Prince George's County, Maryland Genealogy

Guide to Prince George's County, Maryland ancestry, genealogy and family history, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, and military records.



Description
Prince George's County was named for Prince George of Denmark. The county is located in the southwestern area of the state.

County Courthouse
Prince George's County Courthouse 14735 Main Street Upper Marlboro, MD 20772 Phone: 301-952-3318 Toll-free (in Maryland) 800-937-1335 Prince George's County Website Clerk of the Circuit Court has land and court records. Register of Wills has probate records.

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit Hometown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Cemeteries

 * Cemetery Transcriptions includes partial transcriptions for Ammendale Cemetery-Ammendale-(Christian Bros.), 11007 Montgomery Road, Beltsville, MD
 * Fort Lincoln Cemetery, Brentwood
 * White Marsh Cemetery-Bowie MD

Census Records

 * The 1830 Census is missing.
 * Maryland Records: Colonial, Revolutionary, County and Church from Original Sources. By Gaius Marcus Brumbaugh. 1915. Vol. 1. Baltimore, Md.: Williams & Wilkins Company. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library. Provincial Census of August 31, 1776, Prince George's County: St. John's and Prince George's Parishes (89 pages of facsimile reproductions and index). Pages 1-89.
 * Federal Census reports available 1790-1930 including slave and veterans schedules.

Church Records

 * 1668-1995 at FamilySearch — index- How to Use this Collection
 * 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. The following records, taken from its collection, have been digitized and made available to view for free online:


 * Protestant Episcopal (Church of England), St. John's Church, King George's Parish (aka Piscataway Parish, St. John's Parish), includes: parish registers 1689-1878 and vestry minutes 1693-1823
 * Protestant Episcopal, St. Simon's Chapel (African American), includes: parish and church registers 1902-1963, etc.
 * Protestant Episcopal, St. Thomas's Parish, includes: parish registers 1850-1970 and various records

Church of England


 * King George's Parish
 * Piscataway Parish
 * Prince George's Parish
 * Queen Anne's Parish
 * St. John's Parish

Ward and Branch Records of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints


 * Capitol Heights
 * Greenbelt

List of Churches and Church Parishes


 * FamilySearch Places

Emigration and Immigration

 * 1897-1952 at FamilySearch — index and images - How to Use this Collection
 * Immigrant Servants Database at PriceGen - 20,000+ colonial immigrants, primary focus: Chesapeake Bay colonies (Virginia and Maryland)

