Somerset County, Maryland Genealogy

United States Maryland  Somerset County

County Courthouse
Somerset County Courthouse 21 Prince William Street Princess Anne, MD 21853 Phone: 410-651-1555 Clerk Circuit Court has marriage, divorce, court and land records from 1666; Register of Wills has probate records; 1830 Census Mission

History

 * Named for Mary, Lady Somerset, wife of Sir John Somerset and daughter of Thomas Arundell, 1st Baron Arundell of Wardour, sister of Anne (Arundell) Calvert, Baroness Baltimore, wife of Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Lord Baltimore.

Parent County

 * Created 22 August 1666 from the Colonial lands.

Boundary Changes

 * 22 October 1842, Worcester County set off
 * 17 August 1867, Wicomico County set off

Variant Spellings

 * Somersett

Record Loss
In 1831 the courthouse burned, but the records were saved. For an excellent article about burned records refer to the Burned Counties Research page.


 * Lost censuses: 1790, 1890

City

 * Crisfield

Town

 * Princess Anne

Neighboring Counties
Dorchester | St. Mary's | Wicomico | Worcester | Accomack County, Virginia

Cemetery Transcriptions

 * Findagrave Transcriptions
 * Histories and Transcriptions of Cemeteries in Somerset County.
 * Interment
 * Tombstone Transcription Project

Census

 * 1800 Somerset County Census Images
 * 1850 Somerset County Census Transcriptions

Federal Census reports available 1800-1930 including slave and veterans schedules. Exception-1830 Federal Census is missing.

Church
Maryland State Archives' Guide to Maryland Religious Institutions identifies all churches known to have existed in Prince George's County, Maryland. It covers all denominations and includes record descriptions. The following records, taken from its collection, have been digitized and made available to view for free online:


 * Methodist, 1856-1968 (includes membership, minutes, and other registers for various congregations)
 * Methodist, Smith Island Charge 1884-1967 (includes membership and church records for various congregations)
 * Methodist Episcopal, 1875-1967 (includes registers, minutes, and records for various congregations)
 * Methodist Protestant, 1820s-1960s (covers various congregations)
 * Presbyterian, Manokin Church, Princess Anne, Md. 1737-1964 (includes church history, register, session records, committee proceedings, treasurer's accounts, and Woman's Society Minutes)
 * Protestant Episcopal (Church of England), St. Mark's Church, Coventry Parish, Kingston, Md. (includes parish registers 1745-1911 (some gaps) and vestry minutes 1772-1915)

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. [Somerset County families appear in Vols. 7-10, 12, 15, 17-18, 20, and 22.]

