * [http://www.pricegen.com/immigrantservants/search/advancedResults.php?surname=&givenName=&varientSurnameSpellings=&gender=&dateOfBirthDay=&dateOfBirthMonth=&dateOfBirthQuantifier=&dateOfBirthYear=&placeOfBirthParish=&placeOfBirthTown=&placeOfBirthCity=&placeOfBirthCounty=&placeOfBirthColony=&placeOfBirthNation=&occupations=&religions=&orphan=&familyPosition=&immigrationYearQualifier=&immigrationYear=&portOfDepartureTown=&portOfDepartureCity=&portOfDepartureCounty=&portOfDepartureNation=&placeOfArrivalTown=&placeOfArrivalCounty=&placeOfArrivalColony=&shipName=&convict=&yearOfIndentureQualifier=&yearOfIndenture=&lengthOfIndentureYears=&lengthOfIndentureMonths=&yearOfFreedomQualifier=&yearOfFreedom=&placeOfIndentureTown=&placeOfIndentureCity=&placeOfIndentureCounty=Dorchester&placeOfIndentureColony=Maryland&agentSurname=&agentGivenName=&agentTitle=&masterSurname=&masterGivenName=&masterTitle=&residenceParish=&residenceTown=&residenceCity=&residenceCounty=&residenceColony=&residenceNation=&landowner=&literate=&spouseSurname=&spouseGivenName=&spouseMarriageDateDay=&spouseMarriageDateMonth=&spouseMarriageDateQualifier=&spouseMarriageDateYear=&spouseMarriageLocationParish=&spouseMarriageLocationCounty=&spouseMarriageLocationColony=&spouseMarriageLocationNation=&deathDateDay=&deathDateMonth=&deathDateQualifier=&deathDateYear=&deathLocality=&deathCounty=&deathColony=&deathState=&testate=&proofServantStatus=&proofConvictStatus=&headright=&preServitudeSources=&postServitudeSources=&comments=&family=&sourceCitations=&interestedResearchers= List of imported servants and convicts from Europe] who served labor terms in Colonial Dorchester County, Maryland (work in progress), courtesy: Immigrant Servants Database. [Includes Richard J. Cox's abstracts of Maryland Gazette runaways.]

Land
Through a Joint eGovernment Service of the Maryland Judiciary and the Maryland State Archives, free images and indexes of the complete series of Dorchester County Deed Books (1669-present) have been uploaded to their website: A Digital Image Retrieval System for Land Records in Maryland. (Requires free registration.)

Revolutionary War
Dorchester County men served in the 5th Maryland Regiment.


 * A Census of Pensioners for Revolutionary or Military Services: With their Names, Ages, and Places of Residence, as Returned by the Marshalls of the Several Judicial Districts, Under the Act for Taking the Sixth Census]. 1841. Digital version at Google Books et. al. 1967 reprint: 973 X2pc 1840. [See Maryland, Dorchester County on page 128.]

War of 1812

 * List of Pensioners on the Roll, January 1, 1883; Giving the Name of Each Pensioner, the Cause for Why Pensioned, the Post-Office Address, the Rate of Pension Per Month, and the Date of Original Allowance... Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1883. 973 M2Lp v. 5; digital versions at Google Books and Internet Archive. [See Vol. 5, Maryland, Dorchester County, pp. 145-146. Identifies War of 1812 veterans living in this county in 1883.]

Civil War

 * 1861-1865 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1861-1865 - at FamilySearch — index


 * - 1st Regiment, Maryland Eastern Shore Infantry, Companies A, B, and C.

Newspapers

 * Dorchester County newspapers are identified in "Guide to Maryland Newspapers," available online, courtesy: Special Collections, Maryland State Archives.

Dorchester County, Maryland Old Newspapers are available online.

Private Papers

 * Coldham, Peter Wilson. "Intercepted Letters Relating to America 1777-1811," The Genealogist, Vol. 14, No. 2 (Fall 2000):184-200; Vol. 15, No. 1 (Spring 2001):53-74. [Overseas correspondence of residents of Vianna [Vienna, Dorchester County] with the following surname: Dennis.]

Probate

 * Probate Records, Colonial Index, 1634-1777 online at Maryland State Archives website - free

Online Probate Records


 * 1635 – 1777 Maryland Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1777 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1635 – 1743 Maryland Calendar of Wills 1635-1743 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1796 – 1940 at FamilySearch images

Taxation

 * [1678, 1681] 1678 and 1681 Dorchester County tax lists, available online, courtesy: MDGenWeb.
 * [1783] Dorchester County Tax List of 1783: This is an alphabetical index to names to all property owners assessed. The index cards at the Maryland State Archives include county, hundred, names of tracts of land and whether individuals were paupers or single males as provided in the law.

Marriage

 * 1658 - 1940 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1666 - 1970 at FamilySearch — index
 * Maryland Marriage References by Robert Barnes - free.
 * Marriage Records - Maryland State Archives

Death

 * 1898 - 1944 Maryland Death Index 1898-1944

Other Dorchester County death record resources include:


 * Dorchester County, Maryland Cemeteries, Death Certificate Indexes, Death Certificate Abstracts, Abstracts of Obituaries are available online.

Societies and Libraries
Dorchester County Historical Society 902 LaGrange Ave. Cambridge, MD 21613 - 2009 410) 228-7953 E-Mail: [mailto:dchs@verizon.net dchs@verizon.net] Website

Dorchester County Library 303 Gay Street Cambridge, MD 21613 410-228-7331 Fax: 410-228-6313 TDD: 410-228-0454 E-Mail: [mailto:infodesk@dorchesterlibrary.org infodesk@dorchesterlibrary.org] Website

Lower Delmarva Genealogical Society Box 3602 Salisbury, MD 21802-3602 E-Mail: [mailto:lowerdelmarva@yahoo.com lowerdelmarva@yahoo.com] Website

National Society United States Daughters of 1812 MARYLAND SOCIETY UNITED STATES DAUGHTERS OF 1812- Kitty Knight Chapter E-Mail: [mailto:info@usdaughtersof1812maryland.org info@usdaughtersof1812maryland.org] Website

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Websites

 * Dorchester County, Maryland Genealogy, History and Facts (Genealogy Inc)
 * The Dorchester County MDGenWeb Project, a member of The MDGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.
 * "Dorchester Co.," in Genealogical Sources in Periodicals at The Maryland State Archives.
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project, Dorchester County.
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project, Dorchester County. (Backup site)
 * , Dorchester County