Anne Arundel County, Maryland Genealogy

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

Anne Arundel County Maryland Courthouse
Clerk Circuit Court has marriage records from 1905, divorce and court records from 1870, and land records from 1851; Register of Wills has probate records; Hall of Records has marriage records 1770-1904 and earlier court and land records.

History

 * Named for Anne Arundell (1615-1649), the daughter of Thomas Arundell, 1st Baron Arundell of Wardour, member of the ancient family of Arundells in England. She was wife of Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Lord Baltimore.

Parent County

 * 1650--Anne Arundel County was created 9 April 1650 out of the Colonial lands. One of original counties. County seat: Annapolis.

Boundary Changes

 * 13 May 1851, Howard County was created out of the Howard District of Anne Arundel County.

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.

Variant Spellings

 * Ann Arundel
 * Ann Arundell
 * Anne Arundell

Record Loss
1704--The courthouse was destroyed by fire in 1704, with the loss of all but three court record volumes. Deeds before 1699 were lost, but there are five volumes of re-recorded deeds.

City

 * Annapolis

Town

 * Highland Beach

Neighboring Counties



 * Baltimore (Independent City)
 * Baltimore
 * Calvert
 * Howard
 * Kent
 * Prince George's
 * Queen Anne's
 * Talbot

Census
"Provincial Census of 1776, Anne Arundel County: Including All Hallow's Parish and St. James' Parish (25 pages of facsimile reproductions)," is available online, see pages 407-431 and index in:


 * Brumbaugh, Gaius Marcus. Maryland Records: Colonial, Revolutionary, County and Church from Original Sources. Vol. 1. Baltimore, Md.: Williams &amp; Wilkins Company, 1915. Digital version at Google Books.

Federal Census reports available 1790-1930 including slave and veterans schedules.

Church
Maryland State Archives' 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.
 * 1668-1995 at FamilySearch — index
 * Methodist Episcopal, Severn Circuit (1842-1858) and South River Circuit (1858-1867) Quarterly Conference Minutes
 * Methodist Episcopal, Wesley Chapel, Class Book 1844-1851
 * Protestant Episcopal (Church of England), All Hallow's Parish (South River Parish) 1669-1857 (includes parish registers 1669-1857, vestry papers 1809, 1841-1850, and vestry minutes and accounts 1761-1845; user name: aaco, password: aaco#)
 * Protestant Episcopal (Church of England), Christ Church, Queen Caroline Parish 1712-1939 (includes parish register 1712-1937 and vestry minutes 1728-1776, 1809-1939)
 * Protestant Episcopal, St. Anne's Church, Annapolis, Md. Parish Registers III-VII (1858-1952) (user name: aaco, password: aaco#)
 * Protestant Episcopal, St. Stephen's Church, Severn Parish, Millersville, Md. (includes cemetery lot record book 1857-1869 and plats of the church cemetery)

Church of England
See also All Hallow's Parish See also Old Herring Creek Parish  See also Queen Caroline Parish  See also St. Margaret's Parish

Quaker

 * 1658-1695 - "Early Maryland Quaker Records," Publications of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, Vol. 3, No. 3 (Jun. 1908):197-200. For free online access, see WeRelate; the Family History Library also has this series in its collection: . Principally a record of births.

Court
There is an excellent card index to Anne Arundel County court papers (1600s-1700s) at the Maryland State Archives. Genealogists will find that many English transported convicts make their initial American appearance in these records.

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

 * Russell, Donna Valley. First Families of Anne Arundel County, Maryland, 1649-1658, Volume I: The Landowners; Volume II: The Headrights. New Market, Md.: Catoctin Press, 1999-2002..
 * Warfield, J.D. The Founders of Anne Arundell and Howard Counties, Maryland: A Genealogical and Biographical Review from Wills, Deeds and Church Records. Baltimore: Kohn &amp; Pollock, 1905. 1036676 Item 3; digital versions at Ancestry($); Internet Archive. 1967 reprint:.

Immigration
Annapolis has been a port since colonial times. Unfortunately, no official passenger lists survive for the seventeenth or eighteenth centuries.

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 Anne Arundel County immigration resources include:


 * [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=Anne+Arundel&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 Anne Arundel 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 Anne Arundel County Deed Books (1653-present) have been uploaded to their website: A Digital Image Retrieval System for Land Records in Maryland. (Requires free registration.)

Revolutionary War
Anne Arundel County men served in the 3rd Maryland Regiment, the 4th Maryland Regiment, and the 6th 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. 1967 reprint: 973 X2pc 1840. [See Maryland, Anne Arundel County on page 127.]

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, Anne Arundel County, pp. 110-111. Identifies War of 1812 veterans living in this county in 1883.]

Civil War

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

Newspapers

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

Probate

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

Online Probate Records


 * 1604 – 1878 Maryland Wills and Probate Records 1604-1878 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

Research Guides

 * Simmons, Tina. “Research in Anne Arundel County.” Maryland Genealogical Society Journal 53, no. 1 (2012): 101-126.

Taxation

 * [1678, 1681] 1678 and 1681 Anne Arundel County tax lists, available online, courtesy: MDGenWeb.
 * [1783] Anne Arundel 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

Societies and Libraries
Anne Arundel Genealogical Society P.O. Box 1553 Glen Burnie, Maryland 21060 E-Mail: [mailto:info@aagensoc.org :info@aagensoc.org] Website

Maryland State Law Library Robert C. Murphy Courts of Appeal Building 361 Rowe Blvd. Annapolis, MD 21401 410 260-1430 Fax 410 260-1572 E-Mail: [mailto:lawlibrary@mdcourts.gov lawlibrary@mdcourts.gov] Website

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
 * Annapolis Maryland Family History Center

Websites

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