Bibliography


 * [Bell] Bell, John B. "Four Early Thomas Bells on the Eastern Shore of Virginia," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 29, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 1985):278-288; Vol. 30, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1986):3-16. Digital version at American Ancestors ($)..
 * [Chancellor] Wroe, William Clarke. The Wroe and Chancellor Families, with Special Attention to the Descendants of Chancellor Wroe (1782-1818) and His Wife, Elizabeth Monroe Chancellor (1793-1872). Edgewater, Md.: W.C. Wroe, 1992. Digital version at Family History Archives;.
 * [Covington] Covington, Elbert E. Covington and Kin. DeSoto, Illinois: E.E. Covington, 1973?. Available at ; digital version at BYU Family History Archives.
 * [Delaymos] Russell, George Ely. "Portuguese and Spanish Colonists in Seventeenth-Century Maryland," The American Genealogist, Vol. 76, No. 1 (January 2001):50-60.
 * [Elzey] Boddie, Mrs. John Boddie. Historical Southern Families. Volume XIV. Baltimore, 1970..
 * [Gadd] Russell, George Ely. "John Lumbroso Jr. (1666-1744) of Pasquotank County, North Carolina," The American Genealogist, Vol. 59, No. 1 (Jan. 1983):32.
 * [Gibbons] Dryden, Ruth T. The Gibbons Family of Somerset County, Maryland. San Diego, California: R.T. Dryden, 1991. Available at.
 * [Gordy] See Melson.
 * [Layfield] Hatcher, Patricia Law. "'Mother Nottle': A Correction to the Ancestry of George and Samuel Layfield of Maryland," The American Genealogist, Vol. 77, No. 1 (Jan. 2002):18-24.
 * [London] Richardson, Douglas. "Ambrose London of New York, Virginia and Maryland," The American Genealogist, Vol. 58, No. 3 (Jul. 1982):160-163.
 * [London] Richardson, Douglas. "Major Ambrose London of New York, Virginia, and Maryland," The American Genealogist, Vol. 64, No. 2 (April 1989):75-78.
 * [Manlove] Russell, George Ely. "The Migrations of Mark Manlove (ca.1617-1666) in New England, Virginia, and Maryland," The American Genealogist, Vol. 61, No. 2 (Jul./Oct. 1985):71-76.
 * [Melson] Melson, Lewis B. The Melson Family in America: With Special Emphasis on the John-John-Daniel-Daniel-Benjamin-Samson Branch that Originated on the Eastern Shore of the Delaware-Maryland-Virginia Peninsula. 2 vols. Annapolis: L.B. Melson, 1996. Available at.
 * [Parramore] Bell, John Barr. "Another Adventurer John Parramore (1607-1676)," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 35, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1991):3-17. Digital version at American Ancestors ($)..
 * [Pilcher] Uhrbrock, Richard S. "Pilchers (Pilchards) and Reddens of Delmarva," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 18, No. 3 (Jul.-Sepl 1974):187-195. Digital version at American Ancestors ($);.
 * [Russell] Russell, George Ely. "John Russell from Somerset County, Maryland," The American Genealogist, Vol. 56, No. 3 (Jul. 1980):144-147.
 * [Smith] Smith, Wesley. A Family History and Fifty-two Years of Preacher Life in Mississippi and Texas. Nashville, Tenn.: University Press, 1898. Available at . [Discusses seventeenth-century Smith immigrants.]
 * [Townsend] Bayles, John J. and James L. Taylor. Some Descendants of John Townsend of Snow Hill, Maryland, 1640-1698, Accomack Co., Va., and Somerset Co., Md. Oxnard, California: J.J. Bayles, 1989. Available at.
 * [Waggaman] Edwards, Thomas Clarke. The Waggamans and Their Allied Families. Paramus, New Jersey: T.C. Edwards, 1983. Available at.
 * [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 ; digital versions at BYU Family History Archives and Google Books (full-view).

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 Somerset County immigration resources include:


 * [http://www.immigrantservants.com/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=Somerset&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 transported convicts from Europe] who served labor terms in Colonial Somerset County, Maryland, 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 Somerset County Deed Books (1665-present) have been uploaded to their website: MDLandRec.Net: A Digital Image Retrieval System for Land Records in Maryland. (Requires free registration.)

Revolutionary War
Somerset County men served in the 3rd Maryland Regiment and the 4th 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, Somerset 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, Somerset County, p. 155. Identifies War of 1812 veterans living in this county in 1883.]

Newspapers

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

Taxation

 * [1678, 1681] 1678 and 1681 Som[e]rsett County tax list, available online, courtesy: MDGenWeb.
 * [1724] Jacob, John E. "Somerset County, Maryland, 1724 Tax Lists," National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Vol. 61, No. 3 (Sep. 1973):195-200; Vol. 61, No. 4 (Dec. 1973):285-294.
 * [1783] Somerset 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.

Vital Records
Death


 * Maryland Death Certificate Index 1898-1944, available online, courtesy: Vital Records Indexing Project, Maryland State Archives.

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Web Sites

 * Edward H. Nabb Research Center for Delmarva History &amp; Culture includes bibliographies of sources, family history guides, biographies, etc.
 * "Somerset Co.," in Genealogical Sources in Periodicals at The Maryland State Archives.
 * Family History Library Catalog for Somerset County.
 * Genealogy Trails
 * The Somerset County MDGenWeb Project, a member of The MDGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Somerset County.
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Somerset County. (Backup site)