Genealogies

 * Addison - Kennedy, Mary Selden. Seldens of Virginia and Allied Families. New York: Frank Allaben Genealogical Co., c1911. . Online at: Vol. 1 - FamilySearch Digital Library, Internet Archive; Vol. 2 - Internet Archive; Vols. 1 & 2 - Ancestry ($).
 * Addison - Lomax, E.L. Genealogy of the Virginia Family of Lomax. Chicago: Rand McNally and Co., 1913. Digital version at Internet Archive.
 * Bates - Russell, Donna Valley. "The Maternal Ancestry of Mary Bates, Wife of Lingan Wilson of Prince George's County, Maryland," The American Genealogist, Vol. 68, No. 2 (Apr. 1993):72-76. Available at.
 * Beall - See Bates.
 * Beckwith - Hoff, Henry B. "Alexander de Hinojosa and His Descendants in Maryland," The American Genealogist, Vol. 79, No. 4 (Oct. 2004):260-273. Available at.
 * Boteler - Russell, Donna Valley. "The Boteler Family of Maryland," The American Genealogist, Vol. 70, No. 1 (Jan. 1995):9-17. Available at.
 * Bowell - Bowell, Lillian and William Bowell. A Bowell Family History. St. Paul, Minn.
 * Buckerfield - See Bates.
 * Calvert - Douxchamps, Hervé, Jan Botemans and Henry Hoff. Rubens et ses Descendants. Volume IV, La Descendance Lunden. Brussels, Belgium: Office Généalogique et Héraldique de Belgique, 1985. 1977 edition:.
 * Chapline - Dare, Maria J. Liggett. Chaplines from Maryland and Virginia. Washington, D.C.: M.J.L. Dare, 1902. ; digital version at Internet Archive.
 * Chilton - Dorman, John Frederick. "The Chilton Families of Virginia and Maryland," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 11, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1967):71-78; Vol. 11, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1967):121-125; Vol. 11, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 1967):167-174; Vol. 12, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1968):15-18; Vol. 12, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1968):83-86; Vol. 12, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1968):109-113; Vol. 12, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 1968):169-175; Vol. 13, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1969):32-36; Vol. 13, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1969):65-71; Vol. 13, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 1969):177-180; Vol. 14, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1970):15-22; Vol. 14, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1970):75-82; Vol. 14, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1970):123-128; Vol. 14, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 1970):165-168; Vol. 15, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1971):32-41; Vol. 15, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1971):122-124; Vol. 15, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 1971):259-264; Vol. 16, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 1972):301-306. To locate digital pages use search form at American Ancestors ($); first select Virginia Genealogist, The from the Database list. Then select Volume number..
 * Crauford - Tyler, Lyon G. "The Blackburns, of 'Ripon Lodge,'" The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 4, No. 4 (Apr. 1896):266-269. Digital version at JSTOR - free.
 * D'Hiniossa - Hoffman, William J. "Alexander D'Hiniossa, The Last Dutch Director on the Delaware," The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Vol. 73, No. 4 (Oct. 1942):246-250. Digital version at The New York Genealogical and Biographical Society ($);.
 * Elder - Donnelly, Mary Louise. Maryland Elder Family and Kin - William Elder 1707-1775 Emmitsburg, Md. Pioneer. Burke, Va.: M.L. Donnelly, 1975..
 * Gambra - Russell, George Ely. "Portuguese and Spanish Colonists in Seventeenth-Century Maryland," The American Genealogist, Vol. 76, No. 1 (January 2001):50-60; Vol. 77, No. 1 (Apr. 2001):138-147. Available at.
 * Hawley - Hawley, Laura. Hawley, Halley, Holley and Families of Similar Surnames Found in Early Records of England, Maryland and Virginia. Bowie, Md.: Willow Bend Books, 2003.
 * Hepburn - See Bates.
 * Holdsworth - See Bates.
 * Ingram - Barnum, Dorothy Jeter and George Ely Russell. “James Johnson alias Ingram: A Southern Odyssey,” National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Vol. 76, No. 1 (Mar. 1988):5-16. Digital version at National Genealogical Society website ($);.
 * Ingram - Barnum, Dorothy Jeter. The James and Mary Kendall Ingram Family. Moultrie, Georgia: D.J. Barnum, c1988. Available at.
 * Lamar - Lamar, William Harmong, "Thomas Lamar of the Province of Maryland, and a Part of His Descendants," Publications of the Southern History Association, Vol. 1, No. 3 (Jul. 1897):203-210. Digitized by Internet Archive - free.
 * Lamar - Crozier, William Armstrong. Virginia Heraldica: Being a Registry of Virginia Gentry Entitled to Coat Armor, With Genealogical Notes of the Families. New York: The Genealogical Association, 1908. Digital version at Internet Archive - free.
 * Parker - See Bates.
 * Pottenger - Thompson, Neil D. and Paul C. Reed. "Falsehood and Truth: The Ancestry of John Pottenger, Immigrant to Maryland in 1684," The American Genealogist, Vol. 68, No. 3 (Jul. 1993):139-145. Available at.
 * Prather - Lewis, Olan R. The Thomas Prather Family. Lakeport, Calif.: O.R. Lewis, 1988..
 * Rawlins - Lancaster, Jeannie. "Rawlins Family," Tree Builders, Christian County Genealogical Society, Vol. 27, No. 3 (Fall 2006):57-67.
 * Reagan - Reagan, Donald B. Smoky Mountain Clans. 3 vols. Knoxville, Tenn.: D.B. Reagan, 1978-1983. . [The Reagan family is discussed in Vol. 1.]
 * Scearce - McNamara, Elizabeth W. Weakley, Scearce, Arnold Families of Kentucky, Their Descendants and Ancestral Families. Baltimore, 1980..
 * Smith - Russell, Donna Valley. "Nathan and Thomas Smith of Maryland," The American Genealogist, Vol. 65, No. 4 (Oct. 1990):230-232. Digital version at American Ancestors ($);
 * Sprigg - Dorman, John Frederick. Adventurers of Purse and Person Virginia 1607-1624/5. 3 vols. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2005. See Volume 2..
 * Taylor - Dennstedt, Albert Marjorie. "Richard and Ann Taylor's Descendants in Maryland and Virginia," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 40, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1996):29-38; Vol. 40, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1996):134-145; Vol. 40, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1996):199-211; Vol. 40, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 1996):282-293. To locate digital pages use search form at American Ancestors ($); first select Virginia Genealogist, The from the Database list. Then select Volume number..
 * Welsh - Russell, George Ely. "Molly Welsh: Alleged Grandmother of Benjamin Banneker," National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Vol. 94, No. 4 (December 2006):305-314. 973 B2ng v. 94 (2006)
 * Wheat - Monk, Arliss Shaffer. "Undocumented Genealogies: To Trust or Not to Trust? Lessons from Several Strains of Wheat," National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Vol. 86, No. 1 (March 1998):37-49. 973 B2ng v. 86 (1998)
 * Wilson - See Bates.

