Harford County, Maryland Genealogy

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

Courthouse
County Health Department has birth and death records. Clerk Circuit Court has marriage and land records from 1779, divorce and court records from 1803.

History

 * Named for Henry Harford, the illegimate son of Frederick Calvert, 6th and last Lord Baltimore. Mr. Harford was the last Proprietary Governor of Maryland but did not inherit the title of Lord Baltimore because of his illegimatacy.

Parent County

 * Created 17 December 1773 from Baltimore County.

Boundary Changes
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
1858-- Some records were destroyed in a fire.

Town

 * Bel Air

Military

 * Aberdeen Proving Ground

Neighboring Counties



 * Anne Arundel
 * Baltimore
 * Carroll
 * Frederick
 * Montgomery
 * Prince George's

Cemeteries

 * 1041 page index to Individuals Buried in Harford County at Harford County Historical Society website
 * J.C. Taylor Marble Business Ledger Indexes. 1878-1890: Vol. 1; 1891-1934 (gaps): Vol. 2; 1906-1934: Vol. 3; 1906-1934: Vol. 4; 1935-1946: Vol. 5 Identifies information about people buying tombstones.

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

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, taken from its collection, have been digitized and made available to view for free online:


 * United Methodist, Abingdon Charge, Cokesbury Church, Abingdon, Md. (includes cemetery and church records 1850s-1980s)

Church of England
See also St. George's Parish

Court
Free online index to thousands of Harford County court cases dating from 1700s to 1900s on The Historical Society of Harford County website.

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


 * Surname Files at Harford County Historical Society
 * Master Family Index to Binders at Harford County Historical Society
 * Henry Peden's Partial Index to Special Genealogy Collections at Harford County Historical Society

Bibliography


 * [Harris] Harris, Mrs. Norris. "The Harris Family of Baltimore and Harford Counties," The Maryland and Delaware Genealogist, Vol. 31, No. 2 (Spring 1990):68..

Immigration

 * [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=Harford&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 Harford 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 Harford County Deed Books (1773-present) have been uploaded to their website: A Digital Image Retrieval System for Land Records in Maryland. (Requires free registration.)


 * 1777-1778 - Harford County Land Index

Maps
Martenet's Map of Harford County, Maryland

Revolutionary War
Harford 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 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, Harford County on page 127.]
 * "Harford County, Maryland, Oaths of Fidelity, 1778," The Maryland and Delaware Genealogist, Vol. 29, No. 4 (Fall 1988):126-127; Vol. 30, No. 1 (Winter 1989):10-11; Vol. 30, No. 2 (Spring 1989):46-47; Vol. 30, No. 3 (Summer 1989):88-89; Vol. 30, No. 4 (Fall 1989):126-127; Vol. 31, No. 1 (Winter 1990):6-7. 975 B2m

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, Harford County, pp. 149-151. Identifies War of 1812 veterans living in this county in 1883.]

Civil War

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


 * - 2nd Regiment, Maryland Eastern Shore Infantry, Company G, and H
 * - 7th Regiment, Maryland Infantry, Company C, and H

Newspapers

 * Harford 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
 * Scanned images of wills, administrations, and inventories are available for free on.
 * Indentures and Guardianships 1774-1809 at Harford County Historical Society website
 * Estate Distributions 1846-1854 free index at Harford County Genealogical Society website

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

Taxation

 * 1783 - Harford 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.
 * 1896, 1902 - Harford County Personal Property Tax Valuations 1896 and 1902 at Harford County Historical Society website

Marriage

 * 1658 - 1940 at FamilySearch — index.
 * 1666 - 1970 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1865 - 1899 Harford County Marriages 1865-1899 at Harford County Historical Society website
 * 1900 - 1930 Harford County Marriages 1900-1930 at Harford County Historical Society website
 * 1931 Harford County Marriages 1931 at Harford County Historical Society website
 * Marriage Records - Maryland State Archives

Death

 * 1898 - 1944 Maryland Death Index 1898-1944

Societies and Libraries
Harford County Genealogical Society P.O. Box 15 Aberdeen, MD 21001 E-Mail: [mailto:AdmnHSHC@verizon.net AdmnHSHC@verizon.net] Website

The Hereditary Order of the Signers of the Bush Declaration 4219 Paddrick Road Darlington, MD 21034 E-Mail: [mailto:ctsmithson@gmail.com ctsmithson@gmail.com] Website

Historical Society of Harford County, Inc. 143 N. Main St. Bel Air, MD 21014 Phone: 410-838-7691 E-Mail: [mailto:info@harfordhistory.org info@harfordhistory.org] Website Facebook

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Websites

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