Frederick County, Maryland Genealogy

United States   Maryland    Frederick County

County Courthouse


12 East Church Street Frederick, MD 21701 (301) 600-9000

History



 * Named for Frederick Calvert, 6th Lord Baltimore, last of the Lords Baltimore.

Parent County

 * Created 10 June 1748 from Prince George's County.

Boundary Changes

 * 6 September 1776, Montgomery and Washington counties were set off.

Record Loss
Timeline: The following important events in the history of Frederick County affected political jurisdictions, family movements, and record keeping.

Village

 * Rosemont

Neighboring Counties
Carroll | Howard | Montgomery | Washington | Pennsylvania counties: Adams | Franklin | Loudoun County, Virginia

Cemeteries
Holdcraft's tombstone inscriptions have been published in:

Holdcraft, Jacob Mehrling. Names in Stone: 75,000 Cemetery Inscriptions from Frederick County, Maryland. Two Volumes. Reprinted as More Names in Stone. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1985. (Family History Library book 975.287 V3h 1985)

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

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


 * Roman Catholic, St. Joseph's Church, Emmitsburg, Md. (various records, including deaths 1843-1879, confirmations, first communions, liber status animarium [church census] 1843, 1860, etc.)

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, George Ely. "Frenchmen Early in Frederick County, Maryland," The Genealogist, Vol. 15, No. 2 (Fall 2001):225-255. [Includes the following families: Appollo, Bellameaude de la Vincendiere, Boisneuf, Chevalier de Petray, de Heaulme, de la Marche, Denoue, Eckman, Huguest de Court, Josse, Julian, LaBeron, Louie, Marcilly, Puzenot, St.-Martin de Bellevue, Seguin, Zins.]

Bibliography


 * [Beckwith] See de Hinojosa.
 * [DeButts] Russell, George Ely. "DeButts Family of Maryland and Virginia," The Genealogist, Vol. 12, No. 2 (Fall 1998):131-188.
 * [de Hinojosa] Hoff, Henry B. "Alexander de Hinojosa and His Descendants in Maryland," The American Genealogist, Vol. 79, No. 4 (Oct. 2004):260-273.
 * [Devilbiss] Harris, Mrs. Norris. "The Devilbiss Family of Frederick County, Md.," The Maryland and Delaware Genealogist, Vol. 30, No. 4 (Fall 1989):144-145; Vol. 31, No. 1 (Winter 1990):28-29. FHL US/CAN Book 975 B2m.
 * [Firestone] Russell, George Ely. "Founders of the American Firestone Family," National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Vol. 52, No. 4 (Dec. 1964):241-244. 973 B2ng v. 52
 * [Getzendanner] Getzendanner, David. Thomas Getzendanner of Maryland and South Carolina; His Descendants: The Getson and Danner Families of Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Texas. Salem, Ore.: D. Getzendanner, 1993.
 * [Hoover] Hayden, Richard A. "Using Relationships to Establish Origins: Casper and Catherine Hoover of Pennsylvania and Maryland," National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Vol. 91, No. 4 (December 2003):298-313. 973 B2ng v. 91
 * [Price] Harris, Mrs. Norris. "The Price Family of Frederick County, Md.," The Maryland and Delaware Genealogist, Vol. 31, No. 1 (Winter 1990):26-27; Vol. 31, No. 2 (Spring 1990):70. FHL US/CAN Book 975 B2m.
 * [Williams] Birch, Nicki Peak. "Tracking Basil Williams of Maryland and Pennsylvania Through Changing Residences and Multiple Marriages," National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Vol. 96, No. 1 (March 2008):23-37. 973 B2ng v. 96

Immigration

 * Dern, John P. "Foreign-Born in Frederick County, Maryland," National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Vol. 56, No. 2 (June 1968):124-135. 973 B2ng v. 56
 * [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=Frederick&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 Frederick 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 Frederick County Deed Books (1748-present) have been uploaded to their website: MDLandRec.Net: A Digital Image Retrieval System for Land Records in Maryland. (Requires free registration.)

Revolutionary War

 * 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, Frederick 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, Frederick County, pp. 146-149. Identifies War of 1812 veterans living in this county in 1883.]

Minorities

 * Russell, George Ely. "Frenchmen Early in Frederick County, Maryland," The Genealogist, Vol. 15, No. 2 (Fall 2001):225-255.

Newspapers

 * Frederick 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

 * The Frederick County MDGenWeb Project This site contains online records and links to Census, Cemetery, Church, Civil, and Biographical records of Frederick County, Maryland.


 * FamilySearch.org Family History Library Catalog


 * FamilyHart Online Database This online database contains over 630,000 linked family names that contain many many Frederick County families. This database grows by 1,000 names per week and is updated online quarterly.