Somerset County, Maryland Genealogy

United States &gt; Maryland &gt; Somerset County

County Courthouse


11916 Somerset Avenue Princess Anne, MD 21853

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

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.

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. FHL US/CAN Book 975.21 D2b v. 1 ff. [Somerset County families appear in Vols. 7-10, 12, 15, 17-18, 20, and 22.]

Bibliography


 * [Covington] Covington, Elbert E. Covington and Kin. DeSoto, Illinois: E.E. Covington, 1973?. Available at FHL; 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.
 * [Gibbons] Dryden, Ruth T. The Gibbons Family of Somerset County, Maryland. San Diego, California: R.T. Dryden, 1991. Available at FHL.
 * [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.
 * [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 FHL.
 * [Smith] Smith, Wesley. A Family History and Fifty-two Years of Preacher Life in Mississippi and Texas. Nashville, Tenn.: University Press, 1898. Available at FHL. [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 FHL.
 * [Waggaman] Edwards, Thomas Clarke. The Waggamans and Their Allied Families. Paramus, New Jersey: T.C. Edwards, 1983. Available at FHL.
 * [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 FHL; 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.)

Newspapers

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

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

Web Sites

 * Edward H. Nabb Research Center for Delmarva History & Culture includes bibliographies of sources, family history guides, biographies, etc.
 * FamilySearch.org 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)