Land and Property Records
Through a Joint eGovernment Service of the Maryland Judiciary and the Maryland State Archives, free images and indexes of the complete series of Prince George's County Deed Books (1696-present) have been uploaded to their website: A Digital Image Retrieval System for Land Records in Maryland. (Requires free registration.)

Maps and Gazetteers
Martinet's Map of Prince George's County - approx 1861. Online at Library of Congress.
 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Military Records

 * Maryland Records: Colonial, Revolutionary, County and Church from Original Sources. Vol. 1. By Gaius Marcus Brumbaugh. 1915. Baltimore, Md.: Williams & Wilkins Company. Online at: Vol. 1 - FamilySearch Digital Library, Internet Archive; Vol. 2 - Internet Archive; Vols. 1 & 2 - Ancestry ($). Two Muster Rolls, Militia Prince George's County, French War, 1799, giving Dates of Birth of Soldiers, are listed on pages 173-175.

Revolutionary War
Prince George's County men served in the 3rd 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 Marshals of the Several Judicial Districts, Under the Act for Taking the Sixth Census. 1841. 1967 reprint: 973 X2pc 1840. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library, Internet Archive, Ancestry ($). See Maryland, Prince George's County on page 127.


 * Revolutionary Records of Maryland. By Gaius Marcus Brumbaugh and Margaret Roberts Hodges. 1924. Washington, D.C.: R.H. Darby Print. Online at FamilySearch Digital Library, Ancestry ($). Contains lists of Prince George's County men involved in the Revolutionary War.

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. Online at: Internet Archive, Ancestry ($). See Vol. 5, Maryland, Prince George's County, pp. 153-154. Identifies War of 1812 veterans living in this county in 1883.

Civil War

 * 1861-1865 at FamilySearch — index - How to Use this Collection
 * 1861-1865 at FamilySearch — index- How to Use this Collection


 * - 1st Regiment, West Virginia Light Artillery, Battery H Light Artillery.

World War II

 * 1940-1945 at FamilySearch — index and images - How to Use this Collection

Newspapers

 * Prince George's County newspapers are identified in "Guide to Maryland Newspapers," available online, courtesy: Special Collections, Maryland State Archives.
 * 1800s-1999 U.S., Newspapers.com Marriage Index, 1800s-1999 at Ancestry - index ($)

Probate Records
Online Probate Indexes and Records


 * Maryland, Wills and Probate Records at findmypast - index
 * 1634-1777 Maryland, Index To Colonial Probate Records, 1634-1777 at findmypast - index
 * 1635–1743 Maryland Calendar of Wills 1635-1743 at Ancestry — index and images ($)
 * 1635–1777 Maryland Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1777 at Ancestry — index and images ($)
 * 1698-1958, original books (wills, bonds, accounts, proceedings), at FamilySearch.
 * 1796–1940 at FamilySearch images - How to Use this Collection
 * Probate Records, Colonial Index, 1634-1777, Maryland State Archives.
 * Dates Vary United States Wills and Deeds Experimental Search at FamilySearch - incomplete index and images, counties and dates vary

Social Security Records

 * 1935-2014 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
 * 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry ($) — index, click here for more information.
 * 1936-2007 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index

Tax Records

 * 1733 Russell, Donna Valley. "1733 Taxables," Western Maryland Genealogy, Vol. 3, No. 3 (July 1987):99-103.
 * 1746 1746 Antietam Hundred Tax List at Maryland Genealogical Society, transcription
 * 1828 1828 Tax List Prince George's County, Maryland. editor, Shirley Langdon Wilcox; compiled by Prince George's County Genealogical Society. - [Bowie, Md?] The Society, 1985. - 130 p.FS Library 975.251 R4t. F187.P9 A13 1985

Marriage

 * 1658-1940 at FamilySearch — index - How to Use this Collection
 * 1666-1970 at FamilySearch — index - How to Use this Collection
 * 1777-1800 Marriage Licenses Issued at Upper Marlborough, Prince George's County, 1777-1800. From Maryland Records: Colonial, Revolutionary, County and Church from Original Sources. By Gaius Marcus Brumbaugh. 1915. Vol. 1. Baltimore, Md.: Williams & Wilkins Company. Online at: Vol. 1 - FamilySearch Digital Library, Internet Archive; Vol. 2 - Internet Archive; Vols. 1 & 2 - Ancestry ($). Pages 93-172.
 * 1777-1886 Index of Marriage Licenses Prince George's County Maryland 1777-1886 at Ancestry ($)
 * Maryland Marriage References by Robert Barnes. Maryland State Archives.
 * Marriage Records, Maryland State Archives.

Death

 * 1898-1944 Maryland Death Index 1898-1944

FamilySearch Centers

 * Suitland Maryland FamilySearch Center
 * Washington DC FamilySearch Center
 * Mount Vernon Genealogical Society - an affiliate library.
 * National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution - an affiliate library.

Libraries
John Calder Brennan Library 817 Main Street Laurel, MD 20707 Phone: 301-725-7975 Email:[mailto:research@laurelhistoricalsociety.org research@laurelhistoricalsociety.org] Website Frederick S. DeMarr Library P.O. Box 14 Riverdale, MD 20738-0014 Phone: 301-220-0330 Email: [mailto:info@pghistory.org info@pghistory.org]

Museums
Greenbelt Museum 10B Crescent Road Greenbelt, MD 20770 Phone: 301-507-6582 Facebook Website

Societies
Afro-American Historical & Genealogical Society, Inc. Prince George's County MD Chapter PO Box 44252 Fort Washington, MD 20749-4252 Email: [mailto:janemaur@aol.com janemaur@aol.com] Website

Greenbelt Historical Society 204 Lastner Lane Greenbelt, MD 20770 Phone: 301-474-5156 Website

Prince George's County Genealogical Society PO Box 819 Bowie, MD 20718-0819 Phone: 301-262-2063 Email: [mailto:information@pgcgs.org information@pgcgs.org] Facebook Website

Prince George's County Historical Society Facebook Website

Riversdale Historical Society 4811 Riverdale Road Riverdale Park, MD 20737 Phone: 301-864-0420

Laurel Historical Society 817 Main Street Laurel, MD 20707 Phone: 301-725-7975 Email: [mailto:info@laurelhistoricalsociety.org info@laurelhistoricalsociety.org] Website

Websites

 * The Prince George's County MDGenWeb Project, a member of The MDGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.
 * "Prince George's Co.," in Genealogical Sources in Periodicals at The Maryland State Archives.
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Prince George's County.
 * - The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records